Nachi

What a beautiful dog! An Aussie looks like a safe bet, but you never know. I have a 'Border Collie' mix, which I believed for some time. Got a DNA test, turns out he is a mix of mostly Cattle Dog, Rough Collie and German Shepherd! Since you aren't looking for something inescapable or foolproof, considering he isn't actually aggressive, I think lightweight and airflow should be the main consideration. I was recommended this muzzle some years ago and I'll recommend it myself: http://www.fordogtrainers.com/dog-muzzles-c-92/wire-basket-dog-muzzle-for-everyday-walking-and-obedience-training-p-1457.html There are so many sizes so you will end up getting a really good fit providing you measure your dog correctly. The airflow is excellent, and you should find this is much more lightweight than it looks. And yes, although I don't think you need it to be, it's very inescapable and secure on your dog. Another muzzle I used for some time is the Jafco clear plastic muzzle: http://k9pro.com.au/jafco-clear-plastic-muzzle/ I think this is the least intimidating muzzle you could probably buy and it is very light weight. My personal issues with it is that I didn't find the airflow adequate enough. You could probably cut additional holes if you felt the same, however for maximum airflow I'll always go for a wire frame muzzle. Another bonus with this muzzle is it's softness, if your dog bumps into something or runs into you, it shouldn't hurt either of you. There are only 5 sizes, perhaps because mine wasn't a good fit, it was rather escapable if he tried! Regarding people fearing a dog with a muzzle, personally I find it to be the opposite effect. I've found that a lot of people are very comfortable near muzzled dogs, because they know they are safe whether they're aggressive or not.

Thank you Rozzie! :)

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That's fine BC Crazy, everything in this topic has been helpful and I'm glad I'm not having trouble with reactivity alone. Nekhbet: He loves his food for sure, little interest in toys. Currently I'm using cutting schmacko strips into reward sizes. I've been looking around for some more variation in treats. I've been able to get his attention a little more outside, so I'm more hopeful with how things are going at the moment. I'm just fearing another 'surprise dog' doesn't come around at this point. Thanks again for your posts in this topic, it's been very insightful. Hankdog: Thanks! Yes I've been a bit worried about the experience and quality of advice some trainers might have. I'm in the outer west of Sydney, lower Blue Mountains. Mrs Rusty Bucket: I've got the Gentle Leader Easy Walk harness in both medium and large sizes. I actually didn't measure his chest, which is rather silly of me I know. He's overweight so I hope he'll be losing some of that. I need to have another try at it I think, and see how the fit actually is on him =) Thanks for all the replies as usual =) I'm yet to take him out today, so I'll see how we go again. On another note, I was very shocked he wasn't bothered by the thunderstorm we had yesterday! From his leash anxiety and excitement, I was sure he'd react.

Thanks for all your replies again. I'd like to give an update, though to be honest I'm feeling a little frustrated. I have not been walking him this week and just been training him in the yard. We can do sit, stay, come, go, and lay down etc, he's pretty good. Today I walked him using the front-clip harness. I bought two of these after reaising hes nowhere near the 'meduim' size recommended for border collies, he definatley larger and so it wont fit. The large size, is a tad loose at the front, not hanging or droopy looking but I could fit more than two fingers under for sure. That's the most it tightens to. I can't say the harness worked for his pulling much at all, I realise it has to be a good fit in order to work, is this just a tad too lose do you think? It really isn't much, but its not working effectively, perhaps it really does need to be much tighter? Regardless he is still not a 'bad' puller. I took him for a short walk today, not a very successful one in my opinion. He was whining and over-excited from the start but that's not unusual. I didn't want to leave yet if hes like that, perhaps wait till he settles in a few min, then try again, but for my own (unrelated) reasons I left then. He was pretty much barking once we got to the bottom of the driveway, why? He was anxious, over-excited, and then the dogs. I'm at the end of a no through road, there's no escaping these backyard dogs. Previous walks, I've found I can get him past them without toomuch trouble. He was already barking for reasons I don't really understand so I decided to just run past these dogs quickly. At least he doesn't try to pull towards them, he just barks since he can only see them at one gate. Then there were people, he barked at them, but didn't pull towards. Here I am just walking a dog that's just barking seemingly at nothing. At the top of the street I just stopped with him, because at the top there is an oval, and often dogs. I'm feeling rather trapped with the triggers. If he stopped barking for a while, calmed down for a bit, I gave him a treat, told him how good he was. He was calming down a bit there so it was good, I could tell he was frustrated he couldn't go walking though, so we did some circles round the road there etc. I could see some people then coming down from the oval so it was time to go, more barking past the yard dogs. It's a good thing I had left then because as we returned home, closed the gate, I saw those people had come up to the end of the road with a large dog. I'm not sure if he saw them, or if he didn't care because he was now in the yard but I gave him some treats, praised him, because he didn't react. I don't understand why he was so much worse today, any insights a handy. I discovered apparently my mother and father both walked him while I was at work on separate occasions though. It's not that I'd blame them if anything they did resulted in this (I'm his prominent walker, so issues should really be with how I'm handling it). I don't know how those went other than 'he barks', but my father believes in poping his collar and 'NO!'. I think part of why I'm frustrated is because we have different views on the situation. If it doesn't go well with me, I feel foolish. I'm considering a dog trainer/behaviorist to get a clearer picture and understanding of whats going on. Again he hasn't been here long, but he seems to have no trouble or worries around the house, it's like he's always been here, but I don't want his leash-reactivity to set in too long. Looking back on his first walk I'm surprised how little he reacted then those the several small dogs we saw. I've also been reading many articles online and I'm waiting on a thundershirt too. edit: For clarity, I don't think his barks are of aggression. He's always seemed frustrated and over-excited to me.

