Edsel has quite luckily been able to spend a great deal of his life running off lead. But I think in some ways it's been a detriment. When we were living part of the year in a suburb in Oklahoma we engaged in daily on lead walks in the neighborhood and park. Back here in Indiana it's much more difficult to find on lead opportunities that offer the opportunity to meet other dogs. I've noticed he seems to become rather anxious or on guard when approaching other dogs on lead. It doesn't seem to matter if the other dog is on or off. And unfortunately it seems most people here just let their dog come charging right up to him while I'm trying to step in front and settle him. He has to pass his CGC test which requires he pass calmly by people and dogs while walking on a loose lead. As well as I just don't want there to be these tense encounters. Off lead he's a different dog. Meets and greets pleasantly, does well with day care and boarding on occasions he attends. I'm not sure whether I need to just be getting him to focus on me or if there is something to do to reduce his stress and reactivity in these situations.
Dozer was the same way. I asked the vet about this one time and they said they pick up or sense your emotions so if your heart rate changes or you yourself are feeling different when other dogs are near, he's react accordingly. I was told to try and keep the attention away from the other animal and try to keep the attention on you. Maybe bring a toy that fits in your pocket or a treat so he'll over come his issues while on lead. What I did with Dozer was made him sit when other dogs were near and I got down to his level and spoke to him, petted him and just kept his attention away from other dogs. It worked for me, it might just work for you.
Loads of people get the attention of the dog onto them, and it works fine for them. I have a few issues with it, though: 1. It requires you to notice the trigger before your dog does 2. It means giving a cue ("Look at me") every time there is a trigger 3. It can cause anxiety in dogs because, whilst looking at you, they can't see what their trigger is doing - imagine being nervous of something coming towards you, but you're not allowed to look at it - would that make you calmer or more anxious? I prefer to use a different method, called "Look At That!" instead. This is somewhere I think the clicker is second to none. I've tried it with a verbal event marker and it doesn't work anywhere near as well. So, with LAT, you don't have to say anything. As soon as the dog sees its trigger, you click and treat. You need to start this at a far enough distance that your dog isn't over threshold and is able to respond to the click. If he can't, you need to turn and walk away. Teach your dog that you will get him out of situations where he is uncomfortable. The three possible outcomes for a dog responding to a trigger are Fight, Flight or Freeze. Freeze often turns into fight. One of the reasons the leash is a factor is that it removes the possibility for flight from the dog, which means his options become freeze or fight. Teach him that you can choose flight for him. Back to LAT, when you are at a distance that he is comfortable, just click and treat the instant he looks at the trigger (I'm not saying "other dog", because this can be used for absolutely anything a dog is nervous of - even a plastic bag blowing in the wind). Eventually, he'll come to associate the trigger with something tasty. You can slowly (you don't want to rush this), start lengthening the amount of time between him seeing the trigger and you clicking. You'll probably find that he'll start looking pointedly at the trigger and then to you as if to say, "Oi, I did my bit, now where's my treat?". This is awesome, because it shows that the dog has suddenly started seeing the trigger as his cue for a treat. This is classical conditioning and counter-conditioning at work. Now, the idea isn't that the dog looks at his trigger and then looks at you in a "look at me" way - the idea is that you're making your dog relaxed enough to be able to look at his trigger without any reactivity. So keep on treating him for looking at the trigger, and gradually build up the criteria, by getting closer, or introducing movement etc. Remember, every time you make one thing more difficult, you make everything else easier, so you'd start C&Ting for the slightest glance towards the trigger again. The more you play this game in different scenarios, the more your dog will come to associate triggers of any type with treats, and so will be less likely to react to them. I've used this extensively with my two and I love, love, love the technique. It means that you can relax more - you don't need to be constantly on the lookout for your dog's triggers, because the dog learns that the trigger no longer means bad emotions, it means relaxing and treats. The trigger loses its impact. You don't need to micro-manage your dog by giving a cue every time he sees a trigger. You're teaching your dog life skills on how to deal with these, and future, triggers. The more you play it, the more it generalises into all types of scenarios; someone coming out of a doorway unexpectedly, a cat running across the road (the trigger doesn't need to be something scary, it can be something exciting - remember what we're ultimately rewarding is a calm and relaxed behaviour), a group of shrieking children... For more information, I can heartily recommend Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt. It's aimed at agility dogs, but the concepts are the same; taking reactive dogs and making them able to cope in the real world.
I also used Leslie McDevitt's "Look at That" from her book, "Control Unleashed." However it's tricky if your dog is leashed and the other is off and rushes up. Your dog may feel trapped by the leash and be anxious or react with defensive aggression. Complete and utter faith in your ability to deal with an off leash dog is hard to get because, really, you have no control over that other dog and your own dog will soon realize that. I have had success telling the other dog to GO HOME. It's not so much the words as the firm, loud tone. Or telling the other dog to SIT. Ther have been times the other dog paid me not attention. Then I try to judge, is it approaching for wild play or with ill intent? If it looks friendly I deliberately allow my dog as much freedom as I can so my dog can react as normally as he could if unleashed as possible. This is also what one of our trainers recommended, saying don't poison your control words when it's obvious you can't back them up with control of the other dog too.
