soundthearlarm1111
New member
Two months ago I rescued an 8-week old "Boston terrier/chihuahua mix" (he's a rescue, so who can know for sure) and brought him home with me. I'll call him L. My roommate already had a dog, a 4-month old mystery mix, called G. G is very excitable and kind of needy, while L is a bit more shy and relaxed. Since we knew this, we gave them a bit of an acclimation period where G wasn't allowed to get in L's face while L was getting used to the new environment. This only lasted about two days, which may not have been enough.
Once we let G approach L, he was immediately in his face all the time. We would separate them when the play got too rough or when L seemed to be upset, but generally let them figure themselves out.
Fast-forward about two weeks. L and I start attending puppy training classes. He's very nervous and is the only dog that doesn't want to play. There was a lot of tail down and him hiding behind my legs. The dogs don't get to play during class, so no one approaches him, though there is a lot of barking and other dogs pulling toward him. After about two weeks of this, the instructor suggests clicker training to combat his aversion to other dogs. Whenever he looks at an excitable dog in class, I click and treat. She also suggested using this strategy on our walks.
The click-and-treat worked for class (he actually played with another dog at one point during the fifth week of class!), but it hasn't carried over very well to real life. If we see another dog on a walk, I try to click and treat as soon as he notices them, but sometimes he sees them first. People who don't have reactive dogs also tend to let their dogs approach him (even when I say "please don't, he's not great at meeting other dogs"). He'll usually be fine for about 3-5 seconds, sometimes more if the dog is far enough away, but then he starts barking and lunging like crazy. He'll bark to the point where he even sounds a little hoarse. A lot of times I get him to stop by standing between him and the other dog and getting him to sit, then giving treats. Other times he just won't calm down and I just have to pick him up and scurry away. This can happen even if I've started clicking and treating as soon as he spots the dog, and even if we've made it through a few successful click-and-treats. If I put him down/move from in front of him once the dog is far enough away, he'll try to chase them.
My apartment has a small dog park as well, and I've only taken him there once when another dog was there, because I was terrified of how he would behave. He barked for a few minutes, but after some back-and-forth during which I was incredibly tense, he got enough buttsniffs in to feel comfortable and start playing. Any other dog, we have to run away from.
Please help. How can I help my dog be happy and well-adjusted?
Once we let G approach L, he was immediately in his face all the time. We would separate them when the play got too rough or when L seemed to be upset, but generally let them figure themselves out.
Fast-forward about two weeks. L and I start attending puppy training classes. He's very nervous and is the only dog that doesn't want to play. There was a lot of tail down and him hiding behind my legs. The dogs don't get to play during class, so no one approaches him, though there is a lot of barking and other dogs pulling toward him. After about two weeks of this, the instructor suggests clicker training to combat his aversion to other dogs. Whenever he looks at an excitable dog in class, I click and treat. She also suggested using this strategy on our walks.
The click-and-treat worked for class (he actually played with another dog at one point during the fifth week of class!), but it hasn't carried over very well to real life. If we see another dog on a walk, I try to click and treat as soon as he notices them, but sometimes he sees them first. People who don't have reactive dogs also tend to let their dogs approach him (even when I say "please don't, he's not great at meeting other dogs"). He'll usually be fine for about 3-5 seconds, sometimes more if the dog is far enough away, but then he starts barking and lunging like crazy. He'll bark to the point where he even sounds a little hoarse. A lot of times I get him to stop by standing between him and the other dog and getting him to sit, then giving treats. Other times he just won't calm down and I just have to pick him up and scurry away. This can happen even if I've started clicking and treating as soon as he spots the dog, and even if we've made it through a few successful click-and-treats. If I put him down/move from in front of him once the dog is far enough away, he'll try to chase them.
My apartment has a small dog park as well, and I've only taken him there once when another dog was there, because I was terrified of how he would behave. He barked for a few minutes, but after some back-and-forth during which I was incredibly tense, he got enough buttsniffs in to feel comfortable and start playing. Any other dog, we have to run away from.
Please help. How can I help my dog be happy and well-adjusted?
