18 month old dog very aggressive on lead

[Badatmostthings]

Hello, I wonder if anyone could offer advice on how to deal with this behaviour. My puppy is a poodle/collie cross so small to medium size. Very good with people, excellent in the house, excellent recall off lead. No issues at all. Will play with any dog who is up for it off lead, will ignore dogs who are not. No fighting or aggression off lead at all. On lead, completely different story especially with younger puppies. He strains, growls, bares teeth and is very aggressive. If I pull him back it seems to make him worse. I don't want to go about this the wrong way so does anyone have any suggestions as to how I should tackle this? He is intact so maybe that's the first thing to sort? Thank you.

100% do NOT get him neutered without seeking the advice of a professional trainer (preferably a behaviourist)

If his reactivity is due to nerves, it may make him much, much worse without the testosterone ( which acts to give him some confidence along with its other roles)

There could be a number of reasons why he is acting like this and without seeing the dog, no one can really advise on the course of action. Best get the professionals in imo

Thank you, hadn't thought of it being a nervous reaction. With him being worse with puppies I just assumed it might be a dominance thing. I should have added he is very jealous and will always put himself between another dog and me. He doesn't show aggression to the other dog (off lead) but looks to me for a fuss. He did it a couple of times with my children and I nipped that in the bud. Sorry to have omitted that!
I will seek the help of a behaviourist.

Dogs dont do jealousy or dominance.

So much more likely to be anxious and stressed and making his own decisions to feel safe as at the moment he is not getting that from you.

Speak to a trainer in rl and they will help you to identify the signals earlier before he has to lunge and bark and give you a plan to help him out and then the behaviour will change.

i echo the pp that you need to see a behaviourist, not a trainer. You need to understand why is he doing this as a first step.

Great advice above. Dominance theory has been debunked. Find a good trainer or behaviourist. It could be he feels scared being “trapped” on a lead.

Thank you all, appreciate your replies. They make a lot of sense. I will seek out a behaviourist.

Your vet or the great group on FB dog behaviour training and advice ran by Sally Bradbury can advise on someone. You want someone who uses positive training methods.

I know loads of people have said this but first thing to do is get help from a good, qualified behaviourist. Be aware that anyone can literally call themselves a behaviourist. Don't be afraid to ask questions. I speak from experience as I have a very anxious German Shepherd and not having had an anxious dog before I've probably met most of that charlatans that call themselves behaviourists! I'm currently working with an excellent one, hes force free, has done this for 30 years and has a list of qualifications as long as your arm and is still constantly educating himself.

Your dog is scared and you could well be transmitting fear via your lead and spiralling this behaviour. Tension on the lead = stress.

Get a behaviour specialist in to help, it can definitely be fixed x

Who on earth bred that cross and why did you buy it? It is asking for trouble. A dog with that breeding definitely needs a job to do and should have an experienced owner. This definitely sounds like fear aggression. I would recommend finding yourself a reputable trainer, otherwise this is likely to only be the first of your problems/get worse.

My rescue GSD cross was like this when I first got him, rescue had neutered him.
He was a year old, fine off lead completely ignored other dogs but growling and lunging when on lead.

I assumed it was because he felt he needed to warn other dogs off as he couldn't run away and couldn't yet trust me to keep him safe.

What worked was keeping distance from other dogs when he was on lead, turn round and walk the other way, take a detour etc.

If close contact couldn't be avoided I'd get him to sit and watch me as dog went past, then reward him by letting him hold his ball.
It worked, took about a year and now 6 years later he's fine on lead, apart from giving a quiet menacing growl to off-lead bouncy dogs that come up to him but I'm fine with that as they get the message and run off so no harm done.

Just an update as to how it's going with my dog. I found a local trainer who is training to become a behaviourist (could not find a behaviourist for love nor money).
She believes his reaction is fear based on his body language and so we are tackling this in 2 ways. On lead in an open space where we can see another dog on a lead from a fair distance we click and reward with a high value treat and then go off in another direction no fuss. The distance is very gradually reducing and so far so good, no negative reaction from him so far. The idea being in time he will see dogs on leads as a positive thing for him.
The second thing we are doing is if we come upon another dog at close range we change direction but in an exciting way almost like we're playing chase (the way I play with him when he's off lead) and he's then happy to change direction and has no interest in the other dog. For now I'm avoiding walks where close contact with other dogs can happen but at least I know I can do this with him in those instance's.
We're working towards him sitting watching me for his treat.
All very common sense really but I just needed to know the best way to go about tackling it. He's such a great pet and an absolutely brilliant addition to my family so I'm relieved to know we can sort this for him.

That sounds really positive OP. Good luck.

That's great, glad things are going well now.

Fantastic! Well done OP.