It is especially difficult to become pack leader to an aggressive dog because we will naturally fear our dog’s aggression.
My Shiba Inu used to have the worst bouts of aggressive leash biting. He would jump up on me, grab my jacket sleeve, and shake his head very rigorously, in what I call the kill-move (the shaking, head tossing motion that animals make to kill prey).
The more fearful I got of my dog, the more aggressive he became. He started humping my leg, and attacked the leash whenever I held it. Thankfully, he never broke skin, because of bite inhibition training. Nevertheless, I dreaded walking my dog, or even just being with him.
Here are some techniques that helped me conquer my fear, and become pack leader to my aggressive dog.
1. Practice calm energy
Cesar Milan, The Dog Whisperer always emphasizes the importance of projecting calm energy, especially when interacting with an aggressive dog. If we interact with a dog using nervous, submissive, fearful, or otherwise unbalanced energy, the dog may pick up on that, get stressed himself, and behave badly or start showing aggression.
Some techniques that helped me remain calm include:
- Taking deep breaths and focusing on breathing to remain calm.
- Actively thinking of something else, whenever I start to get stressed about what my dog might do.
- Using the “tsch” from Cesar Millan. No, it is not a magical sound for calming dogs, but it helps to remind me to stay calm.
- Walking with an assertive posture (shoulders back, head up).
In addition, make sure that we are not putting undue tension on the leash.
The thing that helped me most was to imagine the worst that my dog could do. In the leash biting case, it was a bite to my hand or arm. I decided that for my Shiba Inu, I could deal with some bites. If he did that, I would hold firm, get him home as quickly as possible, and thus end the fun walk. If he continued to bite at me or the leash once we are home, I can put him directly in a time-out area. In this way, he learns that –
Biting on leash = End of walk or temporary loss of freedom,
No biting on leash = Fun walk and exploration continues.
Once I had a plan for dealing with the worst, I became less fearful.
Once my energy improved, my dog’s bad behavior also improved significantly.
2. Have a drag-lead on our dog and keep him on a schedule
When our dog does something undesirable, it is always our reflex to chase after him. However, we will quickly realize that our dog can run much faster than we can!
To get better control of my dog and avoid chasing games, I usually put a drag-lead on him. Initially, I use a longer leash so that I can control him without being close to his mouth.
Only use a flat collar with the drag lead and NOT an aversive collar. Some example aversive collars include the prong collar and choke chain.
Also remember that while dealing with an aggressive dog, safety is of the utmost importance. If necessary, I muzzle my dog with a basket muzzle. A dog can still chew with a basket muzzle, and it is less restraining. To make the muzzling process less stressful, we may want to desensitize our dog to the muzzle, by pairing it with food and fun.
3. Have clear and consistent rules for our dog at all times
In the beginning, we want to be more strict with our dog. Institute more rules so that we have many opportunities to show our dog, that we are the boss.
If my dog does not follow the rules, then he does not get his most desired resources, for example, access of the backyard, walks, yummy dog treats, fun dog toys, play time, and access to pack members.
One of the best ways to become pack leader is to control his resources by following the Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF) program.
This just means that our dog does not get anything, until he does something for us first.
I do not give my dog all of his food on a silver platter. Instead, I use it for dog training, grooming, and other activities. I don’t leave food or high priority resources (e.g. food toys) out for him to use whenever he wants. Being the boss means that I control the key resources, and I decide when, where, and for how long he gets access to those resources. Of course, I also make sure that my dog has many opportunities to work for all the things that he wants.
Some useful rules to establish and maintain pack leadership include:
- No getting on furniture.
- Sit calmly before going through doorways, and only go through on command.
- No jumping on people.
- No leash biting.
- No food aggression. Must release resource (food, toys, or other items) on command.
- Absolutely no growling, barring of teeth, mouthing, or biting of people.
Once we gain some confidence and our dog is behaving better, we may relax some of these rules.
4. More walks of shorter duration
Most aggressive behaviors occur on neighborhood walks because that is when our dog is exposed to the most interesting stimuli (e.g. other dogs, cats, squirrels, people). On walks, we also have less control over the environment, and may not easily and quickly get our dog under control.
When I had troubles with my Shiba Inu, I shortened our walks but increased their frequency.
