Adopted a dog 3 weeks ago - Becoming increasingly reactive

[englishantebellum]

Hello!

I have been browsing the threads on here and wanted to share my experience here to see if anyone has been through something similar.

I adopted my dog 3 weeks ago today. He’s almost 2 years old and is a golden retriever mixed with border collie.

I’ve been reading about the 3-3-3 rule.. and that behaviour can ‘worsen’ around the second or third week and I wonder whether that’s what’s happening here.

He was amazing on day 1 and for the first week and a half, we went for walks to the local park and he was very relaxed around dogs and other people. He dislikes bikes but that’s more manageable

One week ago I had friends over for a BBQ and he was playing with everyone and appeared to be relaxed.

Fast forward to today, he has become highly reactive on our walks. He goes from 0-100, barking at dogs and lunging/barking at people. Yesterday we had an awful walk, he angrily barked and lunged at everybody. I am confused as to why he wasn’t ‘scared’ or triggered before.

His behaviour is somewhat inconsistent though. I noticed that he is calmer when he has his tennis ball so we went on some walks with his tennis ball yesterday and various dog walkers stopped to chat and they stroked him if he approached them. They all commented on how lovely he is. Then 8 hours later on his walk, he wasn’t calm at all and lunged at everyone.

At home he continues to be amazing, he is very affectionate with me and quiet in the house. He likes to play on the terrace with his toys or follow me wherever I’m going He can bark very occasionally if the neighbour’s dog barks on the terrace he mostly ignores the other dog. He also runs to the door if he hears noises outside the door from neighbours passing but never barks.

Has anyone experienced something similar?

• Significant behaviour change on week 3
• Inconsistencies in ‘triggers’ and level of ‘reactivity’

 

[bozayo]

@englishantebellum The “inconsistencies” you’re seeing may very well be related to trigger stacking - where as the dog encounters more and more stressful things they lose their ability to regulate and move beyond their threshold for tolerance.

With the 3-3-3 rule I’m not sure it’s a “worsening” in behavior but the dog getting comfortable. However, maybe that is the case sometimes as a coping mechanism. You may not see a lot of behaviors upfront because it’s a new environment and they are scared/not sure what to expect.

You’re also doing A LOT with him right now. Taking him on long walks, having gatherings, and going hiking. He still doesn’t quite know you, or expectations and you don’t quite know him. I’d consider slowing down.

All in all if you’re really concerned you could reach out to someone who does BMOD or BAT training (behavior modification or behavior adjustment). I strongly encourage the use of someone who only uses positive training methods, and does not suggest any sort of punishment or adverse equipment (shock/prong collars).

 

[englishantebellum]

@bozayo Thank you so much for your detailed response, it was very helpful!!

Yes I agree with you, perhaps it’s been too much too soon. I haven’t taken him on any hikes we just go to the local park twice per day, morning and evening.

I was conscious that he’s a young dog and he’s a mix of energetic breeds so I thought that the walks would be very necessary for him even in the early days but perhaps I do need to slow things down.

And the gathering too - I won’t be inviting people over again for a while

I have reached out to a dog trainer, he’s going to visit us on Wednesday

 

[gundy22]

@englishantebellum I had a very similar experience with my dog. I genuinely thought she loved other dogs the first week I had her, and by week three she was fully and loudly freaking out at every single dog and some humans. There were a few things going on week 1– she was in heat and had kennel cough— so I’ve thought maybe she was just not feeling well and didn’t have the energy to react. Hearing your story though it sounds very similar to mine, and you likely have a reactive guy on your hands.

I agree with the other comment on trigger stacking. Also sometimes past experiences come into play. My dog almost never reacts at black labs for example — they are the only dog breed that’s exempt. She absolutely hates doodles. It takes some time to start recognizing patterns like that.

Welcome to the journey! This is a great sub that has helped me endlessly

 

[englishantebellum]

@gundy22 Thank you so much for your response! When did you adopt her and how is she doing now? Which strategies have you found to be the most effective?

