Dog Training - Leash Aggression

Since I'm a bit behind on the blog, in an effort to catch-up, I'm going to post my daily progress and also add in the specific training I did with Victoria.

Our biggest issue is the dogs' behavior on leash when we see another dog coming towards us. The dogs don't seem to mind when a dog barks at them from inside their own house as we pass, or when we pass a fence and that dog is in their yard barking at us. For some reason, it's just when they see another dog walking.

Victoria and I worked on this with Riley and with the help of our neighbor's dog, Maggie (a beautiful Golden Retriever who is sweet as can be). We had a handler with Maggie on the opposite side of the street from our house and off to the right. As we walked out the front door, it wasn't long before Riley saw Maggie and started barking and lunging. Victoria promptly turned on her heel, walked the other way for about 4-5 paces then turned back and walked in the direction of Maggie. We had to do this a few times before Riley realized we weren't going to go towards Maggie if she was barking; once she was quiet, we would head back towards her. When we did get to where we were right across the street from Maggie, Riley didn't bark, but was looking right at Maggie. Victoria told me to reward her because although she was looking and interested in Maggie, she wasn't barking at her. Eventually, the goal would be for Riley to be focused on me, or just not interested in the other dog, but we are taking baby steps!

It took about 5-10 minutes of this training for Riley to "get it". Much to my surprise, she even did well when Victoria turned the leash over to me! In fact, at the end, I was able to get within about 5 feet of Maggie with Riley. It felt so good, I almost cried! I was so happy to see that it is possible and that it does work!

Now the key is to see other dogs on our walks! I may have to borrow some neighbors' dogs just so we can get in some practice. I especially need to practice with Finlay.