# Puppy pulls towards other dogs..



## wildrivers (Sep 28, 2011)

My pup at 8 months can heel, sit and lay down. When she is out on leash in public the heel gets broken when she sees a dog or a child. She starts barking and pulling towards them. Any suggestions on how to break this? She loves both dogs and kids. I am not useing a prong collar or shock collar. I am useing positive training methods with treats. Thanks.


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## Clyde (Feb 13, 2011)

Have you taken a class where they introduce other dogs and exciting people/children as distractions for loose leash walking and teach you how to deal with this?

I personally do not do positive only. I spend time in the teaching phase with positive only for this type of thing but once I have taught the dog to walk past distraction on a loose leash and have the dog successful at passing these types of distraction in a set up type situation I will then introduce a leash correction.

It sounds like she is excited to see dogs and kids so to start make sure you never reward this behaviour by letting her meet them when she is acting this way.


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## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

You have to catch her with a treat before she spots the other dog/kids. If she looks away from the treat and still pulls towards the dog then the treat isn't working for her. Clearly the other dog is more interesting. Again, the treat has to be out before she spots the other dog/child, her attention needs to be on you/the treat while you walk past the dog/child, if she still pulls towards them, she could care less about the treat.

I don't do positive only either, at 8 months old if we had allowed our boy to pull, there would be no stopping him. I'm not sure if prong collars are against positive only reinforcement but I'm a strong believer in having control of your dog and sometimes needing corrections. If used properly a prong collar is a great tool.


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## jakes mom (Feb 29, 2012)

Hi Wildrivers

I'm glad you don't use a prong or shock collar - there really is no need to. You can teach your dog with positive methods. I can only speak for myself, but my dog was like yours and was made much worse by using a choke chain to correct him. I really regret ever using it. 

As your dog is so young and I assume she has only recently started to do this, you should be able to sort it out ok. If this problen is not sorted early it can increase and leave you with major problems as she matures and gets stronger.

You dog is just too enthusiastic to meet and greet other dogs and kids. You need to teach her to ignore them - unless you say it's ok. You need to be condident, calm and keep the leash loose. If you lighten the leash, the tension will go down the leash to your dog, and she will think you're tense and she will be the same.

First of all I would concentrate on teaching your dog some self control. This video is excellent. She needs to know a strong 'leave it'. 

It's yer choice 




 
Next you need to avoid the chances of her practicing this behaviour, until she understands what you expect of her. The more she practices, the worse it will become. 

In order for her not to be able to practice you need to be well away from other dogs. By this I mean if she calmly passes dogs at 20 feet, don't go any closer, but if she reacts to other dogs at 400 yards away you need to that far away. This is known as her threshold. Slowly you work at reducing her threshold, until she will more or less ignore other dogs. 

Now you need to stock yourself up with some really tasty treats, better and smellier than her normal ones. It's also a good idea to either have a favourite toy or something to play tug with. 

I would also advice that you keep your training sessions short. A few shorter walks are so much better than one or two long walks. She'll get less chance to react, and you'll get less chance to get stressed.

Next you have to make yourself the most interesting thing to her. She needs to pay attention to you and not other dogs. Please check out the some of the videos on this site.

http://www.dogmantics.com/Dogmantics/Free_Video_List.html

Take you dog for a walk where you can keep her at a safe distance from other dogs and children. If that's not possible where you live, perhaps you could take her in the car somewhere suitable while you work on this.

Stay alert and try and notice the other dog before your dog does. Keep on eye on her body language, if you are far enough away from the other dog she may well look at the other dog but not react, and before she gets chance to react - get her attention off the other dog and onto you. Either get her to turn her head away by enticing her with a treat, or start playing with her or start running - whatever it takes to get her to stop looking at the other dog. As soon as she stops looking tell her what a good girl she is. 

Once you have taught her to 'leave it' or 'watch me' you can use that command, carry on walking and then play with her or treat her. 

Once you feel that she ignores other dogs and pays attention to you at a certain distance you can move closer. But take your time - don't be tempted to rush. It will not be sorted overnight - there is no quick fix. The more solid she is at each stage the better. It's better to keep her over threshold than to try and rush it. 

You could also find a bench somewhere that dogs and children are likely to be at a safe distance. Reward her for being calm and sitting or lying down without reacting. 

If you are caught unawares, stay calm, shorten her leash if necessary but do not tighten it, and if she does react just ignore her, and praise her when she calms down. But do your best to avoid it if at all possible by crossing the road, pushing against your dog to turn her around and walk in the opposite direction - whatever it takes get her attention of the other dog. 

If she reacts very close up, turn her so she is not facing the other dog, as eye contact can result in aggressive responses from either dog.

Work on that for a least four weeks if you see no improvement at all, you will need to consider trying something else. 

Does she have doggie friends that you set up play dates with - she needs to burn of some of that energy and have fun. 

Also perhaps you can find a good training school to help you work with this problem using positive methods only. Always ask questions and go and view the class first without your dog - to make sure you are happy with the methods used.

Hope thats helpful. Anything you're not sure of - just ask. 

Sue


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## wildrivers (Sep 28, 2011)

Thanks for the great video link. I will watch a bunch of them. Its hard to train in certain situations as helpers are hard to come by. Everyone has their own life and schedules, most dont have time to train with you. I will try the getting only so close and rewarding for not barking at a dog and go from there.


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## jakes mom (Feb 29, 2012)

That's the big problem with reactive dogs - getting the right situation to work in. We're lucky that we have a local area where lots of people walk their dogs, but it's big enough to avoid them if necassary.

Yes, just keep your distance and try your hardest to keep her attention on you.

Most important of all, keep calm and relaxed and the leash loose - you're dog isn't aggressive - so as long as you're far enough away - there really is nothing to worry about. 

Don't worry too much if she does react, just completely ignore her and stand still, wait until she is calm, loosen the leash, and if she goes to pull again just carry on standing still. Praise her only when you release the pressure on the leash and she stays calm. Tell her she's a good girl, give her a treat and carry on walking. 

Give it a go for a few weeks and see how you get on.
_______________________
Sue


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