Molly whines loudly, goes bezerk on leash when she sees other dogs

[costgeek]

Molly is a black lab mutt, maybe 7 years old. She's very well behaved, gentle and obedient at home.

On walks she leads, and bounces back and forth on the end of the leash. She's constantly in a state of high alert like she's looking for something. When she sees another dog she lets out these loud whines. More whining than barking. And she flops on the end of the leash like a fish trying to get over to the other dog. It usually begins about 50 feet way (once she sees the dog). It's not really violent aggression, it's more like "I've got to get to that dog...right now!!!!" She also likes to try to get to cats, but she doesn't whine or go crazy.

Once she gets to other dogs she's fine. She's calms down and is very social. She's never so much as snapped at another dog. When I took her to the vet the other day I walked her right up to a large German Shepard, and she greeted him and they sat quietly.

Any tips on training her, good leashes to use etc. would be greatly appreciated!

Costgeek

[smartrock]

Sounds like it could be some leash reactivity, which you can read about online. Since she's 7 years old, it might be difficult to retrain her, could be pretty well ingrained. It's probably pretty common. My older dog is somewhat reactive and my younger dog reacts if the older one reacts. If I'm walking either of them alone, it's much easier to keep them focused and moving. I'm sure others can give you better advice than I on how to work on it, but you could do some reading on your own on leash reactivity and see if the description fits.

Dogs Who Are Reactive on Leash | ASPCA

[Snowshoe]

Have you taken Molly to obedience classes? Even if you did I think a refresher is in order. All it might take is you learning how to get her how to focus on you at distracting times like that. For one thing, if it was me, she sure as heck would not be walking out in front of me at the end of the leash if I knew we were going to meet another dog. And when out in front I would demand she not be bouncing around, these are things you learn in class.

You let her go up and meet another dog at the Vet's? You are brave. I do not allow greeting at the Vet's, I don't know what the other dog is in there for. And I know from experience there are just as many dumb people at the VEt's as anywhere and they don't always tell you, "Oh, stay away, he might have kennel cough."

Does Molly get to play off leash with a doggy friend? That might help too.