Exercising Reactive Dogs Thread

[mace]

I will be sure to let my clients that have experienced otherwise know this 'fact'.

What I am pointing out Cosmolo is the "Act", it's what law is based upon and if your clients have experienced otherwise, then there are obviously other circumstances involved being an incorrectly prepared defence or perhaps no defence at all. If for example a typical scenario: Dog walker is casually walking up the footpath with dog on leash. A dog rushes out of someone's driveway aggressively challenging you or your dog and the leashed dog grabs hold of the offending dog and kills it. The council "may" try to declare the leashed dog dangerous or charge the owner of the leashed dog with a legislation breach which is correct in the effect of a dog injuring/killing another dog, BUT in those circumstances the "Act" over-rides the situation with a defence and the leashed dog "cannot" be found guilty given that it hasn't breached the legislation. This in not my idea of the situation, it's written in black and white :D

[megan_]

Yeah but you have to pay a fair whack in legal fees to fight the council - not everyone can afford that.

Regardless of the legal outcome, the safety of the community comes first, so my girl will wear her muzzle on appropriate occassions. Without the muzzle, I would not be prepared to take her to an area where there are any children, for example. That said, I always keep her below the threshold.

Back on topic....

Puzzle toys have served Lucy welll too. The Nina Ottosan range is particularly good and if you buy from teh US you can get access to toys that aren't available in the US. I have found the following to be particulary good:

* Nina O's Brick Game: http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=1721&ParentCat=435

* Nina O's new Dog Treat Maze ($11.95!): http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=3037&ParentCat=435

* The Magic Mushroom: http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=2935&ParentCat=284&string=magic mushroom

* Buster Cude (expensive, but the dogs really have to work to get the treats out so it keeps them amused):http://www.oo.com.au/Buster-Cube-Large_P95856.cfm?cm_mmc=Googlemerchantcenter-_-HomeGarden-_-PetSupplies-_-PE1677&CAWELAID=986358467

I also have a Kong Wobbler but it doesn't rate against the ones listed above IMO. I got a few games with cleanrun free shipping, so it is worth keeping an eye out there. The Nina O stuff seems to be priced very similarly in Australia, so it is worth checking out local online suppliers.

I also have a mini agility course set up in my yard (weavers and 2 jumps, soon to add a tunnel that I got from a DOLER for the princely sum of $15). All up, the weavers and jumps cost me about $70 from cleanrun (free shipping pre-Christmas shopping extravaganza). You can set up waevers with just afew tomato stakes if you don't want to invest in the proper equipment. This really works Lucy's body and brain. There are many different combos that you can teach even with a few jumps.

She is also slowly learning scent detection. Her brother got it in 10 mins but she reverts to her default behaviour (sit and look at me) when she gets confused (good girl!) so it is a bit slow going. This is something that is relatively easy to teach and you don't need a lot of fancy equipment.

[superminty]

Scent work is a great idea!

I would also add doing exercises using a FitPaws egg, balance disc or similar for a few minutes a day - I have one for rehab for my old dog but my DA dog loves it - it challenges the mind and body and exhausts him in 5 mins. Plus will help him keep fit and well into old age.

Edited January 12, 2012 by superminty

[megan_]

superminty I was going to get those from cleanrun but didn't know how to train the dog to use them

[Cosmolo]

You can free shape it Megan

[megan_]

yeah but I can't imagine my two rascals naturally putting their hind legs on the fitpaw egg. Maybe I need to do more hind leg awareness first?

[superminty]

I only have an egg - started with front paws and lured up. The dog in this video is pretty brave, but my scaredy-cat dog took to it really well too once she worked out there were treats involved.

That was maybe his second go? I also put the egg in between the couch and a table to steady it at first.

For back legs on a disc or box - put it in a corner and holding food, walk into the dog (if they aren't great shapers). Walk the dog backwards til a hind leg hits the balance disc, mark and treat. Rinse, repeat.

Edited January 12, 2012 by superminty

[megan_]

Thanks superminty - now I wish I had got them!

