How To Teach Him...

[Oscar (AmBull)]

Oscar gets super hyperactive and excited when he see's another dog, and humans in fact. He will settle after a while with unfamiliar people, but dogs he will go crazy for the entire duration. He only wants to play but he is so over the top and boisterous he scares other dogs. I do not like other dogs feeling uncomfortable because mine is super excited and I know I would hate it if the roles were reversed so I most often just try and steer clear of dogs I don't know or I know to be a little timid. He is most of the time on lead as he is to in your face to other dogs.

Just wondering if there are any techniques I could use to teach him not all dogs want to be his friend as soon as he spots them?

We are going to start a course shortly called calm, controlled, centred which combats some of this. Just wondering if any other people have had a similar experience or have any advice? He is only 6 months old and still a goofy puppy so doesn't realise his own strength.

Thanks.

[corvus]

What does he do off leash? One of my dogs adores other dogs and does stupid things like jumping up and down on the spot when he's on leash, but when he's off leash he approaches quite carefully. I still don't trust him to stay away from dogs I think won't like him, but he is getting there slowly. Having a great recall really helps. I can recall him away from a dog in most cases.

Kivi is 18 months old and still hasn't learnt that not all dogs want to be his friend, despite being a dog park and daycare veteran and having had his share of being gruffed at for being overly friendly. However, we are making progress with the stupid on leash behaviour. If he starts I just freeze. Sooner or later he sits because it's a default behaviour and if he wants something and can't get it he eventually thinks of sitting. Sometimes I can get him to do it on suggestion quite early and we don't have to stand there for two minutes while he acts like an idiot. The more I do this the more he defaults to sitting as soon as he even feels the tension on his leash. This goes a long way to having a calmer dog and it generalises really well so that he has started sitting when he feels that tension no matter what the reason.

I wouldn't avoid other dogs. I'd do the opposite. Flood him and just take him to places where other dogs go and work on getting his focus and rewarding the hell out of it. You could start small, like just in town or at a park where dog walkers pass by. I haven't done this with Kivi, but I think I'd have good results if I did. There's nothing like making something boring for reducing excitement.

And in the meantime, I think it's good for dogs like this to play with smaller dogs so they learn to curb their enthusiasm. My mother's Sheltie pup taught Kivi to be more gentle because she would dive under something low where he couldn't get her whenever he got too rough. He learnt that the only way he could get her to play with him was to lie down and let her come to him. These days he still tends to grab her tail as soon as he sees her to try to make her play, but she tells him to get lost and he remembers he has to be more gentle with her.

[lappiemum]

What does he do off leash? One of my dogs adores other dogs and does stupid things like jumping up and down on the spot when he's on leash, but when he's off leash he approaches quite carefully. I still don't trust him to stay away from dogs I think won't like him, but he is getting there slowly. Having a great recall really helps. I can recall him away from a dog in most cases.

Kivi is 18 months old and still hasn't learnt that not all dogs want to be his friend, despite being a dog park and daycare veteran and having had his share of being gruffed at for being overly friendly. However, we are making progress with the stupid on leash behaviour. If he starts I just freeze. Sooner or later he sits because it's a default behaviour and if he wants something and can't get it he eventually thinks of sitting. Sometimes I can get him to do it on suggestion quite early and we don't have to stand there for two minutes while he acts like an idiot. The more I do this the more he defaults to sitting as soon as he even feels the tension on his leash. This goes a long way to having a calmer dog and it generalises really well so that he has started sitting when he feels that tension no matter what the reason.

I wouldn't avoid other dogs. I'd do the opposite. Flood him and just take him to places where other dogs go and work on getting his focus and rewarding the hell out of it. You could start small, like just in town or at a park where dog walkers pass by. I haven't done this with Kivi, but I think I'd have good results if I did. There's nothing like making something boring for reducing excitement.

And in the meantime, I think it's good for dogs like this to play with smaller dogs so they learn to curb their enthusiasm. My mother's Sheltie pup taught Kivi to be more gentle because she would dive under something low where he couldn't get her whenever he got too rough. He learnt that the only way he could get her to play with him was to lie down and let her come to him. These days he still tends to grab her tail as soon as he sees her to try to make her play, but she tells him to get lost and he remembers he has to be more gentle with her.

Ugh, I know what you are talking about. Tasha is much better now, but the Boofhead gets ridiculously excited at times. If there is a fault with the breed, its probably that they are *too* friendly when young!!

I agree - we have done lots of work with our two, and its better to take them places and socialise them - but with some controls as well; he just can't go nuts every time. Rewards for good behaviour - is he food fixated? If not, praise works well too. If you are unsure, have a behaviourist come in to give you some advice and a push in the right direction.

[TangerineDream]

Flooding works - I'm doing this with Tango and horses atm...after a few visits around the horses down the road, he's far less stimulated by their presence and has started behaving as if he's actually not interested - exactly the reaction I was after. Worked with dogs with him too...

