Cupar is my first pup in years, we always took in dogs looking for a new home. My dream was to have the dog that walks beside me, doesn't run away, doesn't steal from the table, is well behaved when guests visit, coories up beside me on the sofa, not chew the house, being happyish by themselves, isn't scared of thunder or loud noises, can walk and see other dogs without having a melt down. I have ALL the above but NOT the last one. Cupar is dog/dog reactive and it is not fun. My sweet, sweet boy is not popular in the village we live in, I have heard so many times ' OMG labradors are not aggressive, I have never known a labrador to be like that '. Living with this means you have to manage every walk, every single time you leave the garden. We have lots of small dogs that are EXCACTLY the same as Cupar, their life is not managed as unfortunately their owners do not recognise there is a problem. It is seen as perfectly normal. My dog passes them and when he reacts in the same way, because he's big, his bark and growl sounds more 'real' than the 'yappy wee dogs' ( other peoples words, small dogs are yappy and my labrador is vicious). There's a wonderful group on Facebook for reactive dogs in the UK, Grisha Stewart books, I bought both, as well as the website C.A.R.E, which is free, have all been invaluable to me in helping Cupar cope with passing other dogs. I am fortunate in where we live, when he was at his worst, we walked the streets and hid behind parked cars when seeing dogs. In the summer we walk the fields and avoid as much as possible other dogs. Cupars reactiveness means my husband and I can not take the dogs to the beach, or any popular walking areas, it would put Cupar way over threshold. We used to use the nearest estate that opened to the public, I did a lot of reactiveness working here as dogs MUST be kept on lead but unfortunately it's free and as it gets busier, there is now lots of dogs OFF lead. I could walk there and get the bus back but that is not possible because of people who don't think rules apply to them. This post isn't a lecture or a moan but I hope by writing this that more people can understand the problems an owner of a reactive dog faces. Please don't label the dog that snarls and barks at yours from across the road, don't label the owner or make sparky comments of keeping their dog under control, they are doing the best they know how to keep their dog and yours safe. My boy isn't vicious, aggressive or need put to sleep, he's scared, so, so scared and this unfortunately is his way of coping. Please if you walk in areas of 'must keep dogs on lead 'signs please do so. Does not matter how well trained your dog is, if he as much as approaches my dog you are setting his progress back by months.
Hi, what training have you done to help with Cupar's dog reactivity? There are some members on the forum, myself included that use various methods to help with this situation. You are not alone and I totally 100% agree with keeping dogs on lead where they should be, no matter how well trained you 'think' your dog is, makes my blood boil. x
Hi, I haven't had to do much since the spring apart from avoiding as I have access to fields. In the winter there being sheep or young beast in the fields, I'm inclined to do a lot more road walking. I try now to stay in the village as I know what dogs make Cupar worse than others. There really is nowhere I could take Cupar to do any form of training now, other people and there dogs are unpredictable. When we do meet other dogs, if he goes ballistic, I know he's too close and I assess whether to keep going by jollying him along, or I have reverse turned to get as much distance as possible. If the dog is still in sight and he is far enough away and Cupar is responsive to me again, I will give him his squeeze cheese when he looks at the dog and then looks back at me. This approach seems to be helping us more. There is now some dogs that he would react to but I can now walk past and Cupar looking to me for his cheese. I never ask Cupar to do anything, he's too far gone when in this state, it's all about making him feel less threatened. I do a lot more stuff at home, especially after bad days, it seems to help when doing the same walk again. Some days at his worst, he didn't leave the garden. I am really fortunate that he is so into playing with me, I did teach him to search, this is another of Cupars all time favourites, we can use the fields behind the house for the ball throwing. I also buy frozen freeflow mince and sprinkle it in the grass, both dogs can spend 30 minutes doing this. As you can see my mindset now isn't about walking or exercising Cupar, it's all about interacting with him to help him be more secure when out in the world and when the ' oh my dogs friendly' brigade tell me that, I tell them and I am not polite while doing so, to get their dog under control and on a lead.
Oh crumbs. I can feel your frustration when people do that. I have a similar problem with one of my dogs, though without aggression, but far too much roaring approach to other dogs. You are doing the best you can to help your boy deal with his fear and I know its far from easy to manage. I really don't know what to say about those who label him vicious simply because he's big - so unfair and wrongly judgemental. I'm sure other with experience of helping dogs like your Cupar will be along with some ideas. In the meantime, I wish you loads of luck with his progress.
