When Pongo and I are attached by a lead, my normal posture is that of a water skier behind a motorboat. Past embarrassment, through humiliation and out the other side.
Hi there, I think most of us have been there. Lovely friendly teenage labs. I had one similar. The only thing that helped and shaped the calm girl I have now was to go to obedience class. We went week in week out doing the same exercises with bouncy, super friendly distracting dogs around. It was tough, and I wanted to give up some weeks...but now she is a star. Could you find a local class to attend. Training in a group is very beneficial if you can find the right class. Emma and Meg.
I went to a local very collie orientated class it was really noisy and very distracting and it really helped focus Doug and Moo. It was fun and they enjoyed learning to dance even if i found it the most embaressing thing ever. I also did some agility with them and this also improved focus. i just about to start an intensive training course with Rory. I think with him starting slower with just one othe dog in the class with suit his personality better then i will take him to collie class and maybe agility
Hi, thanks for your thoughts. We have been at classes on and off (as and when we can find them) with Pepper since she was four months old, and the one we are at now is great. There is currently three other dogs in the class, one of which is an adorable but nutty spaniel cross who is a real challenge for Pepper to stay calm around. But last night was the first time I didn't feel like I had to keep ramming treats down her throat every 10 seconds to keep her calm and attentive. She was lying down quite a lot and tried to leap out at the other dogs far less than she has been previously... Very, very cautiously optimistic that this might mean progress?! (We'll ignore the bit where she saw an excitable flat-coated retriever that she knows this morning and literally dragged me down the steps at the front of my houseeek:
My lab Duke is 7 months and is exactly like this. I came on this forum today to find some help because I have been feeling very frustrated and discouraged with his behaviour around other dogs. He literally springs around like a psycho when there's another dog! It's so embarrassing and other dog owners are always giving me the side eye while I try to keep my crazy dog from jumping 3 feet up in the air as he attempts to fly over to their dog, lol. He pulls if I don't use the front clip on his harness, but there have been a couple occasions where he going into spastic 3-foot springs mode when he sees another dog on his front clip and he's managed to just totally drop himself on his back or side and I'm scared he's gonna get hurt, but he just goes SO crazy if there's another dog that I feel like I have no choice but to have the front clip on. I've tried the whole treats thing and no greeting other dogs, but a) it's difficult when your dog hungry-hungry-hippos his treats up in a millisecond and b) he likes other dogs/people way more than treats. Reading that other people are having this issue definitely made me feel a little bit better, but yikes. Hoping he relaxes a bit in the next few months and will continue working on it with treats!
It is all about the expectation of the dog. The dog expects other dogs to be exciting, and desperately wants that contact, and greeting, brief play. Once that's what they expect, it's very difficult. You have to keep going until they expect something else: a pile of treats, not to say hello, to continue walking... I have been super strict about my new puppy not meeting people or dogs on lead. When I'm out with my puppy and older dog together, she is better than he is! Because she has never got to say hello to a dog on lead, she doesn't expect it to happen, so doesn't get excited.
Hi there, Well firstly, 7 months really is just a baby (although doesn't feel like it I bet when Duke's dragging you along the street to see another dog!). This post has reminded me that Pepper was just like you describe when she was that age, and although she is still very very VERY interested in other dogs, it is nowhere on the level of insanity that she was at 7 months. I'm not sure if this is helpful or not because Peps definitely still needs a lot of practice to ignore dogs, but her enthusiasm levels are definitely lowering. Now when she's on the lead when another dog is nearby she will usually just have a good old stare at them, maybe take a couple of steps towards them, but come back when called (unless it's a Labrador/Spinoni/Retriever, in which case all bets are off and leaping on the spot returns). If we have no choice but to walk straight past the other dog, she will still pull to say hello but a) we can get much closer to the other dog before she pulls, now only a few meters away, and b) she can say hello more gently, without boshing the other dog with two paws to the head. She also seems to be more accepting generally that once we've passed the other dog, they are gone and it's time to move on. So, progress, but by no means perfection and a long way to go. If there is another dog walking the same way as us, a few meters behind, Pepper absolutely WILL NOT walk along in front of them, she HAS to stop and wait for them to pass so she can say hello. And also if she's off lead and another dog turns up, she is gone like an absolute shot. On holiday she literally ran about 600m the length of a beach to say hello to another dog. Does anyone have experience of their labs who were like Pepper/Ripple/Duke (and others ) that have come through the insanity?? I totally hear what you're saying Julie about setting expectations, but given that this is where we are, any reassurance that the crazy might eventually subside would be good to hear. Or is this just wishful thinking....?
