Excited Reactive Dog Help

[chris0506]

So I adopted my now 1 yearish old dog in January from a shelter in the city. They’d picked him up off the street and had no idea what his background was. When I adopted him his forms said 3 years old, but when I picked him up after neutering they said he was 7-9 months old. I thought I was getting a fearful adult dog and instead picked up a maniac puppy He is a mutt of a mutt when I did his dna test beagle was the highest at 28% followed by chow chow chihuahua and Boston terrier at much lower percentages.

He’s a sweet dog, but lacks so much confidence. He knows all of his tricks inside the apartment, but the moment we’re outside it’s all gone. He doesn’t care about me or any food. He has 0 food motivation. I’ve brought chicken and steak to try and keep his attention, but he doesn’t care. I tried toys and nothing. He is very stubborn. When I first got him I made the mistake of letting him socialize with select friendly dogs whose owners welcomed me and gave me tips. Now he is reactive towards every dog we see. Even those he’s played with. It’s like he gets so excited he can’t control himself and starts lunging, barking, and nipping towards dogs and people. When I drag him away or manage to get him to sit he cries and cries. He is his own worst enemy. If he calmed down he’d be allowed to approach, but even that just resets him off again. All he wants is to play. He goes to daycare and they say he’s a good boy and plays all day. We’ve gone to trainers and he’s well behaved around them so they don’t see it as much.

The most embarrassing part has to be that I use a front clip harness so that he doesn’t choke himself when he starts lunging, but he ends up doing flips or walking like a cryptid. The cryptid walking he’s done since I got him and it’s funny when he’s confused but not when he’s reactive.

TLDR: Accidentally adopted a puppy and now he gets so excited to see dogs and people that he lunges and barks. We walk away and he cries. He can’t control his excitement and nibbles/bites. Any advice?

 

[mizzyjp]

@chris0506 You are not alone! This is something a lot of dogs do, especially dogs with big feelings. The thing that stands out to me here is the unwillingness to take food or respond to cues (ie do his tricks) outside. That says that he may be pretty uncomfortable outside. There are lots of things you can do to work on becoming more calm and neutral around other dogs (BAT being a really big one) but at least in my experience, it's really difficult to do anything when your dog is having a hard time just existing outside. When I focused on making my dog more comfortable outside, everything got easier because I could finally start effectively training the other issues.

In the meantime, I'd cut down on these frustrating dog encounters as much as possible by cutting down on walks (if you can effectively replace them with other enrichment activities like licking, sniffing, and chewing things) and avoiding other dogs as much as possible. I will straight up run down the street if I see another dog walking towards me, and my dog is happier for it. Lots of people have a policy of no on-leash greetings for their dogs, calm or not, because it can increase that frustration that your dog is feeling.

In terms of getting your dog able to respond to cues and eat food outside, there are lots of approaches, but here is what I found success with: 1) I stopped taking my dog on long walks because being outside just stressed both of us out. 2) I practiced really easy food skills inside before taking them outside. I'm talking skills like "when i say yes, eat a treat from my hand," "when I say find it, find the treat on the ground." We practiced these until it was essentially automatic inside. 3) When we went outside, I practiced in the easiest places I could find, like the doorway, the grass directly outside my door, in an alleyway, etc. Each of these skills can have a lot of thought and technique that goes into it, which you can find from lots of trainers and blogs.

This may not apply to you, but the thing that actually made the most difference for my dog outside was medication. I found a vet who helped me both find a good anxiety medication for her, and realize that she was dealing with some undiagnosed pain. I treated her health issues and she was like a new dog.

 

[chris0506]

@mizzyjp Thank you for the advice! I tried to cut down on his walks and replace it with more play, but he seemed to shut down and become more anxious and refuse play. I’ve started to take him out again and trying my best to avoid dogs. I’ve found a trail that when walked early or late there are minimal people and animals which has greatly helped. He has improved his reactivity with people in the last week after I started to more accurately reward his behavior after he sees, but right before he reacts to people. Now he typically sees them then turns to me for a treat instead of me shoving the treat in his face. Dogs are 50/50 he will ignore if they are across the street.

We had an unfortunate encounter that set us back where I pulled him to a side street to avoid the dog since a car was coming. The other owner had her tiny dog on a flexi leash and saw me dragging my dog off to the side while saying he’s not friendly (as shown by his basket muzzle). She did not adjust her flexi and let her dog corner me and mine. She just stood there with her dog barking under me, as I’m wrestling my dog, before finally crossing the street. If he didn’t have the muzzle on my dog would have bitten the other one.

I’m making an appointment with my vet for medication, but is it too early since he is only 1ish?

 

[mizzyjp]

@chris0506 Wow, that sounds like mostly great news! If you tried fewer walks and he didn't go for it, you made the right call in finding other ways to walk him. You could also try looking at resources like this for other enrichment ideas, not just play, to supplement.

It also sounds like you've been doing a lot of a training game called engage/disengage -- if you haven't learned about it before, that could be a great way to deepen your knowledge about redirecting your dog. I'm so sorry that you had an encounter with another dog like that! Sometimes people just have no awareness of their surroundings and it's the worst. Personally, I mostly live around pretty considerate dog owners who turn the other way when they see us dodging between cars to avoid them, but I've definitely had to yell at a LOT of people to get them to give us space. You don't have to feel guilty for doing your best in a bad situation!

In my experience, there's no one "right answer" to when a dog should or shouldn't go on anxiety medication. As far as I know, there's not an age requirement for such medication, and you can ask your vet for better information. If you're worried, you can always try it and stop if it's having long-term negative effects on your dog. But right now it sounds like your dog is having a really hard time outside and around other dogs, you're worried that he's going to attack other dogs, and when he reacts he reacts so strongly that he is physically hurting himself. It sounds like he's also having a hard time learning in the contexts he reacts in, and he's so overwrought that only extremely high value food will overcome his emotions. That is not normal and the right medication will help him get back into his "thinking brain" so he can start learning how to feel safe and comfortable.

My dog takes like 6 pills a night (not just for anxiety but pain and allergies also), and I never thought I would be so committed to keeping her on medication, but the people who are shocked or appalled didn't see her before the medication. She needs those medications to be happy and healthy, and my only regret is not being a better advocate for her and getting her treated sooner.