Hey all, we have an 18-week-old golden retriever puppy. We’ve had him since he was 10 weeks old and as soon as he started feeling comfortable with us, he began barking at other dogs when he’s on the leash.
It’s not that we let him play or greet other dogs on leash, and he hasn’t had any bad experiences. But from the start, whenever he sees another dog, no matter the breed, age or size, he just barks and barks and pulls like crazy.
He’s been to puppy school and the trainers there say it’s just frustration from being on leash. Their tips like distracting him with treats, trying to be more interesting than the other dog, or walking away don’t really help. If we try to walk away he pulls hard into the leash and won’t disengage. We do create distance whenever we can, sometimes even pick him up until he calms down, but it doesn’t really solve the problem.
When he is not on the leash and is allowed to play with dogs (when he is calm) he is very well behaved and not barking.
What frustrates us is that this seems pretty atypical for golden retrievers. It’s not a hormonal thing either since he’s been like this from the beginning. We’re also worried about him learning leash reactivity as a pattern…
We’re not looking for generic training tips since we’ve heard most of them already. We’re more interested in hearing from others who had a dog, maybe also owners with a breed where this is unusual too, that went through the same thing since puppyhood. Did your dog grow out of it? How did you handle it? We’re feeling a bit lost and frustrated … Thanks!!
submitted by /u/Strict-Baseball6677
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