Hi, my name's Lucy
I'm a Canine Behaviourist and Training Advisor
here at Battersea
Today, I'm going to show you
how you can help manage your dog's frustration when on lead
Some dogs feel restricted when on lead
and can struggle to remain calm around certain triggers
This can lead to them feeling frustrated
Which can escalate into reactivity
often known as lead frustration
The way you begin to help your dog with this will depend on
why they are frustrated
and what they are directing that frustration at
The most common triggers of lead frustration
can be people or other dogs
The main thing is to make sure that they remain calm
around their triggers
This advice is suitable for dogs
that are otherwise comfortable around people
and other dogs when off lead
There is a distance in which your dog is
able to remain calm around their trigger
This can change day to day
depending on how they are feeling
For example you may find if your dog is relaxed
been exercised and more settled
that the distance that they can be calm around their trigger
is smaller compared to on days where they may
have been exposed to higher stress levels
It's important to identify what your dog's threshold is
And you want to start training below this
For example starting at a greater distance
It's important to welcome foundation behaviours first
such as loose lead walking or teaching a watch cue
This is to ensure we can keep our dog’s focus
Make sure you know what your dog's motivations are
before you start training
because we're going to need this
to help build our dogs’ focus
Loose lead walking is really important
as any tension in the lead
can lead to our dogs feeling restricted
which then could increase the likelihood of them reacting
For help and how to teach a dog to do this
you can check out our website
If your dog gets frustrated by other dogs
you can ask a friend with a calm dog
to assist with your training
Choose a quiet location to begin with
and inform your friend of your threshold distance
If any point your dog is struggling
move them further away or out of sight
This will allow them to calm down before continuing
Start with your friends dog being stationary
because an excitable bouncy dog
can lead to your dog becoming over aroused unnecessarily
Allow your dog to spot the other dog
Use your marker word "Yes"
and then reward them
Always reward your dog away from the trigger
This will encourage them to break focus
and to come back to you
To help keep your dog engaged
you can vary the rewards that you're using
let them chase the treat or use a jackpot reward
Remember to keep sessions short
We want to ensure that we've finished
with our dog doing well
not when either of us have got frustrated
When finishing your session
engage and play games with your dog
This ensures that your dog finds you
just as much fun as other dogs
You want to progress your sessions
once your dog has got the hang of spotting other dogs
and coming back to you
When your dog is consistently staying calm
and responding to you in these situations
you can then start to decrease the distance
between the two dogs
As your training continues to progress
you can then start to increase the movement of the other dog
When doing this you want to ensure that
you increase that distance between the two dogs
to set your dog up for success
If your training continues to be successful
you can then start to allow your dog to have
more freedom by using a long line
When doing this ensure to reward any time
your dog checks in with you
If your dog is showing extreme behaviours, when on lead
we would recommend that you speak to a behaviourist
on a one-to-one basis
Young dogs or very sociable dogs
can get easily excited when seeing other people
If on lead and not able to greet that person
this can lead to frustration
The same principles apply ensuring that we have
strong foundation behaviours in place to keep our dogs calm
You can ask a friend to help you with this training
They will need to be very boring
Ask them to sit or stand and ignore your dog
Start at a distance that your dog will respond to you
Practise rewarding calm behaviours
For example, a sit
Whenever your dog looks at your friend
call them back and reward them
As your training progresses
you can decrease the distance between you and your friend
Eventually your dog should be able to stay calm
when greeting that person
Always reward calm behaviours
Use play as a reward to keep your dog's focus on you
It's important to acknowledge
that a dog that is frustrated on lead
can be frustrating for us owners too
Try to remain calm in any situation
Don't be tempted to punish your dog for reacting
They may start to fear dogs coming towards them
which can increase their reactions
Instead, remove them from the situation
and allow them time to calm down
Those are our tips on how to help
manage your dog's lead frustration
If you'd like to learn more about how to teach your dog
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