[Oscar (AmBull)]

On leash it is pull as hard as I can to get to the dog. Off leash it is run as fast as I can to get to the other dog. He does have a fairly good recall and is very food motivated, except when dogs are around. It is like nothing at all is as good as getting to that other dog. I don't want to avoid other dogs but I would never forgive myself if something happened and he was attacked by another dog, which would in turn effect him for life. And I also do not want him to scare other dogs to the point that they become fear aggressive. It is a catch 22. I just can't seem to get his attention at all when another dog is in the picture.

[lappiemum]

Don't forget - he only a baby!! Mine are 18months, and I'm still waiting for my boy to grow some brain cells!!!!

[roses2905]

My Wookie is similar, 8 months old next week and 30 kg, he just loves all dogs and is totally stupid about it. We do obedience, we do the dog park, and he is still a nutter. He has been bowled over before, several times in fact, but just keeps going back.

[Oscar (AmBull)]

I know he is only still a puppy but when he is almost pulling me over from pulling to get to another dog it is hard to think that . He is 27kg so not a light weight. We will just have to keep trying. Thanks for all the input!

[:ange:]

My girl is 21 months old and is still like this.. flooding hasn't worked for us. Her recall is about 80% ok at dog parks and she has begun to finally learn which dogs to steer clear of. People who think 'typical for a Weimaraner' she's not.. she's crazy. Any sort of social situation and it sends her into overdrive just like yours.. I went to a Weimaraner Social day on the weekend and all I heard were people saying "well she's certainly got the most energy". haha.. she's an absolute snuggle bug at home.. but put her with dogs, people and sausages and you get one hypo schizophrenic dog!

good luck would love to hear how things go in the future and what you do that's worked for you!

[Miz J]

I know he is only still a puppy but when he is almost pulling me over from pulling to get to another dog it is hard to think that . He is 27kg so not a light weight. We will just have to keep trying. Thanks for all the input!

Hi,

Oscar and my white boxer pup met at a DOL meet a little while ago and had a great time , they are about the same age. They both behaved like clowns then and likely the behaviour is the same its just that they are quite a bit bigger now. I am going to do some work with a trainer because Henry seems to have lost his hearing ( selectively) and will do the same as Oscar and pull like a freight train. On the other hand he does an impersonation of an antelope on lead now just to throw me off. I sympathise and seem to have the same issues. I am hoping its a juvenile delinquency issue!!!!

Oscar is absolutely gorgeous.

[W Sibs]

Charlie still sometimes gets excited seeing other dogs... luckily he is little, I can stop him easy. If I can't get his whole attention, I will take him away till he calms down. He isn't getting rewarded for a behaviour I don't like or want. I will simply just continue walking, I won't stand still and keep pulling the dog... I will simple walk away and Charlie has no choice but to follow me.

I will not put an excited dog off leash. Simple as that. Accident do happen, misunderstanding will occur and dramas will errupted. If there is an overly excited and very friendly puppy comes and charges towards my pup to play, I will be upset and there will be words exchanged.

I will ignore a hyper dog. Don't want to be a snob to the owner or other dog, but usually they look like they are strugging, i don't want to make their situation worst by stopping. If the the dog is calm and if the owner says OK.. I will let Charlie go over and say hello.

[Adele]

I do think some of this behaviour comes down to age but you also don't want this behaviour to become a learned habit - he sees another dog = he starts to be silly. My dog is exactly the same in that she would play all day with any dog whether they want to or not!

Like charleswentworth my dog will NOT be let off leash if she is exhibiting high excitement and I tend not to let her off around dogs we do not know. If she pulls I do not move so she knows that she will not get any nearer by pulling. We go to a local park every morning to play with dogs we know and to get to have a play I put her in a sit then to get released she needs to look at me first.

I know it is nowhere near as fun but you might just have to recognise that you have a highly excited dog and crowded dog areas are not for you. I live so close to a busy dog beach and when I got a dog it was my dream to walk along the beach with my pooch, what I got was a very excited, crazy dog that did not listen so no more beach walks for us. I would rather not put her in that situation where she learns that behaviour and have her in a more controlled environment. Going to obedience helped A LOT because she has to work in close proximity to other dogs without playing and interacting with them.

[Aidan]

Get friends with dogs you know will play well with Oscar to help you out.

Have your friend and dog on leash waiting about 7-8m from you in an area in which they can later play. Approach on a loose leash. If the leash goes tight, stop and slowly start backing up. As soon as the leash is loose again, begin to move forward. When you can make it all the way to your friend, let the dogs play off-leash for a minute or two. You can use food to reinforce loose leash walking, or as a lure to speed up the process in the early stages.

When the dogs are playing, find a suitable moment for each of you to encourage your dogs back to you, give them a treat then release them to play again a few times before you put them back on leash so they don't come to think that coming to you means being put back on leash. Do not use your normal recall cue (e.g "come"), just encourage them, e.g kneel down, pat your leg, walk off etc

Another approach is to habituate the dogs to each other with a longish on-leash walk before letting them play at the end. You could even do this before the loose leash exercise described above. Again, practise encouraging them to come to you intermittently, then release them to play again.

Insist on a loose leash. I use a high rate of reinforcement (with food) combined with not letting pulling on the leash "work" for the dog; i.e dog can never move towards a target if he is pulling. It's like quitting smoking, you allow one drag and they're hooked again!

