Barky dog

[Levirandal]

Our dog is two and he’s lovely at home although barks if people go by our window and at the end of our garden but he’s getting much barkier out on the street and although mostly keen to go for a walk isn’t as keen as he was. He was recently neutered. Talking him for a walk isn’t massively pleasant as you can sense he’s on alert whenever he sees another dog and he’s started barking as we pass people on the pavement. I’m going to look at getting a 1:1 trainer but in the meantime I’m not sure how best to help him. He’s quite a small dog but he’s now going even more nuts when he sees another dog. I don’t know anyone with a dog who I could use to get him to walk past and I think it must be miserable for him getting so wound up.

Did he show any nervous behaviour before getting neutered?

Barking on walks sounds a little like fear/reactivity to me, and sadly neutering can make that kind of behaviour worse due to the reduction in testosterone.

He showed it especially around other dogs but seems worse now he’s been neutered. Some dogs he ignores but others it’s like he’s manic on a leash. The moment he sees a dog and they’re fixed in his eye line he becomes tense and his whole body tenses up.

I’m just not entirely sure how to fix it. He went to loads of training classes when he was little and only ever wanted to play with the dogs. It feels like it’s gone the other way and I worry we’ve somehow made him scared of other dogs.

He showed it especially around other dogs but seems worse now he’s been neutered. Some dogs he ignores but others it’s like he’s manic on a leash. The moment he sees a dog and they’re fixed in his eye line he becomes tense and his whole body tenses up.

Unfortunately, the neutering has probably made the behaviour worse as it gets rid of the testosterone in their systems. It's not recommended to neuter male dogs that show any kind of reactivity or nervous behaviour, but unfortunately many vets won't question it and will just go ahead if it's what the owner wants.

You can work on it, though - he's certainly not a lost cause! Find his tolerance level for other dogs (ie. the distance he can be without reacting) and practising getting him to sit and focus on you with a treat. Eventually you'll be able to move closer and closer, and the treat can be phased out as he'll learn to ignore the dog to get treats.

But this can take months and months of hard work and it's very easy for setbacks to occur. I'm speaking as someone who probably shouldn't have had their dog neutered due to reactivity issues, but I'm there now so it's all about working with what I've got. He's MUCH better than he was but it's still a work in progress.

His reaction isn't aggression as such, more fear and curiosity I suppose. Once he's met the dog he's absolutely fine and he'll happily play. He's also absolutely fine off the lead - leads can increase reactivity as it stops them behaving naturally.

Be careful when getting a trainer - anyone can call themselves a trainer or behaviourist - make sure they're accredited and only use positive training methods.

Definitely something you can work on.

You need to make ‘dog’= ‘treat’

Have a google about the ‘look at me’ method.

Basically every time he sees a dog, he gets treats. Then you’ll find that eventually when he sees a dog, he will automatically look at you, rather than fixate on the dog.

If you can’t get his attention with a treat, then you are too close to the dog. You need to start further away.

It’s worked really well with my reactive dog.

You can't do anything about the neutering now do don't worry about it and work with the dog you have right atm.

Barking can be a very difficult problem to fix but, as a start, wrt reactivity, trying working on getting his attention on you with clicker training "look at me" and reward. Do it over and over in calm conditions at home, then outside, then make the distractions more varied and gradually closer each time. Finally try it with other dogs. Get a friend, or someone from a local Facebook dog group, to walk their dog in parallel to yours. First at a distance, then closer and closer. Keep very calm yourself and keep the leash relaxed. Only praise and reward true calmness and relaxation. Be careful with your timing.

For barking alone, the best method I have found is to very gradually teach them to "speak" with a vocal command "speak" and a raised hand mimicking a glove puppet talking! . It takes a while, but once you can get them to speak in command, you can then get them to stop. In the meantime, remove the constant stimulus, such as putting a blind up at the window and a fence at the bottom of the garden, or move the dogs to a different part of the house while you focus on their training.

For the garden issue though, you need to work on basic recall which comes back to "look at me".

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