Tansy is 6 months old, and unfortunately she does not go off lead unless there are no dogs or people in sight. I have tried 'leave' and 'wait', both of which she understands, but not off her lead. Her recall when there are no distractions is great, and at puppy class she came to me through pups on both sides!! She tries to jump at people and dogs all the time, despite training on every walk, and two puppy classes a week, so I keep her close and she walks past on her hind legs whilst choking. Sometimes she will stop choking long enough to bark, and frankly people can be scared of her.
At one of her classes she was referred to as 'challenging', and I would have to agree with that. I feel as though I am wasting my time and money training her at times!! If she can't behave on her lead, she certainly can't behave off it. She will 'heel' if there is nothing interesting ahead or behind her, otherwise pulls really hard.
I take her to the beach and the park, and I feel she is missing out. She has an extendable....not ideal I know....but it is the only way she gets to run a bit. If anyone has any suggestions....I wait with bated breath.

Hi, What breed is she?

She is part...up to half Jack Russell, and as for the rest?? No idea I'm afraid. Bit of a Heinz 57. She started to walk to heel pretty well initially...just for a few days. She still will for very short periods with no distractions.

She is still very very young and very much a baby.  Just keep on the way you are doing and it will all come in time.  Have you a dog owning friend with an older well behaved dog that you could go out with?  The older dog will usually bring the younger one back when called.  If she is part terrier she will have a strong "hunting" out streak - terriers being very much working dogs so will be "busy busy" when off the leash.  Puppies at 5 months shouldnt have too much intense training.  Just enjoy and have fun with her.  The old saying "You cant put an old head on young shoulders" is very true in so many cases.

Neeva

Don't be too disheartened, your persistant training will eventually pay off.  For some pups their natural instincts are just too strong to ignore, not only is she a pup she is a terrier mix so will be strong willed anyway. Please allow her off lead with friendly dogs (and people) it is a pups nature to jump up and greet everything that moves, you can't avoid her wanting to do this and should not chastise her for it either, it's like telling her not to breathe.  Just get to know the dogs and people on your walks, nice people you can let her greet but ask them not to fuss her when she jumps at them, if she is ignored she will evenutally not want to bother doing it, and when you spot unfriendlies (dogs or people) pop her back on lead, keep yourslef aware of who and what is approaching so that you can recall her before she sees them. (Otherwise she will be off and away.)

As she gets older she will calm down a lot, and not be quite as interested, practice recall work with no distractions and eventually you will find that it will work with her maturaty and distractions too.

She is acting completely normally, don't expect too much too soon. :-)

My three year old is perfectly well behaved off lead with other dogs - but still gets very excited on lead when she sees certain dogs :D So bad behaviour on lead doesn't automatically mean the same off lead :D :D :D

Daisy

with reference to what Daisy said, I went out today,  and my dog was approached by at least a dozen dogs, all strangers and he had a bit of a play with them, and every thing was great. He was off lead, but they approached us, I dont let him approach strange dogs. All was well then I saw a weinmarer coming along the narrow and unavoidable path and the owner got hold of it, so i got hold of mine, when they passed each other they were only 5 feet apart and (you all know what im going to say next) they both panicked abd started barking, I know it was because I had "trapped" mine on lead, but sometimes you find yourself in difficult situations. Mine has always been worse on lead. I have often gone out walking with a very steady dog who he stayed with and I envied the other dogs owner. I went training every week for the last 3 years the other dog didnt and where I started of with the "monster" I now have the more obedient dog so yes, it does pay off in the end.

Thank you for all your thoughtful replies. I may consider letting her play for a couple of minutes with a friendly dog on the beach :-) I would not like to risk this in our local park though.....it is like an island surrounded by roads!! Someday perhaps. It is reassuring to know that her behaviour isn't particularly bad.
Morgan...you say you don't let your dog approach other dogs, and I know a lot of people on here say this. I totally agree with all of you. Apart from saying 'no' when passing other dogs on her lead, I am at a loss as to how to teach her this??? Is it also something that will come with perserverence? She will concentrate on a ball until something else takes her attention!!
I will continue with her training. With onetwothrees help, we found a good training school, (thats why she goes to 2), and we have embarked on Good Citizenship.
May I just say that it is because of this site that I am doing this at all!! I never even knew about puppy classes. I have learned how to feed her with good, nutritious food without obsessing about it, I know not to give her onions, chocolate etc.
Please everyone, keep up the good work. Taking the time to pass on your experience is appreciated. I have had sound advice here when I have asked for it.
Thank you :-):-) :-)

I can sympathize wholeheartedly as i have the same problem except I have an enormous 8 month Rottie x GSD that goes to obedience club and works brilliantly, has passed her tests and has moved up to a more advanced class, but on walks if she sees people or dogs approaching her hackles come up she barks ferociously and hurtles straight at them, once she gets to them she just wants to play.  She has knocked people flying, I have had cleaning bills for thier clothes and several dogs have turned on her or she has scared others witless by leaping on them and hurting them.  Kept on the lead like yours she chokes herself half to death trying to reach them and she is a big strong powerful dog.
All her training goes out the window in the excitement although I do incorporate training sessions in our walks as she is fine till she sees a dog or person in the distance and food distraction does not work.  So now unless I can see no other person or dog in view she has to stay on the lead.  Trouble is round here we don't seem to have many friendly dogs who want to play with or can cope with such a boistrous pup.  So we are hoping that given time she will grow out of it.  Other problem I have is noone round here ever calls thier dog back when they see me walking her on the lead they let thier dog bound up and often have a growl and nip at her which is making her worse.

