Agressive on leash techniques? Help please!

Can anyone point me in the right direction of a good training book or techniques that specifically deal with a certain little pug that is aggressive towards other dogs when on leash?

She goes everywhere with us, but it's kind of embarrassing that she'd like to rip other dogs faces off. Scott says she isn't around other dogs enough, but she is FINE off leash. I know this is a common problem, but I'd really like to know how to work with her on this.

Right now when she does it, I pick her up and that stops her, but I'm thinking that is all wrong. Please help!

Hi Sarah im no expert and differnt things work for differnt dogs but with my little boy he was agressive to kids scooters.We cured this with cheese.Everytime he saw one and started to get upset i waved cheese in front of his nose to get his attention and when he was focused on me and calm he got the reward .

Okay why didn't I think if that? It's worth a try.

We just got this place in town called the Lazy dog cafe and you can DINE with your dog there in the patio, but when we took her there, she acted like a LOON the whole time.

Thank you and I do hope other have more ideas.

Sara:
If you google "leash reactivity" or "leash aggression" a ton of things will come up. It is common, but it's not good, you're right about that.

I agree with the distraction technique vs the hold her technique. Of course, it is a lot easier on the outside looking in. If you carry high value treats with you and when she starts acting like a maniac, have her sit using the food and wait for her to calm down. I am guilty of holding Lola when she acts naughty and in return she gets the attention she wants and doesn't break the behavior. I need to work on this myself.

Genie has the same issue only she doesn't stop when I pick her up or try to distract her. She's like a psycho puggie. I would love to know if you find something that works!

Food is the only thing that works with Kimchi. It's a PITA to do because all conversation and activity stops to concentrate on her but it's better than psycho pug. This hasn't stopped her from reacting, it just stops the reacting when it happens.

There's a booklet called Fiesty Fido that deals specifically with leash aggression. It's a very straightforward little booklet that's worth looking for. You can probably find it at www.dogwise.com.

pugasaurus wrote:There's a booklet called Fiesty Fido that deals specifically with leash aggression. It's a very straightforward little booklet that's worth looking for. You can probably find it at www.dogwise.com.

Oooh! I forgot about that one. That's a great little booklet.

Thanks everyone, I will post results if I have any.

And I don't know if she is doing it for MY attention, I really think she wants to rip the other dogs face off. I think when I pick her up, she just knows she is no longer in control? I don't know, what I would pay to know what she is thinking.

I do agree picking her up is not the answer, it's easy to start with the high reward treats and take her out, maybe Thursday, we were thinking of getting a sitter and going to happy hour, so maybe we will just take her with us.

We used the high value treats method for Sophie in San Diego. I carried around a bag of stinky fish treats (the things we do for pugs), and anytime I saw her even THINK about barking or lunging, I distracted her and made her look at me. She was so focused on the treat, she never even thought about going after the big dogs. She did really well. I know I just need to get her out and about more, and practice with this but I already saw a big improvement.

Look into Click To Calm by Emma Parsons. Its worked wonders for a lot of dogs i know. While it does indicate for aggressive dogs, it's VERY good for nervous or situationally reactive and overprotective dogs as well. The principles are very calm and easy to understand and to put into action. You don't necessarily even need to use a clicker either, just some sort of marker and treats.

Saira wrote:We used the high value treats method for Sophie in San Diego. I carried around a bag of stinky fish treats (the things we do for pugs), and anytime I saw her even THINK about barking or lunging, I distracted her and made her look at me. She was so focused on the treat, she never even thought about going after the big dogs. She did really well. I know I just need to get her out and about more, and practice with this but I already saw a big improvement.

Glad to see there was such an improvement, Sara! I've been thinking about this. Would one of those harness that hooks underneath (at the chest) possibly help? If she lunged at a dog before you got her attention, it would make her turn 180º and she'd suddenly be looking at you. Thereby looking at the treat you have out by then.

Just an idea. I've thought about trying it on a couple of the pugs who can't stop pulling when we walk them. They are on regular harnesses, which I've been told encourages pulling. I thought I'd invest in one and see how it does. Worth a shot, anyway.

