# Advice re unexpected lunges and constantly looking behind on leash



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

You have made great progress with your leash manners! To finish the last bit I would always keep treats on hand during walks and play LAT as people go by. This will teach her that she should look to you when unexpected things happen. You can use it anytime someone goes past you even if she doesn't react. The reactive behavior will go away once she establishes a new routine. I think if you want to stop and have her sit when she becomes concerned about people coming from behind to also be able to prevent the reaction before it happens.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

WinnieThePoodle said:


> I'm looking for a bit of advice. We still have work to do but Winnie has come on really well with her leash walking and doesn't pull anywhere near as much as she used to. We have been working on the stop start method and she seems to be getting it. She used to lunge at everyone going past but now she hardly does it and will walk past people quite normally. I knew when she was going to lunge as I could see it coming as someone approached and could prepare for it and she would get rewarded for not doing it. But now she has taken to lunging only occasionally at someone when they have gone past already so she is mostly lunging at the back of their feet. I don't even know when she is going to do it. She walks normally and then goes for it. It's not everyone or every time. Just now and then so I can't predict when she will do it. I do try to keep myself between her and people passing but she will cut straight across me. How do I stop her doing this? Also she seems more interested in who or what is behind us most of the time. As soon as she becomes aware that someone is coming up behind us or if there are children she doesn't want to walk forwards anymore and wants to see everything behind us.


We are in a similar place with Oona! Her leash manners are getting way better but she will sometimes lunge/chase people out of the blue (it seems to me though there is probably some trigger for her - maybe especially tall dudes?) or at runners and bicycles if I haven't focused her first (they have become rarer in winter so are more surprising to her). I agree with Lily cd rd, stopping and having her sit is the easiest way to prevent it. When it's a runner or a bike that I hear coming from behind we turn around and face them so she's not surprised. I wonder if she's a little nervous like Oona is about scary/novel things and people coming from behind. Maybe practice turning around and walking in both directions so she's both staying with you and getting a fuller field of view.

Oona is a lot better with regular walkers but occasionally she will still decide one of them is interesting or scary after, or as, they're passing. I'm alternating "look at that" and "look at me" and rewarding her as they pass, and she's getting a lot better about it. If I reward too soon she sometimes takes that as permission to go explore, so I try to keep her focus the whole time the person is passing and reward her when she looks back at me or if she's stayed focused on me, just as they've passed. We started out with sitting for all of these distractions though. We are still having to sit with most dogs since moving and walking past while keeping her focus is really challenging for her, especially if the other dog is expressing any interest. Anyway I feel like the same principle applies - moving is a step harder for them to apply self-control than static.


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