not liking other dogs on leads

went to axl's second training class today and he did really well was doin some really nice heel work and recall and was so excited by the agilty work again could not wait to do it but there was once thing that bothered me with axl this week and last week.
when off the lead axl plays really nice and is a good boy but when his on the lead and another dog on the lead comes up to him if the other dog is bigger and tries to jump on and play with axl, axl growls and snaps at the other dog. he snapped and a lil lab at the class today not sure why his doing this or how i can stop him doing it any ideas please

Being on leash prevents a lot of that good dog language, which is why you generally want dogs to interact off leash rather than on. Since he's fine when off leash it's most likely a language issue. Other typical on-leash issues can come from being pulled away from other dogs on a leash/collar and getting the wrong association (meeting another dog = painful pressure on the throat), but that will usually show on and off leash once the "connection" is established. But this issue can be nice to be aware off when you get those little on-leash conflicts so you know the importance of trying to avoid them.

I'd start off at a distance from the other dog and reward him for being calm and then slowly moving towards the other dog. If he gets stressed, snaps, barks or anything towards the other dog, move back a bit and start over. Don't aim to get all the way over to the other dog in your first session(s), better to take it slow and make sure he learns to take it easy with other dogs while on leash. (It will be handy if the dog you're working with is a dog Axl has played with off leash and knows is friendly, at least for your first sessions.)

When you are out walking please ask people to take their dogs away if they don't behave properly (like jumping up on Axl), you want him to have good experiences meeting nice dogs, not the other way around.

What Ane says! A lot of dogs feel restricted when meeting other dogs on-lead.

thanks for the advice its really helpful to have somthings to try to help correct his behaviour

Hmmm thats Interesting doing agility work for puppy training classes, Not meaning to slate, Please dont take this the wrong way, I have my puppy going puppy training classes, And I wouldnt want my puppy doing agility, Its more for energetic dogs like a collie, Staffys are stocky dogs, And werent really made to be running for a long period of time, But each to there own, Sure he/she loved It.

madeira264527 wrote:Hmmm thats Interesting doing agility work for puppy training classes, Not meaning to slate, Please dont take this the wrong way, I have my puppy going puppy training classes, And I wouldnt want my puppy doing agility, Its more for energetic dogs like a collie, Staffys are stocky dogs, And werent really made to be running for a long period of time, But each to there own, Sure he/she loved It.

I dont agree at all, I have done lots of agility work with my girls and provided your dog is fit and not fat they can easily keep up with the collies and GSDs in stamina (as long as its not too hot!). The only issue I do have with letting a 13 week old pup do agility is his health. All the agility clubs I have ever worked at/joined dont allow dogs under 12months old to join as they are still growing and their skeleton/muscles are developing. High impact exercise like agility and running on hard surfaces can wear the joints and cause problems with bones and ligaments in later life. Madeira if you think staffords cant do agility, think again!!!

(taken from a variety of sources, for original websites view properties)

madeira264527- staffys can be really good at agilty and can really hold there own againest other breeds

Nosipho- its not really hard paced agilty its 20mins out of an hr and 15min class and in that 20mins he will have bout 3 goes on the a frame and a few goes on the dog walk, people and clubs say diff things regarding how much puppys should do and what things they should do i looked into it i decided that a bit of light agilty would be ok for him he really does love it

Aniemother wrote:Being on leash prevents a lot of that good dog language, which is why you generally want dogs to interact off leash rather than on. Since he's fine when off leash it's most likely a language issue. Other typical on-leash issues can come from being pulled away from other dogs on a leash/collar and getting the wrong association (meeting another dog = painful pressure on the throat), but that will usually show on and off leash once the "connection" is established. But this issue can be nice to be aware off when you get those little on-leash conflicts so you know the importance of trying to avoid them.

I'd start off at a distance from the other dog and reward him for being calm and then slowly moving towards the other dog. If he gets stressed, snaps, barks or anything towards the other dog, move back a bit and start over. Don't aim to get all the way over to the other dog in your first session(s), better to take it slow and make sure he learns to take it easy with other dogs while on leash. (It will be handy if the dog you're working with is a dog Axl has played with off leash and knows is friendly, at least for your first sessions.)

When you are out walking please ask people to take their dogs away if they don't behave properly (like jumping up on Axl), you want him to have good experiences meeting nice dogs, not the other way around.

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