Exercising Reactive Dogs Thread

[Staffyluv]

Don't leave - just put them all ignore (whoever it is that is causing you issue)..

I have a few on ignore now and DOL is a much nicer place for it..

That way, you get to stay, help where and when you can - not everyone is going to take advice (from those that know what they are talking about or others who just think they do).. It is a big community here and we don't all necessarily agree with everyone.

I have learned to read the stuff I like, skim over a lot of the rest and totally ignore a bit as well.. I know what gets on my goat, so I avoid those threads and situations.

[megan_]

I don't contribute to this thread that often (normally because I want to write an essay every time!) but thanks for your help and contribution corvus. I understand wanting to step away

[teekay]

Sorry to see you go Corvus, but totally understand you wanting to do it. I walked away from another dog forum a while ago and it was difficult in the early days, to not pop in to 'just see what's going on', but I managed it and rarely give it a thought anymore.

Good luck with everything you do x

[raineth]

Oh bugger

I'm really sad to hear that Corvus. But you've gotta do what you gotta do :)

Let me just say that I can't tell you how helpful what you were saying about arousal has been to me and Del :)

I also really appreciate how generous you are with your knowledge and generous putting in a lot of time reading and responding to people's posts :)

Although having read Staffyluv's post maybe you might want to give the 'ignore' option a go?

Edited September 6, 2013 by raineth

[Cosmolo]

What a terrible shame. I have agreed with you many times and learnt a thing or two from your posting- I was happy you were back.

[Staffyluv]

We have our advanced assessment next week - I can't believe the progress he as made in the last few weeks.

He is doing stand for exams, long sit and drop stays and recall from about 10m away - all off lead. Our instructor walks in and around the dogs while they are waiting for the recalls and their stays (even tossing a ball up in the air and catching it to increase distraction) and still he stays until called.

Thought I would post an updated pic of my gorgeous boy..

8.9.2013 by jamoore photos, on Flickr

[BC Crazy]

Well done staffyluv. Jake is blitzing it.... You should be so very proud. Jake can come & teach Stella extended stays ok. We go well till a bird flies past, then she is like sorry mum gotta go LOL & breaks stay. But I will keep practising.

Keep up the great work Jake. You are an inspiration :)

[Staffyluv]

Thanks BC, I had Zig and the foster pup, Zipp, doing long stays at home this morning and the foster (who is only in beginners) was staying longer the he was..

But in class he was doing really well - especially considering that less than a year ago, he was a nightmare to even walk.

[BC Crazy]

Amazing progress SL :)

Quick question Staffy luv. How do manage training now you also have Zip. Do you have to crate/ tie up one while training the other? It's one thing I do struggle with on ocassion.

Edited September 8, 2013 by BC Crazy

[Staffyluv]

Most of the time I train them together - I find she fits in really well with what I am doing with Zig. Probably why she is so far in front of the rest of her beginners class.

I do work with Zig at the park on our own for about 10 minutes or so and he also gets a 20 minute run.

Zippy gets about 5-10 minutes of training on her own at the park as well and 15 minutes of sniff time.

So all up it takes me an hour a day or every second day, outside the house and at home I take every opportunity to 'train'.

Sit stay for dinner, heel in and out of the house (I work from home and come in and out of the house a few times a day). This is easy to do with both of them wanting to work and they do so well together.

It is cool watching them heel together beside me (Zig is always the one on the inside close to my leg and Zippy is on the outside but right next to Zig).

If Zip is especially distracting for Zig, I just leave her in the house and work with him in the yard.

[BC Crazy]

Oh thanks staffyluv for taking the time to reply :)

Will be taking your productivity on board. I am very guilty of over thinking. Making simple things so complicated. Thanks for clarifying it.

[Staffyluv]

I try to combine training into play stuff to keep him interested..

For example, we might be going for a walk and we might do a heel pattern five minutes into a walk.

The heel pattern will include things like stop, slow heel, fast heel, sit, stay, drop and stand.. Any combination of those things maybe twice each in a 20 minute walk..

To begin with, it was repetition, repetition and more repetition. Now it is just reminder of what he knows.

Shoving bits of training in every day stuff is also what works for Zig.

I'm so lucky with Zippy as she just fits in with whatever we are doing.

She is going to make an awesome pet for her forever family, she is such a great dog..

[BC Crazy]

Yes that's where I probably fall down a bit Staffyluv. Too much playing & not enough training :laugh: So I am gradually getting a better balance between the two.

Zippy sounds terrific. You certainly are very fortunate that she fits in so well with your boy & your routine. No thoughts on keeping her then S Luv ??? :p

[Staffyluv]

No keeping of foster dogs - if I keep one, I can never help another.

I am pretty sure our local council has a 2 dog policy in town (or maybe it is 3) - but I seriously couldn't imagine myself with 3 dogs EVER..

