I've just rehomed a five year old yellow lab. He is perfect in every way at home and I'm totally in love with him already. However. .. on taking him out on a lead I soon realised he had no idea at all how to walk on the lead. To save him from choking himself to death I got a harness which he is much happier with. Problem one solved. Now to the HUGE problem. He goes completely crazy at the sight of cats or other dogs. I arranged to meet a friend who also has a yellow lab just to see how he would react in close proximity. They had a quick sniff of each other and my Ralph went berserk, barking, growling, snarling etc. It took all my strength to hold his 26kg, I nearly had my arm pulled out! I can't believe the total transformation of this gentle loving boy, it was very scary to see. I can hardly take him to training class, as had been my intention, he certainly wouldn't cope in a class with other dogs. Any advice would be most welcome. It would be great to be able to let him off the lead so he can have a proper run around but I wouldn't dare, such a shame for him. Thank you
This is exactly how Coco was when we rehomed him home age 16 months. I was pulled over countless times. The approach I took was to clip his lead on, and try to walk, one step at a time. Rewarding for each step taken with a slack lead. I didn't aim to get anywhere. Just to walk. I did it in the garden first. Then in our road, up and down outside the house. Prior to this I was trying the same thing in a very public space - I had lots of disasters here - too many distractions. I was using the clicker at first. 1 step click/treat, 1 step click/treat. I gradually increased the number of steps between click/treat. When we'd managed to get a good few steps under our belt I stopped the clicker and if he reached the end of his lead - ie tension, I either stopped & waited for slack OR turned in a different direction. As for other dogs, you'll need to put a huge distance between you and the other dog & reward just for a calm look. Gradually reduce the distance. Have a search for "LAT" or "Look At That" training. This has taken us a long time, and we're by no means there yet. I take Coco out for off lead runs where there are no other dogs. We chase a ball, we swim, we play games.
You DO need to take him to training class. You may have a hard time finding one but start with your Vet, friends, contact a few training classes. Maybe some one on one training to start with would be advised but if he doesn't know how to walk on lead then likely he wasn't socialized when young and has no idea how to behave. Other dogs in class sound like Exactly what you need in your training. A Behaviourist might be needed too. Many trainers will come out to your house for an evaluation. This won't be cheap, I imagine, but if you want to fully enjoy him and let him have a great life I highly suggest it. It's good of you to take a five year old on. Can you share the circumstances? Is he a rescue? I would expect a rescue to offer advice and help. A trainer consults for the rescue I'm with.
Thank you for your advice. I think we're getting there with the walking, if he pulls I usually just stop then we start again slowly, with me saying "Nicely Ralph" in a gentle voice. The other dogs problem is my major concern and I'm going to look further into your suggestion about the LAT training, I'd not heard of that before this evening and reading the posts on here. You are lucky you can find away from it all places to go,it's very residential where I live but I will try to find somewhere for him to run.
Thank you for your advice. I'm new to all this and expected him to behave as beautifully when he's out as he does at home, poor love must have had some bad experience in the past I guess. I got him from a colleague of my daughters, who owing to a change of family circumstances could no longer keep him. He got him from a rescue at a year old and had him for four years. He obviously spent lots of time and love in teaching him how to behave around the house. He is very affectionate and we'll mannered. I will certainly ask the local vet for recommendations regarding training, I'm just worried it will stress him too much being at a class with lots of other dogs. Maybe the home visit is the way to go to begin with. The friend I met would be happy to try meeting again if Ralph has a muzzle. It's early days and I know I have lots of work to do which will be a labour of love!
We first went to training with only one or two other dogs in a reasonably sized room with a sympathetic trainer (at the rescue place he came from) - not too bad, but he did still lunge & pull often. Since then we've started at a bigger class, with the same trainer, in a big barn, Coco has come on leaps and bounds with his excitement levels around dogs (and that's just what it was for Coco, pure excitement). He still takes careful management when out and about, but it's getting easier. Note: We have had Coco nearly 2 years now, This is not an instant fix!
