Exercising Reactive Dogs Thread

[Pretty Miss Emma]

We are having a reactivity regression

It's ok, I understand why. We'll be moving house in about 4 weeks, I'm stressed to my eye balls and thus also anxious, and I keep sending one or other of the dogs off on sleepovers while I go look at houses.

But it doesn't make me like/accept it any better! I'm trying to stay calm but it's pretty much impossible. I do have to say though, because I've sort of accepted this regression Kenz seems to not be as bad as she has been in the past. I think it has something to do with my "there's not much I can do about it at the moment" attitude!

But we went out on the bike this afternoon (I'm struggling to get her good running time, so trying the bike whenever I can). I did everything I could to avoid a reactive outbursst - and succeeded!!! When we crossed the rail bridge there was a guy with a husky that was coming up the other side, so I ducked a little down the platform ramp - turns out he was going to the platform!! But he waited to see where I was going and I was able to move out of his way and he said thanks to me and me to him!!! We saw a dog ahead on the bike track, so I took off down a street instead - easier to just avoid the problem than have both of us get worked up over it! Went past a house with barking dogs - she dealt really well, maybe because we passed the house so quickly because we were on the bike. Saw a dog coming towards us along the street - uturn and then down another street.

So while my anxiety was sky high waiting for there to be a problem, I managed to avoid all the potential problems and the little girl got a good 5km run with the bike incident free!!

I'm debating whether in the cool weather it's worth trying to run her with something along the lines of the thundershirt, as she becomes a bit hypervigilant.

[hankdog]

That's amazing that you can bike ride with her though PME, I haven't used my TS out and about yet as he gets really hot, can't wait for cooler weather

Haha Corvus I don't think we are Vicki's dream client. Unfortunately we do end up sensitizing her dogs . It's funny I don't find Jake scary but in conversation with some friends the other day I said as much and there was an awkward silence. Turns out other people find him scary, and I'm actually quite easily intimidated by dogs. Somehow I just see a desperate little dog frightened to a frenzy but others see a barking bulldog.

[Panzer Attack]

Sorry for not answering - I have no idea why he does it. Maybe because he's excited? It's a recent thing, since becoming single and starting the business I'm busy all the time and spend nowhere near enough time with the dogs. It's at the point where I dread walking him, he YELPS the entire time. So loudly that people across the road can hear him!

The two of them are acting pretty badly, and it's entirely my fault. They squabble and I've had to keep them separate a lot recently. My housemate has had a fair few pet sitting clients recently and it's negatively affected both of them. On top of that, we've just been given notice to move out so I'm FREAKING lol. Good times.

I don't know what to do. Ugh. Rant over. Sorry.

[Weasels]

Great work Corvus, congrats on the publication :) I'll have a look through later!

(incidently, though, adding hugely to my guilt about not having published anything from my thesis )

Unpublished work is wasted time. ;)

weelll it still got me a phd, so not a total waste :laugh: But yes, i'll hop to it

We are having a reactivity regression

It's ok, I understand why. We'll be moving house in about 4 weeks, I'm stressed to my eye balls and thus also anxious, and I keep sending one or other of the dogs off on sleepovers while I go look at houses.

The same happened to us a couple of months ago when I was fixing up our house ready to move, although it manifested as counter surfing and bin raiding which Weez had never done before (or since) Not sure if it was the radiated stress, the decrease in attention or the decrease in exercise but it certainly had an effect. Sounds like you both did great on your ride tho!

Panz :hug: I hope things start to settle soon!

Weez has improved quite a bit with his recent horse-reactivity :/ At one stage he bolted 100m to bark at a horse when I took him out to pee but now he can hang out up to about 10m away without having to do distraction/training and closer with LAT or being otherwise in training mode. It's been a good chance to practice his Rally-O work in conjunction with counter-conditioning :p I think all the previous work we've done has made it easier and quicker to deal with new reactivity challenges, plus it helps I now have full confidence in the little man to learn and change :) But it's an ongoing process!

[hankdog]

Just had to share an insight into the mind of Jake. We have been training with our mat everywhere and he does pretty much surf it onto the ground. So today during our trick training session he thought why would I ring the bell or squeak the rubber chicken when that's only worth one treat, since lying relaxing on the mat is worth 5 treats then surely it's a much better idea to lie and relax ...on the chicken and the bell? If the definition of intelligence is to get the maximum reward for the least effort then my dog is really smart.

Edited May 3, 2013 by hankdog

[Tassie]

:laugh: Way to go Hank!

[hankdog]

Does Amy use huskies because they're especially good for interdog work? I suppose their size would make dogs think twice before having a go and thickish fur might help in case of a bite? Jake seems to find BC's particularly inflammatory so we work with a springer spaniel now. I agree with Jake, spaniels are very friendly looking to me too.

