9 month old barking at lunging at dogs/strangers on walks!

[kelseyca]

Our 9 month old pup Kahlua is an angel indoors, but she is horrible on walks! She barks and lunges at every dog or person we pass. She's super friendly with everyone off leash at the dog park, so I think it just might be leash reactivity. However, I am really concerned because she nipped someone on the hand who approached her to pet her last week. Her issues only seem to be getting worse every day. I have tried desensitizing her with treats, sit/stay, and everything else you can imagine (we met with a private trainer), but nothing seems to be working. She won't even take treats when she gets in that state.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I am hoping that this is just a stage that will go away on its own, but I know this is probably something more serious.

[Niya]

I have the same EXACT problem with my 5 month old but she doesn't lunge though. I am thinking this could be the cause of fear behavior, mine has it too but its not too bad because I've been socializing her. We went to petsmart yesterday and she wasn't barking at all, I guess all those socializing is paying off now. Find something that your dog likes, Niya likes the kong squeaky ball whenever I squeak it she will focus on me even at the dog park she will ignore all the dogs and just focus on me which I think is pretty good. Try doing it to Kahlua whenever you see a stranger coming towards you squeak it (since you said treats doesn't get her attention) and get her attention then right when she focuses on you praise her and give her treats. I do believe it is a stage that would go away on its own IF you socialize her with people and dogs at least whenever you have a chance. Take it slowly, trust me it will go away. Niya's been doing really good lately, she still barks at strangers but once she sniffs them she would stop but she still have a fear issue. We are working on it and its going great so far. I wish you all the best and I know you and Kahlua can do this!


PS: Trust me at first I was hopeless because Niya was very stressed out since I got her when she was 4 months and everything was new to her. I was HOPELESS because of her behavior. Don't give up always stay positive and calm. Trust me on this one, her behavior will eventually go away!

[doggiedad]

muzzle her (when she's leashed) untill she's trained and socialized.

[kelseyca]

Originally Posted by Niya

I have the same EXACT problem with my 5 month old but she doesn't lunge though. I am thinking this could be the cause of fear behavior, mine has it too but its not too bad because I've been socializing her. We went to petsmart yesterday and she wasn't barking at all, I guess all those socializing is paying off now. Find something that your dog likes, Niya likes the kong squeaky ball whenever I squeak it she will focus on me even at the dog park she will ignore all the dogs and just focus on me which I think is pretty good. Try doing it to Kahlua whenever you see a stranger coming towards you squeak it (since you said treats doesn't get her attention) and get her attention then right when she focuses on you praise her and give her treats. I do believe it is a stage that would go away on its own IF you socialize her with people and dogs at least whenever you have a chance. Take it slowly, trust me it will go away. Niya's been doing really good lately, she still barks at strangers but once she sniffs them she would stop but she still have a fear issue. We are working on it and its going great so far. I wish you all the best and I know you and Kahlua can do this!


PS: Trust me at first I was hopeless because Niya was very stressed out since I got her when she was 4 months and everything was new to her. I was HOPELESS because of her behavior. Don't give up always stay positive and calm. Trust me on this one, her behavior will eventually go away!

Thank you for the suggestion! I will try with a toy. Although Kahlua is not really too interested in toys...

Does anyone else have any other ideas? Tonight we passed 5 dogs on our walk, and she went completely crazy at all of them. I could barely hold her (even with her no pull harness). I am completely frustrated.

[middleofnowhere]

Keep out of her "sensitive" zone -- shorten that distance gradually.

I couldn't expect my pup to walk sanely in some situations so I began gradually. I distracted her with something she valued & now fire trucks can pass us on the street with no reaction from her.

[Niya]

Originally Posted by kelseyca

Thank you for the suggestion! I will try with a toy. Although Kahlua is not really too interested in toys...

Does anyone else have any other ideas? Tonight we passed 5 dogs on our walk, and she went completely crazy at all of them. I could barely hold her (even with her no pull harness). I am completely frustrated.

Try a Holt head collar so you have more control of her. Harness made Niya pull harder so I had to get the Holt collar and it works great though I haven't been taking her for walks because I usually just go to the dog park and tire her out there. Don't get frustrated because dogs are connected to our emotions, "Your dog is your mirror". Always always stay calm, if you're getting frustrated stop and let her pull till she stops and look at you, once she looks at you mark it with "YES!" then keep going, if she pulls again keep doing the same thing. I know it will be hard but Kahlua will get it eventually.

[cta]

i have been dealing with this too. it's definitely not a phase, so keep working on it! in fact, my first post on this forum was about this exact issue! by no means am i a professional or claim to know how to solve this problem with your dog, however, i can tell you how i handle chobahn in regards to this situation. first, i choose to walk him a little later at night when there is less dog traffic on the sidewalks. i always, always, always have my eyes open for dogs that may be close by. if i see one coming at us, i move to the other side of the street because chobahn cannot share the sidewalk with another dog. he has a very low threshold, so distance is key for right now. when i am walking him i constantly work on eye contact. i make little whistle sound, when we looks at me, he gets a treat. now he does it with out treats, but still needs work on breaking his focus on a dog passing by.it's all about timing...if you can catch her before she goes nuts and get her focused on you, this will help. you could also try the LAT game...there are several threads on this forum about it. i too used a harness at one point, but i now use a prong. the prong is obviously not the solution to this problem, but it allows me to keep him under control so i can try to fix this behavior. also, do not allow people to pet your dog if she is acting this way, because it's just going to end up causing a problem for you. you do not have to say "oh she may nip." if somebody asks to pet her all you need to say is " we are in training right now." i don't want to discourage you, but this may be a long uphill battle. just stick with it and try different things until you find what works for you and your dog. good luck!

[Packen]

Originally Posted by middleofnowhere

Keep out of her "sensitive" zone -- shorten that distance gradually.

I couldn't expect my pup to walk sanely in some situations so I began gradually. I distracted her with something she valued & now fire trucks can pass us on the street with no reaction from her.

Words of wisdom.

[kelseyca]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. We will definitely keep working with her and perhaps try a head halter. Any other suggestions would be welcome as well.

It is frustrating because she was socialized so much since 8 weeks, and I worry that since she 9 months already, she's already grown into these behaviors and will always have them.

Originally Posted by cta

i have been dealing with this too. it's definitely not a phase, so keep working on it! in fact, my first post on this forum was about this exact issue! by no means am i a professional or claim to know how to solve this problem with your dog, however, i can tell you how i handle chobahn in regards to this situation. first, i choose to walk him a little later at night when there is less dog traffic on the sidewalks. i always, always, always have my eyes open for dogs that may be close by. if i see one coming at us, i move to the other side of the street because chobahn cannot share the sidewalk with another dog. he has a very low threshold, so distance is key for right now. when i am walking him i constantly work on eye contact. i make little whistle sound, when we looks at me, he gets a treat. now he does it with out treats, but still needs work on breaking his focus on a dog passing by.it's all about timing...if you can catch her before she goes nuts and get her focused on you, this will help. you could also try the LAT game...there are several threads on this forum about it. i too used a harness at one point, but i now use a prong. the prong is obviously not the solution to this problem, but it allows me to keep him under control so i can try to fix this behavior. also, do not allow people to pet your dog if she is acting this way, because it's just going to end up causing a problem for you. you do not have to say "oh she may nip." if somebody asks to pet her all you need to say is " we are in training right now." i don't want to discourage you, but this may be a long uphill battle. just stick with it and try different things until you find what works for you and your dog. good luck!