Frustration takes many forms! Leash reactivity is a common problem for many shelter dogs. After sitting in a kennel for hours or days, bombarded by overwhelming sounds and smells, the last thing many dogs want to deal with is additional restriction. Marcus has decided to grab the leash in response. He is not being aggressive, nor is he trying to dominate his handler. He is simply overstimulated and unable to control his impulses. We actually see a positive here in that he has found a non-harmful means of venting his frustration. Leash-tugging is far preferable to mouthing handlers, charging kennels or worse. The tricky part for a handler is combining the need to get Marcus out of the kennel runs as quickly as possible with the need to minimize any escalation in a dogs frustration level. It is essential that we not create a confrontation in cases like this. There are passing people, passing dogs, kenneled dogs that may aggress if a nose, ear or tail inadvertently enters their kennel, etc. So our first priority is always getting the dog to a less stimulating environment where potential danger is reduced. If a dog shows no tendency to redirect from the leash to hands or arms, we simply choke up on the leash -- moving the control hand closer to the dogs collar (or on the collar) and releasing the section that the dog is tugging. This works fairly well for Marcus.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 18:52:40 +0000
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