Ah yes, I forgot that aspect of it. I just don't allow another dog to come up to mine when they're on lead. If the other dog is loose, I get my dog(s) behind me, and stand really tall and "solid", making it clear with my body language that they're not getting close. A "policeman's hand" in a stop signal can be effective, as can a purposeful step towards them. If they keep coming, I'll lower the pitch of my voice and "growl" at them to keep away. I've done this successfully with two rather bullying (and very large) local dogs a couple of times. I've never had to do it in a situation where there's an owner around, but I'd still do the same and make no apology for my actions, even though I'm sure there would be the "he's just being friendly" comments. I don't allow my on-lead dog to interact with any other dog (whether they are on or off lead), ever. Even Willow, who is great with other dogs, doesn't like meeting them, (except those she's very familiar with) when she's on lead, however loose it is.
This is a great idea - am going to try this as Judy has started to get nervous around other dogs in the last couple of days. I can usually spot them in the distance before they get close and would much rather she relax than hide behind my legs.
I tend to do as you do @snowbunny and try to intercede. I get so frustrated with owners who stand there watching me struggle with getting Edsel calmed down and dancing about between him and their dog and they have commented about him not being friendly. I tell them it's really not a good idea to allow their dog to just rush up into his face and that under other circumstances, he's quite social. I did order Control Unleashed today and hoping there may things in there to help with this as well as learning to just relax when out and about and not always be focused on retrieving, playing and "on alert" to everything and everyone.. I want him to learn to just relax sometimes like he does at home when just with us.
In Control Unleashed, there's a game called "There's a dog in your face!" which could help, if you have the facilities to set up scenarios for it. We don't have that possibility, sadly.
I'm curious to know if the LAT would work with another scenario. Snowie is extremely friendly and a very easy going dog. I never have to worry that he will be aggressive to another dog, and he doesn't have any fear for anything it seems. He's also become really good at leaving other dogs alone who appear not to want his attention and not going near fearful dogs or dogs on lead (this was nigh impossible when he was a puppy off leash, and I am sure there were many owners out there who hated hearing me say "he's friendly!" when he'd charge towards them). But we have one problem: We do the same off-leash walk most evenings along a mountain path. It's a very popular walk with runners and dog walkers and we often see the same familiar faces, which is really nice, all the dogs are friendly and enjoy meeting and greeting. Except one dog. That dog is a chocolate Lab about two years old and I think intact (Snowie is intact 4.5 years old). When they first met some months ago, the choc Lab immediately went to mount Snowie, and Snowie did not like this, wriggled away and gave a low growl (no bared teeth, lips were relaxed, but body was stiff and hackles up), and then they jumped around each trying to mount the other. The next time we saw them, Snowie immediately mounted the dog and would not let go with his front legs and I had to haul him off and lead him away on leash. Next time it only got worse, mounted and made a growling noise, a noise I've never heard him make, it sounded aggressive. This happens each time, although we've become good at spotting each other and leashing up our dogs before they can interact. The owner of the choc Lab, a young girl, is terrified that Snowie is attacking her dog, although I can see his mouth is closed, lips relaxed, he's not trying to bite the dog, but his mounting and growling are not nice and I'm pretty sure he is showing his dominance to the other dog (he's not mounting for fun, that is for sure -- which he sometimes does to his best friend, also a choc Lab!). I have started taking treats with me and thought I'd make Snowie sit and look at me when we see this dog. Since taking the treats, we've not bumped into them! But now that I've read LAT, am wondering if this is a better method? Or anything else? Any suggestions, please?!
This sort of behaviour really makes me cross, and I'm not easily rattled or riled. Just recently, Saba was on the receiving end of an assault from a semi-tethered terrier, and somehow, Saba was the 'savage bully'! I think not, and told the owner so in no uncertain terms! I'm not perfect at anticipating problems; sometimes my mind wanders while we're walking, but I do my level best to prevent anything escalating, and of course to keep things safe. We have a fabulous trainer, and thanks to her, I'm beginning to really understand how to manage Saba to keep him happy and safe, and I'm also recognising less effective behaviour in other owners.
Ok, this is some good advice. (And this is the exact opposite situation from my other post about Ajax's behavior when he has raced to other dogs while off leash in the field. The difference is his encounters while overly exuberant they haven't ended up in a fight and I didn't purposely off leash my dog to engage another unknown dog.) So twice in the past month owners have purposely off leashed their dogs when they saw Ajax, who was on leash next to me, I guess believing this was a good thing to do. These were both unknown dogs and owners to us. Ajax did not respond well to either charging dog and a serious scuffle ensued with Ajax getting the better of it. I was so stunned that in each case when I saw the charging dog I just dropped the leash for fear I would get tangled up and would inadvertently injure Ajax. I viewed each dog as aggressive and wanted Ajax to be able to defend himself. As I've previously said he is a high drive lab and he did not back down and no way I can hold back a 75 pound hunk of muscle when he wants to move. But the stop signal idea is something I can use as an intervening method to possible calm the situation before it escalates. I just need to react rather than stand there in shock.
Absolutely, LAT can be used for pretty much any situation where you want a previous trigger (into any kind of reaction, be it excitement, fear or whatever) to become the cue for calm indifference. In the book Control Unleashed, there is another game you may find useful, called "There's a dog in your face!" which teaches your dog to be indifferent to dogs rushing up to them. It does require a lot of set-ups and careful scenarios, but if you have the ability to do those, then it might help with when dogs run up to Ajax.
