1 year old male barking on lead and lunging

[pinkyponkyplink]

My 1 year old is calm and placid at home. He is great off the lead on the field and bounds over to other dogs to play but when he is on the lead, he barks at other dogs and lunges. He is especially bad at puppies.

I've tried distracting with food everytime we see a dog but I end up pulling him back. I try crossing over in advance. What should I do to stop this?

It sounds like lead frustration but your best bet is to speak to a trainer who can see your dogs' behaviour in person and give you some tips.

A lot of it is about timing so they'll be able to see what you might be doing wrong.

Again sounds like lead frustration, see a behaviourist as it could be a number of things; some dogs are frustrated because they want to play, whereas others can feel a bit ‘trapped’ being on the lead and it makes them a bit nervy. Or all sorts of variations, a behaviourist will be able to help you identify what is the cause and then give you the best strategy.

if you speak to a behaviourist and the recommend neutering, run a mile and find another. It would be a pretty old school suggestion and oftentimes can make things worse. Testosterone is a confidence hormone, if your dog is behaving like this because of the anxiety from not being able to control the interaction on the lead then it could make things a lot worse.

you can fix this with behavioural work. Good luck

You don't want him bounding over to other dogs off lead. He might want to play, you're not sure. The other dog may not want to 'play' either, my dog certainly wouldn't.
And if you're allowing him to run up to other dogs when off-lead he may well be getting very confused about what behaviour is expected, and frustrated that he can't do what he wants.
Keep him on lead, and keep on with the training of focus on you. Improve your timing, increase your distance away from other dogs until he is just paying attention to you and the treat/toy - then very gradually decrease the distance and strengthen his connection to you so he doesn't care about other dogs any more.
And don't let him do what he likes when off-lead any more.