Dog Lunging at Strangers and Other Dogs – Lunging on the Leash
Again, if your dog or puppy is lunging aggressively at strangers, we’d strongly recommend seeking professional help. The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers are two great places to start your search.
However, if your dog is lunging at strangers out of excitement or frustration, there are several things you can try first.
One of the best ways, as with lunging at faces, is to teach your dog how to do something else instead. Your dog can’t lunge at strangers and sit at the same time, so if we teach them how to sit around distractions, they won’t be able to lunge!
How to Know Your Puppy Is Lunging Out of Excitement
You’ll know that your puppy is lunging at your face out of excitement when you see one of these signs:
Some pups will also whine slightly when they don’t get the reaction they’re waiting for. That means the puppy is in a relaxed mood.
There’s nothing to worry about in this case, especially if the puppy doesn’t do it frequently.
However, if the puppy’s actions turn aggressive when you don’t respond, you need to work on stopping the behavior. The same goes if the puppy is lunging at strangers or other dogs.
How to Get Your Dog to Stop Getting in Your Face?
Rewarding bad behavior isn’t a good idea
The way you react to your dog when he lunges can make a big difference in whether or not the habit progresses. When he lunges at your face, maintain your composure and avoid giving him any attention. The more subdued and uninteresting your reaction is, the less fun the behavior becomes. Look away and slowly cross your arms until your dog calms. Aside from that, don’t give him treats just to get him out of your hair.
Additionally, do not scream and throw your arms up in the air or push your dog down. Whenever you panic, your pup can interpret it as you playing with him, getting him more excited.
Teach your puppy to settle down
Whenever your puppy looks like he is about to lunge at your face, practice having him do something different like sit or lay down instead. Stop whatever interaction you are doing with your puppy. Continue with your steady position and ignore your dog until he calms down. You can reward your dog as soon as he acts calm by stinging or laying down.
With practice, your puppy will learn that lunging doesn’t work to get attention, but that sitting gets them treats and attention instead!
A puppy who is accustomed to a lot of roughhousing may come to believe that you enjoy it when he lunges or bites you. Instead of roughhousing, use a toy to engage in interactive play with your dog. In addition, do fetch games and run after a moving object. You can also do ball games and tumbling games.
Training dogs requires consistency, and the same holds true if you want to completely remove his habit of lunging at your face. If your puppy continues to lunge at your face, ignore him consistently. Be consistent in ignoring your puppy if he keeps on lunging at your face. Be consistent in giving him treats and encouragement whenever he does good. Be consistent.
Puppy Face Lunging: How to stop it
Why does my puppy jump on me, lunge at other dogs, chase the kids, ignore me, chew on furniture, bark nonstop? And what do I do?
Imagine taking your kids to Disneyland and asking them to do their homework. “But look!” they’ll cry plaintively, unable to take their eyes off the panoply of distractions that vie for their attention. It’s all simply irresistible.
Puppies (like toddlers) will jump, lunge, bark, chew, and chase because they are; excited, highly distractible, overstimulated, need to meet that dog or person, and/or want your attention!
Many people try to turn away and ignore their puppy’s jumping. Unfortunately this does not work but rather implies tacit approval.
As goal directed adults we have all learned not to ignore the things in life that need to be changed. In fact, the things we ignore in life take on a life of their own. So do jumping, barking, chewing, lunging, and chasing.
Let’s face it, from your puppy’s point of view jumping, barking, chewing, lunging, and chasing is fun. In behavior-speak jumping is a self-reinforcing action and feedback loop. It’s fun, discharges energy, is it’s own reward. Plus, he gets your attention, suddenly you’re all over him to stop, and he gets a treat for sitting instead. That’s cool.