Suddenly reactive 2 y/o Aussie

[heytherezo]

Hi Everyone,

I am looking for some advice regarding my 2 year old Australian shepherd.

About 1.5-2 months ago, we noticed that he was becoming a bit reactive. He would lunge at cyclists, bark at things that scared him, and had a few incidents at the dog park where he snapped at dogs that humped him. In general, he was still able to greet other dogs without issue. For context, he has been highly socialized since he was a puppy, going to daycare, dog parks, etc, and he has been exposed to people/cars/noises since puppyhood as well because we live in a city.

To try and manage the reactivity, we brought him to a behaviorist. She instructed us to say “Yes” and give him high value treats when he was triggered by something. For the first two weeks, this worked pretty well, but then we took him to his first in-person training session at their warehouse. She had us run through an exercise for about an hour where she used a fake dog to illicit a reaction from our dog so that we could practice saying “Yes” and treating our dog.

The “Yes” training seemed to work for the first couple of weeks. We noticed he was barking a bit more, but we were able to get his attention when saying “Yes”. However, since the in person visit, he has become highly reactive. He barks and lunges at everything, people, dogs, etc. He is much more reactive now than even 1 month ago. Today, we brought him to a dog park and he attacked another dog seemingly unprovoked, something he has never done before.

We are extremely concerned and at a loss for what to do. We can’t help but feel that this training has somehow made him much more reactive. Has anyone had similar experiences or can anyone share advice on how they would handle this situation?

We are also planning a vet visit to see if there may be something medically wrong with him that caused this change.

Thank you in advance!

 

[messenger_of_truth]

@heytherezo I give the following advice because it is effective and woulnt negatively impact your dog. In my opinion you should evaluate all advice in the same manner.

Give him a break from any and all stimuli, he needs a reset at the minimum. No park, no cyclists, cars, dogs joggers etc etc. It's impossible but you should strive to get a close as you can. 5am walks, they suck but traffic is low in all forms and as it's dark out, they can't see stimuli and get all amped up.

You see a cyclist, jogger, dog etc etc approaching, u turn and go the other way. He'll still look, pull make noise etc etc but he's not facing them, and perceiving them as a direct threat so hopefully you can at least manage him.

Same in the evening after dark. Do you have a small yard where you can fetch or play with a herding ball, Frisbee for 10 minutes before you walk ?

Scent smelling along the way is a self calming technique, take advantage of scheduled breaks along the way. I've had really good luck after an episode by releasing mine from a heel, and letting him sniff around for 3 or 4 minutes. He gets so into it, you can see his tail release, his hackles go down and the body release tension after like a minute

 

[alexiscandels]

@messenger_of_truth Great advice!

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@heytherezo I can’t comment on general advice as I’m struggling with the same things, but don’t take him to the dog park. It’s dangerous and not beneficial anymore.

 

[heytherezo]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Yes we are definitely done taking him to the dog park after this incident

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@heytherezo I figured but sometimes people think with more exposure the dog will get better. Sorry, it’s very hard recovering from a bad walk with my guy today.

 

[truthseeker63]

@heytherezo I own a four year old reactive Aussie and I would agree with the advice above to give him a break from all stimuli for now when possible. It’s hard to say without more details, but it sounds like he had trigger stacked, which is when a dog gets triggered and reacts in more and more extreme ways because they’re starting at a higher arousal level each time since they still haven’t calmed down from the last one. This can happen over days at a time.

I’ve been working intensely on my dog’s reactivity for the last year since she’s my agility dog and needs to be able to handle being around action and other dogs. I first worked on focus behaviors in a calm environment without any potential triggers. I really like the Up/Down game from Control Unleashed and Offered Durational Engagement from Sharon Carroll’s Working with Reactive Dogs class on Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. Basically, I don’t expect my dog to stare at me the whole time, but I do want her to be able to disengage from potential triggers and reorient herself to me.

I’m not sure about your Aussie, but mine found a lot of enjoyment in reacting to other dogs by making them bark back at her, so I had to really make sure it was more rewarding to engage with me instead.

Basically, I would instead pair the “yes” marker with eye contact instead of with reacting. Start easy and small in and around your house, then add novel, non triggering items. For the most part, you don’t want it to look like you’re training a reactive dog, you should not be making him react to train him. If he’s successful inside, move outside to an easy environment. If at any point he isn’t successful, then go back a step to an easy environment.

I’m happy to explain any of this in more detail as well!

 

[theblessed_one]

@heytherezo How active is your shepherd? These outbursts could be a sign that he's under exercised or that he doesn't have a positive outlet to get rid of the extra energy.

 

[diananwshiro]

@theblessed_one This! I have two Aussies and compete in dog sports that attract mostly Aussies and Border Collies.

My working-line Aussie girl (I got her from a farm; runt of the litter) AND my other rescue dog both had a major personality change at about 2 years old. It was as if a switch got thrown.

At around 2 years old, this breed tends to come into "work mode" and no longer cares to play with other dogs much and just wants to WORK. Their herding instinct increases and, IMO, there is a real need for these dogs to have a "job."

So my advice is to start him working, IMO. Get into agility. Flyball. Disc Dog. Get a book on trick training. Do scent work. This is a working breed, so WORK!

I turned a reactive dog with a bite history into a solid citizen by getting him into the job market and working his ass off. The reactivity melted away. But it was not easy, and I had to learn new sports, new skills and a new way of living. I lost 12 pounds! But I was committed to doing it and it sounds like you are too.

With my new girl, I enrolled her in Disc Dog competition and Agility as soon as she was medically able. She also does tricks with me around the house. Mat work. Hoops. Find it. Spin. Back. Slam the door shut. Bring (many various different) toys. Go around. Tight. Out. Spin. You get the picture.

I'll probably be downvoted for this, but I'm wondering how much you work this dog's feet? His brain? Does he have to work for his food or do you serve him in his bowl?

If your dog has medical issues or has serious anxiety and aggression, this won't solve all your problems, but I feel with this breed, walking is not enough -- it takes a challenging regimen of tasks to keep them content.

 

[stevemiltonson]

@heytherezo I’m going through the same thing with our 18 month old male Aussie. I’m curious where you are now with yours, what worked and didn’t? The vet has suggested anxiety medication that we are hoping helps.

 

[heytherezo]

@stevemiltonson We are in a much better spot now, so there is hope! Here’s what we did, hopefully it can help you too
1. We stopped taking him to dog parks and instead took him on very early morning walks and nighttime walks to avoid other dogs and other triggers for a couple weeks (a “decompression” period)
2. We started bringing normal treats and extra high value treats on all walks (like pepperoni or cheese or whatever your dog loves)
3. We used these treats as part of the engage/disengage method that you can read more about here

Now, we mostly use regular treats with the engage/disengage treats and try to avoid his biggest triggers. But, most of his triggers he completely ignores now.

There are days where he does still get worked up but they are super rare and he is a lot more manageable now. Hope this helps and happy to answer anything more specific!