Freya is 5 months old now... When we got her, we were told she was over-adrenalized most of the time, and that we have to manage her excitement levels. Things at home have improved significantly (we play calmly, train, keep doors and windows closed), but when walking outside, she goes from 0 to 100 in a split second.
We go to a park across the street as we have no yard of our own. I time our walks to make sure we're there when it's mostly empty, and stick to the outskirts to avoid as much as possible. If I notice the distraction before Freya, I go in the opposite direction asap. If she sees it, but it's far away, I can still manage to get her attention and redirect. If people ignore her, she's fine. But the second she sees someone she recognizes, pays attention to her or a dog (any dog), she will do one of 2 things;
1)pull like a crazy to get to her target, and then jump around & bark like crazy (this is if her target is close by). In this case, I redirect with the leash, and keep walking in the other direction until she calms down. She is pulling like crazy the whole time and staring back, but I keep moving.
2)she lays down, knowing I will try to pull her away from the distraction, until the object of her desire gets close enough, and then the crazy jumping and barking will begin. I try to step on her leash, but she's gotten too big for me to manage, and I have fallen on 2 occasions now trying to do this. Now, I end up keeping a short leash on her, and once she gets up, start dragging her away.
Will this phase ever pass? Is there anything else I should be doing? Once in these situations, I wish I knew how to calm her down so she can greet politely. We actually have a park worker helping us out by ignoring Freya, then asking her to sit, and once she sits she gets petting and a treat. But as soon as she gets her treat, she starts all over again.
Oh, and we have her on a front ring harness right now - she just chokes herself when on a flat collar :-(
We go to a park across the street as we have no yard of our own. I time our walks to make sure we're there when it's mostly empty, and stick to the outskirts to avoid as much as possible. If I notice the distraction before Freya, I go in the opposite direction asap. If she sees it, but it's far away, I can still manage to get her attention and redirect. If people ignore her, she's fine. But the second she sees someone she recognizes, pays attention to her or a dog (any dog), she will do one of 2 things;
1)pull like a crazy to get to her target, and then jump around & bark like crazy (this is if her target is close by). In this case, I redirect with the leash, and keep walking in the other direction until she calms down. She is pulling like crazy the whole time and staring back, but I keep moving.
2)she lays down, knowing I will try to pull her away from the distraction, until the object of her desire gets close enough, and then the crazy jumping and barking will begin. I try to step on her leash, but she's gotten too big for me to manage, and I have fallen on 2 occasions now trying to do this. Now, I end up keeping a short leash on her, and once she gets up, start dragging her away.
Will this phase ever pass? Is there anything else I should be doing? Once in these situations, I wish I knew how to calm her down so she can greet politely. We actually have a park worker helping us out by ignoring Freya, then asking her to sit, and once she sits she gets petting and a treat. But as soon as she gets her treat, she starts all over again.
Oh, and we have her on a front ring harness right now - she just chokes herself when on a flat collar :-(