Exercising Reactive Dogs Thread

[Two Best Dogs!]

I'm a sucker for those eyes.... :D

[Papillon Kisses]

What a handsome lad!

[Bluehealer]

Thanks everyone :) Here's a pic from today of Colby showing how pleased he is with his new bed :)

[Two Best Dogs!]

Those EYES! He looks to be pretty pleased with his life. Amazing he is only 7 years young, I would have thought even younger with an adorable face like that.

Later I will try to share my favourite parts of BAT 2.0, now that I have finished reading the book. I'm going to try a small bit of the Mark-and-Move, or possibly the LAT, tomorrow outside the fenced dog park (at a great distance, located near the train tracks incase of offlead dogs outside the park as T is not bothered by trains). I have a couple of other books on recognising dog communication on their way.

I would really like to work and reinforce Thistle on being calm about other dogs running around/making noises. I'm going to put her in her harness and the long line like BAT 2 describes. The Diamond Creek park i think it was?

It's going to be tricky, working out which angle to take and the difference between when she is excited, when she is scared, and how easy it would be for her to flip between the too when her energy is up. I think sometimes she can't tell the difference between scared/excited and I can't either, reliably.

I think the major difference between BAT and LAT is that LAT, you reward looking at trigger or looking away from trigger? BAT seems to be more around rewarding the dog for a disengaging behaviour (which I'm still trying to learn to recognise. As small as side glances or sniffing the air?) but by marking, moving away, then rewarding after moving.

I am also trying to teach Thistle bow, to put in her repertoire of skills, as a part of a chapter talked about teaching a dog to bow when the dog wants something can have the dog increase the use of bows when greeting other dogs?

I don't plan to do that again (off lead strange dogs at beach) for a long time, but I thought it would be a better substitute to the looming=chase thing she does. She did offer bows with a couple of dogs she engaged in play last time so she's not a total lost cause, would hopefully increase the frequency? Well, that's my theory. We'll see how it goes. I am trying to find more 'good example' calm dogs to teach her how to be a polite dog citizen. Especially smaller ones. She'll be seeing her bichon x friend in a few weeks.

(I'm trying to teach her the more natural bow by capturing behaviour rather than luring her. Slower, but I find the captured positions she is better in than the lured ones.)

*edit* found this blog that is posting about their BAT 2.0 training, pros, cons, experiences etc

https://boogiebt.com/category/training/bat-sessions/

Our job is to give the dog plenty of space to explore and process what he is looking at, to encourage him to move in arcs and zigzags instead of directly approaching the trigger dog. We work on our leash-handling skills and make use of the environment & reward-based games as much as possible eg, letting Boogie sniff and explore trees, bushes, trash cans, etc. and throwing treats on the ground “Find it!”

These BAT set-ups felt more like ‘walks in the park’ than formalized training sessions. Exploring, sniffing, eating, …. this is all stuff that Boogie would naturally want to do anyway.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Thistle the dog

[Papillon Kisses]

Nosework on Tuesday! I'm so excited! Hopefully Malcolm will be too when he realises there's leftover steak, chicken and kangaroo sausages on offer. :)

He's had a big weekend. Yesterday we had friends over including their noisy 8-month old baby, so Malcolm practiced staying on his mat while baby was eating, and kangaroo jerky was shoveled into him every time baby made a sound. He did pretty well considering he finds high pitched baby squeals very stressful (who doesn't?).

Then today he visited my parent's house for the last time in a while. They are getting a new puppy, and we won't be having the dogs interact until puppy is older and Malcolm's dog reactivity is further improved. Don't want to risk either dogs' mental health.

So anyway, today we put his ruf ruf anxiety vest on him and wrapped him up in my old dressing gown during lunch preparations (meals getting prepped are one of his triggers). My dressing gown worked exceptionally well! I might have to take it with me to all scary things. He did some anxious barking and wall/light staring at times, but he could be redirected unlike his visit on ANZAC day where he got so stressed out we had to take him home.

We've been moving back up with the relaxation protocol since being away. I'm going to try Task 4 tomorrow provided he doesn't have a bad day after having such a big weekend. :)

[Bluehealer]

Thanks Thistle! Teaching bow sounds fun, how do you do that? Colby can sit, stay, drop, fetch and high five and I'm working on targeting. Would love to teach him to bow though!