 

[gundy22]

@englishantebellum I’ve had her for exactly 5 months now! So we’re still early on in our journey together.
We worked with a trainer and counter conditioning has been the most helpful. I use a clicker and a bag of boiled chicken. Every time she sees a dog I click and she gets a treat. We’re at the point now where about 10% of the time she sits on her own when she sees a dog and before I click, 60% of the time she responds when I click, and 30% of the time she reacts. Four months ago she was reacting badly 100% of the time. It’s a SLOW process but it has been very rewarding.
Medication has been an absolute game changer. I would recommend talking to your vet to see what they think about daily Prozac or Clomicalm. Training had absolutely no effect on her until Clomicalm took a bit the edge off.

 

[tigerangel]

@englishantebellum Hi there, fellow herding dog owner here. As others have mentioned, this seems like it could be trigger stacking. The pup might just be hitting his threshold for what he can handle right now because it's all just too new and too much all at once.

He might've been in a state of complete overwhelm during the walk where you experienced a lot of lunging, barking, etc. And it may look inconsistent to you, but in reality there are probably lots of little triggers adding up that you aren't seeing because you are new to each other and do not yet understand what his triggers are, or what his subtle stress cues look like.

Here are some articles that will better explain over-arousal, trigger stacking, and those subtle body language cues to look out for:

1. Arousal... more than just a 'Herding Trait'?
2. Facing Fear: A Guide to Reactivity and Aggression
3. The Whole Dog Journal: Sometimes, trying to tire a hyperactive dog is the exact opposite of what he needs!

Read up! I promise it'll help!

 

[englishantebellum]

@tigerangel Thank you so much for your response! These resources have been extremely helpful and they make a lot of sense.

With trigger stacking in mind, for the past 2 days I have exercised my dog away from the park in an area where the paths are wider and generally there are far fewer dogs.

My dog hasn’t barked at any people over these days, only bikes He also came face to face with a cat in the vets yesterday and didn’t bark which surprised me..

How is your dog doing now? Can you pass by other dogs or is it a case of striving to avoid others?

 

[kruick]

@englishantebellum Hi there! Same thing happened with me and my 6 yr told rescue. She was an angel for 2 weeks and then just started going from 0-100 lunging and barking at people who surprised her. We went through some nightmarish months of being scared to walk her. We got a trainer but that didn’t necessarily lead to any miracles. Where training did help us is it made us more confident with leash handling and we became very good at avoiding her triggers. My motto on walks became “Constant vigilance!” After awhile of avoiding her triggers and working on loose leash walking (and lots of treats whenever a person walked by and she didn’t react), she became increasingly more tolerant of people on walks. I think it was a combination of getting used to her surroundings and realizing she didn’t have to protect us and we would be controlling the walks, not her. We also instilled some order in our house, crating her for a couple of hours to chill during the day, having her sit and go through doors after us, etc. The combination of time and structure really helped.

Also, be realistic with what your dog can and can’t handle and set them up for success. If I see someone standing at the bus stop, I keep a wide range or go the other way because I know it’ll freak her out. We’re also not exactly hosting any parties here because she would not be comfortable. Feel for you during this time as it is super stressful, but it does get better!

 

[englishantebellum]

@kruick Thank you so much for your detailed response. I can fully relate to the motto of ‘constant vigilance’.

How does your dog react around other dogs now? Does she react to all dogs still?

 

[kruick]

@englishantebellum Of course! My dog is actually people reactive, not dog reactive so it’s a little different. In 95% of cases she is totally fine, especially when someone is just walking by normally. It’s when they start doing something unexpected or start staring at her that she gets alarmed and might have a reaction. It’s honestly way better than it used to be! She used to start growling when people were all the way down the street turned in her direction. Now she’s much more laid back

 

[englishantebellum]

@kruick Very interesting! That’s great news! I am glad to hear that she’s more laid back now! I suppose you also tend to walk her in places that are relatively quiet?