Looks like I came across this thread a little too late, since I've started walking Enzo I've always let him have a sniff of other dogs while on the lead, I thought it was good to help him socialise and become used to other dogs before letting off the lead around them almost everyone we passed actually, at first he wasn't a raving banshee and used to just have a sniff, lately he's turned into a wild pulling jumping loon trying to get to other dogs. It's just dawned on me I've encouraged this behaviour reading what julieT has written a few posts up makes perfect sense about not letting them towards other dogs on leads from young
All is not lost, though, don't worry. You just have lots of work to do on making sure that not running over is more rewarding than running over. Your clicker and lots of roast chicken to the rescue! I've been saying this a lot recently, but get yourself a copy of Control Unleashed (which is a book aimed at agility dogs in particular, but the methods can be used on all reactive or over-excitable dogs) and learn the "Look At That!" game. It's very simple but very effective.
Talking of roast chicken, I've used that while walking Enzo off the lead (when no dogs or people around) to walk to heel, it's so rewarding to call him and I click my fingers in right hand and if he's running towards me he'll turn and line up next to me on my right side and start walking eagerly for his chicken. It's almost surreal to see.
I don't know how helpful this will be as the circumstances are not identical, but I had an issue with Brogan from adolescent to about 3 years old where he went full out psycho while on leash when seeing other dogs. Only on leash, as off leash he was dog friendly. So while your pup is friendly excited and mine was reactive excited, this is some of what I did that I felt eventually did the trick. (1) Up the ante - always have treats or a toy on hand that is better than reward of getting to the other dog (2) Body block - stick yourself between your dog and the dog he wants to get at and don't let your dog make eye contact with the other dog. (3) Teach a good "watch me" and use it to reinforce the body block. (4) Face touch - my boy's brain's literally used to leak out his ears when he became reactive, but just a touch to the side of his face (before he was in all out spazz mode) often was enough to break the fixation, especially when he started to improve. (5) Teach a solid "Don't touch" (or "No play" or whatever you want to say) - so once Brogan had made decent improvement, I taught him "Don't touch" and "Go play", which are just what they sound like. Essentially he then knew there were times that he couldn't interact with another dog on the street and times when he could go all out and play like a mad-man. Or "Go see" was just a polite on leash butt sniff. We had to get to where he was no longer reacting to other dogs consistently to train the commands, but once he learned these, he was home free. "Don't touch" worked really well for us as he learned that as a tiny pup with food so the meaning was really clear to him already - we just took it from food to the rest of the wide world. I'm NOT a dog trainer so take this with a grain of salt, but using all these strategies progressively really helped me. Good luck!
Thanks everyone, this is so helpful. It has also reminded me that I need to majorly up the value of treats around dogs. We've been phasing out treats for walking to heel (one area that has gone to plan at least!) And so as a result I've just had kibble on me during walks. Obviously that is not better than jumping on another dog as far as Pepper is concerned! On the plus side, I dropped Pepper off at kennels today which is HER FAVOURITE PLACE ON EARTH as obviously there are dogs everywhere. She was very excited and did pull on the lead when we arrived BUT she didn't jump on the staff, which she normally does. I think she's pretty much given up jumping on people now, and the fact that she didn't jump even in that really excitable state is a good sign I hope.
Going mad around other dogs and people is Ted's major weakness - on or off the lead. On our off-lead walks we try to avoid encountering other dog walkers, by avoiding the footpaths and sticking to either a wooded area of our park or the wide open space where you can spot dogs way before they reach our immediate orbit. I really want to be able to enjoy walks with him though so we have started distraction with "sit, wait, treat" until the other dog/jogger/cyclist/kid in pushchair passes. If the meeting is unavoidable (such as an enthusiastic dog lover who wants an encounter with a bouncy 5 month old Lab) I stand on the lead and ask the person to go down to his level and stroke him) This helps, but his first instinct is always to launch himself at his intended playmate. This morning I had successfully got him to ignore two approaching dogs, but one of them smelt the sausages in my treat bag and hassled me. Ted saw this as showtime and got started in full play mode, jumping up at the not too impressed owners. He also shot off after them, ignoring me altogether, even the whistle recall. In the end the other dog gave him a sharp nip, causing him to yelp and return to me. So this is definitely a work in progress. I'll post elsewhere on the whistle issues. On a positive note, Ted always sits at the kerb and only crosses the road when instructed, so it's not all bad!
Oh no you're not! I have one just like that, in fact you could have been describing Saba. We're encouraging him to sit quietly when another dog approaches, and somehow that signals to most other owners that they just need to walk past with their perfectly trained (!) dog. However, the idiot man who let his two dogs run at Saba is wholly responsible for my fractured finger and shoulder (right hand + left shoulder!).
Ummm, think I'll have to try he foot on the lead thing with Molly too. She is a crafty little thing As dogs approach, we have got her to stay close and sometimes, depending on how the other dog is looking, we ask her to sit,stay - and she does. Great, until, suddenly without warning, she leaps ! Caught me out a few times so far