First, I would walk him in a heel position inside the house. Doing the heel exercise helps to put me in a pack leader mindset, and enforces my leadership status. In addition, if my dog starts any aggressive behaviors, I can more effectively stop him.
Once we are ready to go, we practice manners at the door. This helps to further secure my leadership role. My dog has to sit calmly while I open and close the door. If he remains calm, we can leave and start the walk.
Initially, I walked my dog close to the house, so that I can quickly end the walk, get him home, and put him on a time-out if he shows any aggression. As we started to have more and more successful short walks, I was able to gain more confidence, and control my fear. When things started improving, I slowly increased the distance and duration of the walk.
5. Address aggressive behaviors as soon as possible
A good pack leader is a vigilant pack leader. Watch our dog closely, especially when he is young (< 1 year old). Stop any aggressive behaviors as soon as we see them.
If we do not address aggression issues early, our dog will likely escalate his behavior, and start practicing aggression in a broader range of contexts. Once this occurs, it will be harder to break him of the habit.
I do not let my dog leash bite, show teeth, growl, or mouth at me. Any of these offenses will get him a warning (ack ack). If he continues, he gets a time-out. I carefully manage the everyday details of our time together, so that I set both of us up for success.
Proper management can significantly increase the number of successes, reduce the number of aggressive episodes, and help us become a good pack leader.
For aggression issues between two family dogs, please refer to Introducing a Second Dog into the Home.
hello! I have a lhasa apso/ shihtzu mix. He’s about 1 and a half years old and i noticed that he seemed to be getting more aggressive. But it’s mostly only towards bigger dogs. Any dog that’s smaller than him (boy or girl) or the same size he’s fine with. But there are 2 big dogs that he seems to be fine with. A husky and a lad. They’re both fairly old. Jerry, our dog, would growl and try and jump at the bigger dog pulling me. I watch a lot of Cesar Millan so i know you’re supposed to remain calm in situations like that but i’m not exactly sure of what to do when we see another dog. Do we make him sit down until he is calm? It’s really hard to snap him out of it. He’ll kind of just sit and stare until the dog gets closer and he’ll start to bark and pull at the lead. I usually grab him from his harness and make him face away from the dog but that doesn’t work. I’ve also tried that “TSCH” noise with the touch but it doesn’t seem to work either. I don’t wave treats in front of his face when he does this because i feel like that means i’m praising him for his actions.
We do bring treats on our walks so whenever he does something good we give him a little chicken biscuit. But when we sees another dog it’s like nothing else matters! I would love to know how i can resolve this problem I know that our family has to be the pack leader of Jerry. We’re just not sure how to get started. And he is neutered already.
Please help! Thank you (:
Yeah, Sephy my Shiba Inu was also very reactive towards other dogs. Here are some of the things that helped with Sephy.
I used desensitization exercises to help raise his reactivity threshold, and to teach him to be more relaxed in the presence of other dogs.
You have a lot of good tips and information here, but there are some “bad” notes too.
For example: You specifically discuss not allowing the dog access to things like “play time” when he is not behaving. While this seems reasonable on the surface, consider that it also denies him access to a way to drain excess energy – and that can make issues worse.
You also mentioned in Tip 1 that your plan would include bringing the dog home and putting him in a time out area if he bit you. Again, seems reasonable, but serves absolutely no purposes.
In order to correct a dog’s bad/unwanted behavior, the ideal time is at the very onset of that behavior. The next best time is during the bad behavior and the least effective time is immediately at the end of the bad behavior. Once the bad behavior has stopped, you can no longer punish because the association between behavior and punishment is lost forever.
One tip that I didn’t happen to notice from you is the concept of “ending on a high note.” Regardless of what happens during play time, a walk, etc. you should attempt to create good behavior at the end and terminate the exercise that way. There should always be a good memory for the dog so that they want to engage again. If activities end on a bad note, it will create bad memories, and the dog will stop wanting to participate.
Hello Mark,
Thanks for pointing out the problem areas in the article.
1. Play time –
As you say, timing is very important in training and we should only reward a dog for good behaviors, whether it is with treats, affection, or play time. Certainly, we should also give our dog many opportunities to earn the things that he wants or needs. That is what Nothing in Life is Free is all about.
2. Timeout area –
Absolutely, we need to time consequences as close to the target behavior as possible for true results. You are right that this was not made clear in Tip 1
3. End on a good note –
Yes, I agree that we want to try to end things on a positive note. I talk about this in some of my other articles, where it seemed to fit better. Couldn’t find a good place for it here.
