Let’s talk about leash aggression. We have many readers who complain that when they are out for a walk with their dog on lead and the dog sees another dog or a person that they cannot control them. Whether it is that they are not using the right collar or the dog is just too powerful and they do not have verbal control over their dog - it is just a disaster waiting to happen.

First let me explain where in my opinion where I think people are going wrong and that will help frame the answer in how to do it right. What often happens is people walking down the street and their dog sees a distraction and just starts to show aggression - you know, barking, going crazy and going after the other dog. The normal dog owner response is to start screaming ‘no, no, no!’ and tugging on the leash. What is going on in the dog’s mind that they are seeing this distraction and they are feeling those tugs on the leash and they are associating those tugs with that other dog. They are left in a state of mind to where they are associating any of those little tugs to the other dog and its building more frustration and more desire to get to that other dog or person because they are associating that uncomfortable feeling with that distraction.

Typically, when people are failing in their training efforts, it’s for three different reasons: tools, techniques and consistency. Often times it’s the wrong tools. For example, a harness teaches a dog to pull so it is counter effective. You need the right kind of tool and there are a number of tools that do work. A regular training collar is typically appropriate. If you have the right technique then typically, what it falls down to is the right technique and so the way I like to approach that type of problem is a technique that does make the aggression inappropriate but doesn’t leave the dog in a mental void to where they are associating any uncomfortableness or correction with that other dog.

So for example, I have a dog and we are walking down the street. I like to keep the leash nice and loose so I will teach the dog how to walk on a loose leash. If he sees another dog and he begins to show aggression, what I will do is immediately switch direction and give a firm but fair tug on the leash with a gentle ‘come on’ command. I don’t yell, I don’t scream, I don’t add any hecticness to the situation - I just simply go off in the other direction with a firm tug or two. What happens is that the dog gets the correction for the aggression - we immediately say that any aggression is inappropriate but in changing directions, the dog is looking elsewhere and the dog is not associating that correction with the other dog but with his misbehavior. Often in changing a dog’s perspective, all you have to do is change where they are looking so in doing that 180 degree about face, now the dog has had the negative response to the aggression and realizes that wasn’t any good. And sure enough, I will turn around again and if he shows the aggression again, a couple of firm tugs and turn again. I continue to do this and soon the dog realizes that every time he sees this other dog and shows aggression, he is turned in the opposite direction and has the negative response of a firm tug so he realizes that it’s probably better not to do that in the first place. And so, instead of exacerbating the problem by yelling and pulling, what I am doing is changing the dog’s frame of mind.

To help overcome this problem, I would continue to introduce other dogs and ’set up’ the situation. There is a term I use and it is kind of a sneaky term. It is called ‘canine entrapment’ and I don’t want to be mean or trick the dog or anything like that but life is distractions. Many trainers that work in distraction free zones and so that is where I work differently right from the beginning. From day one we are going to areas where there are distractions. One thing I love to use is a dog behind a fence. You go to any neighborhood and you can always find some house that has a dog just barking like crazy behind a fence - that’s where I go to train because for the dogs that I am training, that is a huge distraction. If my dog can be perfect there or perfect while my neighbor walks their dog down the street or perfect with another dog behind a fence, soon they understand there is a concept in place - aggression is not tolerated but there is a better way to live and when you walk by the handler’s side there is teamwork, there’s this feeling of camaraderie and its an excellent way to live. They also learn that the whole aggression thing is uncomfortable and they do not want to revisit that. So yes, distractions are key. Fences are perfect because you can always find a dog barking behind a fence and before, many of my clients would avoid that area but now, we are using it to our advantage. I’m saying you want your dog to be perfect everywhere, not just in a vacuum but in real life.
Ty Brown is an expert dog trainer, author, and speaker who specializes in obedience training, behavior modification, protection dog training, and narcotics dogs.  To learn more about Ty and the dog training services he offers, visit www.dogbehavioronline.com