I have a rescue boy, who I adopted at 7 months, who was also very reactive on lead when he saw other dogs. He is usually reactive out of excitement, but there are a few breeds of dogs that he's scared of and used to react aggressively. We tried going to a training classes with other dogs, but he just barked and lunged for the entire hour, 6 weeks in a row, despite having some distance from the other dogs and about half a kilo of roast chicken. I then found another trainer who did individual training, and after working with her for a few months, we were able to go back to a group class. I would recommend finding a good trainer who offers both individual and group training. When you met your friend were both dogs on lead? And was the other dog wearing a collar or a harness? Some dogs are only reactive when on lead, either because they feel trapped because can't escape, or because they and the other dog can't move freely and express proper body language. Collars especially hold the dogs heads up, so a dog pulling forward on a collar with it's head up, can look aggressive to a nervous dog. These dogs are sometimes ok off lead with other dogs. When you meet with the trainer, you need to work out if he is only reactive on lead. This sort of training requires a lot of management, and patience, and it's often one step forward two steps back, but it's really worth it! My boy, who I've had for two and a half years, has made so much progress and I'm so proud of the situations he is able to cope with now, that he couldn't handle even six months ago. It's also important to understand that reactive dogs will have good days and bad days, and a bad day doesn't mean you aren't making progress!
Hi @LaneyG , I don't have any experience with rehoming a dog but just to say good luck and I look forward to following your progress. Well done for giving him a home.
We also adopted a lab at 5 years old called Casper. At that age, they have well developed personalities, and also usually well developed learned behaviours! But all is not lost. It does though, take a lot of time, months and months to help modify a dog's behaviour, maybe never perfect, but well that would make life really boring! Casper sounds a lot like Ralph. Indeed, he is the model citizen at home, would never chew, or counter surf, or steal food, shoes, kitchen utensils...the list goes on. He is just perfect and totally happy to lie at your feet all evening enjoying relaxing ear rubs. So when this stressed, barking scary black dog materialised on walks it was shocking! He would lunge, really lunge and bark...I had been told he was aggressive, and even threatened to have him reported to the dog warden. What is difficult is he is harmless, but hey, he is a big black labrador... We have made great progress, and tbh if I knew then what I know now I would have done things a bit differently. 1. Slow is best....distance is you best friend (apart from Ralph of course!) - Don't rush into meeting other dogs. He hasn't been socialised, so there is no window of opportunity you are gonna miss. So just don't and make life easy for you both. Ralph needs to trust you absolutely and both of you need to be completely relaxed on your walks to build a comfortable pattern in his mind...walks = Fun! Otherwise you will both end up like stress buckets when you pick up his lead. Research quiet places to go, take the car..a friends car or quiet times if on residential streets. 2. Don't bother with classes right now..but DO get hold of a clinical behaviorists, check credentials, positive reinforcement only. 3. Have a look at LAT training....and have a go in the house, garden so you get into a rhythm. 4. Check out reward based training This can be a good technique, absolutely, however with Casper this was not really a good system. This was because he would easily default to "stressbucket" if anything that would remotely cause frustration was applied...so hey mom you stopped.??? OMGOMGOMG!!!! well no that didn't really help. What did help was ...treat on the nose....yeah!! treat on the nose...yeah!!! And we are able to walk past that odd looking man in a a hat...etc... Hope that helps...just a few tips from me and Casper..
Welcome @LaneyG and Ralph from Hattie 9 years and our rescue boy Charlie 6 years who we rescued at 9 months. Well done for giving Ralph another chance at a normal life I couldn't agree more with @Beanwood Kate, please don't rush to dog classes, I did with Charlie and it was a total waste of time for him, it did nothing but stress him out, put him over threshold and I was a mess so no good for either of us. There is too much pressure on owners to go to dog classes when they don't suit all dogs at a particular time in their lives. I also use LAT as Charlie would lunge, bark at some larger dogs, we have seen a really big improvement since training this method. Be prepared for the long haul, some steps forward and sometimes a lot backwards. Charlie is 6 years old now and we are still training him but thankfully he is a changed dog, not perfect by any means but it's all worth it We are all with you and Ralph xx
Sorry I haven't responded before now, I haven't received any notifications . Thank you again for your advice. We are trying to keep away from other dogs as much as possible but we had a bit of a disaster last night when he saw a dog, a hedgehog and four cats! I have emailed a trainer, just waiting to hear back. I'd just like someone who "knows " to see him. I do try to give him treats when he's good and doesn't over-react but unfortunately his over-reaction threshold is ZERO! He doesn't see animal - he's fine, he sees animal - he's in a frenzy! I might as well not be there at all! We'll keep trying, thanks for the support and advice x
Thank you - sounds like Casper and Ralph are exactly alike! I know what you mean about stress bucket, there's no middle ground, it's calm and cool to hyper and crazy in a split second! I've got a behaviourist coming on Tuesday but to be honest, over the last couple of weeks he's come on so much she'll probably wonder what I've got her out for!
