Jumping up at children and straining to get to other dogs...

[Carrie's-Mum]

Hi

I am finding that children are tending to want to come up to Carrie (probably because of her furry, gingery ears!). But she gets VERY excited when this happens, and is trying to jump up (and sometimes succeeding, as she just makes it her mission and I can hardly hold her). She will do this with adults as well, but seems to particularly like children and, of course, this is much more of a concern because of the potential harm she could do (and irate parents!).

She has a tendency anyway to jump up, but it's now fine with the two of us as we are stepping away, turning our backs or just ignoring her, so she is quickly learning that there is nothing to be gained from this behaviour. But with strangers, and particularly with children who approach her out of the blue, I'm just not sure how to handle this. I want to socialise her with as many people as possible, but it's proving rather stressful to allow her to anywhere near children. I also noticed her lunging towards a buggy to try to get to the child inside yesterday, which is another worrying development.

The other main problem at the moment is her over-excitement when seeing other dogs. She won't rest until she gets to sniff them, then calms down almost immediately. But it's not always possible or appropriate to go up to other dogs, so does anyone have any advice as to how I should handle this? I am trying to get her to sit while a dog passes, or if they are in front of us, simply change direction, but am not sure if I'm doing the right thing. Also, her level of excitement is such that she won't respond to any commands from me at such times, and is not interested in treats.

Can anyone help?!

Thanks

Jane

[Sharon Falconer]

Hi Jane
I also have a 14 month old German Shepherd called Cleo. Cleo is nervous-aggressive and used to lunge at everyone and everything. It was a nightmare as it was accompanied by barking, growling and snarling and she would have bitten had she got the chance. What has helped the most so far has been using a prong collar on her. She still tries to lunge occasionally but not nearly as much and when she does, is much easier to control. I was against prong collars until I tried it on Cleo. John gave me one to try for a week but I wasn't 100% convinced until I had put it round my own neck and pulled it tight. The prongs didn't hurt me. It may just be a phase Carrie is going through and might improve with alot of positive reinforcement. If not, a prong collar might be worth considering, even short-term. I no longer have a constant shoulder strain from trying to pull Cleo back from lunging. It gives me alot more confidence walking her too.

Sharon
_________________
What youneed for the ultimate stressbuster---
1 burst football (can be replaced by 1 burst rugby ball) +
1 German Shepherd

[Cat.David.and.Dexter]

Hi Jane,

We love Carrie! Who can resist those ginger ears?!

I know I mentioned it in class but I agree that the prong collar was the saving grace with Dexter. He lunged at everything, everyone and every noise. It was really problematic when out walks and, just after Christmas, I fell on the ice and fractured my elbow partly because of his pulling. Our first puppy class I was in a sling! He was and still is a very strong pup.

Dexter gets puppy sat once or twice a week and the crunch came when my dad refused to puppy sit after keeping him one day while we got our new laminate laid and he almost hauled my dad's partner in front of a bus. You'll see my countless posts on the issue!!

The first night Dexter had the prong on I cried! I shall admit it! But it has saved us having a big fall out and me becoming a bit short on willing puppy sitters. It looks horrendous and, at first, Dexter yapped when he pulled in a protest but now he actually comes running when he hears it jingle. It has become particularly useful in the house too as one of his continuing issues is jumping after the cats, jumping on furniture and trying to get to whoever is at the door whenever the bell rings. We're working on all these issues but the prong has given us control when previously hes dragged us about the house when we've tried to hold his "normal" collar.

We did briefly try a head collar/halti, as I thought they looked like a nicer option, but he had a lie down protest! He chose the prong as an acceptable means of control. He has learned when he wears the collar his bad behaviour is not acceptable and behaves really well when passing people, dogs, kids, rustling leaves....etc but, if and when we forget to put it on in a rush he knows the difference and will try to push the boundaries again!

I still don't like it. I find myself a bit shy about it when people see it and I'm glad his hair covers it in public but thats just me and my continuing issues with it. It isn't easy to accept but it is definitely better than broken bones or ending up under a bus!!!

Cat

[Carrie's-Mum]

Thanks so much to you both for your really helpful replies. It's good to hear that you have both found the collar helpful. Like you, I have lots of reservations, but as you say, it could help to alleviate the current stress we are feeling.

And, as it turns out, we are going to have to keep Carrie on the lead for a lot longer than we had hoped at first (I am going to post separately about this!), so we will have to do SOMETHING about her pulling and lunging. She is not too bad at all, after the first 10 mins or so of a walk when she is really excited, and responds well to John's technique of a quick pull back when the lead goes tight. But when children, dogs, anyone on a bike, in fact pretty much anything that moves, comes into the equation, she becomes completely deaf and blind.

So good to have your moral support with this though. Carrie is gorgeous, and a wonderful dog in many ways, but it can be stressful and upsetting at times. (Yes, I have shed tears too!)

Thanks again.

Jane

[lesley]

Don't know if this will make you feel better or worse. Had similar probs tho not to same extent. Alfie would pull and try to get to every person that passed when he was a pup. We just persevered making him sit with a treat and putting myself between him and person walking past. Once they were past I made him walk on few steps with treat before giving him it. A bit easier cos he's obv a good bit smaller so him pulling wasn't as bad.
But it is worth persevering. He know walks perfectly past people. But it took best part of 6 months for it to sink in. Made it harder when the people would then reward his silly behaviour by coming over to see him when he pulled towards him which is prob why it took so long.

Keep going, u'll both get there!!

[Carrie's-Mum]