Tight Lead/loose Lead

[Reddii]

My 2 y.o. BC has a few mostly fear related issues with other dogs when we are out walking. At training and in the ring he is fine on lead or off lead and feels safe and comfortable. When we are out walking he is quite tense and on guard when approaching most dogs. If the other dog reacts he also reacts, especially if I pull him away from the other dog (which I try not to do.).

I've been working really hard to find a fool proof way to manage this and have worked out that if I give him any lead loose or otherwise he will soon be bouncing off the end of it growling.

But.......if I bring him in close on a tight lead he is much calmer, almost if proximity makes him feel safe. To this I have added a 'look' command and click/treat when he does it. This morning we walked past two of his most hated enemies (usually we walk on the other side of the road, but this morning I upped the ante) who rush from behind a fence going nuts. Using this method not only did he not react, but he was actually very calm and ignorning the other dogs and focussing totally on me before we had walked the length of the property.

Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing with their dog - it almost seems anti text book, but we have come on in leaps and bounds so it seems to work for us.

Cheers.

Tony

Edited September 29, 2008 by Reddii

[dee lee]

I have the same problem with my dog and am working hard in the hopes of getting to where you are.

My method, as recommended by my trainer (and I understand the concept) is the looselead one- but in the past I, like you, have found that keeping her on a tight lead close to me stops the aggression. I put it down to an inability to accompany her aggression with physical body language (if that makes sense?).

For me I found it to be not a long term solution as I want my dog not to react at all when we are on a relaxing walk. Also its hard to do whilst using a prong. Bloody DA dogs...

[Lablover]

Generally when an owner tightens the lead, which is obvious to the dog, tension results.

I should imagine by your post, you have offered diversions, when passing the dogs by the fence, which I should expect your dogs know are contained.

Was he hungry, do you usually feed him after your morning walks?

[Leema]

Some people have trained their dog that a tight leash means good things coming... Which may you have inadvertently done. This is my only suggestion.

[Reddii]

Delee

I put it down to an inability to accompany her aggression with physical body language (if that makes sense?).

This makes perfect sense - it's a bit of a vicious circle - either dog makes eye contact, other dog starts to react, first dog reacts etc etc. By stopping the initial contact/body language you avoid the problem all together.

I should have added that my goal is to have a loose lead and relaxed approach, but for now I'm happy to have him behaving and focussed on me. My next step - started this morning after yesterday's success is to let him have a little more lead and keep his focus on me, ultimately his focus will be on me and I won't have to worry about the lead at all. We've come a long way towards this - the starting point was having to make him sit at a considerable distance from the 'threat' and wait it out, now we can walk past problems without too much if any hassle. This morning he actually totally ignored a couple of barking dogs.

LAB LOVER

I should imagine by your post, you have offered diversions, when passing the dogs by the fence, which I should expect your dogs know are contained.

Yes, they probably do know the other dogs are contained, but his response is exactly the same whether the dogs are behind a fence barking madly or walking on a lead giving him the eye so the result is a success regardless.

My dogs are always food motivated - they are lean and know that they don't ever get food for free. They weave or perform contact behaviour before they get fed morning and night and they don't get treats without some sort of behaviour that is marked either with a click or once the behaviour is reasonably solid a 'yes'.

LEEMA

Some people have trained their dog that a tight leash means good things coming... Which may you have inadvertently done.

Yes, I am one of those people. Trick is to now wean him off the tight lead in much the same way as weaning a dog off needing handler cues in some parts of an agility course so they can work at distance.

[Reddii]

UPDATE!!

I CAN'T STOP SMILING!!

I've been really consistent for the last couple of weeks and it is paying off. CK has been a lot calmer on our walks and is for the most part totally ignoring dogs behind fences. Last night we were walking a new track and a dog behind a fence caught him by surprise and just went nuts. He did the tense up, stand up thing and before I had a chance to do anything thought, 'hang on, I don't have to do that', and turned around totally focussed on me and we just kept walking. That was a break through moment - he actually made the decision without having to be distracted.

This morning we had an even better result. I had just finished their training session and had run aroudn the oval with them on lead - hyped up dogs on lead when another big dog (also on lead) was walked onto the oval towards us. This is usually when CK is at his worst because he is in 'on' mode.

The other dog stared him down and did the whole 'I'm tough' thing which would usually have CK straining on the end of his lead doing the 'I'm tough too' thing. Unchecked that would escalate to growling and dancing on the lead.

This morning he looked at the other dog and simply turned and walked off as if to say 'pffffft, why bother'. No treats or distractions either! The most pleasing thing is that it wasn't a submissive, I'm not looking at you type of movement, it was a relaxed "I really don't care that you are looking at me" type of movement.

In both of these instances he had enough lead to choose whether tight or loose was best and he chose loose both times!

I'm a very happy boy, but know the work isn't over just yet, but is progressing.

[Kavik]

Well done!

Seems it is a good week for those of use with reactive dogs!

[dee lee]

HA! Maybe a good week for you guys!! Not for me...

Actually, I've had worse, but the weeks not done yet!

Now, Reddii- have you still been applying the tight lead approach?

Lately, rather than keeping a loose leash to signal "all is well", Ive been forced to pull Evie tightly in when she starts to arc up - this is to stop her from snapping at me (sadly she got away with it once and now thinks it ok to do- and of course its NOT OK).

I have been finding the same reaction you did in your first post- it seems to diffuse her "anger". I certainly feel less stress myself knowing that Im more in control- which obviously helps but I know is not the reason why she is calmer quicker.

Just wondering if you continued and you think that is the source of your success?