How to stop lunging

[Eleventybillionfucks]

Hi all,
I've got a 10 month old puppy who keeps Lunging on her lead towards other dogs and people on walks, she's super friendly and a lovely well trained well behaved dog except for the lunging. We went on our usual walk today which she gets twice a day and she was a nightmare. As soon as she sees another person/dog/person with food, she goes bonkers leaping on her harness on her back legs bounding towards them !! Its so embarrassing and makes me and my DH feel like shit dog owners when people frown at her
We've tried a clicker and treats to get her attention back to us but to no avail as soon as she sees any of these things she switches off mentally and doesn't listen or pay attention to us at all we've ordered her a halti head thing to try control where her head is going when out walking but not sure what else we can do
Ive looked into a dog trainer but there are non in my area other than this she is a brilliant dog she knows all her commands and is great off lead and recalls well until she sees another dog then runs off towards them
Any ideas what we can do besides to Halti ?

She doesn't have good recall if she doesn't come back when there are distractions. That needs working on.
What happens if you don't get close enough for her to react then get attention on you?

She's fine if we don't get close enough but its when we're on pavements and have to walk close to people and other dogs she gets all excited and starts lunging towards them
When we're alone in the park about 7am on her first walk its deserted so she goes off lead and will come back perfect every time but the slightest hint of another dog nearby and i have to whip her back on the lead pronto or she'll be off like a rocket
She's a Cocker Spaniel if that makes any difference

DH suggested a Halti so we can control her head and pull her head back to us for eye contact to help with her commands
On her harness we have full control over her body but her head is all over the place as soon as she looses that self control

I'm still working on the lunging with my 11 month cocker. If I can I try and get him to sit and let the person or dog pass. This has better results than trying to walk past them nicely as I can control him more.

I have contemplated the halti but have been resisting as I wanted to try the training approach first but tempted to get one and see if it is a miracle cure

Im hoping it helps her she's in no way a threat or a danger to anyone or other dogs its just a nuisance for us and the other people she jumps at and we've encountered a lot of idiots who then encourage her by calling her up to them or getting down to her level when she is clearly a little puppy in training and im stood there trying to get her to sit stay heel etc anything to stop her jumping and straining towards whoever caught her eye

I use a dogmatic on wolfie pup. She's huge so it gives me extra control.
Does your dog get to play with others?

As soon as she starts reacting to the person/dog you immediately turn and walk away from whatever the trigger is. You do this consistently and click and reward when calm.

Yes she has lots of doggie friend's at the local park she plays with regular and her diet is brilliant she sleeps like a log no known illness or infections or anything we've literally ruled out anything that could be causing it.
The vet said she is just going through a difficult puppy stage because of her age
Though he may have a point because this behavior only started after she was spayed at 5 months old

Oh dear. That could well be the cause of the problems then. She's been spayed far too early and her hormones will be all over the place. Unfortunately because she might not now get the chance to properly develop her hormones, she might not mature in quite the same way and be puppy-like for longer. I think you're going to have to lol a bit further for a dog trainer.

*look

But the vwt recommended spaying her at that age before she went into heat for the first time ive looked upto 10 miles away for a dog trainer and they are either booked up or don't travel
I want her to have 1-1 attention away from other dog's

At training I see spaniels lunging of all ages and most have not been neutered so I would say it's just a training issue.

I have a lungy Weimaraner, but mine lunges with evil intent. I use a dogmatic for ABS as she's a big agile dog but you have to be so so careful that they don't injure their necks if they do lunge. I think they are more designed for pulling than lunging and are very effective at stopping pulling.

What about a harness that has the attachment on the front/centre of chest? As your pup lunges it will be pulled round to face you and that will be no fun at all. Only get to meet other dogs if not lunging and walking nicely.

And your vet has a point. Young dogs are hard work at this age! Give her some slack. She will grow up to be lovely or at least not try to eat other dogs, like mine!

My 10mth old pup does this when she sees someone she knows and I can barely stand. Also, if she sees one of our cats outside etc. I fear I will break something soon. I have a Mekuti which is fab, until she lunges. Op I wouldn't worry about the spaying as mine is still intact and a lungy nightmare. I'm trying distraction before she gets close enough and also get her to sit. Slow progress but getting there. Lunging is a recent thing, because she's big enough now for it to be affective.

