Hello,

I am new on the forum and new in the country and would like some help to solve our problem.

Since a few months now and more and more often, when we walk our dog on leash, he barks nastily to every other dogs that we meet on the street. He just does this when on leash because when he is free, he is very sociable with others. It becomes very embarrassing. No matter the size, sex or age of the other dog. He seems to do it more when I pull him on the side of the pavement to let other persons pass with their own dog (I pull out because I walk the dog + a pram and baby and we take a lot of space on the pavement). But it is the same story when we see a dog on the other side of the road.

What I do then is that I say 'no' fermly and I ask him to sit and we don't move until he has obeyed. But he doesn't learn.

It is a cocker spaniel of 5 years old that used to be free all the time because we lived in the middle of nowhere and he used to run in the fields with no leash. Now we live in town.

What can we do ?

Thanks.

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Arlette - Woking

My cocker is the same when on a lead,could be that they feel insecure about being restrained when another dog is near.or could be a protective thing about you,mine is also ok when off the lead,if a bit nervous of other dogs.

You could try using a halti headcoller to walk him?

Sounds to me like confusion/frustration because he can't get to greet the other dog as he's been used to doing in the past.

A solution to this would be something to distract his attention away from the other dog. If it were me I'd try to stay away from things like anti-bark collars and stick with more "old school" techniques such as a quick shake of a small bottle of stones, when he stops barking you can reward him.

Also if you can train him to bark on command it is very often possible to train them to stop barking on command.

I would agree with the distraction technique but you really need to know what you are doing before using a shaker, (stones in a bottle)

Why not try having your dog carry his favourite toy with him, I found this works as my dog used to run off to greet others he is now more concerned with his toy.

Hope this helps.

I wonder if he is just frustrated because the grumbles and barkings are really nasty and like that he scares people who pass by.

The idea of an anti-barking collar doesn't please me at all but I wouldn't mind trying a simpler technique.

How shall I do to make him bark on command?

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Arlette - Woking

He doesn't have a toy, not a toy dog at all !?

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Arlette - Woking

This link shows the basic principle of training your dog to bark on command. How To Train Your Dog to Bark on Command | eHow.com

You may find as said before that its a case of him being scared and while you have him on a lead he has no freedom to run away from what he sees as a potential threat to either him or you . This can be a problem in as much as a normally friendly dog can seem to be agressive to someone who doesnt know him , or why he is barking .The lead has an amazing affect on a dog not used to being on one, a dog has 3 choices when confrunted with fear , Run away, Freeze , or Fight when you have him on a lead you have taken away his first choice of run away , because if he was loose and met a dog in the park he would approch on his tearms in his time and they check out each others body language too weighing up if they are friend or foe .Maybe it could just be a case of perservering keeping a strong front that you are boss and if you think the other dog is cool then he should adopt the same thought
as leader your judgement is paramount and sometimes if they question your leadership they will start to make up thier own minds about what they do and dont like .
Andrea

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Andrea is right your dog is using the fight option because he can't use flight he is on a lead, there is actually a fourth opion in the 4 f's which is fumble and appease (submission) which is used a lot by young dogs.