[kayla1]

Hi folks,

I'm leaving DOL for good this time. The break I took last year was good for me, and when I came back I thought I could make it work. Unfortunately, I have come to the conclusion this place creates more angst for me than it's worth. I value my professional integrity and it has become clear to me that if I stay here I will have to choose between keeping my mouth shut when I know I have information that could help and being regularly pressed to defend my professional integrity. No one should be above question and I would happily justify what I'm doing and why except that in this case it won't achieve anything in the long run. My history here is too long and bitter and it is no longer about my professional integrity. Probably never was. I just wanted to drop in and say it's because of you guys on this thread that I ever thought I could enjoy DOL again, and I am sorry it wasn't enough. I wish all of you all the very best in your journeys. If you ever want to catch up or have questions, you can find me on Facebook. I am just in the process of kicking off my behaviour consulting business and have a FB page for the business here: https://www.facebook.com/creatureteacher.com.au. Still a few days off getting the website up, but there will be some good content to share on FB.

Love you guys, and I'll miss you if you don't come see me on FB.

I'm sorry to hear you are leaving Corvus. I enjoyed reading your posts and learnt a lot from them. It's a shame but I understand why.

And I see from the other posts in here that you have finished your PhD...congratulations!!

[BC Crazy]

No keeping of foster dogs - if I keep one, I can never help another.

I am pretty sure our local council has a 2 dog policy in town (or maybe it is 3) - but I seriously couldn't imagine myself with 3 dogs EVER..

Excellent point & I totally understand & you wont be able to help another. Your doing a fine job SL :)

[hankdog]

SL Zig still has the puppy look doesn't he?

Jakes doing well at his training. the last two weeks we have trained in the paddock behind the kennels so he can hear dogs barking all the time. Last week he was very distracted. swinging around to face the kennels every time he sat and constantly checking over his shoulder when walking. This week he was much better, the heat got to him and he was a bit lethargic but was able to explain this to us by rolling over for belly rubs, something that would have been unthinkable so close to barking dogs a while ago.

I'm really happy out trainer is holding us to a good standard, she wants focused heeling and quick position changes. I'm enjoying the challenge and both old dogs are learning new skills.

On the dog front where I used to out the peanut butter jar right up his nose I now just hold it out to the side. If he starts to perform I'll give him a leash correction and tell him "what do you do?" This will generally snap him out of it and he'll get into his favorite thing. I'll use my judgement though because sometimes he's too fatigued or the dog's too scary in which case I just jam the jar right in there! He used to chew up at least one jar a week though and he hasn't done that in ages. He still chooses to run away sometimes and I always give him a big reward for that as well.

I see a lot of regular walkers who sometimes compliment me on his behaviour and that smile I get lasts for days. I so of course get the nasty pitbull comments and its quite hard to say how that makes be feel, I guess it must be something like how mums feel when people call their children ugly or stupid.

[Staffyluv]

HD was it windy when Jake was distracted - Zig can be overly distracted when it is windy.. I find windy days are the days that I have less focus.

Glad to hear he is making such great progress - they really are a work in progress aren't they.

Yeah, he is still very much a puppy (even at 2 years old).. I don't think my old SBT acted mature, even at 14 - he just slowed down..

We don't get so many pit bill comments anymore - because we only really go places where they know us.

Same dog park with same dog and human crew, obedience training and the same local on leash park, that I have been going to for over 14 years (used to take the old boy there)..

I love our local on leash park - it has a pond big enough for Zig to stand in and the water comes up to his chin. After obedience training or an off lead run at the dog park, I always bring them back here (when it is hot) for a dunk in the pond..

[hankdog]

We had the vet appointment from hell yesterday. Normally I try be the last appointment before surgery or end of the day but he had to be fasted in case they needed to biopsy a thing in his face. When I walked in to announce I was bringing naughty Jake I realized I just couldn't. There were about 10 dogs waiting and three medium large dogs were being allowed to roam on the ends of their leashes and it was chaos. Plan B was to have the vet come to the car so I opened the wagon doors and sat in the back with him. A lady parked next to us and when I said "oh you might want to get your dog out the other side mines not good with other dogs," she replied "mine's fine , he loves everyone," opened the door nearest me and let out her spaniel type dog leashless. Of course it dashed over to us and lots of chaos happened. Jake had had no water since midnight and it was hot and he was overheating so I was about to wrap it up when the vet turned up. Since he was now in distress and way beyond examining or sedating she just gave us a script for different antibiotics. I couldn't get him to drink so I took him to the bush path nearby and put him in a puddle in the creek and once he cooled down he had some water and I took him for a bushwalk to try end the whole scenario on a positive note.

I guess the good thing is the vet won't be so blasé about his reactivity now she's seen him misbehave but I'm so sad because he's had such a good history there and I'm hoping it doesn't sour the vet experience for him.

Edited September 24, 2013 by hankdog

[teekay]

Awwww Hankdog I feel for you. We have all probably had those kind of days where anything that can go wrong, pretty much does Hopefully as the problem happened in the car not the actual vet, Jake will be fine next visit. I was surprised after our disastrous visit with the locum vet at our local practice that Luka was ok next time we went.

Well done for going for a bush walk afterwards. I probably would have just gone home and cried.