[corvus]

I don't let Kivi off if he's acting like a fool, either. He has to be at least switched on enough to sit when asked, and as a general rule, switched on enough to actually look at me when I say his name. Sometimes he gets fixated and all he can see and hear in the world is the dog he wants to go and say hi to. If I let him go then, he would certainly charge up to it. But if I make sure he's come down enough to hear me, I know he'll be all right. If he can hear me he will come to a recall.

Someone on another board said this morning that their dog was very reactive around other dogs when he was young, and then she focused on training him with toys and high drive games and the problem went away without any work on it directly. Interesting.

[poodlefan]

Someone on another board said this morning that their dog was very reactive around other dogs when he was young, and then she focused on training him with toys and high drive games and the problem went away without any work on it directly. Interesting.

They gave their dog an alternative focus to other dogs and built a very high value one.. its owner. I think it's far easier to teach a dog to focus on you than to ignore another stimulus. Certainly far easier to encourage and reward than distract and discipline for the other.

Self control and handler focus are to some extent byproducts of any effective training. To any person who has this issue, I'd advise regular formal obedience or other dog sport training for the longer term. That this is done in the presence of other dogs is also very beneficial.

This kind of stimulation can be a very effective alternative to the mad blatting around dog parks that a lot of dogs get to indulge in as their only out of home outlet. To a fair degree we get the dogs we raise. If every time your dog sees other dogs, its a free running party, then you'd not expect anything other than high excitemetn and not a lot of interest in the owner.

Edited September 30, 2009 by poodlefan

[corvus]

When the dogs are playing, find a suitable moment for each of you to encourage your dogs back to you, give them a treat then release them to play again a few times before you put them back on leash so they don't come to think that coming to you means being put back on leash. Do not use your normal recall cue (e.g "come"), just encourage them, e.g kneel down, pat your leg, walk off etc

That helped us as well. And rewarding big when he checked in on his own. He's pretty cute when it suddenly occurs to him out of the blue to go see if his people have some roast lamb for him. That's something you can work on without other dogs distracting him at first. Kivi gets rewarded with food most times he falls in beside us on his own, so he does that a lot, even when off leash at the dog park.

There was a point where we reduced the dog exposure because we were in danger of spoiling our recall. We did a few weeks of going to quieter places and concentrating on being fun and practising the recall. It seemed to set us back on the right track. The thing I'm finding with the recall is you have to keep practising it all the time. We do a recall or two every time we let Kivi off leash. We nearly always have some roast meat or something on us for recalls when we go to an off leash park or beach. It's quite fun to practise it, though, and it stays nice and strong that way.

[Jetty]

It can be quiet embarrassing when they act this way, doesn't it. Jet has the same problem. Him now being 8 months old, I agree that age is one issue. I have been taking him to obedience and they have been having me train him on a long leash using the "come" comand when he is distracted. He also gets excited but then excitment seems to turn into barking and growling. The command we have been using is either the "come" or "out" command. I have also tried using food and toys as a distraction away from the other dogs. Eventually he will stop it but it is a mission to get his attention.

I will be trying that advise with continuing to walk when he shows that behaviour this afternoon. I will see how it works out and let you know NAO.

[Aidan]

I think it's far easier to teach a dog to focus on you than to ignore another stimulus.

Without any doubt at all. Differential Reinforcement of Alternative or Incompatible Behaviour is a very powerful and efficient method of changing a response to a stimulus when used correctly. It works with reactive dogs, as well as overly exuberant dogs.

[Jetty]

I tried the method of continuing to walk when he shows any signs of excitment etc towards the dogs down our road. The only time he actually showed attention was the once, but when I pulled and continued to walk he ignored the dog! Worked well considering we passed 4 dogs. I am also using a check chain if that makes a difference?

[Seita]

Your dog will probably have a critical distance where he will start acting like this when he sees other dogs. I have found that the best way to teach a dog to calm down is work outside of this critical distance. Say there is a dog 20 metres away and you are walking your dog towards that dog, at 20 meteres your dog might be excited but relatively calm, as you get closer your dog probably gets more and more excited and starts pulling on the lead and ignoring you. At this point you turn around give a quick pop on the collar and keep walking away from the other dog until your dog calms down. You simply keep doing this EVERYTIME your dog starts acting up and gradually your dog will learn that by getting silly he loses the opportunity to meet and play with that other dog. Over time you will be able to get closer and closer to the other dogs.

It's the same thing when he's playing with another dog - try keeping him on a long line and the other dog loose if possible so when he gets over the top and too rough you simply pull him away until he calms down, then praise him when he's calm and let him play again.

I live to do alot of recall work - firstly in low or no distraction environments and then gradually increasing the distractions - I just call the dog praise or give it a treat and let it go back to what it was doing. This builds value for you and for the recall command so you will be able to call your dog away even when he's really excited or really into a game with another dog.

I have a reactive dog, she hates other dogs in her space and gets very snappy. I need to remove her from other dogs alot and just get her to focus on me so that she ignores the other dogs around her and doesn't get worried about them or feel the need to snap at them.