leash aggressiveness when crossing the street! PLEASE HELP!

[luce]

I have a 10 month old Cane Corso/Bulldog cross. He is fabulous and is quite obedient. During walks he is very good on his leash but when it comes to crossing a busy street, he gets very aggressive, jumping up to bite his leash. He attempts to play tug-of-war, growls, is very determined and when I try to stop him he fights with me and can get very aggessive and angry about it.

I have had him since 7 weeks of age and nothing has happened to frighten him near a street, he has always been afraid of the cars passing by.

Any ideas on how to get him to relax while crossing, or how to get him to stop this terrible habit!?!?

Any tips and advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[*LabLoverKEB*]

Well first, welcome to Pet Talk!
I personally love Cane Corso's- such beautiful and magnificent dogs! And being mixed with a Bulldog? He must be adorable! How old is he now? What is his name? I would love to see pictures of your boy, too!

Your dog sounds like he might be fearful of the cars passing by, and the loud noises that come along with traffic. I would suggest a distraction while crossing streets. Something that he really likes/enjoys and distracts him is what he really needs- such as a loud squeeky toy to distract him, or a favorite treat to keep him focused. And when he does stay focused on your distraction, praise, praise, praise, and follow with a high value treat. Remember consistency is key- try to distract him and keep him focused on YOU and the toy/treat/squeaker.

I have a 3 year old Labrador with whom I use the distractions with, as she is very dog aggressive. She sometimes even does the whole jumping up/lunging forward behavior.

Good luck and keep us updated! And again welcome to PT!!

[luce]

thank you for your suggestion, I will definately try it out!

He is now 10 months and about 80lbs. He is quite short as his mom is 1/2 english/1/2 american bulldog. Perfect size for a bully!

(the picture of him standing on our back step is the most recent)

[*LabLoverKEB*]

AWWWW!!!
He is very cute!!!

[StaffyDaddy]

It's a little late to suggest what I'm suggesting, but this is good for people with very young pups, for folks who know breeders, or for ones that rescue pups at tender ages where the dam may not want to nurse the pups any longer.

One thing you can do is expose a puppy to all sorts of noises. Find noises that resemble motors, claps, glass shattering, whistles, sirens, screams, foot steps, knocking on doors, gates closing, strong winds, cats, other dogs barking and growling, crying, air planes, thunderstorms... etc.

You might ask why? but a lot of neuroligical development is going on between the time a pup is born and when they are 8 weeks, coming home with their new parents. The more exposure the litters or pups get, the more sound they will be around strange noises, and new situations. If they have heard just about everything before, they will not be easily startled, or become anxious due to loud noises. This makes for a stable, sound, well adjusted dog in the long run, when combined with proper training, exercise and of course a lot of love. Dogs are social creatures, so they should be exposed to just about every situation, even if they are not ready to hear the real deal out in the world.

[StaffyDaddy]

Well first, welcome to Pet Talk!
I personally love Cane Corso's- such beautiful and magnificent dogs! And being mixed with a Bulldog? He must be adorable! How old is he now? What is his name? I would love to see pictures of your boy, too!

Your dog sounds like he might be fearful of the cars passing by, and the loud noises that come along with traffic. I would suggest a distraction while crossing streets. Something that he really likes/enjoys and distracts him is what he really needs- such as a loud squeeky toy to distract him, or a favorite treat to keep him focused. And when he does stay focused on your distraction, praise, praise, praise, and follow with a high value treat. Remember consistency is key- try to distract him and keep him focused on YOU and the toy/treat/squeaker.

I have a 3 year old Labrador with whom I use the distractions with, as she is very dog aggressive. She sometimes even does the whole jumping up/lunging forward behavior.

Good luck and keep us updated! And again welcome to PT!!

Good post! I do want to add something though. It is important that we don't coddle and inadvertantly reinforce fearful behavior. I think it's important to know your dog's warning signs, as well as body posture, including tail, ears, lips, and overall stance. This tells us a lot when we learn our dogs. I see a lot of people thinking that their dog just needs some reassurance and they praise the dog to "coax" it out of their fearful state, when in fact they are just reinforcing it.

I don't know how much obedience training your dog has, but a technique that works wonders with my pups is "watch me". Teaching the dog to focus on you and wait for the next command is very helpful in distracting them and redirecting their attention. I own two pitbulls, so when they have their minds set on something, not a lot will deter them. So they know the "watch me" command and I can quickly regain their full attention and praise when they look up at me. Then I give another heel command and praise them when they keep going, without slowing down or turning to look at the initial distraction. In situations where I am trying to curb a certain behavior, I only praise and reward when they do as they're told, and I can bet that the next time around it will take less effort on my part to keep them focused on our walk.

[luce]

thank you all very much! These are all helpful tips and I am looking forward to trying them!

[luce]

tried distracting him yesterday and he was pretty good crossing the street! YAY!!!

Any advice on how to calm him down IF he does go crazy though? He just gets so nuts!

[*LabLoverKEB*]

Wow, this is great news and quite an accomplishment!! Good job to the both of you!

[Karen]

tried distracting him yesterday and he was pretty good crossing the street! YAY!!!

Any advice on how to calm him down IF he does go crazy though? He just gets so nuts!

"Sit"

wait ... wait ...

"Down"

wait ... wait ...

Good boy! Okay, let's go!

[Indigo Bully Connection]

tried distracting him yesterday and he was pretty good crossing the street! YAY!!!

Any advice on how to calm him down IF he does go crazy though? He just gets so nuts!

This is just me... I don't train OB with compulsion, but an undesired action like this from a large dog requires a bigger correction than a smaller dog (I raised a Bullmastiff, unfortunately I had to leave her with my parents when I moved out on my own yeeeears ago). I pop the leash hard and give a stern NO! then ask nicely for a sit. If the dog doesn't immediately sit, I use the compulsion method to make the dog sit. With a dog your size, it is absolutely necessary to have control over situations such as these when it can cause harm to you or the dog if accidently bumped out into traffic.

Do you walk your dog on a slip chain, prong, or a flat collar? Also, what do you mean by agressive...does he bark/ go after cars or does he jump all over you?

[Indigo Bully Connection]

Luce how's your dog progressing?