Leah, that is wonderful you have her heeling! It makes me so sad to see all these dogs on walks, and the dogs are way ahead – being the pack leaders. Most of the time, it’s these very unstable, hyperactive, insane, and fearful dogs too. I also smiled when I saw that she focuses on “getting there”. This is great! A pack walk is about harmony, perfect communication, and the destination. The dog’s only mission is to follow you and focus on where she’s going.
I was going to suggest herding as well, if she has some sort of herding breed in her, then you should definitely try to research out how to teach a dog to move animals. Even if you don’t know how to train her, just letting her chase around a sheep herd would be great! My boy is not allowed to mess with our cow or chickens (and the pony completely ignores him, haha). I decided once to put him on a lead and let him attempt to herd the hens. I was expecting his usual – lunging, snapping, and grabbing onto them. I was really impressed though! He wasn’t sure /how/ to move them as a group, but he knew he was just supposed to follow them slowly. He never bit them, even when given the chance. When he got to the rooster, I’ll admit they got into a scuffle, haha! So now he can’t herd the chickens, since the rooster will attack him the instant he goes in there!
And if you can’t access a herd of animals consistently, look into teaching her the sport of “Treiball”, it’s basically herding/moving large medicine balls around. I’m sure tutorials are online.
Yes, I like to call my boy’s barking/biting “fear-anxiety” driven aggression. I realized it’s not /true/ aggression, because when he was offered to sniff the back end of a new dog, he was content just sniffing. He’d nip at the dog’s face, but if he was truly aggressive, he would have grabbed a leg or something… I find dogs have their fight-or-flight instinct when nervous. My boy doesn’t seem to understand “flight,” as he nervously lunges at anything loud, moving, or otherwise scary.
