Leash Reactive

[Two Best Dogs!]

Escalating so fast and strong is a major worry imo. Have you been to see a vet to make sure it's nothing medical? Apologies if you have mentioned elsewhere.

More an age thing than anything else I would say.

Such a shame

[phantomreptiles]

So it's been six weeks...I have learnt ALOT in that time!

She is still with me...

The older dog was instigating fights due to jealously, I completely misread the situation!

Mistake No One

The cats she is fine with, she just didn't realise she is bigger than them

Mistake no two - she wasn't taught any better, is now.

We have gone back to the K9 bridle, which she is accepting well.

Mistake three - trying to overpower her

The shock collar she wears, when walking, just for vibrate to get her attention back to me. We do clicker trainer, and vibrate is a last resort:)

She is walking well, we have completed the last three walks with no lunging, (me using the term NO).

Mistake four - not praising when she was good. (I just expected it)

We have done a lot of work and spoken to a lot of people, who all have varying opinions, I took what I needed from those opinions and combined them into something that works for us.

The mailman is because of hypersensitivity to the motorbike, unlikely to change that quickly. But we have placed the rubbish bins around the mail box, to ensure the safety of the postie. The lawn mower man, she tried to nip again, but he is giving off the wrong vibes and is a stranger, (despite him being a vet, I don't like my lawn mower uneducated;))

It's been a lot of hard work, time and effort, but we are both getting there. And yes she IS/WAS worth the effort.

[Willem]

...that's a pretty steep success curve for just 6 weeks...if you keep it up it will getting better and better now that you found the keys and see that they work.

[megan_]

Is she being locked in the house when the gardener comes so she can't bite him? She might just be learning that she needs to bite harder because nips aren't keeping him away.

[BarbedWire]

So it's been six weeks...I have learnt ALOT in that time!

She is still with me...

The older dog was instigating fights due to jealously, I completely misread the situation!

Mistake No One

The cats she is fine with, she just didn't realise she is bigger than them

Mistake no two - she wasn't taught any better, is now.

We have gone back to the K9 bridle, which she is accepting well.

Mistake three - trying to overpower her

The shock collar she wears, when walking, just for vibrate to get her attention back to me. We do clicker trainer, and vibrate is a last resort:)

She is walking well, we have completed the last three walks with no lunging, (me using the term NO).

Mistake four - not praising when she was good. (I just expected it)

We have done a lot of work and spoken to a lot of people, who all have varying opinions, I took what I needed from those opinions and combined them into something that works for us.

The mailman is because of hypersensitivity to the motorbike, unlikely to change that quickly. But we have placed the rubbish bins around the mail box, to ensure the safety of the postie. The lawn mower man, she tried to nip again, but he is giving off the wrong vibes and is a stranger, (despite him being a vet, I don't like my lawn mower uneducated;))

It's been a lot of hard work, time and effort, but we are both getting there. And yes she IS/WAS worth the effort.

Forgive me if I am being offensive but I have to say something. Poor dog wearing a collar like that. Do you realise he can't turn his head without great discomfort?

[persephone]

That's a good update ... keep up the learning !!

[Guest crazydoglady99]

WOW!! What fabulous progress!!

High fives for your commitment - you're doing great!

[Two Best Dogs!]

Well done!!!

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

The shock collar she wears, when walking, just for vibrate to get her attention back to me. We do clicker trainer, and vibrate is a last resort:)

I don't understand.

The clicker is meant to mark when the dog does a behaviour you like or wanting to train. It's not meant to get the dog's attention.

And I don't understand how you train a dog that a vibration on the collar means look at the handler?

Excellent you are praising when she does what you want - that will help her understand what you want her to be doing.

You telling her "No" - doesn't help her understand what you want her to be doing. Dogs aren't very good at understanding "don't do something" - all they hear is "do something".

[phantomreptiles]

Thanks for all your input. In this instance the clicker is used completely differently. It is to get her attention (we are not clicker training).

She has improved on her walks, we have changed from a k9 bridle to a sporn harness which she enjoys much more!

Going past the previous trigger dogs. She will listen and keep going:) much more receptive, better with the cats:)

BUT we have now developed barrier frustration towards certain people...I believe this is solely my fault as I shorten her lead when passing people, my other dog stays on a loose lead.

I don't feel she will bite, but she certainly growls and gives the appearance of a "scary" dog.