Thanks for your very useful input and for helping me improve on the article! If you have more suggestions, please let me know. Good luck with your training business.
Hi, I currently have a spayed canadian eskimo dog named Meeka. I got her at 14 weeks and she has been a handful since then. I feel as if we have not formed a bond and I am also not seen as pack leader. Living with 4 people it is hard to keep the rules all the same since everyone seems to believe their way is the right way, and nothing will change that. I do all the little things that i’ve heard help establish you as leader, walk in first ect.. I would like to be able to establish a healthy loving relationship with her but I don’t seem to know how. She often puts her mouth around my arm or legs and she will not listen when I give her commands. I have brought her to dog school and have participated in over 16 classes. I don’t know what else I can do to improve our bond. We are now getting another male canadian eskimo and I’m afraid that her behaviours will rub off on him. She is allowed access to her yard at all times during the day, since she prefers to be outside. She also has a unlimited supply of toys at all times. He will be also in the same situation. I feed her twice a day, and the second feeding is by hand. I plan to teach them to mush so i feel that our relationship needs to work together before i can do so. Your work with your dogs is magnificent and I would really appreciate some helpful tips and answers to my problem. Thank you.
Yeah, I also had troubles bonding with my Shiba Inu in the beginning. With Sephy, it is difficult to gain his trust, but once he gives it, he is very loyal and true.
Here are some things that I do to build a strong bond with my dogs.
With Sephy, I waited for about a year before getting a second dog. I wanted to properly bond with him, and train him first. There are many challenges that come with a second dog, and it will be difficult to deal with everything at once. As you say, dogs will also learn from each other, so I wanted my second dog to learn the right lessons from Sephy.
In terms of training, dogs learn from us through a process called conditioning. They repeat behaviors that get them good results and stop behaviors that get them undesirable results. Timing and consistency are both very important. We want to time our rewards right next to the target behavior, consistently reward good behaviors, and make sure *not* to reward undesirable behaviors. I set up a consistent set of rules and a fixed routine with all of my dogs.
If a dog receives mixed messages from the people around him, he will not know what we expect of him, and what he can expect from us. If he can play-bite on people sometimes, then he will just keep trying because the next time may result in a fun wrestling game. When the rules keep changing, it is simply not possible to learn the rules.
Here is a bit more on dog dominance and how dogs learn.
Im just wondering if the old adage stands with shiba’s “cant teach a old dog new tricks” Mines almost 7 years old and still has aggression issues. it just seems that he has no interest in learning because hes set in his ways
awww they are so cute that i melt everytime i see them, i thought they were my ideal dog, but after reading they can be agressive with me, make me stop wanting this dog. I have a very good space for him and im devoted to my pets, so i would love him very much but im searching for an faithful intelligent medium size dog that can alert me in case someone tries to break into my house in the night. In your wise experience with shibas do you think this dog can make that? I dont want a dog that may be agressive with me or could harm my cats. And im about to buy a shiba or a border collie, but the price is way higher so i have to be sure this is the perfect dog for me
Hello Dani,
All dogs need to be trained so that they know how to properly interact with people, other dogs, cats, etc. Some dogs will be harder to train than others. Shiba Inus are a stubborn and independent breed, so they are more difficult to train than many other breeds.
http://shibashake.com/dog/why-are-shiba-inus-one-of-the-most-difficult-breeds-to-train
Border Collies are bred to work with people, but they are *very* high energy dogs. They need *a lot* of structured exercise or they need a job to do that will keep them very well occupied.
After I got Sephy, I had to spend a lot of time and effort training him, supervising him, and giving him proper daily exercise. Keeping a dog is also very expensive. There are vet bills, vaccination shots that they need, training bills, training classes, food, equipment, and more.
As for cats, this was my previous response in case you missed it.
http://shibashake.com/dog/shiba-inu-personality-good-bad-traits/comment-page-6#comment-80999
Good luck! Post us some pictures of your puppy if you decide to get one. š
Thanks! you are very nice, i read the article and i think is going to be a bit difficult due to my cat characteristics, he is very territorial and he is old enough to get used to the dog.
