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On Leash Aggression..I'm SO tired of it!

6K views 16 replies 6 participants last post by  Criosphynx 
#1 ·
Rally is my 11 year old lhasa, who weighs 18 pounds, and he 'used' to be a friendly dog..I used that word because about 3 years ago while walking Pandora (my shih-tzu) and Rally in our neighborhood an off leash dog attacked them. Thankfully they were not hurt that time. The SAME dog was off leash again 3 or 4 months later and attacked them again. This time Pandora had to get stitches for a small bite. (Oh and yes, I reported the owner, and made her pay the vet bill)..Then about 6 months later, while walking in a different part of town, two dogs broke their leashes and came after Pandora & Rally. Again, no one was hurt, but the effects of this have been long-lasting. Rally has MAJOR on-leash aggression, and also aggression towards other 'anxious, excited' dogs. So anytime he see's them now, he immediately goes into attack mode. Even if he is off-leash and we are at a dog park, if another dog is anxious, or too playful, he will immediately go for them. He's okay with 'mellow' dogs..

I understand that he is scared, I understand that he is traumatized, but he is taking all the joy out of walking my dogs. I now have Payslee & Sawyer, two, year old shih-tzus, and I DO NOT want them to pick up on his behavior and start acting the way he does. If we see another dog on the walk (friendly or not) before we even get close to it, he is howling, lunging, barking, whining, crying, etc.. This of course gets the babies anxious as well, and Sawyer starts fixating on the dog too. I can usually get Payslee's attention with a 'look at me' cue, and a treat, but not Sawyer and NOT NOT Rally.

They are all 3 on Harnesses with a walky walkr, so they cannot pull..But I've tried taking him the other direction, removing him from the scene, treats to distract him, stepping on his leash and making him wait, exercising him to the point of his tongue hanging out and him being tired but..NOTHING works with him. NOTHING, and its to the point now that I don't even want to take him for a walk anymore. I feel like the little ones are still young enough that I can train that out of them, but I just am at a loss with Rally. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.
 
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#2 ·
OKAY KC- first take a step back.. set this up. Get a friend with known non aggressive dogs ( or you could always come to Va. ya know.. lol).. Meet neutral ground. Correct a lunge but stand until he is bored. He has every right to be scared- its a hard situation but this can be retrained.. Then when all is quiet- you walk off... Keep doing this.
 
#9 ·
Michelle, controlled meetings are not a possibility. I dont know anyone in my neighborhood that is willing to drop what they are doing and bring their dogs over to work with mine. I wish I did, but all my friends with dogs live far away, and cannot come over and work with me each day.. :confused:
 
#7 ·
you may want to try walking them separately until you can work out his problem. that way you can really focus on him. you also would probably want to try to avoid areas where you are likely to encounter a dog (with him) for a bit, until you have a better understanding of what to do for him...

in general, tho, you are waiting too long to get his attention. you are too close to the other dog to do any good. i would turn around and walk away until he is no longer reacting then try to get his attention...one reason why walking the dogs separately may help you to deal with this...

you may want to check out this thread as well, there are some great suggestions posted in there
http://www.dogforum.com/dog-training/aggressive-dog-discussion-help-2242/#post19413

i've not read the book that crios suggested, but i can tell you that every book she has suggested to me has been immensely helpful;)



 
#11 ·
Thanks everyone..Ordering the book today, and yesterday actually had a positive experience..Saw a dog in a fence barking, and going crazy..So we walked by it..and just waited. At first Rally was really going crazy, but after about 3 minutes he calmed down. The other really positive thing was that the little ones got bored with the barking dog about 30 seconds later..so I think they are already learning to 'ignore' bad dogs barking and carrying on..I was very pleased with it..But I'm still ordering the book, and also watching the youtube link..But still welcoming other suggestions too..
 
#12 ·
Well I got the book in the mail, and already made it through the first chapter.. Very good book! I'm going to keep reading..while I was waiting on the book, I kept working with Rally..walking by the screaming lunging dog in the back yard waiting for Rally to 'settle'.. The first time it took him like 7 minutes.. The next time like 6.. the next time like 3.. so its getting better and better.. and now the babies hear the barking dog, and turn completely away from it, and sit and wait for their treats..So now the second Rally stops lunging, and walks over and sits by the babies, he gets rewarded..so hopefully all of this is paying off, and then the tips from the book will help as well..thanks so much for the reccomendaion!
 
#15 ·
Yes, it reads like instructions..lol.. I'm actually finding it more helpful with my little dogs, as opposed to Rally, but I'm also working with him on just 'listening' to me..He's never really had any formal training like the little ones have, so it takes him awhile to 'get it'.. The 'calming' thing has definately worked with the babies, as now when we walk by the dog that they KNOW is going to go crazy and bark, they just turn politely away from him and wait for the treat..

However, we've had two MAJOR setback with Rally..The first one was when someone had let their Boxer run loose across the neighborhood..Of course Rally see's the dog, and FLIPS out..lunging, barking, screaming, etc.. Not a whole lot I could do in that situation since the other person didn't have her dog under control, and couldn't catch him. So that was pretty much awful..Then the 2nd one was a man who had his two little dogs leashed, and they were very nice..but Rally still went crazy upon seeing them, and even though I was holding onto the leash, he just sat there and SCREAMED the whole time..No one was touching him, no one was coming at him..nada, he just sat there acting like someone was sawing off his legs! The guy looked at me like I was insane..So of course when he is in that 'state' its damn near impossible to get the babies to calm down..If I see him again though I'm just going to ask him to wait there until all 3 calm down, and maybe we can work it from that angle...Geesh..So frustrating still.
 
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