22 month old neutered male lab randomly reacts to strangers/children

I am looking for ideas how to train a twenty-two month old neutered yellow lab that sometimes reacts to strangers and children. The other day a 4 year old girl was walking by our front yard. Our dog could only see the top of her head bobbing up and down above the bushes. I had opened the front door at that exact time and the dog noticed and bolted out the front door barking at her and chasing her. It all ended well, grandpa scooped her up in his arms and our dog was wagging his tail. I called him and he finally came back in the house. Since that incident I have been working on sit, stay, come with training treats and walking him around busy places to get him use to all kinds of situations. It seems he gets fearful or territorial when a new person is coming into his domain. It is so random, most of the time he doesn't pay attention or just wants to greet new people with a full body wag. I no longer open the door until I know where he is and that he is sitting and staying.

 

Hi @Miranda, on the basis of your description I suggest you read the folder on this site, which describes the LAT (look at that) training method. The impulse control work you are doing is to be kept up, but you need to do something additional about the approach avoidance conflict/anxiety being expressed by your dog. LAT is one remedial programme. The videos embedded in the folder are excellent. Seek the assistance of a dog behaviourist, to observe your dog and confirm the suggested diagnosis and ask the behaviourist to give you training on your timing and understanding of thresholds. The reason I suggest asking for assistance is your comment that the behaviour seems random. The behaviourist as observer should be able to see whether the behaviour is indeed random. When we are next to our dog it is hard to observe behaviour, and determine the eliciting stimuli.

 

Hi Miranda... Some dogs have more 'guarding instinct' than others. Throughout history, humankind has kinda valued this instinct in dogs and deliberately bred FOR it, so it's tough that in today's society we now suddenly don't want to see it anymore(!).

Even if a dog didn't have guarding instincts, coming out of their house to see a weird bouncy human head bobbing along, disembodied, above the hedge, would be enough of a weird an unexpected sight to spook many a dog and to cause spooky barking.

It's important to say that tail wagging is not an indication of friendly intent, in a dog. Many is the non-dog savvy person who has seen a wagging tail on a dog and concluded that means the dog is friendly and attempted to pet the dog - and then been bitten. Tail wagging just means that a dog is aroused or excited in some way. That emotions are running high. What those emotions are, is a different thing - dogs can be very scared, yet have a rapid wagging tail.... So don't conclude from the tail wagging that your dog is friendly...

You've kind of got the right idea in terms of committing to training, but the exercises you're working on there are 'general dog training' exercises, rather than training which is specifically designed to help reactive dogs. Dogs react most of the time because they are scared. So when we try to help them, we need to address that fear and reduce it - so they have less of a reason to react because they are more comfortable with what they were previously scared of. Sit, stay, come etc, is not going to help him to feel less scared around people.

The type of training help you need is a good behaviourist. I'm not sure where you are based, or even which country? There are many poor, unqualified behaviourists out there who will do more harm than good and use methods that will make issues worse. If you let me know which country you're in or maybe roughly whereabouts, I might be able to make some suggestions.

Yes - this is that guarding instinct. I recommend, if you have a dog like this, that you follow a specific protocol when you have people come to your house. It goes like this:

1. Person arrives and has been told to call you by phone, to tell you they are there - not to ring the doorbell or knock on the door.
2. You instruct the person on the phone to go to get a tub of treats that you have left either in your drive or front yard or hidden in the hedge on the street... and then to stand in the street with their back to your front door.
3. You come out the front door with dog on leash. The person standing with their back to you throws a treat behind themselves and walks away from you and the dog. Seeing someone walking away, dropping treats, is a very non-threatening thing to see, for a dog.
4. You try to keep the leash loose and follow the person who is dropping treats and walking away.
5. They walk at least in a big circle once (they can do more, if you think the dog needs more) and then you instruct them to go into the house.
6. The person goes into the house FIRST, in front of the dog, still dropping treats - and you tell them where to go sit.
7. What happens then, depends on the dog. Some dogs would be fine to hang out in the room and get treats chucked at them by the stranger. Others might be best with a Kong in the same room, being ignored. Others might need to go away behind a stair-gate.

I frequently do behavioural consults with people whose dogs are reactive to strangers coming into the house and this is the protocol I follow when I first visit the house. It's called Treat and Retreat. There are no doorway issues, when things are done this way, and no sense of 'human coming into a space I occupy' for the dog.

The risk with this, is that he is scared at these moments. And you are asking him to adopt a static position (sit and stay) whilst he is scared. Imagine how you would feel if someone told you that you had to sit in a chair and not move, whilst a huge tarantula walked towards you. Even if you could do it, it's going to be stressful and it's not going to improve how you feel about tarantulas. Moreover, should the tarantula get close enough to you - you may well freak out and smash your fist on it, because you feel threatened enough by it, to do that. That is where dog reactivity/aggression comes in, as well.

The best way to help a dog which is afraid, is to enable them to feel in control and capable of moving away from the scary thing. When they learn they can cope in these situations, they will have less need to be reactive.

Good luck and let me know where abouts you are based if you want some ideas on people to work with.

 

Thank you for the suggestions I will find the LAT training. So happy to have this site.

 

Thank you for all the information. I will give it a go.

 

A book written by Grisha Stewart ...called B.A.T. Behavior Adjustment Training.....its all about dealing with dogs fear, frustrations, and aggression. In my opinion ...great read......

 

Sounds great, I will give it a read. - Thank you.

 

Hi Miranda, welcome to the forum. Let us know how you get on with your dog and what part of the world you are in, in case we can recommend a trainer. And do shout if you have any questions