Is This Leash Aggression?

[sigzephyr]

I have two sweet, quiet, placid whippets....until we go for a walk. They become possessed. Is this what is referred to as leash aggression? They bark scarily at other dogs who they meet while walking, although when off lead and interacting with other dogs they are fine.

I feel this is due to my older girl feeling anxious. She has always been a bit anxious and this seems to have increased since we got our next dog and as she ages.

What can i do to help the situation, or at least make our walks more enjoyable. At the moment I just pray that we don't encounter other dogs.

[Cosmolo]

Have you done any training with them before? I would suggest you look at getting a professional to come and help you to get you started as every dog is different so online advice for this kind of problem could actually make the issue worse.

[Nekhbet]

I agree get someone to come and see what happens inside your home and out. Meanwhile I would be walking them separately and working on seeing 1) what is the trigger 2) who starts the behavior and 3) walking maybe in a quieter area and working on a bit of controlled walking with little distraction.

Also what happens in your home has a lot of baring. If she already an anxious bitch and doesnt have enough leadership, now you have given her another dog to lead too and she's stressing out!

[Kody's_Mum]

I know how you feel, and it certaintly turns a relaxing walk into something very stressful.

My boy, who I undertake obedience training each week and absolutely loves other dogs at both obedience classes and dog park etc, started to do the same thing when we were out walking the street. If we ran into another dog whilst out on a walk he would go beserk, hackles up, strained to the end of the lead and barking etc.

However if the other dog continued to approach us, Kody would have a sniff and what not and all would be ok, the dogs would be fine. However if we then ran into the same dog the next day, we would go through the same aggression issues once again.

I started to try and calm him if I saw a dog approaching in time, by talking to him and tell him to 'leave it'. Kody is now much better, if I tell him to leave it he does and there is no carry on.

I have also started to take him to events where I know there will also be dogs he doesnt know on lead, ie markets etc and he is much better in greeting or ignoring the dogs now days. It is still a work in progress and it has taken time and persistence, and is now starting to work when he sees cats too.

This is just something that has happened to work for me.

Good luck with it, and don't give up.

Perhaps getting some advice from a trainer or a behaviorist will help, nothing nicer than being able to have a relaxing walk with your dogs.