Why does my dog lunge and bark at people on walks and at the door?

Question

How to stop sudden attack or lunging on people like if he's on walk and someone suddenly comes out from side of the car and he doesn't know he's coming he start lu ging on him with bark so how can I improve his this bad habit? He do this sometimes not often also when door bell rings he then also start barking and try to attack stranger who's at door so is this all behavior ok or not do dogs do like that ? Can we change behavior. Pet's info: Dog | German Shepherd | Male | unneutered | 3 years and 6 months old

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA · Accepted Answer

Hi there. It's often very possible to improve this behavior through training, but I would strongly recommend working with a veterinary behaviorist or a good reward-based trainer who can help you with this in person, as it's generally difficult to treat effectively on your own. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here: www.dacvb.org or a qualified trainer here: www.ccpdt.org In the meantime, I would recommend walking Bruno in areas where you are likely to run into other people, and putting him in another room when you have visitors to keep him from continuing to practice the unwanted behavior, as this will only make it worse. When you do walk him, a Gentle Leader head halter would give you better control and make it easier to prevent lunging at pulling vs. using a regular collar. The trainer or behaviorist you work with can give you more specific instructions on how to change this behavior over time once you've met with them for an initial assessment.

Why does my dog lunge and bark at people on walks and at the door?

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