itsjustmerae
New member
@brittanylp We reward with regular kibble too! When we were really working on this, my girl only ate when it was as a reward on walks. This changed the game tbh, I tried feeding so many "treats" and got literally no where. My dog never went hungry (maybe missed a single cup of food for a single day) during the transition because I would reward constantly. If she needed a bit more food to meet the days requirement, she got it from a puzzle so she was still working for it.
It's great that you have a verbal marker too! I suggest having something that means "you're doing the right thing, keep going!" and something that means "treat incoming!". It sounds like for you guys, yes means treat incoming (for us it's "good"). You could try to lengthen the time where he's focused on you by adding in another marker like "good" (where I use "yes" lol) so that he knows you know he's doing the right thing, and if he keeps it up he'll get the reward. For that start I started with small gaps, ("good, yes!" then reward) and then adding some time to build duration ("good ..... Yes!" reward).
Personally, I don't allow my dog to pull me anywhere unless I know she has to pee or poo. Otherwise, we stop, she sits and we make eye contact, if she's still focused on something else we'll do easy obedience until I have her full attention. Then we can continue walking. Pulling towards dogs is a big no no for us, and I'd change directions or create distance accordingly. Nowadays, I can ask her to "look at me" or "walk with me" and she will stay in position while passing another dog, but this took cutting out all interactions with other dogs. I do still reward her during this too, usually a little before, a little during, and a bunch after.
Sniffing is a hard one, because I do like letting my girl sniff too. I usually just make a sound (like tsh! kind of) to get her attention, it's a universal sound for us to let her know I want her attention. I think practicing recall would have the same effect. It really is whatever works for you guys. If you want to say his name and have him look, then reward that behavior! I like the quick monosyllable for this kind of thing because I can use it as a quick verbal correction super easily.
And we don't use "leave it" in particular, but we have a bit of a protocol for this kind of situation. (sidenote: we were using the same word to mean many things and it was confusing for everyone so leave it is specifically for food or objects she cannot eat, like chicken bones on the ground. Having one specific command for one specific behavior made things much easier for everyone). If I notice a trigger before my girl, I will "read the room" so to speak. If it's a calm dog on a loose leash with an attentive owner, and I feel comfortable passing them, I'll shorten the leash and ask my girl to "look at me" then as I said above I'll treat before, while, and after we pass the trigger. If it's a crazy looking dog on a flexi lead and the owners are 10 ft behind, I'll create some room (some days that means crossing the road, some days that means we're on the curb, or in a field/trees) and ask my girl to sit. My girl is solid as a rock when she sits, so we stick there and I'll do the same as when walking past, ask her to look at me and treat before, during, and after.
If my dog begins to react (usually starting with a low growl) she will get either that tsh! or I'll tell her no. It took a lot of work to get here (almost 2.5 years!) but she will disengage 100% of the time these days with just that. Once she does, I reward her. Lots of people will go on about the importance of phasing out food rewards for purely verbal, and while I do agree that having verbal control is very important.. it's not as important as successfully managing the situation. There have been plenty of encounters where we got by because I had a handful of kibble and I let my girl lick the pieces out 1 by 1. Truly, whatever it takes. If I can get her eating before she's over threshold, and keep the food coming, she will stay under threshold and that is what is most important to me. It keeps my girl happier, and it keeps everyone safer.
Hopefully I answered your questions?! I have so much love for my dog and could talk about her for hours, and so it makes me really sad that people get so discouraged to work 1:1 with their reactive dogs. It really is an ongoing effort, and we're still no where near perfect. I believe in you guys!! One step at a time is all it takes
It's great that you have a verbal marker too! I suggest having something that means "you're doing the right thing, keep going!" and something that means "treat incoming!". It sounds like for you guys, yes means treat incoming (for us it's "good"). You could try to lengthen the time where he's focused on you by adding in another marker like "good" (where I use "yes" lol) so that he knows you know he's doing the right thing, and if he keeps it up he'll get the reward. For that start I started with small gaps, ("good, yes!" then reward) and then adding some time to build duration ("good ..... Yes!" reward).
Personally, I don't allow my dog to pull me anywhere unless I know she has to pee or poo. Otherwise, we stop, she sits and we make eye contact, if she's still focused on something else we'll do easy obedience until I have her full attention. Then we can continue walking. Pulling towards dogs is a big no no for us, and I'd change directions or create distance accordingly. Nowadays, I can ask her to "look at me" or "walk with me" and she will stay in position while passing another dog, but this took cutting out all interactions with other dogs. I do still reward her during this too, usually a little before, a little during, and a bunch after.
Sniffing is a hard one, because I do like letting my girl sniff too. I usually just make a sound (like tsh! kind of) to get her attention, it's a universal sound for us to let her know I want her attention. I think practicing recall would have the same effect. It really is whatever works for you guys. If you want to say his name and have him look, then reward that behavior! I like the quick monosyllable for this kind of thing because I can use it as a quick verbal correction super easily.
And we don't use "leave it" in particular, but we have a bit of a protocol for this kind of situation. (sidenote: we were using the same word to mean many things and it was confusing for everyone so leave it is specifically for food or objects she cannot eat, like chicken bones on the ground. Having one specific command for one specific behavior made things much easier for everyone). If I notice a trigger before my girl, I will "read the room" so to speak. If it's a calm dog on a loose leash with an attentive owner, and I feel comfortable passing them, I'll shorten the leash and ask my girl to "look at me" then as I said above I'll treat before, while, and after we pass the trigger. If it's a crazy looking dog on a flexi lead and the owners are 10 ft behind, I'll create some room (some days that means crossing the road, some days that means we're on the curb, or in a field/trees) and ask my girl to sit. My girl is solid as a rock when she sits, so we stick there and I'll do the same as when walking past, ask her to look at me and treat before, during, and after.
If my dog begins to react (usually starting with a low growl) she will get either that tsh! or I'll tell her no. It took a lot of work to get here (almost 2.5 years!) but she will disengage 100% of the time these days with just that. Once she does, I reward her. Lots of people will go on about the importance of phasing out food rewards for purely verbal, and while I do agree that having verbal control is very important.. it's not as important as successfully managing the situation. There have been plenty of encounters where we got by because I had a handful of kibble and I let my girl lick the pieces out 1 by 1. Truly, whatever it takes. If I can get her eating before she's over threshold, and keep the food coming, she will stay under threshold and that is what is most important to me. It keeps my girl happier, and it keeps everyone safer.
Hopefully I answered your questions?! I have so much love for my dog and could talk about her for hours, and so it makes me really sad that people get so discouraged to work 1:1 with their reactive dogs. It really is an ongoing effort, and we're still no where near perfect. I believe in you guys!! One step at a time is all it takes