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Just wondering what advice you would give us for our dog Daisy who has started snapping and growling at other dogs when she is on the lead. It doesn’t seem to matter what type of dog the other dog is or if they are on or off the lead. We have only let her off the lead as a result in empty, open spaces! We have heard that dogs are less threatened and therefore fine with other dogs when they are off the lead, but we are nervous about letting her off when othre dogs are around incase she is agressive towards them. Is there standard advice or should we go straight to training?
Hi Gayle, if you give Louise a call 087 7438478 (pawsitive dog training) she will be the best person to advise you. She also does home assessments and is very reasonable…..please let us know how you get on
I have/had that problem too with one of my dogs. The good thing about going for training is for me that you spend exclusive time with your dog and the focus is on activities rather than other dogs in the class. After getting some classes my dog will respond to "watch me" and will ignore the other dog. This is on the lead and after 2 years. He’s alright with my other dog but does micro-manage if stressed. I had to change my expectations, don’t think he will ever be able to frolic with other dogs but that’s just Brandon and I had to accept that as part of the package.
Definitely get basic obedience classes and if you feel the management of the behaviour is a bit outside your abilities there are behaviourists that can do out a personal plan and assessment for you and your dog. Always use a trainer who sticks to positive approaches and has a "do no harm" policy. Don’t just go by what you see on tv because some of it is very old school and can make the situation worse. Finding out why your dog does things from a behavioural aspect is very interesting.
Best of luck and you’re not alone.
Thanks both of you. We’ll call the trainer over the weekend. I think she’s young enough to train and it sounds like we need the right advice for her. I’m sure it stems from early puppyhood as she was very wary of strangers at first – barking constantly, but she’s just about over that now through encouragement etc. I’m hopeful we can nip this in the bud through proper training. If not, we’ll be the only family pleased about the rain – because there’s never any other dogs in the park then and we can let her off the lead!!
Just thought you might like an update – Daisy is doing really well off the lead! We let her off with one other dog in the park at first and she was fine – a bit boisterous but nothing else. We were nervous though! Anyway, after several runs off the lead in quiet parks, with one or two dogs around and very nice dog owners, she (and we) got used to her playing with other dogs. We just let her play for a short while, then put her back on the lead. We gradually built up to a longer play. Now, we bring her up the hill, where there are lots of dogs and she absolutely loves it – she charges around the place, which is lovely to watch. As a result of her getting used to other dogs off the lead, she is now absolutely fine on the lead too. She doesn’t bark or growl anymore. I think she just needed socialising. We’re so delighted, she’s great fun to watch and really loves exploring in the forest.
Only saw this update now! That’s great news for you and for Daisy! Socialisation is so important for all dogs and it’s great that with time and patience Daisy can now fully enjoy her walks and can run and play with other dogs. It’s such a joy to watch dogs playing and just being a dog! Delighted for her and you
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