# 3 Month Old Puppy .. Barking and Lunging during walks



## JayJ4 (May 7, 2016)

Hello all,

Recently my German Shepherd has been wonderful lately, he's gotten over his biting stage, doing excellent in training and walks wonderfully on the leash (loosely)... There is only one problem, yesterday.. I was walking him through my neighborhood... Which there are many, many dogs *sigh* and, whenever my 3 month old pup saw one, or even glimpsed at a distance, he started pulling like crazy, fur standing up, while he's barking and growling.. Deepening his bark, and lunging.

How can I fix this behavior? Everyone in the neighborhood were giving me some pretty intense dirty looks... I can't have this happening in the future when he's bigger because, I'm a small female myself, so, the moment he pulls I will definitely be flying which will definitely not be fun for me!

Like to mention.. He still hasn't gone to obedience school.. He should be soon, and puppy classes... Either way, he's only met two dogs in his life time and interacted with those two dogs, the first one was multiple interactions but nothing really happening between them, besides him barking and annoying the older dog who didn't care about him, and the second one is when he got into a little scrap with a smaller dog, but after that, he was completely ok with the smaller dog, not growling or barking at her, and even followed her around little.

He doesn't know how to interact with dogs.. Either, he doesn't know how to "play" with them, instead he hides behind me, and or, growls and barks at them (snaps), and his fur stands up.

And now when he sees them he decides to pick a fight and start barking like crazy, and even lunge.

How can I fix this? What do you guys recommend, I'm a little terrify of flying (being dragged), when he's bigger


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Do you have to walk him in the neighborhood where there are so many dogs? If so, then try to stop it before he zones in and gets over his threshold. Carry high value treats, and redirect him back to you. He is a bit young to teach LAT(Look at That) though you can still try to bring his focus back to you...turn around and move away if you see a dog approaching(for now) I would try to keep him under threshold and do small sessions of training. 
If not, do obedience in a quieter place. Dogs do not have to be walked if they are being mentally and physically exercised. I would not take a reactive puppy on such walks at this time until I had him engaging with me. He is not confident and is showing fear based aggression.

A good book to read that has some great exercises is Controlled Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt. Even though your pup is young, you can utilize many of her techniques(go to place is one) CONTROL UNLEASHED - CREATING A FOCUSED AND CONFIDENT DOG - Dog Training and Behavior - Dogwise.com


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## JayJ4 (May 7, 2016)

onyx'girl said:


> Do you have to walk him in the neighborhood where there are so many dogs? If so, then try to stop it before he zones in and gets over his threshold. Carry high value treats, and redirect him back to you. He is a bit young to teach LAT(Look at That) though you can still try to bring his focus back to you...turn around and move away if you see a dog approaching(for now) I would try to keep him under threshold and do small sessions of training.
> If not, do obedience in a quieter place. Dogs do not have to be walked if they are being mentally and physically exercised. I would not take a reactive puppy on such walks at this time until I had him engaging with me. He is not confident and is showing fear based aggression.
> 
> A good book to read that has some great exercises is Controlled Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt. Even though your pup is young, you can utilize many of her techniques(go to place is one) CONTROL UNLEASHED - CREATING A FOCUSED AND CONFIDENT DOG - Dog Training and Behavior - Dogwise.com


Oh I taught him look at that, and I taught him; "Look at me" - I was gonna practice the "Look at me" trick more when a dog walks by me. Sadly, I can't because ... There is literally dogs everywhere I live downtown in the city (not in an apartment), and there's dogs crawling everywhere I go, now that it's summer, double the amount of dogs.

It's so weird because before he never use to care when a dog was walking beside him, he never cared? He would never bark, and or care to look just kept walking, now he cares. While we're walking too he likes to look up at me.

He's not OK with any dogs it seems, besides that small dog he met, where they had a little scrap, than they were completely fine and he wasn't growling at her, or chasing her, or anything, but did follow her and try to approach her (sniff behind), and let her sniff.

