Prim, my Coconut Hound from the Dominican Republic is a little like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. When we leash her, take her for a walk and she spots a dog she is the most over-stimulated little dog around. She pulls, lunges, barks, growls and has selective hearing. When I take her to a dog park and unleash her she is the sweetest most playful dog ever. She runs and jumps, plays ball, looks for other dogs to chase her and rolls around looking for a playmate. Then why is she such a pain when I walk her on a leash? Well, my beautiful Coconut Hound has “leash aggression”.
Leash aggression happens when your dog becomes aggressive, anxious and over-excited (this is Prim) when in close contact with other dogs while on a leash. Have you ever noticed that dogs usually meet in a “C” position? Meaning nose to bum and bum to nose. This is how dogs introduce themselves – much like people making eye contact and shaking hands.
So why does my dog have leash aggression? Sometimes it’s as simple as not being doggie socialized during puppy days. Also, it can be your dog tends to be more anxious or territorial. Prim tends to be a bit more territorial than anxious and we are working on that – she is getting better!
Dog owners are partly to blame but not always. When we are approaching another dog we tend to pull on their leash and shorten it. We become a bit nervous about encounters. Leashed dogs have no freedom to move about and this creates frustration for them. This action forces them to go nose to nose and bypasses the introductory meeting of bum to nose and nose to bum. It ends up being an aggressive move. We then tend to reprimand them for their actions when it could have been us who started it all.
Training your dog might take a bit of time but it is doable. Dog treats are key. Train in an area where there are other dogs and teach them to listen to your voice before they go off the rails. Reward with a treat if they are successful. When your dog spots another dog, call them in a gentle voice and see if they make eye contact with you. If they do, reward with a treat. Have them listen to you and try to bring their hyperactivity down a notch. On daily walks, release the leash tension when another dog is in sight and wait for them to make eye contact with you – reward with a treat. Hand held clickers work very well in these training situations as well. This can be a very long process but one I am sure that if you take on will make your dogs walks a lot more enjoyable. I am still in training with Prim… like I said it could take a while 🙂
Fur The Long Haul 
My dog seems to be aggressive on the leash when she is with me because she can become overprotective of me. But she’s great with my boyfriend. I created a suck.
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