Hi, I just came home from a walk with Euan and Finn. As we entered our house we encountered two small terriers. I knew Finn would react, so I told both to sit and let the two terriers pass. When they passed Finn made a move at them, growling and barking. And Euan also helped him! What did I do wrong? I know the therapist will say that it is sometimes the attitude of the other dog (terrier) that will make him react like this, but I am not sure.... Annemarie
Sorry you feel upset by this. What is it that is upsetting you so much? That Finn reacted or that Euan copied him? Finn's reaction doesn't sound too bad, and I know it's something you are working on, you just have to keep at it. I am pretty wary when anyone says 'it was the other dog's fault' when a dog reacts. Sure, another dog might be staring, or whatever, or be a breed that looks funny, or have a tick, or...or....but it can't ALWAYS be the other dog's fault. I think it's healthier to view it as we have to try to get our dogs to cope with whatever the world throws at them, including other dogs that 'look at them funny'. A woman on the Common the other day gave me a right telling off because her dog jumped up at me, and she said it was because I had treats, and how could I think it was reasonable to walk about with food....
Anne123, it sounds like this is an area you are working on with your dog or dogs so don't be ashamed. It doesn't matter who's fault it was, blame isn't what you're looking for. What it teaches you is that you still have some work to do. We all need the circumstances we are working on to materialise from time to time to see what we still need to work on. It's probably harder to deal with two dogs at the same time (I only have one so can only assume). Just dust yourself off, have a cuppa or something and move on. Ok, it may not have gone exactly to plan but you have a better idea of where you are at. Break it down and continue building up in baby steps even if it means going back a step or two. Treat it as a lesson that you are working on and knowing that the distraction this time was just too great. Perhaps next time, get stream treating until the distraction is well out of the way and less distracting. Keep going and know you do the best that you know at each given time, even if that doesn't work at least you know to ask for advice ready for another time and can try a different tactic until you nail it. Hard work and consistency, easy to say lol. JulieT, why would anyone not want to carry treats of some sort when with their dog? That woman is just silly
Hi Anne,I have a lead reactive dog ......I can understand you feeling embarrassed ... Dexter doesn't growl,but he freezes,stalks,lunges and he used to bark....I used to feel really self conscious.I've done a lot of work on this and we are so much better now ,if I do have any problems it's usually because I've misjudged the distance that I've given Dexter..he can walk straight past some dogs but others he still needs plenty of space....that could have been a factor here,maybe Finn just needed a bit more space and Euan probably picked up on his discomfort..... Julie you could have a sideline business coaching on 'How to keep your patience around Fools' you seem to encounter an above average amount of them and keep your cool every time! X
It is way harder with two than with one. When I have my two out on individual walks, they will still sometimes bark at something/someone, but can be far more easily managed than when I have both of them. I try to do a lot of work with them individually. It's nothing to be ashamed about, it's just a work in progress
It's where I walk - it's so very busy, I meet so many people! I didn't quite keep my cool on this occasion - the dog always jumps up at me, and the owner always suggests that it's somehow my fault. This time she said "Have you treats? Have you? Is that it? Is it the treats?". I didn't say anything, but gave her a Paddington Bear hard stare and made to walk away. Then saw Charlie had picked up her dog's ball. I told Charlie to give, and turned to return the ball. She said "oh just throw it to me". I thew it slightly harder than was strictly necessary.
Hi Annemarie, you shouldn't feel ashamed at all, we have all experienced lead reactivity at one time or another. Charlie is pretty much the same as Dexter and we too have done a heck of a lot of work on this using BAT which helped Charlie so much, there is a thread on here explaining the technique if you want to take a look. I do believe some dogs give off negative vibes or body language, trainers and a Dog Warden confirmed this, but we do have to train our dogs to deal with it as well as they can, it won't always be perfect, nothing is. Charlie can now pass 97% of dogs except for a couple of large males but we keep a good distance or turn and walk away from these dogs, we keep chipping away and one day he will walk past them without a lunge or bark Do you know the owner of the terrier? Perhaps you could ask her to assist you with some distance training to desensitise Finn and Euan so that they have some positive reinforcement with this dog. We have a lovely neighbour that has a Fox Red Lab called Woody now Charlie and Woody would bark/lunge every single time they saw each other but with lots of distance work eventually reducing the distance and BAT work they can sit a little way from each other in a relaxed state while David and Mark chat Keep going things will improve with constant training. xx
Don't beat yourself up over it Annemarie , Helens advice above is great , try walking them with the " enemy ", it often helps a lot . Millie used to be reactive when on lead but is ( mostly ) great since I worked on socialising her .
