How do you deal with leash anxiety?

To deal with leash anxiety, get some high value treats and only get them out when the lead is in sight and only give the treat when the collar/lead/harness is in view. When the lead goes out of sight, so does the reward. They need to make a positive association that when the lead comes out, good things happen. Don't attempt to put the collar/harness/lead on straight away, just gradually move it closer and reward each positive interaction with it. Touch the lead against the body and reward, but still don't attempt to clip it on. Clip on but don't hold onto the end, reward. Reward each time you touch the lead, but don't restrain or hold onto the lead. Unclip the lead and reward. Repeat until there is no fear of the lead being clipped on. Try not to lean over a dog to put their harness on as this is very intimidating for a dog and will make their heart rate rise. Create a positive association, gradually build up with lots of positive rewards, reward every interaction. When working on the lead anxiety, first get used to wearing a harness, then attach a 5 meter line but don’t hold it, practice walking up and down in the garden with lots of treats. Walking up and down the garden with all 5 meters keeping it nice and loose, lots of praise and reward, then gradually shorten the lead but keep it nice and loose. Gradually start to walk to other places with lots of praise, keeping lead nice and slack, be happy to turn around or change direction if necessary, but don't drag her if she wont come and try not to let her pull. Attach lead but don't hold it, leave the lead trailing to build confidence and reward with lots of treats. Shorten the lead gradually as anxiety improves, keep it nice and slack and be prepared to let go if necessary.

Having basic commands and communication with your dog will help when they become stressed or anxious while walking. Having this communication channel during behavior modification will help your dog feel less anxious and stressed when approaching unfamiliar or scary stimuli. Counterconditioning involves altering and managing the emotional response to a trigger/stimuli, such as another dog or a person, by associating the trigger with something positive, such as treats or playtime. This is a great way to help teach your dog new behaviors to perform while on leash. Desensitization involves gradually exposing your dog to a trigger while they are calm and relaxed in a controlled, safe, and stress-free environment to reduce their fear and anxiety response. The use of equipment such as a front-clip harness or head halter can help manage leash reactivity by providing better control and reducing your dog’s ability to pull or lunge. You may also want to consider using calming supplements and pheromone collars during the training period. With proper training, however, creating a safe and relaxed training environment, understanding key points about socialization, and getting the help of a veterinary professional can ease the stress your pet may be feeling. Avoid punishment, yelling, yanking, choking, or other forms of aversion, as this can increase fear and anxiety, which can make the behaviors worse over time.

Avoid triggers, take a different route, walk on the opposite of the street or walk at different times. Avoidance can become a short-term or long-term solution. Use a management tool, set your dog up for success by using tools that allow you to redirect and increase opportunities to reward good behavior. Tools such as a front-leading harness or a head halter helps maximize leash control and minimize discomfort. Use treat rewards, arm yourself with a lot of tasty treats, when your dog encounters something scary, distract him or her and offer a few treats for free. You are not rewarding their fear, you are making new, happy associations and redirecting their attention. Be patient, it can take time as in days, weeks, or months to see changes, especially if the behavior has been going on for a while. Set up mock training scenarios, no one can predict all situation, but you can purposefully set up scenarios for behavior modification.

They don’t approach head-on and make hard eye contact unless a fight is about to start. Most dogs don’t want to fight, so they display a number of behaviors designed to prevent it. These distance-increasing behaviors includes barking, lunging, or growling — anything to make the threat go away. On-leash, both dogs feel trapped, unable to get away from each other. Often, owners have their dogs on tight leashes, thinking this will help if anything happens. Unfortunately, a tight leash tells your dog you're stressed, making your pup more stressed in return. As a result, both dogs may start barking, switching from their flight instinct, to fight. Many people correct their dog for any perceived display of aggression. Some may force them to sit or lie down in an approaching dog’s path thinking this will help correct the behavior.

We have tried positive reinforcement and tried prong collar training but as soon as he gets in the mode of craziness, there is nothing I can do to stop it. He also has pretty bad anxiety, in particular, on walks. He will whine the entire walk as if he's look for something to bark at. We don't have $2000 to shell out on dog training but our options are running dry. Would an e-collar or shock collar be worth trying. We prefer to not use shock but at this point, we just want to enjoy our walks with him.