that1starfish
New member
Just here to say, if I hear this 1 more time from people who think they know more than me about my dog when they themselves don't even have a dog, I'm going to scream.
That is all.
That is all.
" Your dog is reactive because you dont let him say hi or play with other dogs"
- Thread starter that1starfish
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@that1starfish Or the ones that say we need to train our dogs.... pfff.... I bet we (the ones who care) train our dogs more in a week than they do in a year!
@l123 There's a lot of truth to this. My current reactive we've had for 5 years has received more training (individually) than all the other dogs me and my partner have had over the years combined. He's a former street dog we adopted as a young adult dog; you cannot remove their past but simply reinforce new learnings.
He's 99% fine these days, but knowing the worst he's capable of means every interaction is still a 'keep it positive training opportunity'.
He's 99% fine these days, but knowing the worst he's capable of means every interaction is still a 'keep it positive training opportunity'.
grateful266
New member
@uriel_1 Yes! I have three dogs right now, and the one of the lot who's reactive is also the best trained of the lot. Aside from the obvious (reactivity makes so many training items a safety concern where with another dog the motivation would be more about convenience), I think part of this is that reactive dogs are generally very trainable. They're very engaged and responsive to stimuli for the most part, and that makes them tend to learn very fast. The same traits that make it easy for them to learn maladaptive behaviors from the environment also make it easy for them to learn new behaviors from us.
If training cured reactivity nobody's dogs would be reactive.
If training cured reactivity nobody's dogs would be reactive.
@grateful266 Great point regarding reactive dogs being more responsive to stimuli/training. My reactive dog is by far the most well behaved and obedient dog at home than any dog I've ever had.
johnneypeter
New member
@grateful266 Real wisdom here. Three dogs, and new pup Willa is from the shelter. Got her DNA back, 10 breeds and the softest is 2% Golden! (mostly pittie, then Akita, GSD, Rottie, chow, boxer.) She is so attentive and engaged. She is insanely dog reactive but it's coming down. She loves people, wants to jump all over them. She is good with our 2 old dogs, they are super chill and wise. Bam schools her with 'the look' and she listens. Hubby is having great fun teaching her tricks, she learns so fast and is super athletic. Eventually, I hope to extend her safety zones to the local parks and hiking trails.
grateful266
New member
@johnneypeter Yeah my reactive guy, Walter, is *great* at home too. He can be a bit of pushy with his dog housemates sometimes on account of he's just a very active, spicy guy and they're more laid back, but he's in no way at all reactive to them. And he's over-the-top food motivated. That dog will learn an entire complicated new behavior sequence to secure a single piece of his regular kibble, it's wild. He's so tuned in that he hears and processes *everything*. Our household joke, which is actually pretty accurate, is that Walter's secret emergency recall is just quietly telling any *other* dog that he's a good boy who deserves a treat. Wherever he is when you start saying it, he'll be right there by the time you're done! I bet you'll be able to hike with Willa. That "has fun learning tricks" thing is so helpful. Walter's got enough solid "tricks" now that we can use them for reactivity management in most situations, and sometimes he's actually easier to handle than the two totally laid-back ones because of this.
johnneypeter
New member
@grateful266 I can tell when she is approaching threshold when she noses away from a high value treat, she's about 8 then (as a metal guitar playing friend used to say, his amps go to 12). Willa doesn't go to 12 anymore, so that's a good thing. She has a super high prey drive too and we're getting a handle on that. She is only a year old, so some of these traits will calm down just with age. This has been a humbling experience though!
grateful266
New member
@johnneypeter I feel ya. I fostered dogs for a while, and almost all of the fosters had reactivity issues along with all the other "I've been at the shelter" type issues, and EVERY SINGLE TIME I'd feel like a pretty smart, savvy, competent doggo handler as I handed off a successful foster, and then be freshly humbled all over again by the next one. And now I have my own reactive little dude again, and am just as thoroughly and regularly humbled by him as by any of them! It does at least keep me from climbing up on my high horse too often 
johnneypeter
New member
@grateful266 Yes indeed I hear you! Our local shelters in LA are hellholes - sound bounces off the concrete kennels filled with very vocal huskies and GSDs. Reminds me of prison movies, running the tin cups along bars. I get reactive in a few minutes! Yeah, it's such a reminder to be in the moment and observe. Like, there is a difference between romping along the fence line in a joyful celebration of barking dogness and full-on low body dog reactivity at the end of a leash. I'm working on recalling Willa from the fence and hoping to move that to leash behavior. We'll see, it's a recent observation.
that1starfish
New member
imagebeastmarkbeast
New member
@l123 Totally agree! There seems to be this idea that all dogs can be fixed with more training, engagement and exercise or, failing that, a behaviorist. I ran myself ragged for 2 years, spent thousands of dollars and felt like a total failure. All dog problems are the owners fault. Actually, no - some dogs are just reactive because that’s how they are.
@that1starfish Just take them to the dog park and socialize them /s
that1starfish
New member
@that1starfish I remember hearing this so often with mine. Ummm she’s a rescue from a dog fight ring she doesn’t understand how to socialize.
imagebeastmarkbeast
New member
@imagebeastmarkbeast Same I’m like level three red light teeth out triggered LOL
@revrude My reactive girl is partially reactive because she got bitten on the face by another dog at the dog park. My girl is a talker and the other owner had their dog on a leash at the off-leash park. Bailey barked trying to get the other dog to play, and it chomped on her.
We don't go to the dog park anymore. She's too anxious about leashed dogs now. She's fine at day care because no one is on a leash.
We don't go to the dog park anymore. She's too anxious about leashed dogs now. She's fine at day care because no one is on a leash.