I took him for a walk yesterday evening and thankfully we didn't come across any roaming dogs. I have a real anxiety about them as they seem to be everywhere in my suburb and they always make a beeline for us. I never take Colby off lead in public, even though he has excellent recall. But we have been monstered by off leash/stray dogs in the past. Anyway, we did come across a man and his tiny jack russell cross who started barking and lunging at us from about 30m away and as they got closer Colby really started to get stressed (whining, a bit of eyeballing, stiffened posture). I moved us away and got him to look at me and gave him lots of treats and he didn't try to rush the other dog, which is certainly an improvement. I was able to keep his attention mostly on me and even though he was quite stressed, we both came through it with no problems. Yay!

[Papillon Kisses]

NOSE WORK IS SO MUCH FUN! I said to the trainers beforehand that he was either going to freeze or go nuts, pleased to say it was the latter. He picked it up really quickly too. :D

And since he looked so relaxed when I got home I filled up the busy buddy barnacle treat dispenser, which you may recall he initially couldn't even look at without freezing and shaking and guys HE'S USING HIS PAWS, NOSE and MOUTH and batting it around! I have a dog who can play with treat dispensers!!! This is huge!

--

Bluehealer, one way to teach 'take a bow' or 'play bow' is by luring. Here's an example:

Since it's a natural behaviour, another way is by capturing it with a yes or click and a treat if it's something your dog does by himself. Mine is big on stretching so that's how I've done it.

Thistle might have another approach. She's a bit of a trick fiend IMO.

And well done yesterday! Awesome that you were able to keep Colby's attention in such a difficult circumstance!! ????????????

Edited July 12, 2016 by Papillon Kisses

[Bluehealer]

Nosework sounds great fun! Yay for Malcolm! And thanks for the link!

Question - does anyone here have more than one dog? Like one "normal" dog and one reactive dog? If so, how do you exercise both together? I am thinking of getting a second dog (we used to foster rescues and weirdly, Colby welcomed any and all of them into our yard to play but he doesn't like meeting dogs outside his territory) but I'm worried it will learn reactive behaviour from Colby or that I won't be able to take it to the dog park or off leash areas because I can't take Colby to those places and he might fret if he bonded with a new dog and we left him at home. We had a lovely labbie cross for a few years called Billy and Colby and he were great mates. Billy was an adult when we rescued him though and he was super chilled. Colby got a lot of confidence from him on walks. Sadly Billy died of snakebite a couple of years ago and Colby has been an only dog since then.

[Two Best Dogs!]

Hi Bluehealer, I'm teaching bow by "capturing" her behaviour. It's not something I want on command, but for it to be a behaviour she offers when she wants attention/play.

It's a little tricky because I taught her a default-sit for attention. Right now I am just making a big fuss whenever she stretches/bows/lowers her head - anything in the direction of a bow. The idea is she realises that for some reason, bows = a lot of attention! So ideally she'll offer it a little more often. It is a slow process to start, as I have to keep an eye on her to rain down the praise when it happens. I am not clicker training with this, just praise and toys.

I'm not luring either because I want to keep it bouncy and natural, in whatever way she prefers to express a bow. I'll shape it more as she offers it more, i.e. no body contact, deep bow etc.

I only have one dog right now. When i get second dog I am likely to exercise/train them separately an awful lot - especially in first few months - so they can be independent of each other and not learn negative quirks. When new dog is better trained I'll start taking them to places together where they can let loose. But for a walk around the local park I'd start with individual ones personally, and likely keep it that way. For thistle, she gets a lot of confidence off her dog buddies but i also want her to learn to handle things on her own. but is just my thoughts on it :)

Edited July 13, 2016 by Thistle the dog

[Papillon Kisses]

I love your Justice pupdates, Snook. He's really blossoming isn't he? Everyone tells me that anxious dogs turn great corners with Noseworks. I hope that's the same with Justice, too. :)

[Scottsmum]

So many great updates in here (plus a bonus photo - I have a soft spot for Blues :) )

So happy to have heard about Mals progress - I'm such an over the top fan for nose work - its insane.

[grumpette]

Woo hoo. Excellent updates everyone. Noseworks appears to be a great confidence builder.

[Bluehealer]

I wish we had nosework in Canberra. It sounds so fun!

We had a fantastic weekend. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous - clear, blue skies, no wind and lots and lots of sunshine! I took Colby on lots of walks to new places and we had NO incidents at all. All the dogs we encountered were either on leash or far enough away not to be an issue. Such a relief! Today we got a bit lost checking out a reserve I had never been to and we ended up walking for 2.5 hours! Neither of us minded though because the views were spectacular, the weather was lovely and it was so relaxing and peaceful. Will come back later to add a pic.

Yesterday was 6 years exactly since Colby came to me from the pound! Here he is checking out the view from a mountain near our house yesterday:

Edited July 17, 2016 by Bluehealer

[grumpette]

I wish we had nosework in Canberra. It sounds so fun!

