My dog has leash aggression. What can I do at home before class?

Leash aggression is a complex behavior issue that is best handled by a professional who can give you some hands-on guidance. I would recommend making an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist (www.dacvb.org) or a good reward-based trainer who has experience working with aggression issues in dogs (www.ccpdt.org) The general approach to treatment for this problem is to reward the dog for calm behavior in the presence of his triggers (people, other dogs, etc.), starting at a distance where the dog is able to be successful, then gradually moving closer as long as things are going well. For some dogs, this means that you may need a lot of distance at first! Having a professional to work with is very helpful, since they can help you set up controlled training sessions with "helper" dogs or people to practice until you and your dog have the hang of things. Punishment of any kind for this behavior (including verbal corrections, leash corrections, shock collar, etc.) is not recommended because it often makes the problem worse over time. Steer clear of any trainer who recommends these techniques, and look for an educated reward-based trainer instead.

Hi there and thank you for using Pet Coach! Dogs are pack animals and in a pack, there is always a leader or the "alpha dog". If no leader has been established then Tux may be trying to establish himself as the leader whenever he sees another dog. Sometimes this dog aggression can also be due to fear. When you are in the home setting, you need to be the one to establish and set forth that you are the alpha dog. You need to establish physical and behavioral boundaries. In order to do this, you must first teach your dog that you are the one in complete control of the situation. Leash training should be used to help establish yourself as the alpha in your home. You may have to use a leash when you are at home with Tux, but this will help establish that you are in physical control of him. Use of collars and muzzles can be quite effective when it comes to training your dog. Pinch or pronged collars can aid in training as these become uncomfortable for dogs when they pull on them. So when Tux lunges or pulls to attack. Electric collars can also be used by I recommend using these as a last resort. If you are not getting any improvement with the above training recommendations, then I would recommend you contact a trainer to discuss training options. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. I am also available by phone or text consultation if needed.

I'm sorry to hear that your dog is having this problem! Behavior issues like this are quite complex, and often very difficult to handle successfully on your own if you don't have any training experience. And particularly with an aggression problem, it may not be safe to attempt to work on this without professional assistance. If at all possible, I would strongly recommend making an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate your dog in person and help you put together a detailed plan to work on the problem. Although the initial visit may be somewhat expensive, in many cases owners are able to stay in contact with the behaviorist via phone or email about how things are going without the need for repeated in-person sessions - which cuts down tremendously on the long-term cost vs. working with a trainer every week. The behaviorist may also recommend medication or other adjunct treatment options that could be helpful in addition to the training plan. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist here: www.dacvb.org If your dog is mainly aggressive to other dogs when she sees them on-leash (the most common form of this problem, in my experience), I would also suggest the short book "Feisty Fido" by PhD behaviorist Patricia McConnell - it has very sound, useful advice for dealing with this issue that may help to get you started.

Hello, Marshall may be having some territorial aggression like a GSD does. He may be protective of his home, you, other pets, and even babies. Therefore, when the trainer takes him and introduces him, his guard is deactivated and therefore is fine. Initial steps are to determine what triggers the behavior. Second step is to avoid the trigger. And the third step is to re-establish leadership. Reestablish leadership with your dog Many people have misconceptions about truly dominant actions from dogs. A dog that walks ahead of its owner or disobeys commands is not expressing dominance but is showing effects of improper training. We are not part of the dog’s pack as many people believe and thus we should not look for a role as the “dominant” dog. Rather you should try to attain leadership by having the dog look to you for guidance in any situation, instead of being submissive or fearful of your commands. Reestablishing leadership can be done by using non-confrontational positive reinforcement techniques. Tools such as head collars can be used to help re-direct your dog’s behavior. Avoid punishing unwanted behaviors Punishment-based techniques, such as leash corrections, alpha-rolling, shoulder jabs, verbal disrupters (such as ‘baaaaa’ and ‘tssssh’), and training discs/chains tossed at dogs, do not address the underlying motivation, require constant direction and force, and typically do no result in positive long term benefits. These types of punishments have been shown to actually increase aggressive behavior. Positive reinforcement training and behavior modification methods focus on changing the underlying emotion of the dog’s aggression, while promoting and rewarding desired behaviors. Hope this helps.

This sounds like leash aggression. I suggest you consult a professional trainer for help but if you want to try on your own here is a link that may help you. ( https://positively.com/dog-behavior/aggression/leash-aggression/ )

Hazel is adorable! As she is such a big dog and young I recommend you take her to a group obedience class. Then she can learn to behave with you on a leash with other people and dogs around. An experienced dog trainer can help you work with her to have her pay attention to you and ignore other dogs. As she is large and could hurt someone or another dog I would not take her to the dog park at this time. Also when walking make sure you use a no pull harness or pinch collar so you have control. I take many tasty treats and ask her to sit and look at you to get a treat when there are other dogs in the area. Offering her another behavior that you can reward is more effective instead of always saying no or correcting her. I'm sure you want a well socialized companion so please look into some dog training classes in your area. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Hazel.

Leash aggression is actually pretty common. When an animal feels threatened or scared they need fight or flight. When they are on leash you have now removed the option of flight so you are way more likely to have a fight reaction and this is why you are noticing this on leash vs. off leash. This is something that needs assistance of a professional trainer, working under the dogs threshold to address the issue. You can see varying amounts of improvement depending on the severity of the case but it's going to take a lot of work and commitment on your part. Please seek help from a qualified professional. Not addressing this issue now will only make it worse and harder to deal with later.