Is leash agression a myth?

It's a known fact that many dogs are more aggressive when on the leash than they are when off leash. This is generally blamed on the restriction of being leashed. However, I suspect the problem has more to do with how humans act when dogs are on leash than the restriction of the leash. Over time, this may result in superstitious behavior on a dog's part when leashed, but only because humans have trained this behavior. When a dog is leashed, humans usually expect them (and train or force them) to behave politely according to human standards - these standards are often aggressive by dog standards. For instance, humans consider walking in a straight line to be polite and usually insist on it, dogs view doing so in the territory or presence of another dog as rude.  Dog standards call for arching. Humans usually want to walk through an area briskly - particularly if another dog is barking at them; dogs consider sniffing to be the polite, and non-aggressive, response. People often encourage leashed dogs to greet each other by touching noses, again this can be a signal of aggression - a polite dog greeting is a quick tail sniff. Finally, I've often seen dogs who feel threatened attempt to hide behind their owner, only to have the leash shortened so they are forced to come stand beside their owner.

By forcing dogs to act in an aggressive manner and discouraging retreat behavior when on leash, you are ruling out the option to appease or submit to another dog and limiting dogs' options to escalating the aggression. So, what can we do to not teach leash aggression? We can encourage our dogs to sit perpendicular to the path or arch ourselves when passing another dog. We can allow - and even encourage - sniffing in the presence of other dogs, particularly dogs who appear threatened or aggravated by our presence. We can be our dogs' advocates and protect them from other dogs. We can encourage polite dog greetings and remove our dog from situations with rising aggression. Of course, if you have already trained your dog to be leash aggressive, it will take longer to turn things around than if you start from the beginning encouraging non-aggressive behavior even, and especially, on-leash.

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Sniffing OR I'm minding my own business here

Sniffing has a lot of functions for a dog. Dogs communicate by leaving scents for one another and dogs are excellent at using their noses to keep track of what is going around in the world around them. However, sniffing has a function beyond smelling. Sniffing (usually sniffing the ground) communicates to other dogs that the sniffing dog is just minding his or her own business and is not interested in trespassing, taking part in any dominance challenges or otherwise interacting with the other dogs.  

Pico, seen here practicing her sniffing, is trained to sniff on command.  This is very useful for walking past barking dogs and other dogs that might cause problems.  Because this sends an appropriate message to the other dogs, she is comfortable doing this no matter what the other dogs do (although given her choice, she'd rather bark back at them!)  Sniffing also works very well in situations where arching would not be appropriate - for instance when you need to pass another dog on a narrow path.

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Arching OR I'm Just Passing Through

It's probably not a surprise to anyone with a neighborhood dog that barks at everyone that walks by that dogs can be territorial and have strong feelings about who passes through their territory or personal space.  Dogs need a way to let other dogs know that they are not impinging on the other's territory, just passing by or through.  One of the ways they do this is arching.  As one dog approaches another, rather than walk in a straight line (the most direct route), the approaching dog will walk in an arch around the other dog. 

This is in direct contrast with human nature and leads to a lot of the problems with walking on a leash.  When humans want to signal that they are just passing through, they attempt to travel the quickest route, an accompanying dog will want to make an arch through the area, which often results in pulling. 

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