Thank you all for all the positive advise! I don't know the people who owns the terriers. We live near a vacation center which allows two dogs in the houses. A lot of people visits those rental houses for weekends or midweeks. Perhaps private training with Finn and group training with Finn. It's a pity the group training starts in January. It is easier to let them out separately, but two times a long walk is not what I am able to do, physically. It's that is was on a Saturday and we do walk them ourselves in the weekend and on Wednesday and Friday's. The rest is up to the dog walker. I think that Finn is also taking care of his older brother. When I want to go for a walk Finn is going to get Euan by taking him by the ear, as to say, come on, we need to go. Euans eye side is bad, he has cataract. His smell is good though. But nevertheless he was disobedience and I had treats in my pocket ( dried duck, jammy)! Learned my lesson and know that indeed it is one step forward, two steps down.... I myself has a lot to learn too! I thought that with a third lab it would be easy..... Oh I was mistaken. He is quite a handful!
They are all different, aren't they. When I had my first Lab I thought I was an amazing trainer, but actually I just had a really easy dog. My second dog taught me a thing or two about what I didn't know, haha!! I wouldn't feel bad about this....just see it as a prompt to be a bit more proactive in rewarding quiet behaviour when other dogs appear. Give your dogs whatever distance they need to stay calm and accept the treats (if they're too close and excited they won't eat, so move them further away....distance is your friend!). Get in early with the treats before they start to show signs of reacting - it's much easier then than it is if they've already started to fixate their attention on the other dog.
Why on earth should you be ashamed that your dog acted like, well a dog! You are doing your best to train them and it doesn't happen overnight (or in a 30 minute TV programme) The only reason to feel shame is if you are NOT trying to improve your dogs behaviour. Sadly there are plenty of people who make no attempt to train their dogs completely ignoring how it affects the wider public and tainting all dogs and their owners with a bad reputation.
No reason at all to be ashamed; we all have gone through situations like this! As already said, only those who aren't making the effort to train their dog should be ashamed, not you.
Oh, I do love this forum! I have learned so much and become so much more confident when walking my dog from learning from all of you. At first I felt bad when dogs tried to attack Snowie cos me, stupid owner, have not neutered him. In particular, a woman we pass whose dog always tries to have a go at Snowie, always comments, "It's his (Snowie's) balls." Yes, my dog's fault that another dog wanted to have a go at him. Meanwhile, Snowie is friendly and cheerful and never once been aggressive to another dog. In direct opposite, another woman whose walking time coincides with ours, has a Charpei that stalks Snowie and has made to attack him (thankfully doesn't get his teeth on Snowie, but I'm there in a flash to make sure!). When off leash, Snowie always avoids him, but I have to admit that if Rocky (the Charpei) is on leash, Snowie will tease him, so naughty! He playbows in front of him and dances all around him, never getting quite close enough. Very embarrassing cos Rocky's owner is leashing up Rocky so that he can't get to Snowie. I suggested to her that we aim to make our dogs ignore each other. We can't expect them to become friends, but ignore is a satisfactory option. From everything I've learned here, I suggested she give Rocky treats every time he sees Snowie so that he associates good times when Snowie is around. And do you know what: we have succeeded!! It has taken several months, but now, when off leash, our boys ignore each other -- Snowie gives him a wide berth, he's taking no chances! Just last week the woman shouted out to me, as Rocky was sitting in front her while we walked past, that the treats are working!
That is brilliant MF, so glad to hear that Snowie and Rocky are learning to 'live and let live', thanks to your training!
