Hi, me and my gorgeous 22 month old black lab are new to your site, he is absolutely amazing, a clever boy, very calm, cuddly but also a little nervous at times and we all love him to bits but we have one problem which seemed to be improving but now seems to be getting worse again. Walking past/near other dogs. He walks lovely off lead in the fields on our own and great loose lead in the town but when we see another dog he will freeze to the spot (sometimes in the middle of a road)and will not budge until they have past. If I get the chance I cross over to avoid meeting head on and in that case he walks past fine but if we are took by surprise and they appear from nowhere, we've had it. I'm at a loss now and really really want to help my gorgeous boy to be brave enough to walk on past. Any help would be so so gratefully received. Thank you
Hi Sarah, welcome from me and my 6 month old choccy girl Ella. Sorry, I don't have any advice but I'm sure some more experienced members will be along soon ☺ What's your boy's name? We'd love to see some photos ☺
Hi my boy is about the same age and is going through the same thing. I didn't get him neurtered because me and my vet thought that it might make him more sensitive. I use a close command and just keep encouraging him come close to distract him. It is getting better and he is a lot braver now. Distracting and encouraging seem to work with him. He seems to have gone through different stages at different times in his life. My old lab was like this too, he was a lot calmer and a lot braver but he too seemed to have little confidence issues until he was about 2 1/2 to 3. I don't think talking to friends that its so unusual. It also depends on the other dog too some dogs body language can be a bit stroppy or aggresive.
I think this one is a bit tricky. My dog had some periods of isolation (due to operations) and I had this with him after his second long period of isolation. I tried a lot of different things. Working with him off lead with other dogs really helped his on lead behaviour. So gradually increasing his socialisation around other, very friendly, dogs off lead helped a lot - this was the biggest thing that made a difference. My boy also used to do the freezing thing (and still does time to time) off lead - allowing him to go out with 3 other friendly dogs and a dog walker has really helped in that he approaches other dogs with a group of "mates" and this has made a huge difference to his confidence. It also helped very quickly. I think the other things I did are best done with the help of a behaviourist, as trying to interfere with the communications between two dogs is tricky - but I did start standing in front of Charlie to break his gaze to the other dog (if they were gazing at each other). Then, over time, I was able to break Charlie's gaze on the other dog without standing in front of him, and then I was able to get him to eat a treat (your dog probably can't eat a treat when he is doing this, neither could Charlie at first). Once I was able to get him to eat a treat, I could throw in on the floor to the side of Charlie and this made Charlie do something very close to a "calming signal" - he moved his head away and down to the side. That improved the outcome in that it made the other dog relax, and Charlie learned (or more likely remembered) that the best thing to do is look away and sniff before glancing back. We are still working really hard on this. There are other techniques such as getting your dog to look at you on the trigger of seeing another dog, but I don't use these very often. Mainly because I live in an area with so many other dogs its a bit impractical.
Hi, thank you so much for taking the time to reply, I really do appreciate the advice given. Although this is the first time I have posted on this site, I have read other people's numerous times and have found the advice given really valuable. I will try to work out how to add a photo or two of Scooby!
Hi and welcome. We'd love to see Scooby. You need to use a hosting service like Flick.r or Imgur to upload photos. There are some guidance notes on the Technical pages but if you get stuck there's always someone willing to help.
Sounds like you have a nice calm boy. Photos please. I think he needs more socialising, do you know if there is training club close to you? If so contact them to see if they would be willing for some well trained dogs to help him socialise. Or if close to members on here we may help, what is your location?
Can you explain more? Does it happen off leash and on leash? Does he go stiff? Does he stare at the other dog? Is the other dog male, female, intact, bigger, smaller? Some of these you can't tell of course, unless you speak to the owner. It's hard to analyze without seeing and I'm not a behaviourist. I think it might be a good idea to call in someone who is, freezing in the middle of the road could be dangerous for both of you. Training class at least so an instructor can observe his stance, his head and tail set. This could be apprehension, he's a bit worried about the other dog. It could be antagonism. Antagonism itself could stem from apprehension but some sort of like to strike first. My own dog is supremely self confident and he will lie down when approaching some dogs, multiple dogs or single, sometimes. In his case I call it his "alone and unarmed" pose, meant to reassure the other dog he is not a threat. We see other dogs do this as well and once in a while we have two dogs lying down looking at each other. Standing up is a bit different, a preparation to flee or fight following the freeze. You have probably heard of Fight or Flight but there is a third component and it's FReeze.
