[Jen526]

Cooper is the sweetest dog. But, on his leash, he is a monster. When someone walks near us, he goes insane..and it really scares people. We have tried making him sit and re-focus him, we've tried treats to see that when people walk by it's ok, and nothing is working. He is getting better, but not close to ok.

And when he happens to be off his leash and sees someone or another dog, he doesn't think twice and just runs right up to them...causing a lot of problems sometimes.

Does anyone have any advice on how we can work on this?

 

[BookerMoose]

Have you worked with a trainer on the problem? That can be a good way to get other ideas for how to deal with it. Our Moose was awful when we first adopted him and we worked with a trainer and it made a lot of difference (although he still has his moments, especially when I am walking him). A lot of the problem was me not being in charge enough - the training was more of me than Moosie!

Does Cooper like carrying toys in his mouth? One thing that worked really well even when Moose was at his worst was to give him a squeeky toy to carry on the walk... IF he was in the right mood (and it didn't always work) to carry it would work like a big pacifier and he would be as good as gold... that proved to be a lifesaver on more than one occasion.

 

[Jen526]

He doesn't like to hold toys hardly at all.

We have a trainer at the daycare (he goes to daycare 3 days a week) and they worked with him on the fence aggression, the barking, the biting, etc. But we can't seem to break him on this leash thing. And because we are paying so much money for the daycare, we can't afford a trainer to work with him on the side.

 

[weed30]

I would give a Citronella anti-bark collar a try. Daisy had the same issues you described - went nutzo when she saw another dog, barking like mad and pulling on the leash trying to get at them. (to sniff and play, not to fight!) It was embarrassing and made walks very unpleasant. I got the collar (I'll link below), and it was a freakin' miracle!

The collar sprays a shot of citronella when they bark. The spray is directed away from the dog, it does not shoot them in the face. The idea is that the sound, smell and sight of the spray startles them enough to stop the barking. I only used it when we were taking a walk, and Daisy set it off exactly 4 times and was cured. Each time it went off, it scared/startled her and she stopped barking. If she wasn't barking, she wouldn't try to pull and lunge at the other dog, since those two actions were tied together in her beagle mind. The funniest thing is that she figured out just how much noise she could make without setting it off - a cute little yip

After a few weeks, I would put the collar on for a walk, but didn't turn it on. Seeing it before I put it on her and the feel of it on her neck was enough. After a few more weeks, I just carried it with me in case she regressed.

It's been a year, and she will now bark a little, but not bad. I can always start using the collar again if I need to. I don't keep it on her all the time - I feel like beagles need to bark as part of their nature, so if she's in the house, she can yap her head off if she sees a rabbit out the window

It's called Spray Sense,(the older version is called Gentle Spray), and you can get them many places on the net. I got mine from a guy on ebay. If you're going to get one, the best deal is to get the one with the extra can of spray and the extra batteries. Be sure and turn the collar off when not in use to save battery life - they are not cheap! Here's a link to the guy I got mine from:

ebay seller for Spray Sense

Good luck!

 

[Jen526]

I will have to try it! We actually have that collar, used it for in the house barking. He doesn't like it, runs when he sees it, but he will bark to the side so he doesn't catch the spray...lol. He is a very smart boy.

I will try it on a walk though. Maybe having it in a different situation will help it to be more effective.