Hello!
I am looking for help with training and managing behavior with my 1 year old dog, Mable. We believe Mable to be an Aussie-shepard mix, and we adopted her a little over a year ago. She was found when she was a few weeks old with the rest of her litter locked in a wooden box, abandoned somewhere in Arizona. She is an incredibly smart and athletic dog, and very well behaved in the home.
Our main issue with her is that when she is outside and sees another dog she is not immediately able to meet she is reactive. She barks, growls, and pulls very hard in the direction of the other dog. Despite this behavior she does get along very well with most dogs. We have close friends that have a red heeler-mix that is a few years old. When we get together with them our dogs wil run around for hours and hours and have a great time playing. Additonally, my partners family has dogs and Mable has gotten along well with all of them, even at large gatherings where there were lots of people and 5 dogs. However Mable can become aggressive when food or toys are involved, so we usually try and remove these things when other dogs are around.
I think it is also important to note she is only reactive like this when she is not allowed to immediately meet them. Several times I have been out running with her on leash and we round a blind corner on trail and run into anothe dog. Mable is immediately able to meet them and she does not bark or growl at all. Additonally, I have had her off leash in my sisters backyard, and a loose dog that she had never met before ran up to her. They played hapily together for a few minutes before the other dog left.
It is only when she is on leash, in the car, or in our house and sees another dog that she reacts. She has had this response in some form since she was very young. She would often bark at another dog when I walked her around the neighborhood when she was a few months old, but she didn't necesarially do it everytime. It has gotten worse since she's gotten older.
I have been trying very hard to work on this with her recently because we have moved to a bigger city. In the town we used to live in we were able to take her somewhere to run around off leash 4-5 days a week, where it would be unlikely to see other dogs or people. Where we live now it is probably only feasble to this on the weekends.
I have been practicing getting her attention with high value treats. She become much better about turning her attention to me when we are not around dogs. However if we are anywhere near another dog she will not pay attention to me when I call her name and offer treats. If we encounter another dog I have been trying to increase distance and continue to offer her a treat until she takes it. I have noticed that if we are in a car and she sees a dog in another car close by I can continue to turn her attention away from that dog with a high value treat. I have been trying to capitalize on these moments for training.
Mable is only 35 lbs so when she does see another dog and react to them I sometimes pick her up if we are approaching the other dog and the only path we can take is directly by them. Often this will also make her react less. I did this on her walk this morning when we ran into another dog walking towards us on the road. Her reaction decreased substantially - from a 10 to a 4 or a 5. One of our friends who has some experience dog training says that this is not an effective way to deal with her behavior because it "elevates her" and makes her feel more important, like she won. What are your thoughts on this?
Like I said earlier I have been trying very hard over the past few weeks to work with Mable and help her develop better habits, I have seen some improvement but I want to know what I can do better. We are considering 1 on 1 training with a trainer; in our area their fees range from 100-200 an hour. We could afford this on a once a month basis, but if there is something we can do on our own I am happy to put in the work.
We are lucky to a road near our new apartment that we can walk Mable on and not see too many people or dogs, but I still dream of Mable being the kind of dog we can take everywhere with us. My partner and I live an active lifestyle and would love to include Mable in all of our activites, but sometimes it is not possible or enjoyable to bring her because of her reactivity.
But despite all her difficulty and issues I love this dog more than I ever thought I could, and wouldn't trade her for anything.
Thank you for any help you can offer!
I am looking for help with training and managing behavior with my 1 year old dog, Mable. We believe Mable to be an Aussie-shepard mix, and we adopted her a little over a year ago. She was found when she was a few weeks old with the rest of her litter locked in a wooden box, abandoned somewhere in Arizona. She is an incredibly smart and athletic dog, and very well behaved in the home.
Our main issue with her is that when she is outside and sees another dog she is not immediately able to meet she is reactive. She barks, growls, and pulls very hard in the direction of the other dog. Despite this behavior she does get along very well with most dogs. We have close friends that have a red heeler-mix that is a few years old. When we get together with them our dogs wil run around for hours and hours and have a great time playing. Additonally, my partners family has dogs and Mable has gotten along well with all of them, even at large gatherings where there were lots of people and 5 dogs. However Mable can become aggressive when food or toys are involved, so we usually try and remove these things when other dogs are around.
I think it is also important to note she is only reactive like this when she is not allowed to immediately meet them. Several times I have been out running with her on leash and we round a blind corner on trail and run into anothe dog. Mable is immediately able to meet them and she does not bark or growl at all. Additonally, I have had her off leash in my sisters backyard, and a loose dog that she had never met before ran up to her. They played hapily together for a few minutes before the other dog left.
It is only when she is on leash, in the car, or in our house and sees another dog that she reacts. She has had this response in some form since she was very young. She would often bark at another dog when I walked her around the neighborhood when she was a few months old, but she didn't necesarially do it everytime. It has gotten worse since she's gotten older.
I have been trying very hard to work on this with her recently because we have moved to a bigger city. In the town we used to live in we were able to take her somewhere to run around off leash 4-5 days a week, where it would be unlikely to see other dogs or people. Where we live now it is probably only feasble to this on the weekends.
I have been practicing getting her attention with high value treats. She become much better about turning her attention to me when we are not around dogs. However if we are anywhere near another dog she will not pay attention to me when I call her name and offer treats. If we encounter another dog I have been trying to increase distance and continue to offer her a treat until she takes it. I have noticed that if we are in a car and she sees a dog in another car close by I can continue to turn her attention away from that dog with a high value treat. I have been trying to capitalize on these moments for training.
Mable is only 35 lbs so when she does see another dog and react to them I sometimes pick her up if we are approaching the other dog and the only path we can take is directly by them. Often this will also make her react less. I did this on her walk this morning when we ran into another dog walking towards us on the road. Her reaction decreased substantially - from a 10 to a 4 or a 5. One of our friends who has some experience dog training says that this is not an effective way to deal with her behavior because it "elevates her" and makes her feel more important, like she won. What are your thoughts on this?
Like I said earlier I have been trying very hard over the past few weeks to work with Mable and help her develop better habits, I have seen some improvement but I want to know what I can do better. We are considering 1 on 1 training with a trainer; in our area their fees range from 100-200 an hour. We could afford this on a once a month basis, but if there is something we can do on our own I am happy to put in the work.
We are lucky to a road near our new apartment that we can walk Mable on and not see too many people or dogs, but I still dream of Mable being the kind of dog we can take everywhere with us. My partner and I live an active lifestyle and would love to include Mable in all of our activites, but sometimes it is not possible or enjoyable to bring her because of her reactivity.
But despite all her difficulty and issues I love this dog more than I ever thought I could, and wouldn't trade her for anything.
Thank you for any help you can offer!