I took my two boys for a walk yesterday, after suggestions from the board, in a quiet more controlled neighborhood to get us started (much better thanks all). Any dogs we saw were on leash allowing me to focus on my two. (They're just under 2 yrs ea., and I adopted them a little over a month ago from a GSD rescue). Jake (lighter/larger of the two), tends to be the more dominant one- we're just beginning the basic obedience DVD, and are still establishing who's the boss in the house. He has never been aggressive towards me, and listens to my commands probably 75%-80% of the time without lots of distractions. He'll also lay on his back, feet in the air and let me rub his stomach in the house or yard now, so I feel like I'm earning a bit of trust. Dix is pretty submissive; when they play/wrestle Jake will pin him, they'll jump up, run around, and do it again. Back to our walk- we passed a person also walking two dogs; Jake got really excited & aggressive, ignored my verbal & leash corrections, and proceeded to take out his aggression on Dixon by pinning him. I was really kicking myself afterwards for standing there in complete surprise. This hasn't happened before. Here I am with both of them wearing prong collars, and Jake wearing a combo prong & dom. dog collar, and I failed to put them into use... So 10 min. later we pass a couple walking a full sized poodle; the poodle starts barking & lunging at us, and Jake kicks into hi gear and starts barking, snarling, lunging. I gave him a loud firm NO, along with a leash correction; when that didn't have any effect I pulled straight up on the leash, picking his front feet up off of the ground until he stopped snarling. Had to do this twice. During all of this Dixon was excited but not aggressive (I can't blame him). The rest of the walk was no issue; completely calm, and it may be my imagination but they seemed to obey sit, down, etc a little more quickly than they did before.

So obviously we need more groundwork to fix part of this problem, but in the mean time I still want to take them for walks- what could I have done to control this situation better?

Thanks for reading.

You could have kept walking, calmly, right on by.

How could one of your dogs pin the other one if you were all marching along, one on each side of you?

One phrase ("standing there in surprise") kind of sums up the loss of control.


I think I'd probably avoid the whole thing until I had much better control of the dogs. I'd even walk them separately if necessary.

To avoid it, I'd cross the street (calmly, calmly!) when I saw another dog heading my way with his owner, and I'd walk quite calmly and directly on by (on the other side), keeping my dogs in walk-focus mode and correcting for *any* staring or hackling or focus on the other dog.

In other words, the whole barking/snarling/lunging/pinning would never get to that level.


Is that what you were asking?

I would only walk one dog at a time to start with. Much easier to be on top of things and be in control.

I think Betty is right on target. One more thing: I would be watching for the slightest sign from the dog that he/she is beginning to show something other than focus on you then correct the dog for it. For you and the dog this is a training situation and you should set it up as such so your prepared and the dog can get the most out of this.

Kind of- I should have added that we'd already crossed the street a block away (in both cases) because I saw the other dogs ahead and wanted to try and avoid something like this.

I was still walking to a point, but obviously not fast enough. When Jake gets agitated, he stops dead, Dixon pulls because Jake is pulling. Perhaps I should have been more determined to move forward whether I had to drag them a little or not?

I see that I waited to long to correct both times. I need to look more closely for warning signs before the storm. The "standing there in surprise" was a big loss of control in the first instance, as I said I felt pretty stupid for allowing it to happen. I should have also asked: Did I handle the second incident with the poodle better?

Hmm... I've been walking them both on the same side- is this also a mistake? This way I can use one hand to hold the handles of leashes, and the other to hold them closer if necessary. We don't know how to heel yet.

I can walk them separately, but I have to drive to a location I can walk them... going back and forth twice would dramatically cut down the amount of walk time. It gets too hot here to leave one in the car while I walk the other. Would I be really unreasonable to say I'd like to keep trying to walk them together?

Also I hadn't been thinking of this as a training session. Just exercise so far- I should try and give them more to do on the walks than just walk.

 Quote: carolyn pike

Hmm... I've been walking them both on the same side- is this also a mistake? This way I can use one hand to hold the handles of leashes, and the other to hold them closer if necessary. We don't know how to heel yet.

I can walk them separately, but I have to drive to a location I can walk them... going back and forth twice would dramatically cut down the amount of walk time. It gets too hot here to leave one in the car while I walk the other. Would I be really unreasonable to say I'd like to keep trying to walk them together?

Also I hadn't been thinking of this as a training session. Just exercise so far- I should try and give them more to do on the walks than just walk.

I walk them one on each side. *However,* I have found it very helpful to walk them separately (every time there's a new one) until any new guy is up to speed on basic manners/obedience.

Walking is a training session, no matter how casual, IMO. Here's why: Your leadership on the walk, your calm command, your assumption of all decisions about pace, direction, attention to other dogs and people, and everything else -- this reinforces over and over the pack structure.

I do let my dogs (all adults) "off" from the casual heel we usually have (which for me, on a regular walk, is just "no dogs pull me" ) by stopping and saying "OK!" Then they have the length of the leash to pee and sniff and all. The rest of the time they walk, beside me, no pulling. I do think of this as a training session, but then I think of most interactions as training opportunities. Usually fun ones.

If at all possible I would walk them alone, at least until your pooch is a little more proofed.

In situations where I think I might have to exert extra control on my dog (read pet store with all those skippy snacks, AKA live rabbits, gerbils at dog eye level) I start ahead of time. A quick sit ect in the parking lot. A thrown out command to platz in the aisle. It's a gentle reminder to the dog and to me, that I'm in charge and don't forget it. Premptive ob, perhaps? LOL

Annabelle is a sharp dog and she is reactive. I have learned that it is in my best interest to manage situations and oten that just reminding her gently and in a non angry way that I am the boss BEFORE something happens goes along way to stop things from happening.

Just what works for me!

 Quote: Carolyn Pike

He has never been aggressive towards me, and listens to my commands probably 75%-80% of the time without lots of distractions.

You need to become the pack leader and have control over this dog in all aspects before you walk them together. And when you do walk together have one on each side.
Some people are okay with that percentage, but I am not. 25% chance of the dog ignoring my commands is too big of a risk for me to take.

Are you using a prong collar?

Yes, they are both on prong collars- this is a silly question, but how do you hold the leash firmly and choke up on it at the same time with one hand?