[phantomreptiles]

K

Edited February 15, 2016 by phantomreptiles

[phantomreptiles]

Please just positive replies, I'm doing my best with this dog, who is a complete sweetheart! This behaviour from her is my fault. And oh to the person who said her collar is restrictive, umm not in the slightest, she has a very long neck and can move her head/neck without hindrance, it whatever direction she choses.

To be fair I'm unwilling to see if she just keeps growling or actually makes contact. We walk minimum 3kms a day and she will lunge at everyone! I started saying it's just wheels and dark people. But no, she will aggressively bark/growl at anyone.

Again my fault, as I have not stopped her when she does it to the fence line...)please don't judge me, I live alone, and the only reason I haven't been robbed is cos of this dog!)

Edited February 15, 2016 by phantomreptiles

[Two Best Dogs!]

My dog started barking and growling at some people two weeks ago. She has since stopped (I hope) but here's what I was doing:

- I took a break from intentional socialising training. No Wednesday soccer practice, no Thursday people sniffing, no pizza delivery guy

- I returned to crossing the roads to avoid everyone and rewarded any movements forward or looking at me, when she'd turn to look or freeze is keep moving forward and use verbal (light hearted everything is fine voice) encouragement

- any regulars we met she was usually okay with I asked to leave her alone and not look at her today as she is "feeling off"

- I kept the lead shorter than usual but still loose so it would only go tight because I kept moving forward and shed then follow

- even yesterday I was rewarding strangers going past at closer distance. She was still alert but more relaxed with a doggie friend which meant I could give her lots of praise for letting a guy go past without barking.

She's returned, I hope, to her usual indifferent standoffishness which is okay with me.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Thistle the dog

[Scottsmum]

Ah - I had a big long post but I deleted it - t was getting messy. LOL.

Please just positive replies, I'm doing my best with this dog, who is a complete sweetheart! This behaviour from her is my fault. And oh to the person who said her collar is restrictive, umm not in the slightest, she has a very long neck and can move her head/neck without hindrance, it whatever direction she choses.

To be fair I'm unwilling to see if she just keeps growling or actually makes contact. We walk minimum 3kms a day and she will lunge at everyone! I started saying it's just wheels and dark people. But no, she will aggressively bark/growl at anyone.

Again my fault, as I have not stopped her when she does it to the fence line...)please don't judge me, I live alone, and the only reason I haven't been robbed is cos of this dog!)

Don't worry too much about the stuff which comes across as negative. Sometimes its not meant that way and who knows you might find something in there that works for you. You said in an earlier post you're kind of compiling everything and working it into what works for you - which is great.

As an example - I've been posting here about my dogs separation anxiety - and I mentioned a few weeks ago that he'd been for a huge walk and while we were out he lied down to sniff - and someone else basically said "urhg - not so great - he's showing who's boss - hope you gave him permission to sniff". I kind of fobbed it off "my dog doesn't need permission to sniff - his walks are for him - not me".

But at the same time I'd had a conversation with my husband about the dog being a bit bossy around the house but me not thinking I was strong enough / brave enough to try this thing called "nothing in life is free", and I'd started reading a book which was basically focused on regaining leadership in the household / your pack (NOT asserting dominance) and this comment about how inappropriate it was to let the dog drop to sniff kind of helped click things into place. So now, we kind of do our own version of "nothing in life is free" - I can almost guarantee he'll poop before we cross our first road on our walks - so I let him free sniff until he's done his poo - then he comes to heel and we do our walk. On the way home we also do some things to help him remember "I'm the boss" - like if he starts pulling towards the house I keep walking and come back into our street another way. He's really good - he's all but stopped pulling at the normal places he used to and all the other stuff is coming together - slowly - but really well. But I do think it was this "negative" comment which helped.

I've also got a comment on this forum which says something like "I don't like crates - to each their own but I think they're terrible" - and now I adore crates and sing their praises from the roof tops. I'm sure there are at least 1000 other examples from me alone.

There was so much more I wanted to say - so I'll try to keep it short - I hope you like the behaviorist and you're running your ideas past them as you fold them into the mix of behaviors you're using/trialing. You've said you're walking 3 ks a day - hope this doesnt sound preachy - but that's not very far. You'll see it here a lot - My dog can walk and walk but X,Y, or Z really tires him out" My 12 year old dog easily does 3km a walk - usually twice a day. He also needs a good mix of sniffing and free running or other 'enrichment' activities to help keep him mentally tired too - it might be worth looking at options there to help mentally exhaust her. hard when you've got a reactive one. I know.