Well done on level 3 obedience.

[hankdog]

Hooley Dooley, 60kg of dog. Start friendly now Justice!

[BC Crazy]

Well done Snook. Justice is powering along now You must be so pleased. Stays under distraction are really hard with a reactive dog. He did very well with big boucny pup breaking.

Stella is good at stays at home. I can get a 1.5 min down stay usually but you get her out, say at the park, not so good Lasts till the first person/dog/bird come along unfortunately.

I need to practise them more.

[chuckandsteve]

So question, has anyone tried a calming cap?? Its meant to reduce vision, so i guess for ours he wont be able to see a dog on the other side of the road so i would guess it would work. Cant see the dog wont react to the dog

[Staffyluv]

Good job with Mr Justice, Snook - he is doing so well..

Zig and I went back to intermediate obedience this morning and I had high expectations - I don't know why, I just did..

It took 45 minutes for him to settle into working - all he wanted was to go to the other dogs. Major (Choc Lab) and Zig are now in separate classes as they have exactly the same temperament and can't get enough of the bouncing around in each others faces - so that makes life a little easier.

He was definitely overstimulated and it took me way to long to get his focus. Not his fault - totally mine. Going back over the session, once I got home and thought about it - he gets bored in between doing stuff (there is lots of instruction time and not so much actual doing time).. So I am going to work on a couple more tricks and get him working in between doing what we are supposed to be doing in class.

I find if I can keep him one or two steps in front of the other dogs or behind them (not in the line with them), then he works better.

Mind you once I got his focus, he was awesome and did everything asked of him - I think being back in such a large group of dogs was just so exciting.. Back to the same old issue I have always had - his focus when other dogs are around.. He just seems to value other dogs over everything else.

He also picked up all the new things straight away - it is almost like he already knows what I want him to do most of the time..

I did come away thinking about how to keep his focus more - doing tricks in class while we wait is the best one I can think of.

I am looking forward to the challenges this time around again and improving his focus..

[yellowdog]

I find if I can keep him one or two steps in front of the other dogs or behind them (not in the line with them), then he works better.

Excellent in thinking to teaching more tricks! I don't know what club you go to but it helped my dog when I changed clubs and went to one that used the yellow ribbon/bandanna that says "give me space". So the other handlers gave my dog room.

[yellowdog]

So question, has anyone tried a calming cap??

I have but this was a couple of years ago. I found it a great tool for easing anxiety in high-stress situations and reducing visual stimuli but not when the wind was blowing our way as my dog scented things, picked it up on the wind. :-)

[Staffyluv]

I find if I can keep him one or two steps in front of the other dogs or behind them (not in the line with them), then he works better.

Excellent in thinking to teaching more tricks! I don't know what club you go to but it helped my dog when I changed clubs and went to one that used the yellow ribbon/bandanna that says "give me space". So the other handlers gave my dog room.

It's not so much that he needs space - it is more his distraction when there are other dogs close to him. If they are close, he seems to just want to play but if we move forward or back from the line (not sure if this is out of his line of sight while he is working or not) - he works so much better.

I will definitely be teaching him some tricks to keep him occupied between learning commands - this seems to be his time for the biggest distraction, while we are waiting and listening to the instructor.

On that note - does anyone have any You Tube links or DVD recommendations for teaching tricks?

I can read about it but find I learn better by seeing what is done..

[BC Crazy]

Thank's Snook for those links. Stella loves to learn tricks. She just loves to learn. Anything for a treat I think. Sonny loves trick training but gets very vocal & seems to get frustrated if he doesn't pick it up quickly. He then barks & carries on at me. He then starts going through all the tricks he knows. I don't understand why but am trying to work through that atm.

I love Emily's video's. She explains eveything clearly & step by step.

Edited May 5, 2013 by BC Crazy

[corvus]

There's a reason Erik doesn't go to formal classes! When he was about 9 months old we did some beginners agility and the second we stopped doing something he'd be up and barking at things. He was WAY over-stimulated. I did lots of tricks in down time because it was about the only thing I could do to keep him occupied. By the end of the hour long class he was just about calmed down enough to work decently. The instructor encouraged us to have them in down-stays during down time, and Erik could do this only if I stood on his leash and treated him pretty much constantly.