Bev

Gosh Bev....With such a big dog, it must be really hard work taking her for a walk at all. Believe it or not, I have just got back from the park with Tansy. She ran around on her extendable lead, said hello nicely to a couple of dogs, and mostly walked to heel all the way home. I was astounded!! Although she was on her lead, she responded every time I said her name, sat at the kerbs, waited and didn't move till told to. I really think she read my post over my shoulder and wanted to make me look silly She got home, had a maddy with a stuffed wombat and is now asleep :-)
It is a shame about other people allowing their dogs to come up to yours without permission, especially when your pup is being nipped. In our park, there a a small group of people who all walk their dogs together, off lead. These dogs act like a pack, and run around Tansy sending her loopy. I have varied my time, but I think they live there LOLLOL. I quietly suggested one day that they call their dogs away, but all I got was 'Oh for gods sake, they're dogs. They just want to play' Fine...it's not like they are vicious or anything...just a pain in the butt. Still...what can you do?
I wish you the best of luck
Wendy

i think its a question of knowing your dogs personal space and recall ability, if i see another dog i distract him and take another path unless i know the dog is ok with a brute like mine, the problems occur when you dont spot one coming round the corner or you are approaching down a narrow path. Mine suffers from a bit of fear anxiety and will come over big and tough just in case but he is all mouth, i dont like it but i dont think he will get any better now as he is 3, he loves his friends and  he is well socialised so i dont really understand it, i guess its the breeding.

I don't suppose I will ever find out her recall ability unless I let her off and find out will I?? I think when we go to the beach next, I will let her off and see if she comes when called even if another dog is around. I will make sure the other dog isn't big enough to actually eat her, and ask permission from the owner first, and if their dog is OK with boisterous pups!! If I don't do it now, I will remain a scaredy cat. The one thing with the beach is that if she runs off she has nowhere to go....ie....no roads, so it is safer than the park. There are no enclosed spaces around here.
Thanks all

Hi, I kept thinking about putting almost the same question as you on here to hopefully get some advice, so you beat me too it. I have a 6 month old border terrier x Norfolk terrier and she too is really good at recall when there are no distractions around but pulls like mad on the lead when there are other dogs/people around so have always been quick to get her on lead when I see others coming. But this morning I took her for a walk with my two young daughters and I got a bit distracted as my daughter fell over in the muddy field and our dog spotted an off lead greyhound before I did and started running towards it, I called her half expecting having to run after her waving her treat around but just as she reached the greyhound she heard me and actually came back to me. I was so chuffed I thought the temptation of another dog would stop her coming back to me, so I am feeling very proud of her today.

That is great Sam.....it is lovely to feel proud of them isn't it? I am proud of Tansy anyway....but when they do something extra specially good you can't beat it!! I bet she loved the fuss she got when she returned to you like a good girl :-) :-)

i find i go for weeks feeling really happy and pround and then one bad incident will leave me depressed for the rest of the day. one step forward two steps back. still, never give up:rolleyes:

Since I typed my reply my girl has proved me a liar, and this is one time its fantastic to be proved a liar LOL.  She has walked quietly past people while on lead and for which she has been lavished with praise and we even had another dog on lead following us down a track. She had one half hearted woof and trotted on just stopping to glance round occasionally.  She has been on an extending lead when this has happened so allowed freedom with me still knowing I have full control to bring her back.
Think I will continue this for a while and just let her off when no people and dogs around and hopefully as we mature we will get enough practice for it to become 2nd nature to have manners round people and other dogs.
Still have a problem with cars on wet roads though or with thier lights on or large veichles, but hopefully with time and patience we will get there.

Bev

With regard to the cars and wet road we used to go and stand on a bridge over the motorway as our puppy was not at all keen on traffic. As we were high above the traffic he could see it coming in the distance and it wasn't so scary as close up. Lorries used to really scare him but now he doesn't give them a second glance.

we bought a shetland shep dog at 6 month and the people who had her had been cruel to i think the man because she was frigtend of my husband she use to run away from after saying that she  was frightend of ever thing she saw another dog she would run away so if i saw a dog i had to put her on the lead if any body came to family friends she would hide in a corner if you pick her up she would wee her self took her out near cars same thin people walking same push chairs bikes so i took her out near the road its quite busy about ten mins walk as the road leads to motor way  and with a lot of  love and understaning  she is 18 month old youwould not believe she was the same dog so just hang in there and everthing willcome ok  good luck