Maryjo wrote:

Saira wrote:We used the high value treats method for Sophie in San Diego. I carried around a bag of stinky fish treats (the things we do for pugs), and anytime I saw her even THINK about barking or lunging, I distracted her and made her look at me. She was so focused on the treat, she never even thought about going after the big dogs. She did really well. I know I just need to get her out and about more, and practice with this but I already saw a big improvement.

Glad to see there was such an improvement, Sara! I've been thinking about this. Would one of those harness that hooks underneath (at the chest) possibly help? If she lunged at a dog before you got her attention, it would make her turn 180º and she'd suddenly be looking at you. Thereby looking at the treat you have out by then.

Just an idea. I've thought about trying it on a couple of the pugs who can't stop pulling when we walk them. They are on regular harnesses, which I've been told encourages pulling. I thought I'd invest in one and see how it does. Worth a shot, anyway.

The harnesses that hook on the front on the chest work wonders for pullers. I have one for Clara. It's by the Gentle Leader brand,but I'm sure there's others out there. It doesn't take much effort or strength to use either and she's a BIG gal. What's kinda funny about this harness if you have it on a broad chested dog,like a pug or bully breed it looks like they have one giant boob or a uni-boob Kinda like the earlier model sports bras,lol. They do work. What you want to do is go to petco or pet smart and try them on there and they order them on line through genlte leader or another company because petco and petsmart mark them up anywhwere's from 10-15 bucks.

Good luck!

Trish

That was actually Saira reporting results with Sophie, but we have been doing the "watch me" with high value treats with some success, you know when you are out walking alone with a toddler and a reactive pug, it's hard to catch her every time, but often I can sense her reaction before she really goes crazy and that helps the most to stop her before she starts.

I just wanted to add that she is not a nervous dog by ANY means, she is happy go lucky, but very reactive to other dogs, and also we have a lot of bunnies up where we walk and she likes to "chase" them off as well.

I am partway through the suggested reading Fiesty Fido a great little read! Thanks for all the tips and suggestions.

I'm sorry,still not the greatest with the forum stuff What I have learned from one on one classes with trainers regarding the leash aggression is that most of the time the dog is protecting his/her area or his/her person and by pulling on the leash actually reinforces that behavior. The watch me has been the biggest training practice I've picked up and has been a life saver. I try to keep a look out at as to what is around me(way ahead of time) w/o letting myself tense so Clara won't pick up on it. We work on the watch me staring in my eyes with me flaying my arms in the air with a treat in one hand and as soon as she looks right in my eyes,it's YES! treat good girl,etc. Bunnies are a bit harder. I'm happy if I can get her in a sit stay and just have her look at them until the littlebuggers are gone.

I am going to pick up the Fiesty Fido. Clara's not reactive all the time on a leash,but I figure the more I know the better and happier she will be and less stressed I will be. Plus it's always best to be one step ahead with the idiots who do nothing when their dogs charges at yours,ugh!

I'm happy for you that Miss Co Pilot is doing better

Thanks,
Trish

Miss Pit wrote:I'm sorry,still not the greatest with the forum stuff What I have learned from one on one classes with trainers regarding the leash aggression is that most of the time the dog is protecting his/her area or his/her person and by pulling on the leash actually reinforces that behavior. The watch me has been the biggest training practice I've picked up and has been a life saver. I try to keep a look out at as to what is around me(way ahead of time) w/o letting myself tense so Clara won't pick up on it. We work on the watch me staring in my eyes with me flaying my arms in the air with a treat in one hand and as soon as she looks right in my eyes,it's YES! treat good girl,etc. Bunnies are a bit harder. I'm happy if I can get her in a sit stay and just have her look at them until the littlebuggers are gone.

I am going to pick up the Fiesty Fido. Clara's not reactive all the time on a leash,but I figure the more I know the better and happier she will be and less stressed I will be. Plus it's always best to be one step ahead with the idiots who do nothing when their dogs charges at yours,ugh!

I'm happy for you that Miss Co Pilot is doing better

Thanks,
Trish

Trish and MJ, the harnesses are a great idea, I am going to try those with Sophie. I think the not tensing up helped a lot too-we also noticed she seemed worse at night. I don't know if things were scarier to her when it got darker or her eyesight sucks but she went into protective mode a lot more!