The collie isnt my kind of dog since i dont have a ranch and i have to go to work everyday so i dont have all my time for him. and also for a shiba i can train him only after work :(, so maybe is not enough since i cant watch him all day but Ill keep looking for a good option and if i end buying a shiba ill sure post photos of the puppy.
Thank you!
I am hoping you can help me. My 10 month old Golden Retriever/Husky is extremely aggressive with me when I am with him in our backyard. He jumps, bites and barks at me nonstop. He does this inside as well but not as often. He only does this to me. He occasionally will go after my 7 year old son but never to my husband. He stops dead in his tracks if my husband even looks at him. Why does he act this way towards me? If I am sitting on the couch watching TV he goes after my feet biting and barking at me. But the strange thing is that he follows me everywhere. He is definitely more attached to me than anyone else. Please help me figure out how to correct this. It is so frustrating . I feel like a prisoner in my own home.
Hello Stacie,
I went through a similar experience with my Shiba Inu, Sephy. I remember this one incident where he was sitting nicely when my partner was holding his lead. However, as soon as it was passed to me, Sephy started leash biting and jumping on me. It was not a good feeling.
In my case, there were two key reasons for Sephy’s behavior –
1. My energy.
I was more than a little afraid of Sephy because of his crazy behavior towards me. I did not trust him, and I feared what he may do every time I had to walk him or interact with him. Sephy is very sensitive to the energy of the people around him. He picked up on my stress and fear, got stressed himself, and acted even more crazy. This made me get even more afraid, and things just went downhill from there.
After I took steps to change my own energy, Sephy calmed down a lot as well, and his behavior improved.
2. My response.
Dogs repeat behaviors that get them “good results” (according to them), and stop behaviors that get them bad results.
Sephy often jumped on me or started to bite because he wanted to initiate play. I would get afraid, push him back with my arms, and start shouting at him. This is a lot of motion, and a lot of noise, which gets Sephy even more excited about playing. From his point of view –
A lot of motion can also trigger a dog’s prey drive.
Another important aspect of changing Sephy’s behavior, is to change how I respond to him. For example, when he jumps –
1. I stay calm, and no-mark the behavior.
2. Then, I redirect him into doing something else (e.g. alternate command, or alternate activity).
3. If he redirects, then I reward him by giving him attention and playing with him.
4. If he does not listen, then I withdraw my attention. I stand up, turn away from him, and totally ignore him (no talking, no touching, and no eye-contact).
5. If he calms down, then I reward him by giving him attention again.
6. If he escalates his behavior by jumping on me more and biting on my clothing, I calmly say “Timeout” and remove him to a timeout area using his drag-lead. (Note – I only use a drag lead with a flat collar and only under supervision).
In this way, Sephy learns that –
Here is a bit more on what I do to control puppy biting.
Here is a bit more on how I trained my Husky puppy.
Thank you! I will definitely give your ideas a try! Really hoping this works!
Hi,
Our dog is 18 months old , he listens to my husband and obeys every command given . when its just me and the dog he is fine and listens to me , however when my daughter comes in who is 9 he constantly jumps up her pulling at her clothes and socks. When I tell him no he just barks and growls at me leaning into my daughter if I go to grab his collar he looks to bite me. We have taken our dog to training which was great but really could do with some advice. Please help to explain why he does this for me and only when my husband is at work thank you
Initially, a dog will not understand the word “No”. We teach a dog what “Yes” and “No” means by tying it to consequences. Here is more on the yes-mark and no-mark.
Here is a bit more on why dogs jump and how I deal with it.
Finally, collar grabs do not generally work well. I did that with my Shiba Inu, and it made him very sensitive to his collar, and also to people touching him. Grabbing a dog’s collar while he is excited, may also cause him to redirect his excited energy onto us. This is also called “redirected aggression”. When my dog is still learning house rules, I use a drag lead (only with a flat collar and only under supervision) to better control him.
As I described in the article, our dogs are also very good at sensing our energy. Dogs will respond better to a calm person. If I am angry, frustrated, fearful or otherwise not calm, my dog will pick up on that energy, become more agitated himself, and act even more crazy. In order to calm a dog down, we must be calm ourselves.
Finally, training is a lifetime process. I started training my dogs as puppies, and we still continue to do old commands, new commands, bite inhibition exercises, grooming exercises, play-time exercises, and more. People learn and change all through their lives, and so do dogs.