My dog sounds similar, for the past 2 days he has been great around people, some people have even stroked him (unexpectedly!! I couldn’t even react to tell them not to) and he didn’t react. He did react to some joggers suddenly running past though which I can understand, joggers are a trigger

 

[kruick]

@englishantebellum Happy to say my dog used to be runner reactive but has mostly grown out of it! I still try to look behind me every once in awhile to make sure there are no runners going by too close, but she’s been very good. I do pull over when I can to set her up for success, and I give her a treat whenever we see a runner. Give your dog some time and I imagine he will improve greatly! We have had my rescue for about a year now and the difference is night and day

 

[englishantebellum]

@kruick Wow thank you so much!! You have certainly given me a lot of hope!! Really happy to hear that she is doing so well, all your work has paid off!

 

[englishantebellum]

@tomline Thank you very much for your response. You have given me some hope haha!

I am really hoping to be able to describe my dog as just ‘mildly reactive’. I also hope that some of his anxiety stems from the adjustment to the new home and hopefully I will see his anxiety levels decrease slightly around the 3 month mark. I am seeing changes day to day in his confidence. He was sleeping directly under my bed for weeks rather than in his bed, this has changed within the past couple of days.

Good point regarding the training, brain games etc. i have been working with him each day in some capacity. He seems to enjoy a ‘find the treat’ game where I put a treat underneath one of three cups.

Which strategies have you found to be the most effective for managing her reactivity towards other dogs?

 

[tomline]

@englishantebellum Oh boy sorry about this late reply! That's awesome that you are seeing him get more confident, and hopefully he's decompressing a bit!

That cup game sounds fun - I'll have to try it with my pups

My pup is mostly leash reactive/frustrated when it comes to other dogs so I'm mostly focused on trying to make the situation less exciting.. "engage-disengage" games where we look at the oncoming dog then away have really helped. But the treat scatter is my holy grail for when she's amped up for anything - including other dogs lol

 

[yhudithagios]

@englishantebellum Just wanted to "ditto" pretty much what everyone else has said! We absolutely experienced this with our rescue (also a herding breed mix).

At first, we literally felt guilty for adopting such a perfect dog. He showed some early resource guarding with our other dog, but we truly thought that was the only issue he had.

We only realized he was reactive when he jumped up on and either scratched or bit them. Fortunately, it was minor, but they called the police, and we had to go through the whole quarantine process.

So, I'm glad you're working on addressing this right away! If I could re-do our approach with 20/20 hindsight, I would have taken things way more slowly and have been more alert for signs of stress and what was causing them.

 

[englishantebellum]

@yhudithagios Thank you so much for your response! It’s so interesting to hear that many people have also seen ‘delayed reactivity’.

Out of interest, how is your dog now? Which strategies have you found to be the most effective?

 

[yhudithagios]

@englishantebellum He's doing loads better! He'd actually made a bunch of progress fairly quickly, but then we had a major setback: We moved. We moved into an apartment complex with lots of dogs, so suddenly keeping him below threshold became a lot more difficult. He was still making progress, though.

Then our downstairs neighbors adopted a highly reactive dog. They definitely weren't working to address the behavior (aside from aversives), so I watched this dog get more and more aggressive. My poor guy was literally lunged and barked or snarled at every time he had to go to the bathroom.

That dog wound up attacking us, once more mildly, but once very seriously. Even though moving was expensive, we had to after that. Our guy has finally started making progress again.

However, most importantly, he hasn't had any bites since those first few months! He learned to use his voice instead. And he's BFFs with our other dog, so he knows not all dogs are scary.

Sorry, I realize that's a ton of background info! Here's what really helped us:

-We hired a behaviorist who had the education to back up her title (anyone can call themselves a trainer regardless of their actual training). This also helped me and my husband be on the same page about training, since we were both there for the sessions
-Eventually, we started using meds, and I wish we'd started them sooner

I highly recommend the book "Feisty Fido" by Patricia McConnell as a primer on our training method. In fact, the second behaviorist we worked with was at a company Patricia founded! It's a book I hope that everyone with a reactive dog would read. She also has another book, "Love Has No Age Limit" on adjusting to life with an adopted dog.