# Leash Walking



## oodlypoodly (Oct 5, 2021)

Hi all,

I’ve been spending time recently searching through previous discussions to find solutions to what I think might be leash reactivity and general adolescence dog behaviour. Of course, everyone has contributed plenty of useful resources, and I’ve recently begun to work on LAT with Alfie.

However, I still have three questions that I didn’t find addressed in my search:

Does “leash reactivity” include crying in excitement if other dogs are near by? This is what Alfie does, versus the typical definition of leash reactivity I see is barking or growling at other dogs, which he doesn’t do. He’s also been terrible with picking up cues from other dogs if they’re unhappy with him. For example, he’ll keep trying to jump on a dog after it’s bared its teeth or something, so I end up having to drag him away. I hope that by practicing LAT, it can help curb his overexcitement. I also found that others have written that meeting other dogs on leash isn’t necessary and can increase the chance of acting out, so this is something I’ll be working on to. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Secondly, Alfie has a friend who lives a few minutes away, but I’ve been thinking, and had it confirmed more recently, that this friend’s owner doesn’t discipline her dog at all. He’s a month older than Alfie so they’ve had good puppy play sessions, but he’s been acting out more recently with signs and stories of resource guarding (and biting his owner to draw blood), barking loudly at other dogs or when he doesn’t think play time is over, pulling his owner wherever he wants to go, and he sounds like a nightmare when left alone (no crate training). Is it possible for Alfie to pick up these habits from this dog if they’re together more? I feel bad because his owner wants our dogs to walk together often, but I’m really worried Alfie will “monkey-see, monkey-do” and pick up the terrible habits that dog has. Is this a legitimate concern?

And last: the past month or so has had awful weather and Alfie was in the worst of his teething so he was barely eating. At the beginning of our walks he’d be fine, but seemingly too soon, he’d try to climb up my leg indicating he wanted to be picked up. Due to the cold weather and lower energy levels he had from eating less to nothing, I’d pick him up and head home. Now, the weather is better and he’s eating more, yet he’s sometimes still asking me to pick him up, which makes me think I enabled this behaviour to seem normal. Is this likely the case? Is there any other reason he might be wanting to be picked up? Recently I have been saying “no”, “down”, and keep walking, but he’s very nearly been stepped on because he bounds in front to climb up my leg or I have to literally drag him along (which I try to avoid - usually stop for a bit and ask him to “come”) because he’s either that subborn/tired(?). Once he’s back to normal we’re fine for a while before he decides to try again.

Lots of questions in here, so thanks to everyone who contributes and read through my whole post!


----------



## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

From personal experience, I’ll comment on your first two concerns:

That on-leash excitement you describe can quickly turn into frustration, which can then turn into growling and lunging. It sounds like you know what to do to prevent that. I would just encourage you to be consistent. I would also recommend avoiding, whenever possible, situations in which off-leash dogs might run up to leashed Alfie.

As for jumping on other dogs who’ve clearly said enough, that can be obliviousness, yes, but it can also be over-excitement and/or an attempt to take control of the situation. I would be intervening before another dog is pushed so far they bare teeth in a meaningful way. Is this happening at dog parks?


----------



## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

So.... Overexcitement threshold with other dogs... There's a point in a play session where things start to go downhill - and it sounds like you might be recognizing those behaviors, like not picking up on growling ques and jumping on other dogs... Thank you for posting.

The dog(s) are usually tired, not listening, and start to have naughty behavior. End the play session there because all the benefits have already happened and it's nap time now.

I think LAT will help some, but I think ultimately removing Alfie from the session will be the best idea as Momma bear when things start to go downhill. You could also try redirecting with a ball or toy if you insist on staying out longer. But, 20-40 minutes of play is all it takes before a nap is needed. I think your expectations will improve as he matures in conjunction with your LAT training.


----------



## oodlypoodly (Oct 5, 2021)

PeggyTheParti said:


> As for jumping on other dogs who’ve clearly said enough, that can be obliviousness, yes, but it can also be over-excitement and/or an attempt to take control of the situation. I would be intervening before another dog is pushed so far they bare teeth in a meaningful way. Is this happening at dog parks?