We had a fantastic weekend. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous - clear, blue skies, no wind and lots and lots of sunshine! I took Colby on lots of walks to new places and we had NO incidents at all. All the dogs we encountered were either on leash or far enough away not to be an issue. Such a relief! Today we got a bit lost checking out a reserve I had never been to and we ended up walking for 2.5 hours! Neither of us minded though because the views were spectacular, the weather was lovely and it was so relaxing and peaceful. Will come back later to add a pic.

Yesterday was 6 years exactly since Colby came to me from the pound! Here he is checking out the view from a mountain near our house yesterday:

[grumpette]

That sounds like an awesome weekend!!

Justice and Gruf had a blast at blinkblink's today and Justice was so buggered that he was asleep on the back seat within two minutes of pulling out of the driveway.. lol.

And?? Piccies :D

[Pjrt]

Snook has more I think.. Sorry if this one is enormous

[grumpette]

Oh My God, I am so thrilled that they are so relaxed together. It is brilliant to see

PS I adore Gruf's fluffy muzzle. It is so becoming. And is Justice woo wooing

Edited July 18, 2016 by grumpette

[Taliecat]

Naaaw Snook I'm crying again! Such a wonderful pupdate with Gruf and such progress!

Happy 6th GotchaDay BlueHealer!

Eta: dozer is currently giving me the cold shoulder in his crate after I kicked him off the spare bed. I'm stoked he's back to choosing to go in his crate.

Edited July 18, 2016 by Taliecat

[Two Best Dogs!]

Thistle did well at obedience last week, although she did bark a couple of times at head trainer because he was walking past whistling. But he helped me with my timing on when to reward focus at me. So she'd look at him, look at me (treat!), look at him, look at me (treat!). She ignored him next time he walked past whistling.

We are progressing well on stand, using the slowly-closer method. I have Thistle in a stand, I stroke her and reward her stand/focus while the trainer walks around us at currently 1m distance. We are going the slow and steady method, but i think in long run more beneficial like with grumpette's dog. Thistle will do a stand for some trainers but not others but not unexpected as different levels of familiarity.

Everything else is on track and advanced level. On saturday i had to mow a big circle around her because she was eating a bone and doesn't care about the lawnmower anymore. I thought it was funny so i've left the circle of unmowed grass there. I'll probably regret that later

I bought a chuck-it and fetch has become kind of fun to downright amazing. I love watching her zoom after the ball like a little blurry missle. However, I have hurt my arm from playing it so much. I can't wait for lure coursing in september, I am pretty sure she will love it. However she probably loves Didi more so may need to do a solo run XD

(cooling off in the mud. backpack contents consist of a sock and my phone to hatch pokemon eggs...)

We have been doing BAT's mark and move, on and off, and I am noticing an improvement on her regard with other dogs.I think she is moving from the hyper alert "I MUST GREET (RUDELY) TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE SAFE" to more of a "huh there's a dog over there but...i want to sniff this grass then go on my way". I will try to scan the summary pages of the book for others to research on.

And a small-big success at obedience. Thistle was sniffing Buddy's owner, buddy came over to sniff Thistle. Thistle didn't see him coming so startled when he pressed his nose into her butt. She flinched back, gave him a sniff, then sniffed the OWNER again, then sniffed buddy again.

Then Thistle and Buddy started getting a little too excited over their sniffs and were moving into "lets play and/or wrestle" territory so we each recalled our dogs. (Thistle and Buddy have sniffed in the past which is why i let them have a greeting rather than recall, All their interactions have been promising, but i was very pleased at her startle-and-recover. In a way, I think Buddy is a lot like Thistle would be if she hadn't had such a bunch of bad experiences?)

That's my update for the week.

*edit* oh!! Thistle saw Tim (best friends staff member in the store) and she wanted to go say hello but he was leading puppy culture class so I didn't want us to interrupt. There was a whippet puppy and a bulldog puppy! and other puppies but those two were cutest.

I see some delightful pictures of Justice and Gruf up above, they are delightful mirror images!! Justice you go! Good job :)

Edited July 18, 2016 by Thistle the dog

[grumpette]

Wow a great Thistle update. Yep slow and steady is the best way. Continually build positive associations and outcomes. It builds their confidence and resilience bit by bit.

If Thistle loves to fetch, are you allowed to reward her solid stand for exam with a throw of the ball/squeaky toy? This is how I built Dee's confidence up with the stand for exam. It also gave her a chance to shake off the built up stress in a positive way.