To the owner of a fellow reactive GSD owner who uses my dog to train theirs…

[mellowmary]

Look, I get it. Walking your dog by my dog, who is continually posted up in our front window and will bark at yours seems like the perfect training opportunity. I see your treat pouch and prong collar. I know you’re just trying your best.

But damn. Maybe we can keep it to once a day? I’d prefer not to have to close my shades. But I’d also prefer for my 8 week old baby to not get woken up by the ensuing bark war.

It’s super clear that this is for training and not just a casual walk. And I know they have every right to be outside, and that if my pup is going to sit by the window, l need to deal with her seeing things that are outside. She’s come so far on her counter conditioning, to the point I usually can’t tell there’s another dog outside until they’ve been there lingering for awhile and she starts her low bark. I’ve tried to run outside and talk to these neighbors to see if we can set up a schedule (or even have the dogs meet and do training together outside at a field that facilitates decreasing distance), but they speed off when they see me heading toward my door!

 

[emethalethia]

@mellowmary I have neighbours that do this with my dog. We just chatted and I asked him if we could use each other's dogs when we saw each other. He was great. I find people with reactive dogs get it. I would just keep trying to catch them... Maybe just not comment on every single way it's disruptive.
-- Hey I'm trying to train my very reactive dog can you guys limit how much time you spend out front because she is getting past the threshold of what she can handle and gets beyond the point of being able to listen to me. Thanks!
They do have a right to the sidewalk so your approach will make a difference.

 

[mellowmary]

@emethalethia I definitely want to talk to them in a way that shows I get it! And they obviously don’t know I have a newborn. I appreciate when people are gracious about my woofer and want to show them the same.

 

[runner12]

@mellowmary Oh hell no I’m sorry, that sucks. I’ve been looking into translucent window covers to block my dog’s sight line to triggers outside without reducing light, maybe an option for you too?

 

[smiles917]

@runner12 Love these! Hydrostatic and just apply with water, so easy but make day to day life so much better

 

[pattyk]

@runner12 These have been a game changer for me. People exercise their dogs in a field in front of my house all the time. We have these huge windows that let in so much light. Put the covering on the bottom half & works like a charm! Plus they're so pretty when the sun hits them. My dogs still know when the packages are getting delivered but I'll take 30 seconds of barking over all day

 

[mellowmary]

@runner12 I’ve seen these! Definitely a good idea.

 

[robinrocks]

@runner12 I use them and it helps. But the dogs we’ve gotten since are taller and stand up in furniture to see over the film so I’m going to have to do it again.

 

[jesusreigns777]

@robinrocks You can also do it with water spray and cooking foil temporarily.

 

[aileen789]

@runner12 I use these and they really do help - he doesn’t sit at the windows watching for triggers - but he’s still pretty reactive to noises outside.

 

[preacher_84]

@runner12 agree! we put this on our front door that has a glass panel at dog eye level and it has been a game changer. i think overall they are more calm because they are not alerting at the front door multiple times a day (we’re near a trail so lots of dog walkers pass right in our front yard).

 

[kaylee994]

@mellowmary Our old Border Collie was reactive and would bark like crazy at the front window when another dog walked by. There was an old lady with a dachshund who would walk past our house every day and stand there for several minutes while her aggressive little rat barked and lunged at our house on a 20-foot flexi-leash. I finally walked outside to talk to her and asked her to please just keep moving past our house, her dog was upsetting my dog and it was bedlam in the house. Her answer: But my dog likes it and they're having fun.

No, lady. They're not having fun. Your dog is behaving aggressively toward my dog ON MY DOG'S TERRITORY. You need to keep moving, or I will open the front door and release the Kraken.

 

[chris35]

@mellowmary This is a tough situation. Is there a social media platform dedicated to your neighborhood? I know fb has groups, and I think there's an app called "nextdoor," and it only allows you to join your area.

Maybe put a sign up in the window and / or yard?

It really sucks you have to go through this, and I hope this helps at least a little. I know you shouldn't have to jump through all these hoops, I just don't know how else to help.

Good luck!

 

[mellowmary]

@chris35 Thank you so much for your suggestions! I say to my husband all the time that I hate we don’t have a local FB or Nextdoor community here the way we have had everywhere else we’ve lived! A sign is a great idea but I don’t think our bylaws allow it. I think I might just need to run faster to catch up to them and have a conversation.

 

[courtneyatzn]

@mellowmary maybe put a huge cardboard or posterboard sign on the inside of the window with "the baby is sleeping" in as big of letters as you can? It can also double as a way to block the view temporarily...

 

[veritasinhabitum]

@mellowmary Non acrylic paint on the window as your sign?

 

[confusionofchristianity]

@mellowmary Ok so I’m not the only one who has the training opportunity dog to walk by.

 

[monk58]

@mellowmary I wonder if you own the front bit?

I am thinking a little motion sensor sprinkler... set just a little off so it triggers off the pavement.. lol

Just for a few days :-

No best to window film and put a white noise machine on

Make your dog disappear and they will stop training

 

[mellowmary]

@monk58 Hahaha! The sprinkler idea made me laugh.