Hello,
I’ve just adopted a Rottweiler puppy, she was 8 weeks when I got her and is now 9 weeks. I spent several years searching for a dog with the goal of going through training and eventually having the dog become a Certified Therapy Dog. The first few days after I brought her home she was great, eager to please, even learning quickly to fetch the ball and bring it back. However, she is starting to adapt worrisome behaviors that I do not know how to correct. I know leash training can take awhile, at this time she only does small steps when walking away from the house, she will lay down and refuse to move , walking home she will run the entire way as I think she smells or senses we are returning to the safety of the home. My biggest concern right now is she’s starting to bite my socks and legs, sometimes aggressively. When I attempted to take her for a walk today she grabbed ahold of my jeans and would not let go. I attempted to hold her down on the ground until she submitted, but did not hold her there that long. She is also jumping up on the gate and knocking it down, despite me telling her no and redirecting her attention to her toys. I’ve tried putting her in a seperate crate from the one she sometimes sleeps in as punishment when she bites my socks or knocks the gate down, but im worried that is the wrong thing to do as I don’t want her to think being put in a crate is a bad thing. She has no respect or fear of me right now and I don’t know what to do. I tried the “Fake” bite Millan teaches, it initially had some effect, as I think it startled her, but now has no effect at all, it seems the more i pull her back the more aggressive she becomes. It’s important this dog is on her best behavior and respects me as I hope to bring her to vulnerable places such as Hospitals. Please help me. Thanks.
Re: Leash Training
While leash training my puppy, I start inside the house or outside in the backyard. In these areas, a young puppy feels a lot safer, and there are also fewer distractions. In this way, I can get my puppy accustomed to the collar and leash first, and then focus fully on leash training without having to deal with the outside environment, other dogs, moving cars, cats, etc. Puppies also go through several different “fear periods”, during which I try to keep Lara’s environment calm and positive.
Also, I only started walking puppy Lara outside, after she was fully vaccinated. A puppy has a weaker immune system, and can become sick if exposed to infected poop from other dogs or other animals.
Here is a bit more on dog anxiety.
Re: Puppy biting
With puppy biting, timeouts work well for my dogs. Here is a bit more on what I did to train my dogs not to bite on people.
This technique is also known as the alpha-roll. It was something that I tried on my Shiba Inu, Sephy, based on the recommendation of our vet tech. at the time, as well as Sephy’s breeder. It did not work well on Sephy at all. He became extremely sensitive to handling, he became very distrustful of people, and he would fight back every step of the way.
I later found out that the technique is very risky, can make a dog fearful of people, and can also encourage aggression. Here is more on alpha rolls.
I now stay away from aversive based training methods, especially pain based and dominance based methods.
Re: Crates
I think you are right in terms of not wanting to use crates for punishment.
My dogs sleep in their crates at night, they sometimes eat in their crate, and we may also transport them in crates. Therefore, I only want them to associate their crate with safety and positive experiences. For timeouts, I use a boring but safe room, such as my laundry room.
Re: Pack Leadership
When I first started training Sephy, I started with aversive training techniques. In particular, several people recommended that I follow Cesar Millan (including Sephy’s breeder) so that was what we did.
What Millan says about calm energy, I think, is very true. Having a routine, structure, and consistent rules for my dogs were also very good. Exercise is also important. However, the aversive methods, including the finger jabs, alpha rolls, leash jerks, flooding, and more, only made things worse with Sephy.
I found that pack leadership is best achieved with the control of resources and by using the Nothing in Life in Free program.
Here is more on my early days together with Sephy.
Here is more on dog dominance and bad dog behaviors.
Here is more on how I trained my Husky puppy and how dogs learn.
Hi! Your site has helped me so much in training my 4 month old shiba (Romeo) . Of course he is a little crazy and has an attitude sometimes, as all shibas seem to do. He even shook for a treat today! I was so excited! But there is a down side to him lately. Just recently today, when I go to work I have to put him in his cage so he doesnt chew up my rental house. Well he ran from me, underneath my bed and started barking like crazy. I figured he thought I was playing until he started snapping at me. Well I got him out from underneath my bed and closed all the hallway doors so when he ran back there again, he was stuck. I caught him and he immediately flipped onto his back and started biting me. The day before he got loose outside and when i caught him he bit me then too. It was not playful at all. How do I stop this behavior before it worsens? I dont show fear towards him. Once i caught him, i usually take him by the collar and make him walk to his cage, however he has been biting me and if we are outside and my hands are cold it hurts! This time i picked him up and swatted his butt. We have been using the time out method, but he has caught on that he will eventually be let out.. Ho do i beat him at his own game? Thanks for trying to help!
