5 month Pup has developed barking and aggressive behavior

[AuroraBC9]

We brought penny home at 13 weeks old. She is now 5 months old. Everything has been going well besides a very busy puppy until recently. 

Since she came home we immediately started socialing her with family and the public. In public she's also been a lite shy but would warm up to people. 

How ever in the last week and a half anyone from a distance or outside of our house she immediately starts barking and lunging on the leash. It takes alot of coaxing to get her to stop. She will most of the time settle down and let people pet her especially if the person gives her a treat. She will also do this to the neighbors who we see daily and also to people she has met earlier in the day or even an hour earlier. 

We started taking her on walks and to the park as soon as we brought her home. She started off decent on the leash but anything from cars, people, other dogs, birds going by will set her off in a barking craze. I've been trying to train her on a clicker to distract her immediately but usually after a quick distraction she returns to the behavior. 

[GentleLake]

Look up the Look at That game and start implementing pronto.

There's another current thread about a young dog whose owner is seeking help. You may want to look it up and read the detailed responses there. A search will yield even more threads; it's a topic that's come up more than once.

 

[SS Cressa]

She could also be going thru a fear period. They can just start behaving weird and negative events can be blown way out of proportion in those period.

*ETA all dogs have fear periods that impact them differently.

[AuroraBC9]

58 minutes ago, SS Cressa said:

She could also be going thru a fear period. They can just start behaving weird and negative events can be blown way out of proportion in those period.

*ETA all dogs have fear periods that impact them differently.

Thanks been so long since the last puppy. It definitely seems like fear driven

[SS Cressa]

You still have to work them through it but sometimes doing less is better when they are going thru those periods. 

[GentleLake]

Of course. I totally didn't think of the possibility of a fear period!

It's a very real possibility and as SS says, often the best thing to do is not make too big a deal out of the things that set the pup off, don't coddle the fear and try to keep things as routine as possible during an outburst. LAT is still a good tool and will hold you in good stead down the line, especially if any reactivity turns out to become more deeply entrenched than a passing phase.

[AuroraBC9]

3 hours ago, GentleLake said:

Of course. I totally didn't think of the possibility of a fear period!

It's a very real possibility and as SS says, often the best thing to do is not make too big a deal out of the things that set the pup off, don't coddle the fear and try to keep things as routine as possible during an outburst. LAT is still a good tool and will hold you in good stead down the line, especially if any reactivity turns out to become more deeply entrenched than a passing phase.

Thanks what is a LAT

[urge to herd]

LAT stands for 'Look At That'. The idea is if the dog is acting fearful around something, frequently it would be something new to it, you cue, "Look At That!' whenever the dog glances at the Big Scary Thing and then looks back at you. Whereupon the dog gets a treat. With a bc, it doesn't take long before the dog gets the idea that looking at the BST and then looking back at the Human for a treat is a really cool game. Repeat, repeat, repeat. You can play LAT with random objects, too, not just BST.

It also helps to firm up in the dog's mind that whenever he sees something that he's unsure about, looking at The Human is the best thing to do. 

Ruth & Gibbs