Aggressive behaviour leaving home

[mbarryt]

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We have a 6 yr old jack Russell & a 18mth bichon. they have both started barking violently at other dogs, just after leaving home. 100 yards later they are fine. its obviously territorial & the two dogs wind each other up, but any ideas on what to do about it?

the jr tends to bark at dogs on leads when he's on a lead, but that is normally manageable.

 

[gypsysmum2]

It sounds as though this might just be an extension of the already established behaviour.

Dogs feel trapped on lead. When their fight/flight kicks in they have nowhere to run and so have to stand and fight. In order to cure it we need the dog to not feel the need to drive other dogs away. This means that they have to be happy and comfortable around other dogs in all situations. It will take a lot of hard work to convince each of your dogs that other dogs are nothing to worry about.

The behaviour is seen by your dog as successful. They bark at another dog, to make it go away, and it always does!

How well were the dogs socialised when they were puppies? If they were well socialised it is much easier to convince them that other dogs do not have to be driven away. If not, you have a really uphill struggle to socialise each of them now. They need to be exposed to other dogs on a regular basis in a situation that does not cause them to get anxious and bark at them. This usually means finding your dogs "critical distance" where they feel safe enough not to need to bark at the other dog. You then play with and feed your dog to make him feel happy and relaxed while in the presence of another dog (albeit quite a distance from it). The distance is then very gradually reduced over a long period of time, going back to square one if necessary, until the dog is happy to be around other dogs in close proximity.

Sometimes dogs can be distracted with tasty food, or a toy they are obsessed with, to ignore another dogs. This can then be used every time another dog approaches to make your dog feel happy. This feeling of happiness convinces the dog that they are happy to be around other dogs because the toy/food is produced immediately one appears. It would be very difficult to work with two dogs in this scenario so you would need to walk them separately for quite a while.

Shouting and pulling on the lead make things worse. The dog thinks we are joining in, with the barking, when we shout. Pulling on the lead makes the dog think that we are anxious about the other dog too! It is best just to smile and apologise to the other dog owner.