(This post was written for dog owners of a dog that’s afraid of leashes and restrains)
My current foster is afraid of being leashed. He gets defensive and snaps when you approach him the “wrong way”, especially around his head, neck, paws and his rear end. He trusts me more now but he still gets nervous with leashes at times. There are many ways to manage the fear of leashes or you can counter-condition it to a point the dog feels no fear at all.
I taught this particular foster to lean against my legs before getting leashed so that it is less threatening to him. Initially he was rewarded with food and tactile for leaning, then just the tactile once he built the association. Because of high reinforcement history and he gets to be the one making the decision, he did not feel forced or cornered. He would be labeled as aggressive at the vets, groomers and some boarding facilities because of his reactions. But if you watch his body language, you can see it is fear based and all he wants is to avoid the leash. He does not want to hurt me if he doesn’t have to. Through past experience, he learned to use his teeth to defend himself. Some dogs run, hide, roll, but he learned to use his mouth instead.
I had a chance to work with another rescue dog that was very fearful of being leashed last year. She stayed at a facility for months before finding a forever home. Because of her fear she snarled and snapped at the staff who were trying to take her out on leash. She was often misunderstood as aggressive. When she showed her belly, people thought she wanted a belly rub. In her case, it was a “tap-out”, or a “white flag” telling you to give her some space. She learned to trust a few people, including myself but it was becoming quite difficult for the rest of the staff to leash her up. As a trainer, I get to spend as much time as I need with each dog, and go as slow as necessary. On the contrary, the shelter and boarding facility staff have to get the job done in given time.
Hoping to make their job easier, and to reduce her fear I put together a very short video on how to get her used to leashes in 5 minutes.
My current foster and my own Border Collie have very similar markings. Sometimes I have to think for a second before putting a leash or touching one of them. “OK it’s her” “Watch it, he’s nervous” When I put a leash on mine, it gives me the feeling of such relief, trust and gratefulness. I can do pretty much anything to my dogs and they either enjoy it or tolerate to the highest level. We didn’t get there just by living together but with a lot of prevention work. Just like with food guarding, I wish more dog owners would take the time to prevent the problems, instead of trying to fix them or worse, giving up… Because these dogs usually end up with us, the rescuers and trainers. We spend weeks, if not months or years, trying to rehabilitate them. And not all dogs get so lucky.
Fear of leash update
Here’s a quick update on his leash training. I had been managing his fear of leash by letting him lean against me prior to leashing up. He gets defensive when a hand or a leash goes over his head. I realized that someone is going to ignore the instructions (like at the vet or a boarding facility) and try to leash him up over his head. So since the last post was posted, he’s learning to enjoy being leashed with a slip leash.
Bordernerd 
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