Another dog question
I thought maybe some of you would have some advice to offer... I adopted a new puppy a couple of months ago, he is about 9 months old. I walk him each morning for about 45 min.-1 hr. The problem started when he would hear another dog bark (even if he can't see it) he would react not just by barking , but with this extremely LOUD screaming. He will continue to do this non-stop until we are a fairly good distance away. He then started to do the same thing when he would see another dog walking- even if the other dog is quiet. The same thing happens with any type of animal he sees whether it be deer, bunnies, birds, etc...
Needless to say it makes our walks very stressful. My other dog does not act this way, but at times she will also join in when he does it. I walk very early therefore I have had to change my route so we are not near any of the houses that I know have their dogs out at that time in the morning. He is so loud he could wake someone from a deep sleep- trust me!! The strange thing is up until this point he seems to only do this when he is on a leash. Our neighbors have dogs and he watches them and doesn't say a word. We also went to the last puppy playdate and he played fine with the dogs not a peep from him (we'll see about the next one we go to)
Anyway, I have tried everything I can think of without any luck. I have tried making him sit, picking him up, distracting him with food, being very firm with him, walking the opposite direction. I don't know what else to do, any ideas??? With summer coming I would like to have them out for a couple of walks a day and honestly I want to be able to go places where there are other people, dogs, etc... but the way it is now it would be impossible. HELP!!!!
SMP
Watch "The Dog Whisperer" on Nat Geo. Cesar usually has a client with similar problems. Is your dog walking you and showing that they're the pack leader? Usually he states that you need to be confident and upright in both your manner and your walk, but that's just the beginning. Through the miracle of TV (or maybe he's just that good), he can usually change that type of behavior within the first few moments of meeting the dog and "owner".
Phil D. 
If you do not have access to Nat Geo, check out his website as well. You can purchase individual behavior lessons from him.
www.cesarsway.com
He also provides lots of great tips on his site for free.
Mark
mark SMP - sounds like your dog may need to be de-sensitized to other animals while on his leash.
Does his 'screaming' sound like fear or aggression? Does he try to go towards or get away from other animals he sees?
Rebecka SMP
I was going to suggest de-sensitization training as well. Barking is a natural instinct for dogs, and can be more prominent in certain breeds (i.e. hounds). There can be a lot of reasons that dogs bark- communication, dominance, excitement, they received "rewards" for doing so in the past, etc., and it will probably be helpful to try and figure out your dogs reasoning for barking. If you would like a hand with the de-sensitization, my dog and I would be more than willing to meet up with you and practice. My dog is deaf so he is pretty un-reactive to barking which may help your cause.
Happy Homemaker Let the little dog bark and most likly he is doing it with the thoughts that he is protecting you
CagedAnimal Phil D & mark
I love the Dog Whisperer, but since I have comcast we do not get that channel. I'm thinking about trying to get him to pay me a visit! I'm sure he would have a lot of corrections for me lol! I will have to check out his website again to see if I can find a similar situation.
Rebecka
The best way to describe his sreaming is obnoxious!!! Seriously, it doesn't seem like fear since he is acting as if wants to get closer or I guess more like just bouncing around like crazy if its another dog, but when it is a deer, bunny, etc... he definately is pulling to get to it. It also doesn't seem aggressive since there is no growling or fierce barking. As I said its not even a bark - Its literally a scream! he does have a regular bark and this is not it. What he does is more of a loud piercing continuous yelping!!
Happy Homemaker
I agree if I could figure out where it stems from it may be easier to fix. Yes, it would be great to try to get him around a lot of dogs while on leash. I did forget to mention that we walk with a friend and her dog each morning and he has never reacted that way to her. The funny thing is that we meet up coming from opposite directions so my pup watches them approaching us from a distance and has no reaction.
CA
Hey you could be onto something! My friend also tells me she thinks that he is just acting like a "tough guy" when he's on his leash. Very funny since he is only about 10-12 lbs.
For those of you attending the doggie playdate in a few weeks, I will have him on a leash so he can show you his stuff!! You'll be surprised at how much noise can come out of this little guy lol!!
My dog has been doing this too in the past few months. She didn't last summer but we stopped walking her so much over fall and winter and when we started again about two months ago she started this behavior. It is only while on leash as yours. I talked to a trainer and she said this is anxious behavior and we should work with other dogs to make it stop. However it is difficult to do so when other dog owners on our walks are afraid of her screaming! Let me know if you want to meet up sometime and try to walk our pups together!
Sounds good to me Woof! Maybe if they are both doing the same thing they can somehow cancel each other out Ha!Ha! When do you usually walk your dog?
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