I would advise against tricks if the problem is he is getting too excited to concentrate. Stays are a better idea if he can do them. Just because tricks are fun and exciting, so if your dog is already excited it's not going to help them calm down, which is what they need to do to give you their best work. I do tricks in down time at class with Kivi sometimes, because he has the opposite problem. If I don't keep him engaged he will drift off and lose motivation. Erik now offers automatic downs when I switch from training him to training Kivi, which is really handy and perfect for keeping his head screwed on. These days if he gets over-stimulated I find a quiet place to sit on the ground with him and we do some quiet tricks from there. Like putting his paws on my hands, using his nose to find which hand has a treat in it, rolling onto his back and staying there for a moment, crawling forwards and backwards, and CU things like LAT and take a breath if he really needs to calm down.

I still think the Give Me A Break game would be great for you guys.

I always find it terribly amusing that the clicker class instructor often says things like "Kivi is so focused on you and switched on. Have you thought about doing agility with him?" Er, Kivi is my slow and slightly retarded dog. You haven't met my other dog.

[corvus]

Here are a few tricks Kivi and Erik know:

[Staffyluv]

Oh thanks so much for those video links - I will have a better look tonight but I think they are just what we need..

I am more comfortable with him Snook, I think because I watch him more - I see things I didn't notice before.

Even things like the twitch and lengthening of his neck, when he sees something interesting in the distance - it is so subtle and if I see it and redirect him, he comes back to me every time.. I think the times I don't see this little movement is the time that I lose him.

I scored so well taking him to obedience, the instructors there help build our confidence as well.

[BC Crazy]

There's a reason Erik doesn't go to formal classes! When he was about 9 months old we did some beginners agility and the second we stopped doing something he'd be up and barking at things. He was WAY over-stimulated. I did lots of tricks in down time because it was about the only thing I could do to keep him occupied. By the end of the hour long class he was just about calmed down enough to work decently. The instructor encouraged us to have them in down-stays during down time, and Erik could do this only if I stood on his leash and treated him pretty much constantly.

I would advise against tricks if the problem is he is getting too excited to concentrate. Stays are a better idea if he can do them. Just because tricks are fun and exciting, so if your dog is already excited it's not going to help them calm down, which is what they need to do to give you their best work. I do tricks in down time at class with Kivi sometimes, because he has the opposite problem. If I don't keep him engaged he will drift off and lose motivation. Erik now offers automatic downs when I switch from training him to training Kivi, which is really handy and perfect for keeping his head screwed on. These days if he gets over-stimulated I find a quiet place to sit on the ground with him and we do some quiet tricks from there. Like putting his paws on my hands, using his nose to find which hand has a treat in it, rolling onto his back and staying there for a moment, crawling forwards and backwards, and CU things like LAT and take a breath if he really needs to calm down.

I still think the Give Me A Break game would be great for you guys.

I always find it terribly amusing that the clicker class instructor often says things like "Kivi is so focused on you and switched on. Have you thought about doing agility with him?" Er, Kivi is my slow and slightly retarded dog. You haven't met my other dog.

I may have to re think teaching Sonny tricks too often then as he does get really excited at times & bark his head off etc in frustration. But Stella is so much calmer & focused on me when I am teaching her. It doesn't add up

really because Sonny is such a calm/non reactive boy compared to Stella whom you know is really reactive / anxious

Edited May 6, 2013 by BC Crazy

[Weasels]

Justice loves doing tricks so we're actually enrolled to do an 8 week trick training class with one of Amy's trainers, starting in a few weeks. They then do casual (pay as you go rather than buying a full term up front) advanced trick training classes for graduates of the novice class that look like fun. :)

I've been eyeing off this class too! I'm not really sold on obedience yet, and this looked like way more fun :p

Stays are a better idea if he can do them. Just because tricks are fun and exciting, so if your dog is already excited it's not going to help them calm down, which is what they need to do to give you their best work.

I use both, depending on the situation and the dog's frame of mind :) If I can tell they are thinking of barking out of boredom I use the tricks they know really well and can do by hand signal so it isn't disruptive; like targetting, beg, spin, sit-down-stand combos, finding heel etc. I find if the dog needs a down-stay but is a bit too worked up, I send them to lie on their side for about 5-10 seconds then back into the downstay (lying slouched) which seems to feed back into their brain to chill out :)

I am more comfortable with him Snook, I think because I watch him more - I see things I didn't notice before.

Even things like the twitch and lengthening of his neck, when he sees something interesting in the distance - it is so subtle and if I see it and redirect him, he comes back to me every time.. I think the times I don't see this little movement is the time that I lose him.

:thumbsup: That is a huge thing that helps me with Weez too, getting in on the ground floor before the reactive elevator takes off!

---

Weez in his new collar :) Hopefully people won't get so offended when he runs away from them now!

(I have a policy to never wake a sleeping kelpie....)

Edited May 6, 2013 by TheLBD