What Is Dog Leash Aggression?

Fact

• Dogs prefer to freely investigate other dogs. When a dog is on a leash, he is restrained from greeting another dog the same way as he would off leash. When dogs are free from restraint, they typically greet in a "C" shape, allowing each other to sniff.

Identification

• A dog with leash aggression will generally whine, lunge, bark and/or snarl when she comes within a certain perimeter of another dog. It is the responsibility of the owner to recognize how far away another dog can be before his dog becomes beyond control. Once aggression is beyond control, it is referred to as over-threshold. Each dog has her own threshold and each dog's threshold will be different.

Causes

• There are three main causes of dog leash aggression; excitement, frustration and fear.

  Dog leash aggression typically begins with excitement. This is when a dog is excited to see another dog. The dog may begin to pull or bark.

  Excitement turns into frustration for both the owner and the dog. A frustrated owner will usually try to contain the excitement with leash correction, causing the dog to become frustrated.

  A fearful dog may also display signs of leash aggression. Being restrained and forced to be within close contact of another dog, when the dog would have otherwise chose to stay away, can cause the dog to lunge, bark and/or snarl.

Prevention/Solution

• Behaving on a leash does not come naturally to a dog. It is a behavior that requires training. Without proper training, a dog will not be well received by other dogs. The two most common ways to train a dog are by obedience class and personal owner training.

  Obedience classes may actually increase a dog's leash aggression as the trainer̵7;s attention is divided among many dogs that are often within close range of each other. It does not effectively teach the dog an alternative behavior, and focusing becomes harder.

  Desensitization is used most often when an owner chooses to train the dog rather than take the dog to obedience class. In this process, the dog is exposed to other dogs and taught alternative behaviors in place of aggression. Desensitization begins at a distance where the dog is not reactive to the other dogs--when he is under-threshold. The dog's attention is directed to his owner and he is taught an alternative behavior. Over time, the distance between the dogs is reduced, with the alternative behavior practiced and reinforced.

Speculation

• Dog leash aggression is not dependent on breed or background. It can affects all types of dogs at different intervals.