Halti worked for us. Had exactly the same issue. As soon as the halti was on he was like a different dog. Wore it for about six months and never since. Job done!

My springer cross is also prone to over excitement, seems many spaniels firmly believe every person and dog must love them as much as they love everyone😁
Consistent training on a daily basis is the best way forward. Things that have helped us over the teenage months...mostly impulse control training and good tasty rewards for calm behaviour and recall.
When our local park was deserted we played ball, make her sit and wait , walk away, call her and then throw ball as a reward. Get her to make eye contact with you before throwing ball, playing with a toy with you etc. Now my girl sticks pretty close to me at the park or beach in case we are going to play ball. At 10 months I was using a long line at the park to, to stop her just bowling up to other dogs. Call her when she spots another dog, reel her in gently if she doesn't come straight away, treat, repeat until she realises she is not going to get to other dog until she has trotted back to you and then release her for a play if it is a doggie pal. This will only work if you have laid the foundations at home in the garden with daily recall games and impulse control. All stuff a one to one trainer can help you with. Daily practice at loose lead walking, find a few quiet roads, plenty of treats for calmly walking by your side, stop when she pulls and only move forward when lead goes slack, gradually go to where there are more people but unlikely to be dogs, outside a supermarket or school pick up and practice walking calmly by people. Then try around other dogs en route to the park etc. At 15 months old this is where we are now, good at loose lead walking, unless we see a cat, calm walking past people, joggers, bikes BUT still working on excitement when meeting dogs on lead. It is a lot of effort and work but worth it in the end to have a dog who is a pleasure to walk. I'm sure it can't just be spaniels can it? My previous two dogs were much easier 😗

Have a look at how to train for "steadiness" in gun dogs. totallygundogs.com/the-importance-of-steadiness-to-fall-for-retrievers/

You will have a fabulous dog one day. Mine is only berserk because I am her third home (and probably last chance). My other dog is golden and behaves immaculately because he was well brought up (by someone else!) and has a real obsessive love of retrieving. You can do a lot with a dog that loves to work as they are easy to reward

Thanks guys
She is literally a terrific dog in every way and an absolute joy its just this one thing she can't seem to grasp and its so frustrating but glad to know she isn't the only cocker out there thats having this trouble with the lunging she's never had any trouble with pulling and walks on a lead perfectly if no one is about which makes it all the more frustrating

Vets aren't always right! Spaying that early can cause various problems, but hopefully with work ou can still break her of puppyish habits.

Teach her an incompatible behaviour to do instead of the lunging. So close lead walking looking at you, or sitting, (although ultimately you don't want her to sit everytime someone passes). Then teach her this behaviour when she is under threshold..so not when she's close enough to lunge. Take her somewhere where she can see people passing but far enough away so she doesn't do the lunging. Teach her at that distance until she's reliable, then move a (tiny) bit closer and repeat. Only move closer once she has mastered the previous distance. If you go too fast, you will undo all the good work and set yourself back.

It's a tricky age. You need to be on the ball and spot other dogs and people before she does, at least most of the time. Once she has gone into full on lunge it's too late.
Ddog3 was one of those über friendly pups who felt obliged to throw himself at everyone he met. When I saw someone coming I took him to the side of the path and fed him treats until they got past. He also wore a harness with a front clip, just in case. It took a while, but it did work.

I'll try the treats also and getting her to sit. We live in a small village so cross the road isn't always an option as the roads are so narrow and tiny but I'll try getting her to sit when people pass us

My wee guy liked to go crazy whenever we walked past someone or another dog. Desperate to play but would be up bouncing on back legs squealing. I took out very tempting treats, normally chicken, and every few minutes called him and once I had his attention he got a bit. He soon realised responding got him the chicken. When someone was approaching I would make him sit and wait for the chicken until they had passed. It would drive him mad because he was so torn between waiting for the chicken or jumping for the dog but we persisted and he is now a lot calmer. He doesnt have to sit to the side now and walks past more calmly. Once he's passed he immediately looks round for a treat so he definitely got the message