It Travels Down The Lead

Have you ever heard someone tell you that everything travels down the lead? When you heard that, did you give them the RCA dog look (head cocked to the side)?
Here's an explanation as to what that means. Your dog is very in tune with your emotions and body language. And what that means is, if you are afraid, tense, worried, excited, happy, or whatever emotion you can think of, your dog knows it. They can smell it on you, whatever it is.
Now how does that translate to it traveling down the lead? Well, what ever emotion you are feeling, you normally carry your body differently and when you are holding the lead with your dog at the other end, you can bet you are holding the lead differently. And that is something your dog picks up on very well.
Here's a scenario. You are going for a walk in your neighborhood and there is one yard that you hate you have to pass on your walk. There is a sign that tells you there is one of those fences that you can't see, but is very much there, on the corner of the yard, and in that yard there are always two dogs. Each time you walk past the yard the dogs rush at you and just stop before they get to the boundary of the unseen fence. And each time it happens, it really scares you, even though you know they can't get to you.
So now every time you walk past that yard you anticipate the charging of the barking dogs. You are afraid, you tense up your muscles and you pull the lead tight on your dog Fluffy. Now Fluffy is aware that you are afraid, and she is aware that you are putting tension on the lead. A lot of tension. Now she is on alert, because her human is sensing danger. Fluffy must now protect her human. You walk past the yard, the dogs charge, Fluffy now reacts and charges back at them making guttural noises, snarling and foaming at the mouth like the demon dog from that scary movie you watched the other night. Whoa! You knew those dogs were bad. Look what they have done to Fluffy!
So who do you think actually made Fluffy react that way? Those dogs? No, it was you. Were the dogs obnoxious? Yes. But did they truly cause Fluffy to start acting like Cujo? No. Fluffy learned from you that danger was present and being the protector she is, she knew she had to act to protect her human.

Even though Fluffy knew you were afraid, you brought Fluffy into your bubble of fear by tightening the lead. You didn't even know you were doing it. And somewhere deep inside you felt a need to protect Fluffy so you pulled the lead tighter so that she wouldn't get too close to the charging dogs.
OK, now what do you do to fix this? Well, you could just go another route that wouldn't take you by that particular yard, but that really wouldn't solve anything. The next time you encountered a stressful, fearful situation, you will have the same thing happen with Fluffy. You need to address the issue and the issue is you.

I would recommend you walk past the yard several times by yourself, without Fluffy, to try to address your fears. Try to stay as calm as possible and realize the dogs really can't get to you. Once you feel like you can pass by without flinching or tensing up, then add Fluffy back into the equation. As you approach the dreaded yard, take a deep breath, find your mental happy place, relax your shoulders, drop your arms and walk with purpose. Walk right past the yard with deliberation and poise. If Fluffy reacts back at the dogs, just pop the lead and make a correction noise ( I use a noise that sounds like ehrnt, erhnt) and just keep walking forward like nothing happened. Don't ever stop and stand there with Fluffy lunging and charging and try to talk to her to get her to stop. All you are doing is allowing her frenzy to climb higher. Just keep walking forward, don't look back.
If you continue to act like it's not an issue, it will become, not an issue. Fluffy will begin to realize your fear is gone, that there is no more tension on the lead, and that those dogs are nothing to worry about.

You can approach most stressful situations like this. You first have to think about what your stress level or fear is. If you go into a situation with your dog with those kinds of feelings, your dog already knows you are upset, but when your posture affects the tension on the lead, you have now engaged your dog in that emotion. And what happens then is, your fears become a reality, but what you don't realize, is that you created and manifested them and made them a reality.
Now not every reaction from Fluffy will be initiated by you. However, how you handle that situation will determine what Fluffy will do in the future. If you over-react, start pulling on the lead and or yelling, you can be assured, Fluffy will feel justified in continuing the unwanted behavior. Pulling on a lead while a dog is lunging, only makes the dog want to lunge more. You need to correct with the lead with quick pops and correction words or noises all while moving forward. Never stop and stand facing the issue while Fluffy is in a frenzy. You have to keep moving and you have to stop the frenzied mind by getting her attention with a quick pop of the lead and with a noise or word. Also, when a dog is in a frenzied state and is barking and snarling, you yelling sounds to your dog like you are barking and snarling right along with her, so now she knows she is doing the right thing because her human is doing it too. No matter how hard it might be, you have to remain calm!
If you don't handle the situation in a calm and assertive manner, the next time you encounter that similar situation, you anticipate Fluffy's reaction and you tighten your shoulders and tighten the lead. Fluffy now goes on alert and reacts in the manner she feels is justified. She knows this because, the message or signal just traveled down the lead.

One word of caution when correcting your dog around stressful situations, if you over-react and over-correct, you can cause the dog to over-react, thus causing her to get worse instead of better. A scenario would be, if you were using a pinch collar (I do approve of them, but only if used correctly!), and Fluffy lunged at someone or something. You jerk the lead with all your might and yell, "No!". Potentially in Fluffy's mind, she was afraid of something and that something some how came around and bit her on the neck and caused the human to freak out. Wow! Now Fluffy knows to really be afraid and now knows to be sure to make the first move so she doesn't get bitten again. Or, she knows now that she is going to get bitten, so she must never face that situation again so she knows she must run away.
Not every situation is going to be easy to fix, but not every situation is going to be the end of the world either. You just have to remain as calm and relaxed (hard at times I know) as possible and realize your dog is picking up on your emotions and deciding what the best reaction to the situation should be.
If you have a very bad situation that you can't seem to fix, or realize you will never be able to find your "Zen" when you encounter a stressful situation, seek professional guidance. There are a lot of good trainers and behaviorist out there that can help. But realize, you do have the power to have a balanced dog, you just have to start with you.
Happy calm, assertive walking!
Dog Training At Home Tips

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