How do I stop my dog running up to people…

[Windyouttoday]

How do I stop my dog from running up to strangers when we’re out walking? DDog is 4 years old. Is very good indoors, however when we go out runs up to strangers even when not encouraged to do so. Not everyone loves dogs and besides, I would like my dog to pay more attention and have better recall. Help would be appreciated

Is there an enclosed field anywhere near you op?

Do you have a long line if not?

Get your dog's favourite treat and practice practice practice. Turn your back and walk away and praise and treat as soon as the dog returns. Never scold

But until it's reliable they really need to be kept on a lead in public. It's not fair on others

If you can't control it (which you obviously can't)

If only there was a dedicated Board on MN where OP could post the question of how to solve this issue with advice from people who a) have or work with dogs b) was free of posters who hate dogs and willfully ignore the actual words she wrote.

That would be fab! Wonder if MNHQ would consider setting up such a Board? We could call it something like ‘The Doghouse’ so posters would know what it’s for

I have trained mine by lots of practice in the garden . I say ' stay with me ' repeatedly and I hold a treat , after a minute or so I give her the treat . She is 1 and we can walk past several dogs on a walk using that and she won't leave my side .

I know. 4 years!!

I think people without dogs are responding because The Doghouse pops up on active a lot, even when there are hardly any responses.

Have you tried dog training classes? You could ask your vet for recommendations. When I worked at one even the most senior vets took their dogs to classes rather than trained their dogs themselves. It's particularly good for getting your dogs used to being off lead around other dogs. Everyone takes turns in the early days so one dog is off lead and practicing recall while the others are safely on lead. It's a lot more difficult to practice in a park where it's can be a free for all.

My sister did some dog training over zoom for her problem pooch.She had to put quite a few hours in to train him, but he never jumps on people now.
If you don't have the time, can you hire a dog trainer?

You need to buy a long line - a 10m one will be long enough, you can get them from Amazon and look at working with a good trainer. Either online or in person.

I taught my dog recall by starting in quiet areas with low distractions, like the garden etc. Pop the long line on but keep a hold of the other end. Let the dog go and sniff etc then recall them, using some gentle pressure on the lead if they are ignoring you to guide them over. Reward with food/praise/toy when they come back. I also use marker words - YES means they’re going to get something tasty and BREAK means off you go again to have some freedom. So for example, I would say loudly “Fluffy come”, the second they turn to come back to me, I’m say “YES” really enthusiastically and take a step or two back. Reward only when they have come all the way back. Once you have it 100% of the time in your quiet area you can move to somewhere with a little bit more distraction but at a distance. The better your dog gets the closer you can move to other distractions. Be prepared that you might be doing really well but then have to take a step back and create more distance again etc. Once you can eventually walk past people/dogs/other distractions with the dog paying no attention or walking beside you then you can start dropping the long line to trail on the ground and then eventually you will be able to remove it all together.

A few things to remember though are don’t set the dog up to fail, don’t drop or let him off the long line too early. It can be a slow process so don’t rush it. Don’t allow people to pet him or give him attention when you’re training - you want to be his main focus. The same goes for other dogs, don’t let him play with other dogs when you’re training as he will just learn to blow you off for something more exciting. If other dogs/people approach you collect your long line and walk in the opposite direction, praising your dog for ignoring the distractions.

It’ll definitely be much easier if you can work with a good trainer. There are lots of good books out there too that will possibly help. Good luck!

Well you are just rude.

To be fair OP,
a) many people will have accessed this thread from Active
b) in your OP you didn't say that you keep your dog on a lead, you asked how to prevent your dog running up to people (which kind of implied you did let your dog off lead).
You can hardly blame people for going off what you wrote rather than what you meant but didn't write.

You opening post came across as you just let your dog off op. The keep it on a lead responses were warranted

To be fair, you said that your dog has been jumping on people for 4 years.
You never said you had it on a lead.

Well that’s odd op because you quite clearly state in your first post that your dog does run up to people.

“when we go out runs up to strangers even when not encouraged to do so”

So which is it?

Believe it or not we also have a family and full times jobs to go to along with many other daily tasks to attend to.

Why do you have a dog if you don't have time to train it properly?

A longline is great for recall training! Our 13 month old doesn’t have great recall yet either so it’s short lead walks or longline if we’re in a field or something similar as it’s easier to rein her in when she inevitably goes selective hearing. Repetition and lots of praise is key for recall training.

If unsure of best techniques though Blue across has good training videos or go to a class if you can afford it.

Also a good ‘stay’ for not having them approach people you don’t want them to is something I’d recommend. Again lots of training videos online or a trainer can help.

We’re trying to train ours to do an emergency ‘stop’ alongside recall training which is going pretty slowly at the moment but I think once the recall is closer to perfect, the ‘stop’ will be easier to train.

Good luck!

Correction, you said it runs up to strangers .

As a PP said, reward, reward, reward and practice, practice, practice. Always have treats on you, buy a pouch you can wear (bum bag type thing. Recall in the house and garden will be so different to outside as there are more distractions. Long line outside and constant reinforcement. Never ever punish / shout when recall as it will destroy the positive association you’re looking for. Possibly start fresh with a new recall word. Have you had proper training with a professional? If not invest in that.

Believe it or not we also have a family and full times jobs to go to along with many other daily tasks to attend to.
this is my only worry. You need to invest the time in your dog, they’re family too and one member of the family that poses a threat to the public / wildlife etc. It’s hard work yes, but that’s what happens when you get a dog and if you can’t invest the time then you’ll never have a dog that recalls.

Jesus OP, you didn't mention the dog being on a lead at all so it was a natural assumption that it was a recall issue. You need a shorter lead and to train the dog to walk to heel and work on recall.

Was going to suggest this recall training video but have just seen that you are using a lead.

We walk our dog on a very short lead because she likes to terrify people. So we loop the lead through one hand and still hold it with the other. Would that work for you?

I think the Walking to heel video might help you more than the recall one though @Windyouttoday as you're already using a lead.

The book 'Total Recall is really good.

My dog is nervous so I started using a ball to distract him when other dogs were around, to keep his attention on me. As a happy consequence, he now know that dogs = ball so comes to me expecting a ball chuck whenever we see a dog. You could try the same with people. Every time you see a person, give him a treat or a play with his favourite toy.

Thank you @Wolfie11 .

Good tips there .

Does that mean non-binary people are also it? Maybe this is the answer to all
the pronoun knot-tying nonsense now, just make everyone an ‘it’!

My dog has poor recall so she is kept on the lead. You need to protect your dog from
himself, if he approaches the wrong person or the wrong dog, it could be game over. And no it doesn’t matter ‘that he’s just being friendly’.

Awww, @Windyouttoday did you react to the goaders? They haven’t been trained to socialised to play nicely on the internet so they get a bit jumpy-up and aggressive, bless them

I just bought my dog [pronouns: she/her/mine/notyoursgerroff] some dried sausage treats to keep up her interest in coming back even if there’s something exciting going on. Swap treats around, use high value toys that only come out for walks etc.
Training classes are good but you have to be able to have the bond between the dog and whoever is walking them.

I totally agree with this. The hyperbole and drama, and constant use of the word 'terrified'. It's just ridiculous
Along with the condescending and unpleasant 'keep it on a bloody lead' crew.

Why can't we respond to a genuine question with a helpful and non arsey reply? Just why?