We have had our rescue dog for the last 9 months. The rescue had no history on him. Since day one he has reacted to other dogs, even as soon as he gets a whiff of them. I have tried every method I can think of. All positive reinforcement methods.
I have consulted and used three different behaviourists and their positive reinforcement methods, all of which were the same as I was using, that being, distraction, turning and walking away, trying to calm him by putting treats on the ground, meeting up with another dog at a safe and secure distance and doing that over a number of days/weeks, he is then fine with that dog, but it makes no difference whatsoever to the very next dog he meets! And I mean the very next dog!
This morning however scared me a bit, we were walking up the road as normal, when he suddenly turned around alerted by something. Further down the road behind us, and on the opposite side was a lady with her dog, it looked similar to a bull terrier. I vaguely heard her say something as I walked away briskly with my dog, who was pulling on the lead and looking back all the time, but not making any noise. As I glanced back, she was literally, heels into the ground, both hands pulling back the lead on her dog for all she was worth.
My worry is that, fair enough that this dog was ready to defend itself, my problem is not with that dog, or any other dog that reacts back; my problem is how do I stop MY dog from reacting? As we went our final corner, a terrier came around, I used my positive reinforcement to distract him, by saying 'leave it' and was giving a chicken treat, and he snatched it from me, I presume that is because he is so full of adrenalin, but it is a behaviour that I find totally unacceptable. I do realise that we have o way of knowing if he has had to fight his corner with another dog, and he may well have been attacked by another dog before we res used him.
If what I have been advised, has not worked over the last 9 months, do I forget about the positive reinforcement, and if so, what do I do instead? Just let it keep happening and ignore it?
He is a shin height, shaggy, maybe jack russell terrier in him, with maybe corgi, or watered down retriever and who knows what else. He is absolutely brilliant in every other way. Always very gentle. Please advise me on what I should do. Thank you.
If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.
The doghouse
What now? Sorry it's long
assumpta · 25/01/2013 10:36
Ok you need to change your approach to this. What you are doing is basic distraction this will not work on a highly reactive dog.
What you need to do is to change the emotional response to the trigger and then of course the behaviour will change.
You do not want to distract - this may mean the dog concentrates on you for a bit but the dog is not learning that the other dogs are not problem.
BAT BAT BAT is the way to go
You need to work under threshold. When you see a dog in the distance and there is no reaction from your dog turn away. The reward for your dog not reacting is to move away from the trigger. Do not distract, let your dog look at the other dog, let him see that you know he does not want to get any closer and move away.
If your dog is reacting you are way to close. Your dog is over threshold and nothing you do now will change your dogs response except to move away.
By turning away when your dog is calm the dog learns calm is good and you understand the dogs anxiety. The dog relaxes as he is not put in a position to need to react as you are taking control of the situation.
Take this very very very slowly, do not push it, try really hard to stay under threshold.
I have started this with a dog that was so reactive that we had to use a stuffed toy dog to start with, then we moved to a double size football field, but now he is able to join in obedience classes without any stress. It is a very effective method and works really well you just need to be patient.
What you really want to be looking for are calming signals from your dog, so if he sniffs, lick his lips, yawns, looks away from the dog that is the time to turn around. A very reactive dog will do this so quickly that you may miss it but keep an eye out.
BAT link here The wonderful Grisha Stewart is giving a talk about BAT in Feb and May - well worth going to.
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