Barking and lunging during walks

[Tracy S]

I have a Border Collie mix (Maggie) and a Lab mix (Bailey) that I adopted from a shelter at the end of March this year. We have gone through basic obedience training at Pet Smart. During the classes at Pet Smart, with a store full of people, both dogs did very well. I've also had them at the vets office when other dogs and people present and they do just fine. I've taken them to the local park on the weekend when it is full of people and they do very well. However, there is a bike and hike trail near our house that I like to take the dogs on. We started using this trail before it was complete and before others were using it. Now when we use it, anyone that comes near us.....cyclists, walkers, others walking dogs, etc.....Bailey barks like crazy and Maggie barks and pulls on the leash so hard that she is standing on her hind legs. It's so bad that we have to step off the trail and let others pass. It doesn't make for a very pleasant walk. I don't know what to do. I want this to be a pleasant experience for all of us. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[MaxHollyNoah]

Hi Tracy S,

This is exactly what happens with my doggies when I take multiple dogs for walk. All of my 3 dogs are rescue dogs and they are wonderful dogs. They all passed CGC test and know how to behave at home and at classes although each has different issues that we are continuously working on. Reacting to other dogs and cyclists is one of them.

Noah, our border collie mix, reacts so badly to cyclists, skateboaders and other dogs (big dogs only). Daisy becomes all excited when she sees other dogs. Holly has become very confident and she knows how to handle people and other dogs in a very mature way but she gets nuts when she sees squirrels on the walk.

I have been taking all different conbinations (2 dogs at a time) including our foster dog and I have noticed that if one of them feels even a slight uneasiness to a situation it spreads to the other dog and ends up a chaos!

I would suggest you take one dog at a time until they get used to the new walking course.

Border collies have strong instinct to react/chase something moving fast (bicycles, skateboards, joggers, etc.) but Noah is fine when I take him alone and have him sit next to me telling "Leave it" as a cyclist cruises by us.

Good luck and let us know how it goes

[KOPsarah]

Hi tracey s and thanks for your post.
I agree with Max Holly that you should try walking your dogs separately for a while to reduce pack behavior. I would also suggest getting them a head collar such as a gentle leader or halti so that they cannot lunge or pull at all. The head collar will give you much greater control without hurting the dogs or physically challenging them. You can also phase the head collar out later once the problem is resolved if you like.

All the best,