Labs & Dog Training Camp

Leroy is a Chocolate Lab who lives in Encinitas here in San Diego County, and he’s got the best life. His owners love taking him out and about, they live near trails, and he gets to go to dog park at least 3 days a week. He’s come to dog training camp because he has two main stumbling blocks, otherwise he’s a great dog. Leash aggression and when he’s distracted with anything from other dogs with tennis balls to rolls of toilet paper at home he won’t come back when called.

Both can be very frustrating. Going to dog park is so fun for him, but so irritating for the “family” when he won’t come back when it’s time to go. Lately he’s taken to just taking off down the street. Not cool.

Leash aggression is an issue that is becoming much more prevalent in dogs. Lots of reasons, but for now lets just say dogs weren’t really designed to be on a leash in the first place. When not trained properly to feel safe on a leash… the behavior comes out. The dog feels restricted, vulnerable to dogs not on leashes… or dogs that appear to be lunging at them at the end of another leash.

The good news is leash aggression can be resolved with good dog training. Leroy has already come a long way in his learning to walk on a leash and feel as though he’s not vulnerable. He needs to feel like he’s being lead by the person handling him and not out there to defend himself, even though he’s the one that has tried to pull out on his own and lead.

It’s as though he has been given a new job and he becomes focused on that job rather than the need to fend off the other dogs. It’s really cool actually.

Confidence in knowing what he’s supposed to do is the key. We’ll follow up with more stories on how well he’s understanding the term “come”, even in distraction… on and off leash as the week progresses.

Labrador Retrievers rock, we love them at K9 Coach!