dog rushing up to people

[nightswimmer]

I have 2 dogs, a rescue springer mix and a bedlington. The problem is with the springer, who has now influenced the bedlington to behave the same way. It's being aggressive with people who are walking /running on their own without dogs-she's okay when there are dogs. She rushes up to them very fast and barks aggressively at them. This behaviour developed gradually, she used to ignore people as we walked by, with no interest in any interaction.

I manage this by putting her on the lead when ever I see anyone approaching, but would like to deal more effectively with this. She is good with recall except goes deaf when she's spotted someone (and I haven't seen them in time to put the lead on.)

How do I manage this? Keeping her on the lead all the time is a problem because she's such a high energy dog, and I would prefer not to always have to walk in remote areas where we won't bump into people.

One of our dogs used to race up to other dogs, usually when they were on leads, hackles up, and shout at them. He did no harm to the dog and usually the dog in question behaved as though ours was a prat, but it gave the owners a fright and really wasn't very helpful behaviour. It is impossible in a busy park to keep away from all people and all dogs all the time, so I used a lot of diversion tactics - toys and treats and gently moving in a different direction, or at least facing in a different direction. It was very simple, and really just involved spotting potential targets before he did.

Thenks EasytoEatTiger...well that's what I do do, try to spot them before she does, but I would love to be able to walk with her off lead without it being stressful, worrying who she's going to terrify next. I would like to go back to having her ignore peope as we went by, or not be aggro anyway. But will try the distraction thing anyway.

You need to rope in some people (who aren't fazed by dogs) to help you, and arrange to bump into them on a walk. Get them to totally ignore the dog when she approaches, and praise her in a totally OTT way if she is fine with them, or comes away etc when you call, until she gets the message.

Yes I can see that'a a strategy that might well work. Now I just need to find those helpful people !

Does she play with toys at all?

Or balls?

She would chase a ball if you threw it, and a favourite item would be an apple, guarding it and eventually gnawing it to bits.