Perfect in house, perfect off lead... Absolute bloody nightmare on the lead!

[JulietBravoJuliet]

I'm looking after a friends dog this weekend. He's a large greyhound x, about 2 years old and they've had him 7 months. In the house, he's an angel; barely even know he's here. On the park, off lead, his recall is 100%, he greets dogs that come over to him with a wagging tail then walks away, never approaches dogs, barely even takes any notice of them and just wants to play ball or have a sniff in the grass.

On the lead however, he's a nightmare. He's better than he was when they first got him, as he will now actually accept a lead, but he's so strong and if he so much as sees a dog, he turns into a snarling, barking leaping around thing, even if it's a dog that two minutes earlier, he passed off lead with no problems.

I'm currently popping both dogs in the car and driving to the park, as I'm really struggling holding two when he kicks off as it triggers my dog off barking too, but obviously it's not ideal in this weather to be going in the car! His owners are at a bit of a loss as to what to do, but have mentioned they will be contacting a trainer as the behaviour is beyond their knowledge.

Anyone got any tips?

Sounds like fear aggression - our big greyhound had this after he was attacked (when on the lead and muzzled to save small furries) by a pit-bull type that was off lead, and needed 41 stitches.

We took to walking him away from other dogs - we didn't let him off lead because his recall is poor and he has a big prey drive - cats and small dogs attracted him so he has always been walked on lead.

We used to walk him on routes that were not used much by other dogs, turn him into the side so he couldn't see other dogs go past, do a lot of nipping into side paths and doubling back to avoid other dogs. it was a PITA.

We are really lucky now that we have our own fields so never meet other dogs. Best of luck with your waling this afternoon.....

My own dog can be reactive to other dogs, but I'm working hard on this and, with lots of distraction and treats, she's getting so much better. I tried walking on dog free routes with her, but it's a nightmare in the village I live in, as about 90% of the houses on my street have a dog, and there's always somebody out walking! This morning, we walked to the local park, which is all of 200 yards away, and passed 6 dogs on the way, all resulting in my friends dog going crazy and yanking my arm out of it's socket, which starts my dog off yapping and bouncing around! However, as soon as his lead is off, he relaxes and is an absolute dream, far better behaved with other dogs than my own dog is. I think we'll go in the car again this afternoon!

Try a Gencon halti. It has really calmed our fear aggressive dog, or to be honest, I think we were 99% of the problem by transmitting stress and anxiety down the lead. We feel so much more in control so he cannot lunge at other dogs :) Happier us, much happier dog