Dogs first time aggression?

[chrisharry]

It's not okay to let strangers touch him, particularly on his head. He isn't a toy. None of us would like strangers touching us anywhere but heads are especially confrontational.

He is a works-in-progress, but honestly, it is never a good idea to let strangers pet our dogs, no matter how accommodating those dogs might be. Individual dogs might solicit touch from anybody and everybody, but most would rather be left alone.

All of us find some people threatening. Listen to your dog and be aware of his needs. He is your number one priority.

And yes of course you can let him off the lead - just make sure nobody touches him unless he knows them AND wants them to. Just as you would do with a child.

He always seems to really enjoy greeting people though. He always approaches wagging his tail. I thought it was good to allow dogs to socialise with people so they don't get nervous..

I'm contacting a local dog trainer/ behavour advisor today anyway for some help and guidance. I cant really afford it at the moment but hopefully it will be worth it in the long run..

[Ari_RR]

In letting him off leash in areas where a lot of people are, I would keep in mind that there are humans out there who feel uncomfortable when approached by a dog of any size, and he is quite big, and can appear quite scary.

I don't let my boy off leash on the trails in nature park when there are many people there, and I can't even count how many times we got a "Thank You" for him not approaching people....

[chrisharry]

I dont let him off around people in general unless there is only one or two people around. My worry is he will see a child running, follow them and end up running into them as hes pretty clumsy. We usually let him off on an empty beach which wont happen now until the holidays are over.

[Ari_RR]

Right.. In general, my thinking is that letting a dog off leash (assuming it's a well behaved dog) depends on the recall. If you can call him back reliably when you see him taking interest in someone or something that may not be a good idea to approach - great.

So, I would think now is the good time to focus on training recall. If you succeed - later on you will have a much easier time letting him off leash.

[Nettle]

Socialising dogs with people IS good, but we have to move at the dog's pace, and also make sure the people don't overwhelm him - which by touching him they may do.

He approaches wagging not to invite touch but to 'say' that he is not threatening. He wants to investigate people but he doesn't always want to be touched by them. It's hard to get this through to people because touching a dog is so nice that they want to do it. But that is sometimes their pleasure not the dog's - just as it would be for us. If he initiates touch by touching the person, he can still panic if they touch him back - that is for you to control. Not easy I know, because some people just won't be told. It's all part of being his 'safe place' and a dog parent he can trust.


And very much what Ari says - the recall is vital. And it's one of the hardest things we teach our dogs. If there are children running, or people who are frail, or ethnic groups that don't like dogs - he must be back by your side and enjoying some yummy treats now and then from your hand.

[chrisharry]

OK thanks. Makes sense.

When hes off the lead he follows us around using in big circles or just back and forth. If he sees another dog on the beach hes off. He comes back eventually but I am yet to find a way of getting him to come back. Whistle and favorite treat works for general recall but he ignores it if their is a dog there.

[delladooo]

He he won't recall from a dog, then he absolutely does not get to be off lead around other dogs and you need to be very vigilant to put him back on lead before he spots one if one is to appear. Many reasons for this but possibly most importantly because you have no idea how the dog he takes off after will react and there are numerous reasons that a strange dog isn't going to be in a position to "play" with your dog - anything from training to illness or the dog's own fear.

As a stop-gap to teach his recall in the presence of dogs, a long line is probably your best option so he has the freedom but physically can't just take off after the dog. The trick is finding something better than the dog that you can actively be involved in to get him to come back to you. It's not easy but it is vital.

[chrisharry]

He he won't recall from a dog, then he absolutely does not get to be off lead around other dogs and you need to be very vigilant to put him back on lead before he spots one if one is to appear. Many reasons for this but possibly most importantly because you have no idea how the dog he takes off after will react and there are numerous reasons that a strange dog isn't going to be in a position to "play" with your dog - anything from training to illness or the dog's own fear.

As a stop-gap to teach his recall in the presence of dogs, a long line is probably your best option so he has the freedom but physically can't just take off after the dog. The trick is finding something better than the dog that you can actively be involved in to get him to come back to you. It's not easy but it is vital.

Just wanted to quickly point out we have let him off the lead with two different dogs down the beach. Both times we saw the dog and put him on the lead. Approached the other dog owner and asked if there dog would be ok with our slightly boisterous and playfull dog to be let off.. Both times when we went our seperate ways it took a good 5 minutes to follow us as we walked away to come back to us.

We have tried a long line but as he is so quick and powerful I thought I had actually dislocated my shoulder!

[delladooo]

That's definitely a good thing! I can only speak from personal experience but with any future dogs, I won't be allowing off lead play with no recall. With my current dog, I will admit I let him be a bit of a hooligan and I think that letting him play with other dogs and then have to battle to get him back at the end made a lot much harder for us. That said, I know lots of people who do and it's not necessarily wrong, just not the way I'd do it given the chance again.

There's definitely a knack to a long line but I feel like it definitely paid off for us. How were you using it? To begin with I was keeping hold of it and reeling it wheres later on let it trail but I think a lot of it is finding how you're comfortable with it for you and your dog

[Ari_RR]

This is probably obvious, but just in case... If using a long line (especially with a quick and powerful dog) - never attach it to the collar, always use a harness.

[chrisharry]

We tried it in a few different ways but with little success on the beach or in an open area. We have a harness yes we dont want to snap his neck! He either trys to bolt, gets really tangled up then tries to bolt (which im worried he will snap his leg when he does that), or he gets really frustrated and attacks the lead.

He is good on the long lead for a normal walk though. The extra length means he loose lead walks alot better than on a shorter lead.

[JudyN]

These are just some random thoughts - they may or may not work for you, as my lurcher is a bit of a mummy's boy and would panic if I disappeared on a walk.

The beach may simply be too exciting for him now - off lead me causes mayhem, on lead he gets frustrated.

Practise the long lead in more boring environments, maybe when he's already burnt off a bit of energy (and by long lead I'm thinking of something like 15-30'). As well as rewarding him when he recalls on command, let him wander and sniff to the extent of the lead and every time he comes close to you, treat him. Praise (and then treat if he comes close enough) just for looking at you, for 'checking in' with you.

If you meet a dog he wants to play with and you think it's safe to let him off, get him to come to you and focus on you before letting him off. Ideally you want to work towards him asking if he can play with the other dog (by focusing on you and not running straight over) and then playing with the other dog becomes the reward.

As much as possible, when he does recall, after treating him, let him go and explore/play again, so coming back to you doesn't mean the end of the fun.

Does he enjoy playing with balls and retrieving? If so, you might be able to do this on a long line, and it could be a reward.

If he is off lead and you think he won't recall, don't even bother giving him the 'recall' command. If you walk off and he comes after 5 minutes, that is better than some lurchers! I have some sort of 'soft recall' commands, such as 'come along then', 'this way now', which indicate that I'm going somewhere else now. It puts less pressure on my dog, I think, which sometimes makes him more likely to comply at times, and is also less frustrating to me if he doesn't. (I'm not really sure that's an indication of good training though, it's just how things have worked out for us.)