[hankdog]

Hi great to find this post.

I recently aquired a bulldog from the pound and whilst it was apparent he was dog aggressive he is so pleasant around people and walks and sits so well I decided to take him on. My last dog was a giant briard x pansy and I never had to worry about his behaviour. This little guy has bite scars across the side of his face so has been in at least one big fight. I have had him 2 weeks and my eventual aim is to be able to walk him confidently past another dog. At present when seeing another dog he tenses up and begins a mixture of barking and screaming, more screaming than barking. I don't want to get into a tugging match on the lead so I crouch down in front of him and talk to him in a low voice and offer him treats. If the other dog completely ignores him this is effective however if the other dog reacts he can't be distracted and yells obscenities until the dog is about 10m away. I walk him in a harness and unfortunately being a bulldog I'm unable to muzzle him as there isn't really much of a snout to muzzle although I would welcome the peace of mind that a muzzle would give me.

My neighbours' dog is also DA but it took him about 3 days to work out that she couldn't get to him and now he ignores her barking so I believe there is hope that he will be able to overcome his problem.

I would like to hear from other DA dog owners about their strategies for improving their dogs behaviour and the length of time it took for behaviour to improve.

The nurse at the vets where I had him neutered is a dog behaviourist who gave me some advice but I was disappointed by her non commital answers to my questions.

[trifecta]

Thanks for sharing, Snook!

[Diesel's Mate]

well I almost got lost and nearly became bored throughtout the few pages of Muzzle talk......... wrong topic

I LOVE the idea of the "Find It" game!! I have a 1YO Ridgie and a 7YO rescue and very recently they have developed a seperation anxiety (although they often have been out seperately?!) With the "Find It" game I can use their crates and keep them focussed seperately without the anxiety of not seeing each other.

Thanks heaps for these ideas!!

[Salukifan]

You know what?

You can see the best behaviourist around, follow their desensitisation programs to the letter and you'll STILL have a reactive dog.

And all it needs is some moron yelling "don't worry he's friendly" as their offlead darling rushes towards you and you can be right back where you started.

So this IS a thread that should be about more than "what will I do while my dog is being cured" because that simply will NEVER happen for some dogs.

A decent dog club with its own grounds can be your saviour as can adopting the hours of a shift worker and lurking around public dog areas in the wee small hours.

Obedience will wear out the mind but dogs still need a bloody good blat every now and again for their mental well being IMO. If you can cultivate the company of people whose dogs your dog will tolerate for social outings, so much the better.

I rarely walk my dogs around my suburb straight after work. That seems to be the worst time and place for attracting the attention of dogs belonging to people who don't know their arses from their elbows when it comes to canine behaviour or courtesy to other dog owners.

[DeltaCharlie]

I have only skimmed through the posts but in response to the issue of another dog coming up to your dog on a lead, try walking with an umbrella. Can be used as a stick to keep another dog at a distance, but can also be opened up suddenly to add that "shock" factor and will usually stop the approaching dog in its tracks.

Cody was a very fearful dog, never actually had a problem off leash when he could escape a situation (not that he had the chance to run off lead very often) but on lead would bite first ask questions later.

I made the decision 1 day to buy a hannibal lector style muzzle and it was the best thing I ever did. He loved his muzzle and would run up to shove his nose in it whenever he saw it. Very rarely had anyone allowing their dogs to get in his face after that (didn't help the roaming dogs though) but like others have said I would rather have one dog to be pulling off than 2.

[Staff'n'Toller]

You know what?

You can see the best behaviourist around, follow their desensitisation programs to the letter and you'll STILL have a reactive dog.

And all it needs is some moron yelling "don't worry he's friendly" as their offlead darling rushes towards you and you can be right back where you started.

So this IS a thread that should be about more than "what will I do while my dog is being cured" because that simply will NEVER happen for some dogs.

A decent dog club with its own grounds can be your saviour as can adopting the hours of a shift worker and lurking around public dog areas in the wee small hours.

