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Exercising Reactive Dogs Thread


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Snook, yes I'm thinking what else I can do to mask loud noises. She is as perfectly behaved as you'll get a dog to be

if there isn't a sound. She is just sooooo good. But we all know life just isn't that quiet all the time unfortunately.

Raineth, If I bring Stella inside she is OK if I close the sliding door. If I leave it open, every time she hears that 'bang' of the ball on the back board, she races outside crying/whining & becomes very upset. Then races back inside again. So I usually bring her in & show her the door is shut & put the TV on with the volume up to drown out the noise. Then she just lays down in the lounge room, sucking on her stress toy.

I never thought of taping it as you have suggested. Maybe worth a try. I did try one of those cd's with noise on it once. I could hardly hear it & she went berserk :( I know she sleeps a lot better know cause we have the radio on in their room, low volume all night. Works a treat to drown out any noise she might think she hears. She sleeps like a baby now. Such a fragile girl, my Stella.

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boy she is just so sound-sensitive isn't she!

I am glad she can get some relief by coming inside then :) I was thinking it would be so hard if going inside didn't even ease her anxiety.

I guess if the tape-recorded sounds of basketball were going to have any chance of success you would have to do make sure she didn't come into contact with the full-blown basketball noise while she was being trained to be at ease with it, and secondly you would have to start it on the lowest setting of sound, with the stereo outside, while she is inside, and maybe doing something she finds relaxing, or something she really loves (dinner maybe?).

Its a real tricky one obviously :(

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You'd probably just get her used to the basketball and the kid will take up trumpet. I wonder why she's so wired for noise? I guess it's just her thing like dogs are Jakes. Tonight the naughty cockatiel flew and landed on him while he was fast asleep. He startled and looked panicked but no attempt to go for her. He was climbing on a pile of logs and they started shifting and he just stood on one and waited for them to stop moving. Except for dogs he is so bombproof.

Why Jake, why?

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Raineth, Stella is extremely sound sensitive. I have never seen a dog behave like her. Yet I have walked her past our local basket ball courts a million times, guys shooting hoops, Stella doesn't reactive at all. She looks but shows no signs of stress nor concern. Go figure... Does my head in trying to get a handle on her reactivity in all honesty :(

Hankdog, :laugh: how funny, you are probably right, trumpet will be next as long as it isn't the drums :laugh:

I have no idea why Stel is so sound sensitive. Maybe she got a huge fright by something at a crucial time as a puppy. I just don't know but gosh I would love to. I'm like you, Why Stella, Why????

Jake is a very good boy with that Cockatiel HD. Stella would have snavelled that bird in 2 seconds flat. She is DA as well. But not all dogs just the odd one & it is so frustrating, isn't it? She can walk past 100 dogs & not bat an eye, then she will spot one & that's it. She wants to rip it's head off. ERRRR... I hate it as it is just so upsetting & random. She is much more DA on lead if the other dog is around her size, female & comes into our space, look out :eek: That's not random that's a definite. I also find she will reactive more if the other dog is timid. She seems to pick out the submissive ones. Yet she is such a sensitive, nervous soul herself but she acts like a real 'tuffy' at times. She is improving but it is a constant battle.

This may sound unbelievable but it's true. Sometimes Stella will start to react to another dog & Sonny will nip Stella on the back , "you naughty girl, stop that" & sometimes she does stop. Then he will look at me, smiling, "I'm a good boy, aren't I". Too cute. Such a sensible fella :)

Edited by BC Crazy
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I will have to make time to go back and have a read of this thread - it has been a while, since I have checked in.

I just wanted to share a pic I took today of Zig at the dog park with his newest foster sister, Bella.. They had a wonderful time with a couple of small fluffies that showed up to play..

14170249057_f4ca12fb90.jpgZiggy and Bella Doggie park fun by jamoore photos, on Flickr

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She is on the mend. She was run over before she came into care and left untreated.

So she had to have her femoral head removed (like they do for dogs with severe hip dyslasia) and some ligaments fixed on her right back leg.

We are doing some physio with her to get her using it again. Stretching her leg back and also getting her to stand on a Paws Fit Disc is helping.

The vet said it would be 3 months before she is using it as normal as possible.

She comes to the dog park with us but tends to just walk with me, while I throw the ball for Zig to get a good run.

She only does about 20 minutes of walking before she is tired though..

She is being booked into obedience next term, so she gets her beginners obedience pass and then she will be ready to be rehomed..

She is going to be a hard one to let go but I can't help another, if she was to say - and I know there is a perfect family out there for her..

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I will have to make time to go back and have a read of this thread - it has been a while, since I have checked in.

I just wanted to share a pic I took today of Zig at the dog park with his newest foster sister, Bella.. They had a wonderful time with a couple of small fluffies that showed up to play..

14170249057_f4ca12fb90.jpgZiggy and Bella Doggie park fun by jamoore photos, on Flickr

Lovely photo :thumbsup: it's great to hear what a good time they had :)

That's really sad that she was left untreated :(

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I'm sure you and Zig will put a smile on that big boofy head.