Heh, Romeo sounds a lot like Sephy when he was young.
Sephy would also run under the bed, and under chairs. Then he would proceed to bite on the wooden underside of the bed or chair. If I went after him, he would just go farther in, or he would start biting on hands.
I find that the best way to get Sephy to do something, is to work with his innate likes and dislikes. For example, Sephy is very curious, and he is a good guard dog. If he hears some unusual noise, he will definitely come to check it out. Therefore, to get him out from under the bed, I just go somewhere else, and make some unusual noises. He will come over to check out knocks on the door, the doorbell, etc. I make things interesting and always try to do something new. Curiosity will get the better of him, and he will come to investigate. I reward him when he comes over and then I go close the bedroom door. š
When Sephy was young, I also put a drag lead on him. I only use a flat collar (*not an aversive collar*) and I only do it when I am around to supervise. The drag lead is useful because if Sephy tries to run away, I can just step on the lead and stop him. It also gives me better control, my hands are far away from Sephy’s mouth, and I can take him to timeout without much of a fuss.
Some other things that help with Sephy-
1. I do timeouts in the laundry room. This is because I want him to only associate his crate with positive things. He sleeps in there at night, and goes in there while in the car, so I want the crate to be a relaxing and happy place for him.
2. I follow the NILIF program and make Sephy work for all of his food. This helps to motivate him to follow house rules, do obedience commands, figure out interactive toys, etc.
3. I don’t physically engage Sephy with my hands or arms, to punish him. If I do so, he will respond in kind, and that gets him into the habit of using his mouth to keep people away. I just stay calm, pick up the drag lead, and use it to take him to timeout if necessary.
4. I try to always set him up for success, so that he practices positive behaviors rather than negative ones.
5. I try to always stay very calm. If I am frustrated, stressed, or angry, Sephy will pick up on that, and become more stressed-out himself. (It is not just fear he picks up on).
Dogs are very good at observing us and their environment. They will quickly figure out that when we put them in the crate, it means that it is boring alone time. Once Sephy figured this out, he would not go into his crate, not even for great food rewards. This is because for him, even sausages or cheese are not worth it, if he has to be alone in his crate.
Therefore, I only use his crate very rarely and I did a lot of crate desensitization exercises with him. In the beginning I would only start with very short crate times. Then once he is comfortable and relaxed, I slowly increase the duration.
When I need to leave the house, I find that having a larger enclosure, e.g. kitchen, works better for Sephy. That way, he can still roam around a bit, but he does not have access to the whole house. Also I make sure his enclosure is totally safe and does not contain anything that may be dangerous. He has water, safe chew toys, frozen Kongs, etc. to keep him busy. He spends a lot of time in the kitchen with me anyway, so it is in his routine to hang out in there and work on his toys. I make sure he is well exercised, and I make sure to set up a very fixed routine so that he knows that I will be back after a couple of hours.
Getting help from a professional trainer can also be very helpful. With dog training, timing and context are very important, so having a trainer come over to observe Sephy in his home environment helped a lot.
Good luck and hugs to Romeo!
Hi,
Our dog is 8 mo, German Shepard Mix. She appears highly intelligent and @8 wks, was already house trained. She has loving ways, but also unwanted aggression. Particularly is outside on her lead, when we go to bring her in after (30 mins), she jumps up high, gets in a low crouch, encircles whoever it is to bring her in, and has bared her teeth. (My husb. says he has seen her foam), however, I have not.
When we are in the house, she is a totally different dog (nice, attentv & licking us on the way in to say, i’m sorry about what just happ); when brought in the house from her lead area (it appears she knows the diference in territory-what she believe is hers and ours.
We believe we provide attention; clean after her 2-3 times day to ensure her environment comfortable; regular vet visits; meals, snacks, neighb. walks, outside play. Please help as biting will not be tolerated.
Hmmm, can you elaborate a bit more on her “lead area”?
Is it in the back or front?
What does she do while in her lead area? When does she go into her lead area?
How long is the lead? Does she bite at the lead? Does she prefer staying in the house?
Is there a lot of surrounding activity that gets her excited?