As a newbie dog owner, I read the forum threads & books; watch TV shows.

On a recent Dog Whisperer episode, Cesar Millan said when dogs lunge at others when passing it can be viewed as an act of aggression. My 4 month puppy lunges - I'm assuming his doing this isn't a concern at his age; but at what age does a behaviour that's okay as a puppy becomes a concern?

The kind of lunge that is a concern doesn't have as much to do with age as it does with intent. If there is a definite "I'm going to fight/kill/scare away that dog/person/thing!" attitude to the lunge then there is a problem.

Your puppy more than likely isn't really lunging. For that kind of lunge to happen at his age there would probably have to be something seriously wrong with him. You would know it.

He's probably more darting out because of curiosity, excitement and lack of attention span. Don't worry too much about it.

That's kind of a matter of defining the intent behind the "lunge," even for an adult dog.

For example, a dog hitting the end of the leash in an excited attempt to join a dog who's running around could be viewed as a "lunge" by some people.



JMO.

Some dogs are very aware of what length their leash is. One of mine for instance is a bit of a petting whore wanting attention from anyone within reach. So if you're over 3 feet away he's pretty neutral, if you're within three feet he does the best lunge/wiggle dance he can muster to get you to pet him.

Lunging is an action. Really if it's a treat falling on the floor, a strange dog passing by, a car rolling by, etc it doesn't change that a lunge is a lunge is a lunge. As with any action that we're trying to correct it's up to us to figure out the motivation for such behavior and come up with a way to correct or redirect to more appropriate behavior.

A puppy that lunges to the end of a leash at strange dogs is usually trying to play, or would immediately follow up such behavior with submission. The key is to not allow the lunging to result in any desired result by the dog and to redirect into something else. Or in the case of my attention wanting papillon I simply ask for a sit or a down and then allow the attention later as a reward.

 Quote: Lauren Jeffery

The kind of lunge that is a concern doesn't have as much to do with age as it does with intent. ... He's probably more darting out because of curiosity, excitement and lack of attention span. Don't worry too much about it.

Ditto.

I have one who still gets so excited sometimes, even at his probable age of around 7 or 8, that he will forget everything in his attempts to join the party. A prime example is when he sees the other members of a training club he belongs to. There's no aggression involved at all.

Tasha's typical walk a that age was like this:

"Oh my god! Its a moth! I LOVE THEM!" darts out...

"Is that a bird over there?! I LOVE THEM!" dart....

"Ohhh is a dog! A real live dog!" dart...dart......dart

"That person looked at me! They must LOVE ME!" dart. jump. lick....

"I'm tired." lays down and refuses to move.

That's life with a puppy all right.

Thank you all; you've confirmed that I don't need to worry.

Yet, I try to ask Buckley to sit when others are around - and he just can't keep his bum on the ground with all that stimuli.

When would it be reasonable to expect him to sit outdoors and wait until he's calm to receive affection or interact in play.

Note: in the house, he has shown capacity to wait. We put him in his crate before visitors are welcomed in. We then only let him out when it's evident he won't bolt.