Background: we just adopted a senior pair (~10 yrs old, male: K, 70 lb lab-looking, and female: G, 60 lb shepherd-looking) 4 months ago. K has been a pretty chill dude at home, a total oaf, super people friendly. But within a few weeks of adoption he was showing signs of dog reactivity. I tried what little training I’ve learned from fostering mostly “difficult” dogs but wasn’t sure if we were understanding him or responding appropriately so we hired a really great accredited trainer / behavior specialist I’d met through the rescue community. We met with her on Friday and had a really great experience and felt we understood his issues better - mostly stemming from his deafness, being startled by the sight of dogs, and his lifestyle change from farm to residence, increasing stimuli and insecurity. I had also started muzzle training him because neighbors down our dead-end street are not great small dog owners and have let them run free a number of times... we’ve gotten about 50% there with the muzzle and then got lazy.
Tonight: We got trapped in a challenging situation where someone had their 2 small, noisy dogs in their fenced yard, she was out with them “calling” them with absolutely no effect (as usual), and we HAD to pass by to get back home due to the layout of our streets. We were using techniques our trainer shared and he seemed to be doing well but also obviously in a heightened state. We were about halfway through passing when he suddenly got so frustrated he lunged at my thigh and bit me. It was 100% redirected frustration and I don’t blame him, but it has left a 3” scrape and bruising (thank glob I had pants on).
Now: we plan on amping up muzzle training and attempting to continue his conditioning on walks. I’m hoping someone has ideas on types of treats or ways to distract while wearing a muzzle. I know there are treat sticks and goo things, but I feel that he’ll be more frustrated by the whole situation than necessary.
I guess I’m just frustrated and hoping for a little advice. I’ve messaged our trainer for resources on the subject but figure this community might be just as valuable.
Thanks for reading.
Tonight: We got trapped in a challenging situation where someone had their 2 small, noisy dogs in their fenced yard, she was out with them “calling” them with absolutely no effect (as usual), and we HAD to pass by to get back home due to the layout of our streets. We were using techniques our trainer shared and he seemed to be doing well but also obviously in a heightened state. We were about halfway through passing when he suddenly got so frustrated he lunged at my thigh and bit me. It was 100% redirected frustration and I don’t blame him, but it has left a 3” scrape and bruising (thank glob I had pants on).
Now: we plan on amping up muzzle training and attempting to continue his conditioning on walks. I’m hoping someone has ideas on types of treats or ways to distract while wearing a muzzle. I know there are treat sticks and goo things, but I feel that he’ll be more frustrated by the whole situation than necessary.
I guess I’m just frustrated and hoping for a little advice. I’ve messaged our trainer for resources on the subject but figure this community might be just as valuable.
Thanks for reading.