Very excited to meet you

[Catahoula]

I took in a stray 1 year old Catahoula/red heeler mix about 3 months ago. She is a really great dog except for when I walk her and we see other dogs that she doesn't know, she goes completely wild. She isn't aggressive, she just wants to meet the dogs really really bad. She pulls hard on the leash and throws a temper tantrum barking and crying and jumping around. Once she gets up to them she is perfectly fine and friendly, it's just the approach that's awful. If she knows the dog (I live in an apartment complex with lots of dogs) she's fine and just walks right up to them no big deal. Any advice? It's getting hard to take her in public because I don't know what she will do.

[PWCorgi]

Hello and welcome to chaz :D
I know that there is at least one member here with a Catahoula and a few with ACD's.

There are people here with a lot more knowledge and experience here than me who will be able to help you with your problem, but I thought I'd welcome you to the forum :)

[Maxy24]

Hi, welcome to Chaz.

Does your dog know the "watch me" command (when you say so the dog looks at you and pays attention to you)? If not then I would teach that.

On walks if she starts to pull then stop moving. Once she calms down and the pulling stops you may continue.

What I would do is get a friend with a dog (one your dog does not know) and go to a park or something like that with no other dogs around and lots of space. Have your friend and the dog stand on one end of the park and you and your dog at the other. This distance should be great enough that your dog does not react to your friend's dog. Ask her to do a few commands (watch me, sit) and walk with her a little, parallel to the other dog. If she does fine, praise her and ask your friend to come a little closer. Repeat what you did before. Continue this until you get your friend to the point where your dog notices his dog but does NOT react in the jumpy, barking, pulling way. We want him to look in the direction and sniff maybe get alert but that's it. If she gets jumpy, barking and pulling then have your friend back up.

If she notices but has not gone "crazy" yet then do some commands, praise her for all of them (with super yummy treats). Walk her around and praise her. Work at this distance so she learns to behave with you in the presence of other dogs.

If you want put a stone where you are standing and put your dog in the car then go get measuring tape and measure the distance between you and your friend. You should start from this distance next time. Once she is completely comfortable with that distance then your friend can move a little closer. Then repeat. If at any point your dog starts getting over excited have your friend back up until your dog is calm again. If she just gets way to excited and won't calm down then end the session and go home.

After a good session when you go home you might want to let her play with some of the dogs she knows at your complex.

Also read this thread, it might help... http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39014&highlight=greeting+dogs

[Catahoula]

Thanks for the tips! We do work on watch me, she does pretty well with it, but it's hard to get her to make eye contact when other dogs are close. We had a good encounter today with another dog-- hooray! and I think it really helped that I was a little more relaxed. Her anxiety makes me anxious and she can completely tell.

[Baxter'smybaby]

welcome!