Hello Sarah, it doesn't sound like aggression at all to me, but rather nervousness and apprehension. With help I am sure you can teach him that other dogs are not a threat. Probably you would benefit from 1-1 sessions with a behaviorist, and then later group training sessions would help him learn that being with other dogs is fine. Good luck; do keep us updated.
Hi Sarah....Welcome to the Forum.I was working on this last year with my then 25 month old....he was getting very lead reactive....it would manifest itself in several different ways,freezing,staring,lying down,lunging....Inwas getting really anxious about it and that wasn't helping the situation at all. I wasn't making progress needed on my own so I went and had some 121's with a trainer who did some sets ups for me in the training room.She taught me to use my clicker to train a 'look at me' cue .... Which enabled us to get past dogs without looking a mess....this gave me confidence and feel less self conscious and this passed onto Dexter and he was much calmer. We started at distance with a dog that was nearly asleep it was so unreactive ,when Dexter stopped/lay down ,stared I clicked him and he looked at me for his treat....you then progress to where you are waiting for the look to you before you click and eventually you get it onto your verbal cue.Dexter is still interested in every dog that goes past us on lead,if it is another reactive dog I can help him with his responses with our 'look at me' I still give him plenty of space ,we still don't walk on the same pavement as a passing dog unless we know them very well.... To deal with unexpected dogs that just suddenly appear we have a fast 180 degree turn called 'with me' you can start practicing that on your own .....walk along with your dog at heel and turn around and walk in the other direction...click and treat as he follows you on the turn ....practice that loads and loads ,everywhere on your own and then start building up to doing it when you see dogs far off in the distance ......working towards eventually closing that distance ,then on the day when you get a surprise you've got a strong quick turn......I built on this too with a 'quick quick ' that breaks Dexter into a trot so we can get a bit of distance between us and the surprise dog! Good luck Angela x
Hi Sarah glad to see you have got lots of replies to your post. Milo used to just lie down and watch other dogs a lot when he was younger. This was when both dogs on lead. It was quite hard to get him to move as he was/is pretty heavy. I think I would have really benefited by using some sign to return his attention to me. I think in his case it was just curiousity as he is very nosey and likes to take everything in. He notices any change eg bin bag blowing, ladder up roof etc etc. He's now 18 months and much better. Only occasionally will he stand and stare across the road - only with certain dogs that he seems to like the look of such as a little white fluffy one that stares back at him in a friendly way if you know what I mean! We usually cross off if we meet dogs just as a precaution as if he comes across a dog or person suddenly round a corner he is apt to try to jump up them. He ignores most things now like prams or people and bikes. Has calmed down with age!
Leslie McDevitt's book, "Control Unleashed" might help you with this, though I sill say it's nice to understand the underlying reason. The Look at That game helped us get by the big black dog who charged his fence at us as we passed by, and we were on leash. The book is aimed at fearful, reactive and easily distracted dogs (Oban would be the latter) and works on leash and off. Lots of good reviews on this book.
Hi, just a little update, Scooby has had a couple of really good walks the last two days. I have tried to be a little less anxious which has obviously reflected in Scooby's approach as well. I do a click of my tongue to get Scooby to do a u turn and come back to me/look at me which we have been practising for quite some time now. I always try to set him up to succeed with all training and have never been able to get his attention when dogs are around but for the first time ever I managed to get his attention on me and do a complete u turn several times whilst following a dog from a bit of a distance. I was so so happy and it definitely boosted my confidence and I think even Scooby was very chuffed with himself. I feel I must thank you all for giving me advice which made me think "you know what, I can do this". So thank you. Still not sussed the photos but will keep trying.x
Sounds as if you are much more relaxed which has helped Scooby to relax as well. I also use a tongue click for Juno's attention both on and off lead (when she's close) and have found it really useful.
