It can be very difficult and scary for you if your dog pulls towards other dogs and barks at them while you are out on a walk. The other dog may be walking towards you or may be behind a fence. You may think your dog is going to attack the other dog and you may pull back hard on his lead. Unfortunately, this will inevitably make the problem worse.

Instead of reprimanding your dog and yanking on his lead, you should aim to teach him to do a substitute behaviour (focusing on you) when triggered by the presence of another dog. As soon as he does the desired behaviour (focus on you) you should reward him heavily. He will eventually learn to associate the presence of another dog with the happy event of getting a treat and will turn to you for his treat instead of barking at the other dog.

To train this new behaviour, take a bum bag full of smelly, high value dog treats (i.e. his favourite food, such as sausage or cheese) with you on your walks. If your dog is more motivated by toys than food then take his favourite toy instead. Your walks should be the only time when he gets his favourite treat or toy, at least until his behaviour improves.

When you see another dog approaching, or you are approaching the yard of a dog which normally triggers your dog, you need to immediately distract your dog with the treats or toy while the other dog is passing by. You must start doing this before your dog notices the other dog. Try to keep his focus on you and not the other dog as much as possible. If your dog goes mental then stop treating and try to get him away from the situation as quickly as possible. Stand between you and the other dog so he doesn’t see him. Slowly, after a lot of practice, he should start looking to you for treats when he sees another dog instead of getting overly excited. It will take a while but it really does works…eventually. You just have to be patient and keep working at it consistently. Remember to start distracting and rewarding your dog before he gets sees the other dog and keep rewarding him as long as he is focused on you.

Guest Author: After a long career in IT, Terri now divides her time between bookkeeping for the family business and volunteer work with Dog Rescue Newcastle.

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