Humbled - training is NOT the issue or the answer

[rhona]

@baohomotorprovn250932 We moved out of our apartment complex where we had major problems with off-leash dogs so we could move into a house with a private backyard.

Welllll...guess what? Now we have more off-leash dogs that jump our fence to try to play with our dogs so our dogs are back on a leash again IN THEIR OWN PRIVATE BACKYARD because people can't be bothered to keep their "friendly" dogs from roaming the neighborhood all day and night. One house lets their large female pitbull outside when they leave in the morning, rain or shine, hot or cold. Imo that borders on abuse/neglect. Not to mention the nightmare it causes for us.

It's a struggle that those of us with reactive dogs (we have two) will never see the end of, no matter what.

 

[crt1990]

@baohomotorprovn250932 Others have mentioned many great walk-related ideas, but I think medication (through your vet or a vet behaviourist) is worth considering! I don’t think our pup would have made the progress she has without the meds she is on today. It can make life so much less stressful for them (and the human side of the leash by proxy) if you find a med / med combo that works well.

Some people have some success with adaptil collars and Zylkene, as some potential short term-ideas in case they might help in the meantime.

 

[andyroush]

@baohomotorprovn250932 I can relate to so much of this. My 92 lb. dog actually caused my partner to break his leg a few months ago because he saw what I assume was an 8 lb dog (unleashed, yay) out on a hiking trail. He’s so well trained and has amazing behavior… when he can’t see another dog. Multiple trainers said he was hopeless. Medication did not help. Sending him away to be trained did not help. Those behavior collars did not help.

I’m sure I’m echoing so much of what’s been said but we realized walks near home just were not an option for us most days. We take advantage of late night walks when we both have to work closing shifts, and hikes in nearby state forests (esp. when it’s a little rainy/cold/ or early morning on weekdays because all of those things decrease the chance of people /other dogs. We found state forests are way less visited than state parks. We sometimes drive him to a nearby baseball field at night and just run around with him until he tires out.

Sometimes it feels so much better than when he came into my life 5 years ago and sometimes a little setback (like a broken leg) makes me feel hopeless. But honestly reframing how we thought about what to do for him has made a major difference overtime. I don’t know if I can ever stop him from getting triggered (and I’ll never stop trying to help him work towards that) but we started to focus all our energy on redirecting him faster when it does happen. Helping him trust that we want him to get away from what upsets him and find anything else to focus on. Showing him again and again that we will be calm, kind, and help him get space when he is scared. He slowly started to look to us for comfort after barking once, or even moving away on his own and asking us for a chew toy to distract himself.

This past summer we took our dog (and cat) from NY to CA on a two week road trip to see as many National State Parks as we could. My dog was able to walk in 10 National Parks and deal with some wild last minute camping situations, without any major incidents. I never could have seen myself doing that alone, let alone with a reactive dog. But he taught us that hiking is what works for him. I still couldn’t bring him to a family members house if they had a dog…. But… We listened to him, focused on what we could try to control, and have been able to do some really cool things because he kinda forced us to go outside more.

I hope you and Odie can figure out what works best for you asap. It’s very clear you love him a lot. You are not at all alone in these feelings.

 

[keepuslord]

@baohomotorprovn250932 Have you spoken with your vet about medication? Mt girl is on Prozac and it took the edge off just enough that I could start desensitizing her (driving to where we could see dogs fr a very far distance and slowly building up so get to getting closer). Also treated every time she looked at a dog. It took about a year but we can now walk past or greet most dogs

 

[theoratliff]

@baohomotorprovn250932 Not walking my dog? I wish that were an option. Once he’s had breakfast, if he hasn’t been walked yet he becomes an absolute twat. Groaning and whining and uninterested in anything but destructive chewing, guilt trip noises, and scanning for items to steal and deposit under his leash-shelf.

The thing is, he loves his walks. He pulls so hard but after years of careful evaluation, he doesn’t seem anxious or unhappy, he’s just very driven to patrol and inspect any new pee-spots or fellow dogs. A lot of it seems typical of his breed (Turkish shepherd mix) and we didn’t get him from a breeder so we don’t know how/if he was trained before he was picked up as a stray. He’s very smart and very resistant if he doesn’t think your command is a good idea/to his benefit.

Walking early (before sunrise) is our best bet. All the other dogs are usually asleep (not my guy!) and not too many fresh pee spots to obsess over. He really likes our 2-3 block route around our neighborhood and when we try to go further (or start a walk from a new location) he’s far less interested because it’s not his home territory.

Oh and I sympathize- my shoulders hurt all of the time. Someone (many people) recommend a head halter over a harness for obvious reasons (harnesses help your dog pull heavy things) but he hasn’t responded well at all to our halter training. He won’t budge as it’s not fun for him. Sometimes I think he lives for the tight pull around his ribs, counterweighted by my body weight in the opposite direction

All that to say, if you can forgo walks, give yourself a gift and play with dog at home for a day.

 

[bella96]

@baohomotorprovn250932 First of all, I love your post. It was so all written and I have the same problem. I have a three-year-old German Shepherd. I’ve done all the same things thousands of dollars in training to no avail. He’s the smartest dog in the world until another dog comes near him twice we both almost got pulled into traffic and once he pulled me around on my stomach and I finally realized this isn’t safe for either of us so we rarely give on walks. Fortunately, we have a fenced in yard and I’ve bought agility toys that I put in the house for him to use and I play with him a lot to keep him busy and active, I feel very guilty, but our health and well-being is more important

 

[trustjesus]

@baohomotorprovn250932 A lot of this has been said but I want to just empathize and try to provide some thoughts that have helped me.

First, it’s really hard. I can’t say enough how amazing you are for trying to work through it. My GSD and I are on year 4 of our reactivity journey and I only realized about a year ago that there is no solving; there is management, problem solving, and ongoing work. You rock for sticking with your pup. A lot would not.

Second, I’ve found amazing benefits from a combination of medication and training what is called Lat Work. I’m not sure what training you’ve done with your dog but - as silly as it sounds - rewarding and reinforcing my Charlie for sitting there silently in the presence of minor distractions to start was the most impactful thing I’ve done aside from Gabapentin and Prozac. It took a bit to get dosage and cocktail right but it’s helped a ton. I won’t recommend them for you as I’m not a vet or behaviorist but if you’re at your wits end I would say to talk to your vet about the option.

Finally - I carry high value treats in a bait bag with me for every walk. We do mostly early morning and early evening but we’ve been able to do mid days in the neighborhood for a while now after the meds and constant reinforcement. There are still triggers. There are still hard days. But knowing when to turn around. When to just call it early. And when you can push through is important. Right now it may be that you need to turn around at the sight of a dog 100 yards away. That was me at the beginning. Now, with some exception, I can simply walk off trail 15 feet and keep my dogs attention as others walk by with theirs. But I can’t keep walking and expect mine to stay calm. We’ve developed a plan together and now when we see anyone walk towards us, my dog takes me off trail and waits for his reward.

None of this may work, and you may have tried all of it already. But I want to reiterate that you’re awesome, and that what you’re feeling is acceptable. Thank you for doing your best for your dog.