This is such a odd situation.
I'm determined to get it fixed though as long as I don't go flying in the end! 

Will puppy classes and obedience school fix this?
I have a feeling he'd definitely get kicked out of Obedience school though, 100%!


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

I think your idea to sign up for classes is great. Your pup will learn how to behave around other pups and dogs. Don't worry - there will probably be worse behaved pups in the class! Good luck!


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## Barcagp (Jan 28, 2014)

My Puppy is kind of doing the same thing. Ive been taking her to coffee shops and many different places since she was 8 weeks. 
This last week she started barking and lunging at dogs and barking at children. 
In her class they told me for now to try and get her to focus. I get that but shes not very food motivated, she barely wants to eat so a treat is not necessarily high level for her. 
I keep telling her no and redirecting but its not like shes turning and focusing on me right now. 
Any suggestions?
Any training ideas or ways to ease her into it. 
Honestly, since she went to the puppy class is when it started, first time she really interacted with other puppies, before she would just watch and you could get eye contact with her. now, its like she has to go play with them


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

Those kinds of puppy classes can be very stressful for dogs like ours. I tried one and my dog kept getting more agitated. Treats end up rewarding them for bad behavior, not good.


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## Barcagp (Jan 28, 2014)

LuvShepherds said:


> Those kinds of puppy classes can be very stressful for dogs like ours. I tried one and my dog kept getting more agitated. Treats end up rewarding them for bad behavior, not good.


What do you suggest? 1 on 1. Basic obedience group class? 
I though maybe doing a class in a group would work with having to deal with distractions but at this point I dnk. 
I'm trying to nip this in the butt. This is how my 7 yr old started and it's always a constant problem. 
I don't want this behavior at all for her. I'm gonna be patient but I'll do whatever it takes. Even boarding her haha


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

Barcagp said:


> What do you suggest? 1 on 1. Basic obedience group class?
> I though maybe doing a class in a group would work with having to deal with distractions but at this point I dnk.
> I'm trying to nip this in the butt. This is how my 7 yr old started and it's always a constant problem.
> I don't want this behavior at all for her. I'm gonna be patient but I'll do whatever it takes. Even boarding her haha


It is either something you as the handler are doing or not doing. Ask the trainer in the class. It might be as simple as a few good corrections but they won't allow it, you won't get on top of it. Treats just made it worse for my dog.


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## ausdland (Oct 21, 2015)

Sounds like he's afraid of other dogs and reactive when on leash. He's only 3 months old. I'd avoid those neighborhood dogs on leash walks for now. You could try a puppy class but those can get out of hand. I tried one and pulled my pup after the 3rd free for all. Hopefully you can find a dog tolerant of puppies or another pup to play with. Sounds like he needs fun experiences to build trust and confidence.


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## Barcagp (Jan 28, 2014)

I'm taking her to Tim cutter for her training on Monday. He recommended 1 on 1 until she has more confidence and then maybe group stuff. 
She hasn't had a bad experience. There was just another 14 week old in the class bullying others. But my dog didn't cry she just followed them and came back to me. I'm nipping it in the butt. I don't need her to play with dogs. I need her to not give a flying rats ass about another dog. That's all. Hopefully I'm making a good choice with her. She's been good otherwise


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## Barcagp (Jan 28, 2014)

Took her to the trainer. I was quickly introduced to the prong collar. I use one for our 7 year old. And I just didn't know they used it on puppies yet. However I did find out I don't pop it like with the older dogs. She just feels the collar pinching and she turns right back. 
5 dogs walking by later and.... No more lunging or barking. Calm puppy looking at us. I can't complain. 
Any thoughts on the prong collar at almost 14 weeks? Every effective trainer I've seen with a gsd uses one. Usually the ones that don't use one, I see lunging....from the ones I've seen


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## Fireman88 (Sep 7, 2013)

Test Post


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