Question:

when ben is off the lead he is so friendly towards other dogs,he will wait with me till we *know* the other dog is a friendly one.and hes great its all tail wagging and playing,hes a joy off the lead,will run on ahead then stop and wait and comes back when called (unless he sees a squirrel )
but when hes on the lead and we are walking on the road,hes terrible when he sees other dogs,his hackles are up hes growling and often barks a real handfull to control,is he being protective towards me?? he dont care what dog is approaching he wants to take it on, the bigger the better in bens mind. i talk to nhim calming like,im not a nervy person so dont think im passing on any bad vibes to him, it got so bad i had to stand with ben up against a wall with my body in the way to stop him going at this other dog. but saying that he has 2 doggie friends who he adores and its all tail wags n playing,and a puppy who lives near by.
but he has been like this since he was attacked in our home by next doors SBT. sorry its been a long post.

Answer:



Many dogs behave differently on-lead than off. This is usually because they are restricted in movement and, no matter how calm the owner believes him/herself to be, certain signals (tone of voice, lead handling, body posture) are usually communicated to the dog which then tend to exacerbate the problem.

If you search Google for "on lead aggression" you will find a lot of information. For example:

This article may also be adapted to help an on-lead aggressive dog:

If you continue to have problems after implementing the advice regarding focus, critical distance, body language, lead handling, voice, etc. then please let us know

Answer:



thanx for that ive book marked them so i can have a good read.
i know one thing,when im talking to a neighbour,ben likes to add his 2 ps worth,and so i have to say to the neighbour hes saying hello,so they say hello back to ben and then he sits there quiet. dog thinks hes human some times