Obedience will wear out the mind but dogs still need a bloody good blat every now and again for their mental well being IMO. If you can cultivate the company of people whose dogs your dog will tolerate for social outings, so much the better.

I rarely walk my dogs around my suburb straight after work. That seems to be the worst time and place for attracting the attention of dogs belonging to people who don't know their arses from their elbows when it comes to canine behaviour or courtesy to other dog owners.

Love it. :)

Nice to see you back in the training thread.

[hankdog]

Yep and we were doing so well yesterday walked right past the neighbourhood behind-fence-barkers with just a slightly faster pace no barking and then walking down the fire trail and here comes 3 medium dogs and one owner not a leash in sight. I take Jake to the side make him sit yell to the owner to please call his dogs and get the standard "don't worry they're friendly". No kidding especially the front one tearing at us barking? I managed to get in front of Jake and used my stick to hit it away and then leaving the park had to wait half an hour in the kids fenced play area because a stray great dane was wandering the street just outside the park exit. You really get a different view of dog ownership and responsibility when you have a dog like this.

I was worried about the effect this was going to have on the poor dog but I think it's probably more on me, today thought I spotted an oncoming dog so crossed the road and made him sit started giving him treats. One very confused dog was more than happy to give out a couple of wimpers when the "dog" turned out to be a black travel bag on wheels!!!

Ok so I have booked a session with a dog behaviorist who has enlisted a trained labrador and handler and we will do some controlled desensitisation otherwise Jake will too chubby to bark at anything if I'm going to give out treats for every bit of passing baggage. In the meantime working on a very basic handshake luckily coming from the pound he has a bit of weight to put on because after a week of training he still doesn't even shift his weight across in anticipation of lifting his paw although he is slowly coming around to a game of fetch but only when I'm working and he's run out of other ways to distract me.

[Ms Genki]

Megan,

Your inbox seems to be full so here's my message.

I was very surprised and relieved to see your thread on keeping reactive dogs active and occupied. I have one such dog that's very athletic and was despairing that he can't play off leash on ovals because I just can't take the risk that a small or medium dog will be sighted off in the distance. He can and will break away from me because he's strong and nothing works when his prey drive kicks in.

I'm very grateful for this thread. There have been many times in the past when I've beaten myself up for taking on a dog that was a constant exercise in micromanagement for a very long time. Feels great to have more options for managing him. Thanks for starting up the thread.

Have a lovely weekend.

And for the record of other readers, yes, mine has seen a behaviouralist who was excellent. Some of these ideas are a great complement to the things that I didn't get around to discussing with him.

Edited March 24, 2012 by Ms Genki

[megan_]

Glad it helped ms genki

[hankdog]

Haha Snook you'd think I'd have used food from his daily ration but no it wasn't totally obvious. So dog walking neighbourhood carrying spaghetti, well I might give it a try at least worse case in a fight it might act as body armour. Jake has had thoroughly good barks at what feels like all the well-behaved dogs in the neighbourhood, very embarrassing and yes I am starting to understand having to micromanage every situation but luckily he's smallish at only 22kgs so I'm starting to feel more confident about at least controlling him and I have a sneaking feeling he's starting to enjoy just having a bark. He certainly knows he's about to get chicken when he sees another dog.

I also found a toy called a kibble nibble it's an egg shaped ball with a hole in each end that you fill with kibble and they have to use their paw to roll it over the long axis to get the kibble to fall out, didn't take him too long to get it. Cost of toy $20 watching a bulldog eat kibble off the floor....priceless!

[trojka]

I have had the same experience with the backpack.

Put it on my boy for the first time, and you could instantly see his expression change, took him for a walk, and it was almost like walking a different dog. He is so much more calm, relaxed and confident with it on, it's amazing.

I think it works in the same way a thundershirt or a body wrap (not sure what they're really called) would. I should really get it out more often again.

[Aidan3]

Cool, my backpack arrived today. Can't wait to use it, even though my current dog's idea of being reactive is to play-bow at inappropriate moments (bless him).