Thank you everyone for all your advice. I will definatley spend more time within the yard training, I also did order a front-clip harness, but I agree I should aim for better training on a check-chain too. The timing and corrections seems like something I need to improve on myself. He use to belong to an elderly couple, which is why I thought he may not have been walked much at all previously. I'm hoping his over-excitement and anxiety from walks settle down in time? He seems much better in the street now vs more unfamiliar places.

Thank you very much for your response. That all sounds like some good advice and I especially appreciate pointing out the things that I'm doing that aren't helpful. I'll look into the front clip harness and continue with the basic training. Thank you very much.

Hello, First of all, it has been less then a week since I've adopted this dog (middle aged BC X) so it's early days. Perhaps I am expecting too much at this point, but I would like some opinions on training methods. I'm working on training him to walk loose leash. Our first walk, he was moderately pulling, he barked at some small dogs but was not too difficult to move on. I took him on another walk that day, and he got upset, barked and yelped over a closer encounter with two dogs, he pulled harder on the way back. The next day I tried some training with him in the yard, he responds very well to treats. We learnt some basics, sit, stay, come, and then some loose leash walking around the yard using 'close' for a command. He did well with it. His next walk was much better after that, I aimed to leave the gate door first, acted confident etc. He was still pulling too much on the collar, but not enough for me to be feeling it, but still an improvement. I only took him around the street back and forth, I had another walk similar too this like this. Today was more of a nightmare day where I was unsure what I should be doing in such a situation. He's always too anxious/excited during walks which definatley lowers his response to me. Since he is a rescue dog I'm not sure if he's use to walking, or it's its simply the new environment making him anxious. I sat him down just in front of my property before walking hoping he would calm down some amount and then we went for a walk. We just walked the street and to the other side of the road is a park where a dog was running with it's owner, he barked and yelped loudly, started pulling badly and wouldn't pay me any notice. I tried just moving forward but his pulling was terrible, I tried changing direction but he wouldn't respond, I yelled 'no' at his barking and then decided we just wouldn't move at all until he calmed down. He was still quite anxious but I walked him to the middle of the park once the dog was gone and sat him down again since he continued to bark. There wasn't anything to bark at, but he was clearly very anxious still. I stood there with him for perhaps half an hour, I said 'no' loudly whenever he tried barking again, but I'm worried my shouting might increase his overall anxiety? We finally went home, he was still pulling but at this point it looks like I should be working more on his anxiety walking rather than loose leash. I'm a novice to this, and like I said it's really early days, but is anything I'm doing likely to make it worse for him? I don't want to be starting off on the wrong foot here. I'm guessing expose will help, he walks the street much better than more unfamiliar places. But once he gets upset over a dog, I'm really not sure what to do. Any suggestions or opinions are greatly appreciated.