Vibrating collars?

[SukieTuesday]

The ones that only vibrate, like a mobile phone on silent, when you press the remote control. Would these be any good for a dog that gets really focused on other dogs when it sees them in the distance and ends up freezing and then often barking when they get close (when he's on lead.) He does this a lot and half the time he actually wants to say hello to them and play. Treats or a toy squeaked near him can sometimes break the spell and once distracted he doesn't react.

He is neutered, well socialised, doesn't bark at all at off lead dogs on the field he is sometimes walked on when they get close (whether he's off lead or on lead) but still does the freeze and stare.

I was hoping a vibrating collar would work but, if not, any suggestions as to what positive reinforcement might?

He does react and bark at off lead dogs if we're on paths rather than fields.

I'd think you'd be better off doing the whole treat at the sight of a dog thing so he associates dogs with you giving him a reward, leading on to him looking for the treat when he sees a dog rather than the dog.

If a toy only gets his attention sometimes at best you run the risk of a vibration only doing that sometimes as well, or him ignoring it, or worst case he dislikes it and associates that with other dogs.

And he reacts more if I stop and move him to the side but reacts less if the other owner stops and moves their dog to the side and we keep going.

That makes sense Tabulahrasa. He will take a treat from my hand but will ignore them on the floor in front of him once he's seen a dog. It's so frustrating because he'll bark sometimes then play bow. Surprisingly the dogs aren't interested

You just treat him every time he looks at the dog (and click if he's clicker trained)...that can be pretty constant to start with, lol, but gradually they know that's going to happen and you move on from there.

It might be worth finding some classes near you that are for reactive dogs/ dogs that need social skills there are a couple of behaviourists near me that run them and positive trainers... They can be really useful in helping you work on stuff like that.

As in they're run specially to work on those things rather than just a standard obedience training class.

I'll talk to our trainer about some one to one. He's absolutely fine in a room full of dogs every week at training! He'll also happily play with all sorts of dogs off lead or on his extending lead.

I wish there was a magic collar ...

The one I went to was outside, in a field...mine also was fine inside at normal classes.

Sadly my dog's medical issues caused a huge behavioural issue, but until that happened the classes did get an improvement because it was more like being out for a walk.

I often wish for magical devices that would sort my dog out, lol.

I think outside training would be a really good idea. Thankfully it's also the weather for it.

I dug out a clicker and tried using that and treating when he stared. It worked really well when he saw dogs at a distance and was partially successful when dogs were closer. I'll persevere with that. He totally ignored one dog because he stole the clicker and I had to prise it out of his mouth .