I like the Easy Walk harness except for one thing. It's very easy for the dogs to walk out of them, but that's easily remedied by attaching the leash to both the dog's collar and harness. Blanche, you had mentioned a no-pull harness that Jessie got from Clean Run or one of the other sites?? I might have to investigate this harness.

Here's my two cents about getting dogs less reactive since I've had to work with many dogs who don't like other dogs or people. Start with whatever your dog doesn't like, we'll say other dogs, far away. Far enough away where your dog notices it but doesn't react. Use lots of high-value treats, my favorite is something they sell at Petsmart, a dog food that comes in a roll called Pet Botanics. It's very similar to the Natural Balance food in a roll they sell at Petco. Pet Botanics aslo makes semi-moist treats, but most dogs don't like them as well as the food in a roll. Cheese works as does boiled chicken, for dogs that aren't that food motivated, I use canned cat food fed through a turkey baster. Your dog is going to get lots of treats so make sure they are cut into very small pieces. As soon as your dog notices the dog, do your "watch me" and start giving the dog treats. Lots of treats. Not only are you distracting the dog, you're also counter-conditioning your dog to like what he or she finds scary and just a few treats is not going to cut it. When I start with a new dog, we usually practice in the parking lot of Petsmart or Petco, a sure supply of dogs at a safe distance. I keep the treat flow going until the other dog is out of sight. My dog has usually had up to fifteen to twenty treats in this brief minute or two. If your dog is barking or not eating treats, you're usually too close to the object of your dog's fear, back away and see if the dog does better. And usually at this distance, the leash stays slack.

Practice until your dog makes the magical connection that other dogs mean treats for him. You'll know this has happened when you're out working, a strange dog enters the picture and your dog looks up at you with the "hey there's another dog, where's my treat" look. You'll know this look, don't worry! Your dog is no longer merely reacting, he's now operant and his fear is starting to diminish. Once this happens, you can start to get closer to the trigger( be it dog or human) Go slowly and gradually at the dog's pace. You'll know you're moving too quickly if the dog starts barking again. Just to put things in perspective, it usually takes me about 6 weeks of daily work to get a dog from going bonkers to letting another dog sniff or human approach and touch the dog.

In the beginning, do lots of tiny training sessions rather than one big long training session. This is very scary and intense for your dog so keep it short and sweet.

One last thing I've learned that really helps is to let your dog know you'll keep him safe. When I first start working with a new dog and someone with another dog approaches, I'll be very clear to my dog that I'm not going to force him to interact with this threat. I'll tell the other person that my dog doesn't like other dogs and if they continue to approach, I'll get my dog away. Once your dog figures out that you won't force him into anything he's not ready for, it really helps him relax.

If I'm working with a really reactive dog or a dog that doesn't like people, I'll put a basket muzzle on him, nothing says stay away like a muzzle and the muzzle also helps the me, the handler, relax since I know that the dog can't do that much damage. I'll use the watered down cat food/turkey baster mixture for muzzled dogs since I can squirt the baster through the openings in the muzzle. I've never had to use a muzzle with a pug, but I mention it because it does help whoever is working the dog to relax and anything that makes the handler relax will also help the dog.

Remember to go very slowly and keep your dog safe, I can't stress this enough, most people go too fast and push the envelope. And it goes without saying, never punish your dog for reacting. I had to work with a reactive boxer who had been punished in the past for barking and lunging at other dogs and he became one of those dogs who "bites without warning" because he'd been punished for signaling that he was about to bite. I never want to take away those signals that the dog is uncomfortable.

Once last thing. Don't repeat "watchmewatchmewatchme" over and over again. In the beginning, it might help to whisk the piece of food in front of your dog's nose and use it to pull your dog's attention towards you. Dogs are not verbal communicators and our insistence on repeating things over and over teaches dogs that ,yes, that verbal diarrhea spewing from their human is best ignored.

Hope this helps somewhat and if anyone has questions, let me know.

Do you think that these tricks will work with fence reactive/aggressive dogs, too? 3 out 5 of our pugs go NUTS whenever we're out in the yard & someone walks by with their dog. They even get so worked up that they'll turn on each other sometimes (something that they'd never do otherwise). They're pretty good on a leash but something about being behind that fence turns them into nut-jobs.