[merfa0818]

Hi everyone,

I have a male rotti/kelpie/hound mix puppy, and every time we are on a walk (off leash), and we come across a person that does not have a dog with them, he howls and now, he is getting too close and almost nipping people. If he is on leash, he is just very curious of them but no pulling or howling even. If there is another dog he is absolutely fine. This is very new for him and do not understand why its happening now. Does anyone have any advice please?

 

[pandora]

Firstly keep him on leash, if he nips someone you could find yourself in trouble and he could end up dead. People are not dog tolerant , no second chances.

 

[DaySleepers]

Yes, I'd leash him until you have this under control, for his safety as much as anything.

It's not unusual for adolescents to display obnoxious, pushy behaviors, and they'll frequently lessen as the dog matures, but you definitely don't want to let him practice them and turn them into a habit. My own teenager will jump and bite at my sleeves if he's overexcited when greeting me, so you're not alone (we're working on him only getting a proper greeting when he sits nicely, and it's improving, but controlling that impulse is hard for many dogs this age).

You can replace off-leash time with a long line and harness, so he has more freedom but you still have control over him approaching others. I'd also work really hard on teaching him to either sit when he sees someone new, or return to you and sit and/or focus on you. This may mean recruiting friends/family/local dog people or trainers to help be the 'dummy' person, where they come into view on your signal so you can practice having him sit and/or redirect his attention to you in a controlled environment. Use high quality rewards to make sure he learns that the new behavior is worthwhile and he's motivated to do that instead of his rude approach.