Unpredictable dog

apache

Just looking for a bit of advice please.....

My dog is grand with other dogs when off lead but not everytime but sometimes when on lead when she sees another dog coming towards her, her ears go up, she stiffens and lunges at the other dog barking. I thought that she could feel me tensing on the lead and reacts but if I don't tense she still does it.

She's about 10/11 yrs old and is a Springer X and not spayed. Is it advisable to get her spayed now and could this help her behaviour? Or would it not be right to get her done at this age?

8/10 times she will be fine but theres them times where she just goes loco. It's a pity because she's a great dog besides.

danoriordan1402

We have the exact same issue on one of our dogs. He is a 6 year old Patterdale Terrier, its like night and day with our other dog a collie who doesn't care less when walking on the lead. Its known as leash aggression, if you look that up there is ways you can try to work on it. Still a work in progress with our guy....

apache

Thanks dano, I will look lead aggression up. I think somehow she feels braver when on the lead because she knows I will hold her back.

DBB

Hi apache,

First off, on the assumption that you haven't noticed a pattern whereby she's aggressive during a predictable range of time around when she's in heat, or coming into heat, it's highly unlikely to be her hormones that are causing the issue, and spaying her is therefore unlikely to be of any help.

At her age, it is deeply ingrained at this stage which will almost certainly make this harder to deal with.

Most dogs who are reactive towards other dogs are fine when off-lead, but reactive when on-lead, because when they're on-lead, they're unable to go through their usual off-lead greeting/approaching strange dogs repertoire, which is usually significantly different to the limited behaviour they can exhibit when on-lead. When on-lead, we force them into interacting and approaching one another in ways that are kinda rude in dog terms, and that causes tension, which is the basis for reactivity.

Would you consider getting a behaviourist in to help you with this? Chances are that there are some measures you can implement to improve things reasonably quickly, but it'd be useful to have an expert eye to interpret what is going on, including specific triggers and signs that will let you know when your dog is heading towards an angry reaction.

Still stihl waters 3

Same issue here, off lead he's a gentleman with the manners of a Saint, on lead he's a scumbag

SuperBowserWorld

A lurcher I walk loves humans, can tolerate most dogs, but some dogs she justs lunges at when on the leash for no obvious reason. I think she senses some kind of threat and goes into protection mode.

Also, other dogs can be the same on the leash.

I don't think it's anything to worry about especially since she's on a leash anyway. Maybe just try to calm her down and slow down when it's about to happen. Don't shout at her.

SuperBowserWorld

Edit - duplicate post.

apache

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119124360#Comment_119124360

Thanks for this. I have a bit of a better understanding of what's going on now. I have also read up on lead aggression. I don't think spaying will help the issue.