u/margyrakis

If you, understandably, do not feel like reading all that below, my question to this sub is this: do you have any leash recommendations that ensure a dog (65 lbs) is securely *tethered* to the handler? My dog's leash slipped from my hands today resulting in me realizing that he is conflict-seeking aggressive, not *just* reactive. A bite-proof muzzle has already been ordered, and I've researched behaviorists closest to me. We will consult and schedule with our vet when they open on Monday and ask for behaviorist referrals or see whether they have a specific veterinary behaviorist they collaborate with.

When my dog was about 10 months old, I noticed that he was beginning to have issues with frustration due to waiting while in training classes. Previously and other than this in class, he had truly been the star student in our classes! The frustration barking due to waiting could be a bit disruptive. We worked on it some with some improvements. Once he was about a year and two months, I started to notice intermittent reactivity (i.e., he would only react toward dogs who reacted toward him first). This was late summer, and he really had not had much exposure (other than being boarded while on vacation) to strange dogs over the summer simply because I would get up at the crack of dawn before anyone else to take him on walks/hikes to avoid the heat. Plus, we had stopped enrolling him in training classes. Late summer/early fall, I attributed this intermittent barking/staring/pulling toward dogs to his lack of socialization over the summer. As he had more exposure to dogs throughout Fall, by December/January, his reactive behavior had seemingly gone away even without management. I was able to enter him in trials without issue. Also want to add that when he had been reactive, it was manageable simply by petting him, and with the petting he did not care about any dog. So I didn't think this was any kind of reactivity that really needed the work of a behaviorist or even a trainer, regrettably.

I *also* thought his intermittent reactivity was due to lack of *positive* socialization as several of his prior experiences with strange dogs have been negative! He's been charged/snarled at by several dogs to the point that he's been nearly attacked by clearly aggressive off leash dogs a couple times, and he's had an off leash dog pummel him, and they got into it (late last summer at a dock diving trial). No wounds were found on him or the other dog, but needless to say, the incident looked ugly and was very upsetting to me.

He will be 2 in a couple weeks. Late winter I started to recognize that no, maybe his issues which I thought were frustration/over arousal had NOT gone away. Before this realization, in one point in February he was just inches away from being attacked by a very clearly aggressive off leash dog on a hike despite my dog being pulled off the trail and neutral. Thankfully the owner was able to run up and yank their dog away when their dog was just inches away from my own. Idk if that had anything to do with the regression in progress. I compete with my dog in some sports, so after attending a couple trials late March/early April, I decided we needed to work on his behavior since at times he could be disruptive and my management of petting him was not consistently working anymore if another dog took interest in him, so I pulled him from any other trials I had him registered for. I enrolled him in a control unleashed program to focus on strategies to make us more successful and maybe help him stay calm since I attributed these issues to over arousal and frustration. I was hoping that this course could add some predictibility when around other dogs. We haven't been taking this course long enough for me to bring our control unleashed games out and about just yet.

I also want to add that he has dogs he's friends with and interacts with - both big and small. He lives with a dog, 2 indoor cats, and even rats. At this point, he hasn't been aggressive toward any of them, and he really doesn't care about my rats. So I don't think this is necessarily "prey" related.

We took him to the vet last week for his annual heartworm test and to drop off a routine stool sample, and he behaved perfectly well in the office with other dogs. A week prior to that he was at the groomer who has always been soooo complimentary of him and always acknowledges that he's so well behaved *especially* for an intact male golden.. He never *seems* stressed to be at either location unlike my other dog who is quite fearful of the vet/groomer.

Well today I was on a hike. I was walking my dog on a flat collar and 6ft leash. A person walks by with their large dogs, and I pull my dog well off the trail and hold him between my legs as always. This strategy has worked okay for us whether or not the dog remained neutral as long as I was petting my dog. As of late winter, if the dog was not neutral, mine would bark/lunge from between my legs, and I'll often hold him by his collar; however, this time he backed out of my legs, and my hands were in front of his chest, not holding his collar. Since he had been swimming earlier, the leash was slippery, slipping through my hands, and he charged at the dog who had already passed by and full on attacked the dog who had only lightly whined a little at my own dog. The dog only tried to get away during the attack, not fight back or anything. I immediately ran after them and was able to pull my dog off after he had quite a prolonged bite/hold (~7-10 seconds) on the other's leg. I apologized to the person. I told them I would put my dog in the car since we were about a quarter mile from the parking lot and run back while my adolescent brother waited in the car. I ran back to exchange information and ensure their dog could be checked by a vet, but they had gone.

Immediately following the incident walking back to my car, my dog looked so happy.. I have another dog with a human bite history, but when he bit this person (the person was my grandfather who bent down/over my resting dog, growling at my dog while holding a piece of chocolate...) he immediately released after the quick bite, and looked so confused and scared. Meanwhile after today's incident, my golden was just prancing around, looking up at me with his usual derpy face as if nothing occurred. I am not great at reading body language, but he looked so so so *normal* almost as if it was fun.

So now I'm home, I've ordered a bite-proof muzzle. I've looked for behaviorists with credentials. We are going to schedule an appointment with our vet once they open Monday to run blood work and assess anything else and see if they have any referrals or if they have a veterinary behaviorist they collaborate with. Now I'm looking for some kind of reliable leash system. I know some people have a 2-way clip system (one clip on the harness, one on the collar) that ensures if one clip fails, there's a backup. But I'm also wanting something that allows me to hold my dog without any risk of *me* losing hold of the leash. Had my dog been securely tethered to me, he never would have been able to reach the dog. I failed so miserably in the situation, and I want to ensure it's impossible that it could ever happen again by muzzling and having a more secure leashing system. Until my dog is conditioned to the muzzle and we're working with a behaviorist, I will not be taking him out in public and instead will rent private areas for walking/dock diving in addition to increased training and activity in our yard.