Keep us up to date. :D

[Kavik]

I would go see a professional if your dog has now escalated to barking/growling/lunging at people. You don't want that to get worse

This is my 'go to' for reactivity - Look at That

https://clickerleash.wordpress.com/2009/08/23/look-at-that-a-counterintuitive-approach-to-dealing-with-reactive-dogs/

I am also going to get this DVD for my dog who is easily overaroused (but very friendly), it also looks like it should have some great ideas for dogs that are reactive

https://nbn.absolute-dogs.com/n86ypq7

Here is an example of some of their ideas - this is a precursor for teaching your dog to be comfortable wearing a muzzle

https://game.absolute-dogs.com/muzzle-love6fpimq5e

[JulesP]

I would go see a professional if your dog has now escalated to barking/growling/lunging at people. You don't want that to get worse

The dog hasn't escalated to to barking/growling at people. It has already bitten the lawn mower man and attempted to bite the postie. There was another thread.

[Scottsmum]

If the "I don't like crates" comment is in reference to what I said, I just want to clarify that I didn't say don't like them (after all, I have one set up in the lounge room for Justice), I said I don't like the idea of dogs being crated for long periods of time (as in all day, which is what you were considering). I wasn't telling you what to do, just sharing my opinion, and not intending to be negative. :)

No Snook - Was not suggesting you were being negative in any way, shape or form. Promise. I love your perspective and advice. I have actually said I don't like them here - a while ago. I now have one in the lounge room too. I suppose I was trying to say some times, some posts can been seen as negatives, when they're not. Other comments, genuinely negative or not, might spark something in the person asking for advice - now or in the future - which helps things click together. In my case I made a complete turn around on the idea of crates. I actually cringed when I re-read the post - which would be about 18 months old now I suppose.

[Willem]

Please just positive replies, I'm doing my best with this dog, who is a complete sweetheart! This behaviour from her is my fault. And oh to the person who said her collar is restrictive, umm not in the slightest, she has a very long neck and can move her head/neck without hindrance, it whatever direction she choses.

To be fair I'm unwilling to see if she just keeps growling or actually makes contact. We walk minimum 3kms a day and she will lunge at everyone! I started saying it's just wheels and dark people. But no, she will aggressively bark/growl at anyone.

Again my fault, as I have not stopped her when she does it to the fence line...)please don't judge me, I live alone, and the only reason I haven't been robbed is cos of this dog!)

you might need some decoys (dogs and people) to train passing them without any signs of aggression; I guess it would be pretty difficult to eradicate this behaviour in an uncontrolled environment on a normal walk (plus there would be also your other dog). IMO you need to train this in a controlled environment with an experienced dog handler as decoy (who recognizes the thresholds of the trigger zones etc.), but without any other distractions. As you already tried e-collar and other tools & methods with little success it will be tricky to achieve the wanted result just with positive reinforcement, nevertheless I definitely would start with this method first. In a controlled environment it is much easier to get the message good behaviour = reward to the dog and reinforce it.

[persephone]

you are working really hard :)

I do hope you get professional advice though .

A dog who lunges, growls and nips is NOT doing anyone any favours and will possibly land you in legal hot water should someone take fright ..trip or get nipped

A dog who lunges, growls and nips , AND has to wear a very uncomfortable , macho looking /protect-the-throat-when fighting-or hunting pigs collar will quickly become noticed and possibly reported

Jane Harper is someone in QLD who has a very good reputation - I strongly advise contact be made, and advice sought , so the hard work you have both done is added to .

To add>

I once had a 'pigdog' a great dane cross ..who weighed around 40 kg and was tall and brindle ..and looked 'scary'

he wore a bright red collar on which I painted flowers, and had a teddy bear charm and a bell on his neck :) this made SUCH a difference as to how he was accepted by people !!!

Edited February 16, 2016 by persephone

[corvus]

you might need some decoys (dogs and people) to train passing them without any signs of aggression; I guess it would be pretty difficult to eradicate this behaviour in an uncontrolled environment on a normal walk (plus there would be also your other dog). IMO you need to train this in a controlled environment with an experienced dog handler as decoy (who recognizes the thresholds of the trigger zones etc.), but without any other distractions. As you already tried e-collar and other tools & methods with little success it will be tricky to achieve the wanted result just with positive reinforcement, nevertheless I definitely would start with this method first. In a controlled environment it is much easier to get the message good behaviour = reward to the dog and reinforce it.

It's quite doable with positive reinforcement only, but ideally you can use distance to help you, and yes, a controlled environment is a big help. That is why I run classes for these dogs. It gives them a controlled environment where we can get some practice with new coping behaviours while it's easy.