quiverfullmother82
New member
@timothygrae Yay!! Congrats on all you guys' progress!! Love reading these happy stories! 
We survived a package delivery where the guy WENT ON OUR PORCH AND SAID STUFF
- Thread starter timothygrae
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- reactive dogs
timothygrae
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@quiverfullmother82 Thank you! Me too. It used to feel impossible and I just soaked up the good stories, hoping it could happen to us, so I feel obligated to share.
geoffreyatkinson
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@timothygrae That's amazing! How did you manage all this? Sounds like an impossible dream to me
timothygrae
New member
@geoffreyatkinson In order of how helpful they were:
1. CARE - counter conditioned to all triggers using this process
2. veterinary behaviorist to fine tune the above
3. muzzle training (we only use it for in-house greetings)
4. relaxation protocol - once I did this it really helped my dog with mat-work which was a good basis for controlled CARE setups. He loves his towel, works great for the vet etc.
1. CARE - counter conditioned to all triggers using this process
2. veterinary behaviorist to fine tune the above
3. muzzle training (we only use it for in-house greetings)
4. relaxation protocol - once I did this it really helped my dog with mat-work which was a good basis for controlled CARE setups. He loves his towel, works great for the vet etc.
geoffreyatkinson
New member
@timothygrae Wow thank you so much! I'm really excited to try all this. That first website explains it so well.
timothygrae
New member
@geoffreyatkinson do not underestimate the power of the break from triggers before starting. I highly recommend a very thorough two weeks. It seemed like forever but my dog got so much calmer even just in the house, and training went more predictably.
imagebeastmarkbeast
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@timothygrae This is great to read! What a good, good boy!
timothygrae
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@imagebeastmarkbeast ty! He is just the best (these days!)
imagebeastmarkbeast
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@timothygrae He's also a very handsome boy! I've got two GSDs too. One extremely reactive, and one who is reserved and cautious, but would meet a stranger on neutral ground politely.
imagebeastmarkbeast
New member
@timothygrae He is the most beautiful boy! Congrats to all of you! And this gives me hope for our 9 month old German Shepherd pup. Although, I think hers is less a fear of people and more a need to resource guard us, but I’m not certain. We are currently working on DS/CC with our trainer.
timothygrae
New member
@imagebeastmarkbeast Best of luck! My dog's worst moments were 8 months - 2 years - just adolescence and hormones which made threshold ever changing. He did not resource guard but showed zero reactivity when handled by other people as he would just shut down and be "easy". Good for you for getting a trainer and intervening early, best of luck! I think I will have shepherds for life. They are like people.
imagebeastmarkbeast
New member
@timothygrae Thank you! And I agree. My last shepherd was just amazing, my heart dog. She loved people but was dog reactive after being attacked when she was 3. We were able to manage and work through it really well. She loved her walks and ignored all the dogs. This human reactivity is new to me, and much scarier, but we will persevere!
timothygrae
New member
@imagebeastmarkbeast If it's any consolation, once we figured out how to introduce out guy to strangers coming to visit, (it's beyond perfect, but we have to have people visit our house occasionally and having him locked up in another room is the most stressful option) he is amazing. We use baby gates and a muzzle or an outside greeting, and once he gets a solid sniff he is over them, muzzle is off, and guests get brought the old gross toy. People are more annoyed by the muzzle than my dog at this point but I feel better knowing a bite is out of the question.
If an overnight guest is visiting, he will greet them with the enthusiasm he shows me when I come home from work if they are entering the house a second time. He used to just bark and bark and never truly settle, and would bark when visitors re-enter a house. He now fusses when a weekend visitor leaves. Walks we can get 3-4 feet from a person with no issue or stress. Took work but it's doable. I can now stop and talk to my neighbors! And my dog - like yours I'm sure - had no bad experiences with people, he is just like this.
If an overnight guest is visiting, he will greet them with the enthusiasm he shows me when I come home from work if they are entering the house a second time. He used to just bark and bark and never truly settle, and would bark when visitors re-enter a house. He now fusses when a weekend visitor leaves. Walks we can get 3-4 feet from a person with no issue or stress. Took work but it's doable. I can now stop and talk to my neighbors! And my dog - like yours I'm sure - had no bad experiences with people, he is just like this.
imagebeastmarkbeast
New member
@timothygrae That is so promising to hear! I’m so glad you are able to have guests in your home. We are working on muzzle training right now (she has nipped a few people) and so far so good. Our trainer is coming to our house tomorrow as our first in-home session. She has gotten used to him in an outdoors setting, so I’m guessing tomorrow will be interesting, at least at first until she recognizes him.
Unfortunately, we don’t know what happened to her before we adopted her at 5 months old. She was brought into a shelter as a stray, and the rescue we got her from can only speculate that she was the product of poor backyard breeding. She absolutely loves dogs, so they figure she was literally in a backyard full of dogs and not much human interaction. The strange thing though, is that she was already potty and crate trained when we got her. She seems to be ok with people once we’re out of sight, but I suppose it’s possible she just shuts down like your guy did, and “seems” fine with people. Our trainer is confident we can overcome this, so we just have to do our best and trust the process. But I’m not going to lie, I’ve never been so anxious in my life!
Unfortunately, we don’t know what happened to her before we adopted her at 5 months old. She was brought into a shelter as a stray, and the rescue we got her from can only speculate that she was the product of poor backyard breeding. She absolutely loves dogs, so they figure she was literally in a backyard full of dogs and not much human interaction. The strange thing though, is that she was already potty and crate trained when we got her. She seems to be ok with people once we’re out of sight, but I suppose it’s possible she just shuts down like your guy did, and “seems” fine with people. Our trainer is confident we can overcome this, so we just have to do our best and trust the process. But I’m not going to lie, I’ve never been so anxious in my life!
timothygrae
New member
@imagebeastmarkbeast It's so hard. I was so isolated and lonely and doubted everything I did. Poor baby!
@timothygrae Congrats on the amazing progress. It is difficult with how much time it all takes. Your Shiloh is beautiful!
ckltrilove
New member
@timothygrae I have a shepherd mix, the dramatic huff is REAL. She's like a moody teenager.