Seeking Advice for My Chihuahua Mix (a Rescue) Who's Become Extremely Reactive After an Incident

[levi]

I’m seeking advice on my Chihuahua-Rat Terrier/Spitz mix, a rescue from Mexico. He’s about 1.5 to 2 years old and showed great progress with positive reinforcement training until a recent incident (this means he was not longer lunging at people, dogs, bicycles, or cars or shivering at an intersection, he was able to travel on train, airplane, bus, car...etc. He was really confident and almost obedient.). Despite all of this, he loved going outside for a walk.

On January 4th, he had a near-miss with an e-scooter (someone who drove on the sidewalk), dramatically increasing his reactivity. He now freezes at the sight or sound of people, vehicles, and especially e-scooters and bicycles. His fear has led to more accidents at home and a general increase in nervosity and hyperactivity. I

I’ve managed some success with short walks to quieter areas, offering high-value treats, and training at the exit door whenever I notice he is more relaxed when we are outside. However, progress is slow, and I’m concerned he’s lost his confidence entirely or is worried about whether he will ever regain it again. We also continue daily indoor training.

Questions:

Has anyone successfully rehabilitated a dog after such a traumatic incident?

What strategies or training methods might you suggest?

Are there specific resources or professionals you would recommend?

I’d really appreciate your insights and stories of similar experiences.

Looking forward to your suggestions and will keep you updated on our progress!

Thank you!

P.D.: I posted this advice-seeking post about a week ago, but it received only one answer, which I highly appreciate. Yet, I wanted to see if someone else has anything that might be helpful to add. So, I remade the post and specified the training methods I use and the type of dog Bolillo is.

 

[lpt]

@levi I'm wondering if back to basics 'how to be calm' training could help here. Can you park you and your dog on a bench somewhere a little further off the sidewalk and just sit? Reward when he sees a trigger and doesn't react. And then slowly move closer over the course of a couple days of training?

 

[levi]

@lpt That sounds like a good approach. I am actually doing something similar. There's no bench in the park, but I am giving him treats to sniff while we are at the inner edge of the park, the quietest area, and he is more or less relaxed. And, especially when he sees a trigger, I directly offer him a treat from my hand.

The only problem is that there's not much that I can do to move closer or farther away from triggers than this; since I do not own a car, I have to carry him to the park in his carrier, and there are triggers. And when I walk him back home, there are triggers, too with varying distances. But, I am doing my best to kind of implement this strategy.

It's just that it's a little frustrating after having made so, so much progress. It is as if we are back to less than zero... at least when we are outside walking. But maybe progress is just that slow now. I have found that he makes a bit of progress with this type of training but it's really slow...I know I just need patience...

 

[obadimu]

@levi Sorry more people haven’t weighed in. Personally I couldn’t think of much to add besides continuing to do what you’re doing: calm walks and high value treats for building upon some good associations again. Hope it works even if it feels slow!