Hi all, I have an 8 year old Labrador who whenever he sees another dog starts whining very loudly, lunging and just generally carrying on. He has done this ever since he was young, and we were told he would eventually grow out of it and mature. Well, he's now a senior and nothing has changed. We have done obedience training (he is very smart and picks things up very quickly and well, but this solved none of his overexcitement issues), tried numerous dog halters and a weighted backpack, all with very little success. I cannot walk him without feeling stressed that another dog will come along and get my dog all frantic - it has been this way for years, and has resulted in me reducing his walks because it's just too hard (and embarrassing). I would appreciate all advice, and maybe some of you have had similar experiences? Either way, I'm desperate to stop this behaviour and need help.
Hi @ChocolateLabrador If I were you I would consult a dog behaviourist who can teach you BAT exercises. Explain your problem to the behaviourist because he/she will need access to a range of decoy dogs. https://grishastewart.com/cbati-directory/
You need to find a distance from other dogs, where your dog is aware of them but not overwhelmed by them. If you are in the US, a good suggestion is standing outside a dog park but however far away that you need to, for your dog. Then you can do Look At That with the other dog. There is a whole page on LAT here: https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/look-at-that.22184/
Thanks for bringing LAT to my attention - until now I hadn't heard of it, but it looks like it might be very helpful for my situation. Will definitely start putting it into practice with my overexcited Lab.
Rather than LAT I use LAM. When we first adopted Woody is pulled on the lead but also wanted to be everyone's friend so lots of lunging. I trained LAM, just using look at the command and very quickly he learnt to do this whilst walking so I could hold his attention until we were safely past the distraction. A year on and it's pretty solid so also have a look at LAM too.
Ah, I think I have tried something similar to that before (not knowing it's name), but the problem is my dog will only respond if he knows I have food with me. Which is okay because I can be prepared and always bring treats with me on walks, but I really want a long term solution. I will try anyway, because maybe I just need to give it a bit more time. Thanks for your help!
Treats are your friend. Once Woody has got the hang of something I then use kibble from his daily food allowance, slowly switching from treats to "yes" and a top of back/tail scratch which he loves. Overtime they can both be phased out with random treats put in there as a reminder that sometimes wonderful things appear if I do good. We all need motivation to do things
In my opinion LAT will work better than LAM in this situation because LAM depends on you noticing the distraction before your dog. With LAT the dog sees the distraction and gets the treat - no behaviour requirement- but of course eventually the dog becomes conditioned to expect a treat when he sees the distraction so starts looking at the owner ( which is what you want). At this point the behaviour becomes operant so you can put it on a variable reinforcement schedule (not reward every time) , but it's important not to rush to get to this stage.
Yes, @Joy that's right. With LAT, there is an element of desensitisation (and therefore long-term improvement) involved. Because the dog is looking at the stimulus, they are taking it in, and learning about it, and associating the stimulus with NOT reacting in the way they did before. Over time, this changes their feelings about the stimulus. In order for desensitisation to take place, the dog needs to be aware of the thing we are desensitising them to. If we just do LAM, the dog isn't aware of the thing and isn't learning more about it and isn't associating the sight or presence of the thing with not reacting. LAM does have its uses though - sometimes if the trigger is going to come closer than you know your dog can manage, and you know that if you let your dog look at it, your dog will react, then LAM is preferable because it will enable you to get out of that situation. But in the long-term, it won't change the dog's feelings about the stimulus.