It's hard. It's so hard. Coco is not so much reactive as frustrated, but the outcome looks the same. Every walk has to planned - I can't go to the plantation if I let the time slip past 8:10am, I can't walk the block around the mill if it's after 8:30am, I can't go on the beach if there's another dog visible, I can't walk to the village during the school run. It is all about management. We are, however, slowly improving. I avoid people and dogs like the plague, so I am not on the receiving end of many judgmental stares and snipes. I have a select few, very few, that I don't mind meeting as they are either in a similar situation, or they simply understand dogs. It surprises me how few dog owners out there actually understand dogs. It scares me, in fact.
Oh, I know how difficult this is, you have my complete sympathy. Whilst at home, and with visitors, it is very hard to believe that our lovely black labrador Casper is reactive. But he is. We have been threatened with the dog warden, someone even got off their bike and went to kick him, luckily my husband was there. We are fortunate in that our walks are mostly close by, in enclosed paddocks and quiet fields. We are even looking into renting a bit more land close by just so we can walk/train our three dogs in peace and quiet. Saying all that what we have found is that if Casper has been reactive one day, it takes a few days for the stress hormones to recover, so although he looks OK and relaxed, if he was exposed to triggers too quickly, he is less resilient then if allowed some time to just chill out, this is called trigger stacking. Casper can also develop patterns of behaviour. This means he is more likely to repeat a previous reactive episode if he has had a stressful occurrence there before, and LESS likely if he hasn't, or very infrequently over a long period of time. I have taken advantage of these episodic memories (for want of a better phrase!) and built alternatives around them. Will try and explain a bit later on. Characteristics of Casper's reactivity: Poor impulse control Frustrated/anxious greeter, especially on lead Non- aggressive Reactive triggers: cyclists, livestock, men, dogs on lead, Patterning: ie: when I have at this bend in the footpath..I saw a deer over there..so if run off now I might see the deer again! Exceptions - more relaxed in busy village centres than out in the countryside even when confronted with the above triggers. We think this is because where he came from he basically had the run of the estate in Ireland! What we have employed: LAT (look at that )initially, then we move to reward when he looked back at me, so more look away, than look at that. So a glance at the trigger in the distance, then reset back to me, gets a high-value treat. High value luring. If in any doubt, I lure, streaming high value treats literally on his nose and very rapidly, with a short lead. Regarding patterning, we have worked on changing this to a different sequence, so now it's when I get to this bend in the footpath we play "magic hands" with chunks of chicken! Instead of looking to the horizon he is focussed at my hands. The more times we pass this juncture successfully the less likely Casper is to remember a previous episode. Every dog is different, their reactivity triggered by different things, but it is tough. With Casper, we have reduced his reactivity by around 60-70%. His habits were so ingrained, I doubt he will ever be totally comfortable in some areas, but that's OK, if he is happier mooching around our garden, playing games, pottering around in the paddock, then so be it.
