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Can one dog's confidence brush off onto another or is this just coincidence?

5 replies

D0oinMeCleanin · 08/07/2013 13:27

Whippy's fear aggression has been getting worse as rapidly as the weather has been getting nicer. Last week I could not let her off lead as she became skittish off lead as well as twice as aggressive on lead.

BAT was not working, when we'd turn the other dog would follow us 9 times out of 10, so she was not getting rewarded. We tried sticking to on lead areas, but would still meet dogs on flexi leads and dogs off lead Angry We tried just roaming the streets but never saw enough dogs to practise BAT on.

This came to head last week when I completely and utterly exploded at a particularly annoying spaniel owner Blush and ended up making a show of myself.

The next day I simply could not cope with taking Whippy on her usual, long walk, so I took her with the greyhound, who has shorter walks. I noticed she was marginally calmer when walking with him, so lengthened his walks to match Whippy's usual walk time and walked them together.

What used to happen when she walked with Devil Dog, is that I'd push Devil Dog forward/or release him while we did our BAT retreat, to greet any errant dogs whilst trying to control Whippy and body block the other dog/s from greeting her. Devil Dog on greeting the strange dogs would be a bit "omigod, it's so great to see you, I'm so happy, this is the best day of my life, evah, let's have a bouncing competition, quick, let's run madly in circles and bark with glee at each other" all of this did little to calm Whippy.

I still use the same trick of pushing the Grey to the front to meet any loose dogs, but his reaction is more "Hmm, so you want to sniff me, well okay, I suppose, I'll just be licking this grass here. Oh, you want to dry hump my leg? Well, I guess that's okay, I'll just have a little sniff over here. Bouncing? Me?!? No, that requires energy and I need all of my energy for sleeping" This inevitably calms the strange dogs and oddly keeps them much more engrossed in the grey and less likely to pester Whippy. Whippy stays much calmer and has even stopped the mini beast act, for the main part.

Today she only barked at 2 out every 10 dogs we passed. She's far from cured, she's still very tense when passing other dogs but is much calmer.

A few times she even moved closer to the strange dogs, but soon backed off when they noticed her.

At the very end of our walk we met a very impolite JRT. It was a JRT who attacked her and caused all of this. I was certain she'd do her usual snarling mini beast act when it got closer but she didn't instead she watched it sniffing the grey. She was tense and it got a "Fuck off and stay away" snarl when it tried to get closer to her, but no frothing mini beast.

Is this just the wee bits of training we have managed finally kicking in or is the grey's calm, confidence rubbing off on her?

OP posts:
topbannana · 08/07/2013 15:43

I know mine have always been more confident when we walked them with BlackDog. She was a combination of mother/ shepherd/ bodyguard and they were all visibly knocked off balance when she was not about for one reason or another.
When she was PTS GingerDog became much worse around other dogs and is getting better now the LandShark is on the scene and will deflect all comers by hanging off their ears

SmokyHeart · 08/07/2013 16:11

It sounds like Grey's calming signals (sniffing the grass etc) are working on the other dogs too, so that what Whippy has to deal with is a calmer dog than if Devil Dog had bounced up to it or no other dog was there.

ChickensHaveNoEyebrows · 08/07/2013 16:11

Jas is definitely less reactive if we walk with his dog mate. His mate is an unflappable, confident and friendly chap who takes everything in his stride. Jas seems happy to follow his lead within reason.

D0oinMeCleanin · 08/07/2013 16:16

Yes, he does give very clear calming signals when the other dogs are too bouncy plus he's lighter in the face than Whippy and less hairy than Devil Dog so his facial signals are easier for other dogs to read.

I hope she's cured before he finds a new home. They threatened to swap him for a puppy a couple of days ago Shock The puppy found another fosterer so I can continue using him as my training aide Grin

I took my clicker today and clicked Whippy every time she walked past a dog/s without barking or snarling.

OP posts:
Turniptwirl · 10/07/2013 17:41

Absolutely

Grey is showing whippy there's nothing to get excited or stressed about. And unlike you he won't be worrying about whippy's reaction underneath the calmness.

Definitely use him as a training aid but as he's not a permanent resident I would continue to work on whippy on her own as well so she doesn't panic the first time she has to walk without the lovely calm grey

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