WHAT THE H E C K IS UP WITH MY DOG???

[youngdisciple1]

My girl is a 4 yr old Carolina mutt that we rescued as a puppy(just a few months old). We admittedly didn’t do all the training we should have…sit, high five, lay down…fun things like that.

To the reactive part: she has a lead in our open back yard and is very reactive to just other dogs on walks. I can o my take her on walks when I know the other dogs aren’t out because it becomes the classic “I don’t care about anything but getting that dog”. The KICKER is that she goes to doggy daycare!!!!When I pick her up she runs through the crowd of other dogs and couldn’t care less…what is happening???

 

[becky411]

@youngdisciple1 My pup is fine when he can greet other pups on HIS terms. When on a leash, he gets frustrated he cannot just run up and start sniffing and that turns into lunging and funny noises. It's hellish on walks.

What we've been working on is "look at me" commands where he gets a treat if he breaks his focus and looks in my direction. Which gives a better chance of your following cue being acknowledged. (Start this at home casual and work up to actual exciting places and interactions)

We also have a "stop" command that requires him to stop his walking and sit on the spot. This is still hit or miss when actual dogs are around but it's getting better with time. This is also helpful for crosswalks and waiting for cars to pass by.

Once it warms up we've been recommended to go on walks starting a couple blocks from the dog park and reward calm collected behavior and slowly work our way closer and closer to where the pups are playing until we can successfully walk AROUND the park without a freakout moment. (this was recommended by a couple trainers since I don't have a safe dog to practice "encountering" on walks)

Always work on your heel command. I find walks after we've been focusing on "walk" which is his signal to walk at my side in a heel, he does better sticking close to my side when we walk by exciting things like dogs in yards or people he wants to greet on campus.

I also use a head harness (like a gentle lead but mine has an extra strap to keep the nose loop from being pulled off cause his snout is short as he is a boxer mix) This allows for more awareness of you as you can use the gentlest motion on the leash (NOT YANKING OR PULLING I'm talking like swaying the leash side to side with no pressure on his actual head) to remind him that you are still there in moments where he gets distracted by a strong sniff. It also reduces the lunging as it is a front clip he can't pull against as easily OR slip out of.

 

[pchris]

@youngdisciple1 Good news is it's not everything! And it's not you like someone else commented. My husband and I have become big fans of Kikopup on YouTube as a free resource. Positive force free training and goes in depth enough. She also covers such a wide variety of topics so if you do happen to need help with any other training in the future that's always there at your disposal.

 

[justmyself]

@youngdisciple1 It’s you, and your relationship with her. Get a trainer to work on it

 

[youngdisciple1]

@justmyself Responses like this are why I never participate in Reddit lol

 

[justmyself]

@youngdisciple1 Your dog only exhibits a behavior with you and not when other humans are around, so it has to do with you and your relationship…
I’m simply not sugar coating it or trying to make you feel like your dog has some strange issue, because it doesn’t help you or your dog.
A trainer will help you understand where you and your dog need help communicating with each other.

 

[youngdisciple1]

@justmyself She also has a reactive issue when other family members walk her. As well as when she is on the lead alone….

I’m actually the only one she DOES listen to. I’ve been trying to work with her closely with high reward treats and very patient slow loose leash training that is making some progress. I was trying to see why the difference between home and doggy daycare and there have already been some great answers while being kind.

You don’t need to sugar coat things but you also don’t need to be a jerk.

 

[jamesdb]

@youngdisciple1 Don't worry about this person, OP. I rarely pay attention to usernames, but I recognize this one as someone who is hilariously wrong all over dog Reddit. This is not a you problem - as others have explained, there is a big difference for dogs being turned loose in a daycare setting and seeing dogs while on leash.

 

[justmyself]

@youngdisciple1 I really wasn’t trying to be a jerk. I’m sorry that you took it personal, it wasn’t intended to be rude, just straight forward. Dogs exhibit behaviors based on what they feel they need to do in a certain scenario.
Leash reactivity can be
: frustration (dog doesn’t get enough off leash time or time with other dogs and is frustrated that they cannot interact with dogs they see - which is something that can be resolved from working with a trainer and giving more freedom)
: fear based (dog thinks they have to protect the person they are with, or they misunderstand the anxiety the handler is having over the behavior and thinking that another dog is scary to their human and they must make sure the dog doesn’t come near) which also is human dog relationship based and can be helped with a trainer helping communication
: fear (lack of exposure with other dogs or lack of confidence building ) which is human - dog based and can be helped with a trainer

All of these are based on the human- dog interactions

 

[christjudgeofall]

@justmyself Dogs do exhibit behaviors based on what they feel they need to do in a certain scenario, but reactive dogs are just that, reactive.
They aren't thinking about the scenario, they are just reacting. They can be completely fine one moment, then two seconds later exhibiting uncomfortable body language. You have exactly one more second to respond before they turn and bite.

 

[justmyself]

@christjudgeofall No there is much more going on than that, it’s just not understood by the average dog owner

 

[christjudgeofall]

@justmyself I mean there is more going on but not that they outwardly show.
Again the body language change happens in a matter of seconds. Unless you owned a truly damaged dog who didn't get better through training then it's not something you can understand.