I actually don’t really take him to dog parks that often since I’m worried he’ll get into that sort of sticky situation and not come back from me calling him. It has happened on the rare few occasions I’ve let him off leash in that scenario, and I had to pull him away from the other dog as he was not listening. I feel like I can be overly paranoid when that type of thing happens too since he’s already had to go to the vet from a serious bite when he was younger. I recognize other dogs warning him of his excess overexcited behaviour can be good to learn his place but he doesn’t seem to acknowledge it, and then _I’m _anxious that the other dog will take it a step further.

The most recent instance of the baring teeth was when he went into the other dog’s home, and the other most recent time was at a dog park with a particularly agressive dog. (Both off leash instances). I do find other puppies are great with him, but quite a few older dogs always find him excessive. 

Nowadays when we cross paths with another dog he’s on a short leash to avoid his bouncing behaviour. He sometimes lies down and waits for another dog to come over but it’s like he’s a cat in wait since the moment the dog is near, he’ll start his crying and sniffing. But of course, after looking into LAT and whatnot, I do think I want to try avoiding other dogs and these reactions as much as possible until he’s calmer.


----------



## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

It’s really hard to stay ahead of it, but ideally when he sees another dog approaching he should think, “Woo hoo! I’m gonna get a treat from my human!” not “Uh oh. That dog’s gonna pounce on me ” or “Wheeee!!! Playtime!!”

We had a better time managing the play expectations than the fear. By the third attack, Peggy started going on the defensive. You can only do so much, unfortunately.


----------



## Jbean (Feb 18, 2019)

I'm anti-dog park. You have no idea who's there and a lot of people are really, really dumb about dogs. I live next to an unfenced field that is called "the dog park" in our neighborhood and it's just a really bad scene. There are responsible owners who bring a dog and a ball and really give their dog some attention and exercise, but the majority of my neighbors are idiots about dogs. I avoid both official and unofficial dog parks.

Puppies need to be supervised pretty closely at play. If one or the other pup seems to be losing control, it's time for some kind of distraction; a break, a new toy, a snack, whatever changes their focus. We sent our Alfie to puppy daycare run by an Ian Dunbar disciple. It was a happy find. It taught him a lot and three hours of play per day completely wore him out. If you don't have anything like that available, it's better to keep him away from uncontrolled dogs than to have him hurt or frightened.

Unfortunately reactivity spreads like a virus from crabby dogs to young dogs. Try to keep your little guy safe from loose or threatening dogs. My Alfie has been charged 15 times by loose dogs this year, 7 times by one particular dog. (Pro tip: if your dog is unreliable off leash on Monday, you can assume he'll be unreliable off leash on Tuesday. Seven times!!) He only reacts badly to this yellow lab and one other reactive but leashed yellow lab and is wary when he sees calm yellow labs, but I carry training treats all the time and constantly work on counter-conditioning. I get the treats flowing when I anticipate a problem. I often hear Hank Horrible coming as he threatens other dogs and so I change course or slide behind a parked vehicle and hide until the big oaf has passed. Avoid, if possible, treat if not. You aren't reinforcing bad behavior if you distract with treats because the behavior is driven by fear and you can't reinforce fear with positive stimuli


----------



## Starvt (Nov 5, 2019)

#1- yes, I would consider that to be at least a precursor to leash reactivity. The definition is that they are reacting in an unwanted manner to a stimulus while on leash (and usually don't react that way when off leash). I think you could consider his lack of self control as unwanted behaviour.
And yes, one of the things Alfie has to learn is that seeing other dogs does not automatically mean he gets to meet them. Breaking this chain can often help decrease that anticipation that is causing his behavior. For some dogs it's best to cut out meeting other dogs while on leash cold turkey for some time, at least until the issue is corrected and he can be calm.
#2- he's not going to pick up bad crate habits or leash pulling in the manner of an infection, but, for example, barking and pulling = uncontrolled excitement which could stimulate the same in your dog. Another concerning potential, is that this dog decides to resource guard against Alfie and either injure him or scare him enough to instigate fear or reactivity.
#3 yeah, him being picked up is now what he sees as normal, I'm sure he likes the attention. If he is dancing in front of you to try get up, then stand tall and shuffle-walk straight ahead, walking right "through" him until he gets out of the way. If you shuffle you are less likely to step on a limb and less likely to trip too!


----------