It is very tough managing a reactive dog, I know as Charlie can be but only towards some big dogs, small dogs aren't a problem. We too have to manage his walks, mostly letting him off lead very early in the day when nobody else is up! We use high value treat streaming, luring, clicker whatever it takes to get past a dog on lead that he doesn't like. He has learned to react to the same dogs no matter what we do, if a new dog barks at him that's it he will bark at it the next time he sees it It means we don't walk Hattie & Charlie together very often as Hattie is so good and nothing bothers her so I don't want her walks to be not 100% enjoyable. Like Kate, Charlie gets training in our garden, interaction with games a little gun dog work for fun, find it games, hide 'n seek etc. He has, I hope a full life and much better than he had previously. We use LAT, LAM too which really does help @Beanwood interesting you say Casper had full run of an estate, Charlie went into foster care from Ireland for a few months where he also had full run of her acres of woods and grounds, it really did him no favours at all xx
The aD guys call it a "trigger picture" and I think that's quite appropriate. Sometimes the picture looks similar to us, but it doesn't have the right parts to make it the same picture to the dog. We have to work out what parts are in the dog's "trigger picture" and so what we can change in order to make picture the picture different so the dog doesn't feel the need to react. Sometimes that might be as simple as changing which side the dog is walking. Other times it's out of our control, of course, but I think just having the thought of a "trigger picture" can give us an idea as to why sometimes the dog reacts and sometimes doesn't. @Cupcase You are not alone! My Shadow is also very reactive when on lead to other dogs; sometimes through fearfulness, sometimes through frustration. Ah, those helpful comments "you just need to socialise him more". "But Labradors always love kids!". Etc etc. Yes, thanks. Whatevs. Like Casper, Shadow is the cuddliest bunny in the world at home. Seriously soft, he's ridiculous. It breaks my heart that so few people see that side of him because he's the most delicious dog in the world. Full of fizz when working; so, so happy and just a complete sweetheart. But, he's a dick towards other male dogs. I don't have to manage it much as I can hide away from the world with him for the most part. When we're in Andorra and more likely to bump into someone on walks, I do have to stay on high alert and that means it's not particularly relaxing to walk him. No, people who don't live with it don't understand, but then, I don't think I should expect them to. It's like, I don't suffer from depression. I can be sympathetic to those who do, but I don't understand it; I can't because I don't live with it. I don't pretend I do because it would be both insincere and pretty disrespectful of me to do so. I know that some people have to manage every single minute of their day because of their mental illness, but I don't know what it's like to have to do that. What I do know is how I have to plan going out with my dog in order to minimise the chances of having an incident and I have to be vigilant while I'm out there. I envy people who can just walk out the door without thinking about it, and amble along without scanning the horizon but I don't expect them to understand that sometimes even the best laid plans aren't enough in our little world and things go awry; that they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Out and about, if I see someone behaving in an irrational way, let's say shouting at a waiter, I instinctively think they're out of order and need to sort themselves out. My first thought isn't "they're obviously suffering with some other issues and trigger stacking has led them to take it out on this person", which is probably most likely. So when someone sees my dog reacting in an unpleasant way, I understand their judgement of him - and, by association, of me. It doesn't mean I would stay calm and collected if they started on us; I can pretty much guarantee they'd get as good as they gave! But, once I'd cooled off, I'd understand. To change to a more constructive tone, I have been working with Shadow for a while now, but we don't get a lot of opportunity because of where we live. Over the winter, I would take him into the village once or twice a week to work on his confidence, as he's quite a "twitchy" dog in general. Things that really helped were scatter feeding, paws up (on walls, on me etc), middle, magic hand... giving him a "job" that he is really confident performing in a situation where he's slightly on edge really helps to build his confidence and relax him. I heard a good analogy this morning, I think on the Clicker Gundog FB page, where someone said it was like being asked to cross a rope bridge across a ravine. If you had no guidance, you might find it impossible to maintain your composure, but if you have someone there giving you very simple cues - focus on a point ahead of you, place one foot in front of the other - you can cross that bridge successfully. Once you've done it once, you know you can do it, so it becomes easier each time and you can learn to manage those cues yourself without someone having to prompt you each time. Good luck and do keep posting to tell us about Cupar's journey
Ah, let me clarify, Casper had the run of an estate as in a small housing estate. It didn't have a garden as such, but a sort of small backyard with high fencing. The frontage was also tiny with a low fence. So, what Casper used to do was just take himself for a walk, either scale the back fence or open the front door and let himself out. He always came back home apparently. A bit like in the 60's and 70's, dogs just used to roam the streets and that was considered normal.
Thank you all of you for sharing your life with your reactive dog. It's really interesting how different dogs deal with stuff that scares them. Cupar unfortunately had been set upon by 3 dogs on 3 separate occasions, all before he reached the age of a year old. Before he was 18 months old he retaliated by fighting back to a fourth dog. It was horrible and it took me a long time before I could walk that path again. No damage was done physically to either dog but it did change the way he reacted to dogs. We've had 2 more scuffles since, my dog was on lead these times, the other dogs were not. I did consider a muzzle but my confidence took a knock and my husband was dead against it. Cupar is only reactive to dogs, in particular entire male dogs. He is NOT a frustrated greater. We also have places where Cupar reacts before seeing a dog, all these places are gardens where dogs have reacted to him. Twice I have fell over, I still have a hold of his lead. There is a particularly bad bit that can't be avoided, it's a big house with tall gates that allows the dogs (two of them) to stick their heads through the railing and go ballistic at passers by. Cupar now reacts before we get within 100 ft of the gates. I did try to discuss this with the owner but it fell on deaf ears, they're only protecting their property, 'sigh'. I found squeezey cheese( primula tubes) they're easy to carry, no mess and if you have a dog that forgets everything you've tried to teach, by not grabbing, the tube takes the teeth of an upset dog rather than hands. I call it my soother for my boy. Cupar has a couple of dogs he can play with but he really isn’t bothered about mixing with dogs, he would rather be in my company. Or anyone who’s willing to play with him.