Sadly Jakes blood tests came back completely normal, so he is just a fruit loop. I got the full blood test done so I'm glad to know despite his massive peanut butter intake he has low cholesterol and sodium.

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I'm the same Raineth, can't believe people don't get their dogs treated..

She is bouncing along nicely now. Using her leg, playing and just being a puppy..

It's good that Jakes blood work was fine but on the other hand, sometimes you wish it showed something, so you can fix it..

Fruit loops are fun :D

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Yea I live how much fun low dose Prozac Jake is. Today he unpacked and played with all the craft cupboard stuff while I was out. I came home and played a great game of couch to couch jumping and bitey face. Unfortunately while I was out he was apparently really upset and crazy Jake also sees ghost dogs on our walks. So back up to full dose. It's actually just a quarter tablet, 5 mg that makes a difference.

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I'm sorry to hear you're unwell. I hope Justice is taking good care of you. It's a pity about the beaches. I've taken Jake once or twice to "people" beaches at night in summer and he loves it. Sydney's few dog beaches are off leash 24/7 too. I so wish there was an on leash beach.

I remember you had some great photos of Justice in the Autumn leaves off leash. I think it pays to be cautious with any unknown dog but I'm so inspired by Justice success.

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I need hope as well. So don't you guys go anywhere :)

Sorry to hear you have been unwell Snook. Do hope you re feeling better very soon. Justice has come a long way. You should be very proud.

Hankdog. it is good news all Jakes tests come back clear :thumbsup: It's funny though cause sometimes I used to think maybe if they did find something wrong it would be better because then you are able to think. So that's why he or she behaves this way. You'd have a reason why...Answers.

I too have tried to cut down Stella's meds but boy o boy I noticed a huge down turn in her behavior & reactivity. Suffice to say her dose was upped again smartly.

Edited by BC Crazy
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Oh that is a shame that Jake is less playful on meds. It is such an important thing IMHO. Besides it actually being fun. Helps them to expel energy in such a healthy way. His sep. anxiety increases again then. Poor fella :(

That doesn't happen with Stella. Her playfulness doesn't alter if I up the meds. She is exactly the same in that respect. She still runs around with her favorite old milk bottle throwing it in the air & growling with delight. Or she will start a game with Sonny or myself. But the bonus of increased meds are less intense reactivity & she is able to get some sleep.

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What a gorgeous photo Staffyluv. :heart:

I'm sorry Jake's having such a hard time finding a good balance with the Prozac, hankdog.

I thought I'd add an update on Justice. He's still going to daycare with the medium to big dog group and loving it. From this week his group will now be having a daycare day each week instead of just fortnightly, so I'm hoping to get him there most weeks which will be wonderful for him. We started doing training classes again a couple of weeks ago and have joined an off leash class taught by Amy. Justice did really well at the first two and the biggest problem was when one of the dogs broke and run up to him and barked and the boofer launched in to a play bow and tried to drag the other dogs in to a game of chasey.. lol. He even managed to finish a recall past the other dogs all lined up despite one of the dogs breaking and running up to him - he just dodged around them and kept coming - and shocked the heck out of me by staying when I told him to while a ridgie he knows from daycare came running across the room to play with him. We've got our third class this week and then the boofer is going to take part in an off leash group demonstration at ABTs birthday party/open day on the weekend. :thumbsup:

We've had a couple of times when Justice has met dogs outside of ABT recently. One was planned and was with the puppy my cousin and his family recently adopted from the AWL (we kept the pup on leash as he's still a bit crazy and out of control when it comes to being around dogs), which went well and I have no doubt they will be good buddies once the pup calms down a bit. The other was on Saturday and unplanned. An off leash border collie broke from its owners and ran up to us (Justice was on leash) and moved in to that staring, stalking mode that some BCs do. Justice was happy for me to step between them and while the owner was running over saying that her dog is really timid but just likes to check everything out, the dog got past me to Justice and they had a quick sniff before Justice decided he was uncomfortable and moved away. The BC started to chase after him (not so timid after all) but Justice didn't react, just moved around behind me while the owner leashed her dog. I still get blown away over things like this, even knowing how far Justice has come. I really think going to daycare has had a huge impact on increasing Justice's tolerance levels and ability to deal with situations like this. Dogs aren't such a completely novelty for him any more, unlike when he was constantly kept away from them because of his reactivity, and he's much calmer when he sees them than he used to be (although he still whinges like crazy in the car when we drive past one.. lol).

That's really great to hear :thumbsup: makes me so happy :)

What you were saying about being around dogs because of daycare and therefore dogs not being such a novelty really resonates with me. Del used to have four doggy friends (not including Digby) that we saw regularly. Then they each happened to move away (to different states no less!) And now Digby is dying and I still haven't managed to get her to the point where she could make new friends, and I worry for her that it will be the end of any dog contact she has.

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With everything else about Digby being sad that's just more sad. I really can't think of anything except going to obedience classes and at least that keeps her vaguely in contact with other dogs.

Edited by hankdog
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Yes sorry that was a bit morbid... Resume normal programming... :)

You're right HD, going to club will mean that she still gets some dog contact, even if she's not actually interacting too much :)

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