Harley became reactive after she had been attacked 3 times. Collies set her off and I am constantly looking around to make sure there aren’t any around. Some small dogs she also doesn’t like. I am very vigilant and am constantly on alert and quick to recall her and pop on lead until the dogs have passed us by. She will sit calmly and I play ‘touch’ to distract her and it works well unless the dog(s) come running over to us. Sometimes she is ok with a dog coming to say hi, but other times she’s not. I have found if i put her on lead she calms quicker and is less likely to react. This weekend has been a huge breakthrough for us (I will create a separate post as don’t want to hijack yours). I don’t think I will ever be able to relax on a walk, but that doesn’t mean to say we don’t enjoy our walks. She never goes far from me and constantly checks in as is waiting to see what game we are playing next. She has a few really good doggy friends, but they never get in her face or jump over her. Management is key and consistent training. I do get frustrated when people say ‘it’s ok, they are friendly ‘ then their dog starts snarling and growling and they refuse to put them on lead. That really annoys me and I have ended up on the floor a few times from Harley trying to get to them ;( Unfortunately Summer is now here along with the ‘fair weather’ dog owners who have no training or consideration for others! Keep your chin up and feel free to come in here and pour your frustrations or good news to us
I’m really sorry to hear the amount of people here who have similar issues. I inow on alert all the time and truthfully I don’t think it will ever change. As for the fair weather dog walkers, I don’t like to bring that up but since you have, OMG where are these dogs for 9 months of the year? We have the regulars who use the public footpath behind my garden as a dog toilet, there dogs go nowhere else. They're like clockwork, I'm able to work around them, it's the summer ones that baffle me. Fortunately for me it's not warm much here but not so fortunate for their dog. I look forward to reading your breakthrough, it gives us hope and to keep at it.
Cupar sounds like My Shamas. we adopted him in October, and he came to us an absolute dream dog...until we tried to wlak him in the neighbourhood. He's dog reactive/agressive depending on who you ask. I say reactive, because he only lunges if the dog is approaching him, is small(he's been attacked by 3 small dogs since I had him, and one large dog. plus a large golden lab tried to get him twice)or he doesn't see a quick escape. Other owners have walked right up to us, assuming him to be friendly, because he's a Lab..and been shocked at his defensive/agressive reaction to strange dogs approaching him so directly. We spent the winter driving to Petsmart, and walking him in the controlled environment, where he could hide behind shelves anytime he saw another dog. It was hard on the gas budget, but the result is a dog who doesn't immediately panic. He's got a better threshold, unless the dog is approaching him on the same side of the street. I now walk Shamas on a front-clip harness, which gives me the ability to turn him if he jumps/pulls/lunges. He can't pull with as much power, and thus can't pull me over. I find him calmer on the front clip...more responsive, and less reactive. Which lets me feed him treats, get his attention, and generally manage, rather than controlling his reaction to other dogs who might upset him. we're finding that "look at Me" works for Shamas...he couldn't figure out "Look at that", but I'm the one with the treats, so if he starts to tense up, I stop him, and have him sits, facing me. Using "look at me", I'll feed him until he calms down and we can move onwards again. It saddens me to know that people are nervous about walking past my house....I didn't want to be that person who had the scary dog on the block....but i will keep working with him, and hold out that hell get better. That's all that we can do with reactive dogs. They depend on us to be the leader, and show them that the world is not as scary as they see it. Hopefully Cupar can learn to walk with you, and see dogs without having his meltdowns...in the meantime, management is the key. I personally suggest a comfortable front-clip harness for that.
