Small Breed Dog - Reactive to Dogs/Territorial

[BarkSideOfTheMoon]

I have a small breed 3kg dog, 2.5years old, male, intact.
When out on walks, he reacts by lunging towards and barking at almost every dog he sees.
He used to be OK with people, but recently has had 2 instances where he does the same to a person walking alone (no dog). He also reacts to some (not all) cars.
Trainer says it is fear-based (though he has never had any real ‘bad’ experiences that we know of, and we’ve had him since a pup).
It happens more often close to home, so I think may be territorial?
I have tried, harness/loose lead, treats as soon as a dog appears. But after 8 months, no real difference.

Does anyone have advice on solid plan I can follow where I might see progress?
I WFH, and can commit to daily training, just not sure what to do?
Any advice welcome.

Have you considered it could be because he is entire?

Are you planning to breed from him? If not, he should be neutered and you should see improvement but as he's so old now it may be ingrained behaviour. I don't understand why your trainer has not raised this or is it that you didn't like that as a solution? There's a reason dogs are "done" and it's largely behavioural.

Two things occur to me.

First I think being an intact male can often make them more reactive. However my DDs dog is five and an intact male and as chill as they come. He is a big breed.

Second, I read an interesting article about why smaller dogs can be more reactive/territorial than some big dogs. I’ll see if I can explain it well.

If you have a big dog you can’t let it just do what it wants. It will have consequences - might knock over children, sitting on sofa, sitting on laps unasked, could pull you over when pulling on lead.

However small dogs by the nature of their very size in a sense get away with more. I think the case in point was that we tend to let a small dog get on our laps when they want - it’s nice, why wouldn’t we?

But in the dogs mind, it’s calling the shots -not you. That I think makes it more territorial of you. Plus there’s another thing at play, if the dog is in charge then it thinks he’s has to make the decisions over who is a threat and who is not.

The suggestion was to reinforce discipline and manners at home as if he was a much bigger dog. So your permission is needed to to get up on the sofa, bed or your lap. Permission needed before he starts to eat, or go through a door or gate. Makes sure he reliably follows through on his sit and down commands, and ask him to do these at random moments.

If he always looks to you for permission and guidance, then the thinking is that when you meet other dogs and humans, he will look to you first and follow your lead on whether there’s a threat or not.

I don’t know how an accurate this is, I don’t own a dog at the moment, and my last dog was a big breed. But it made sense to me at the time.

Good luck.

This latter piece 👆

I work with dogs and it generally makes little difference whether they are entire or not (in fact, I'll be walking three dogs shortly two of which are entire and one isn't). Far more likely is how they are treated at home, and what they are allowed to get away with.

Also, I would wager that when the barking / lunging starts, they are removed from the other dog, so they learn quickly that barking and lunging gets them what they want.

Then, there is also what happened during the socialisation window and quite a few other possibilities. My experience is that most often it is how the dog interacts with the owner at home though.

Thanks all! Regards being intact. We do not want to breed from him. I am worried neutering will not solve the problem and might change his personality in an unpredictable way (or as PP said, it is ingrained behaviour). I'd like to try some kind of structured program first. If no improvement, would try the neuter path. He is a great little guy otherwise, sleeps all night, completely reliably house trained, never marks in anyone's house, no separation anxiety.

Interested in what @Imgoingtobefree says. He does not ask permission to get on sofa etc. There seems to be 2 schools of thought with dogs: 'part of the family' Vs 'Just the Dog'. We have been on the softer side, but how to change? and will it make a difference? Does this approach have a name I can google for any books/videos using this approach?

Neutered dogs seem to be more unpredictable in my experience. I have an un-neutred male and four unspayed females. It's always the neutered males who give us trouble, in terms of unpleasant behaviour, never the in-tact ones.

I personally don't advocate for neutering males when I breed from my dogs - mostly because I am not convinced by the personality benefits of the dogs. And if there are any fear related issues, it can make them worse.

Honestly, I would find a better trainer and ideally one who is breed specific or focusses on smaller dogs. Your current one doesn't appear to be having much luck. A good trainer should be going on walks with you and watching it as it happens and offering advise on how to rectify it.

The problem with lots of trainers these days, or even people who try to do things themselves, is unless you know your breed inside out and have lots of experience with just that breed or similar breeds you often end up making things worse. I say this all the time, but a Golden Retriever will never react the same way as a Spaniel will - they were bred for different purposes and the way they react to certain triggers is different because of that.

Completely agree.
i speak as someone who has yet to find a trainer to work with us that understands his breed.
I would love a trainer who would go on a walk with me to see how he reacts in real life situations, and equally how I react to them.
unfortunately I cannot find one in my area.
should I be looking more for a trainer or a behaviourist?

You'll have to ignore the neuter advice. It is totally irrelevant and I'm sure your trainer told you that. Your vet will also tell you the same, if you ask.

It's not territorial, it's fear based because he's a little dog in a big world outside of the area he's comfortable in. He'll need more exposure outside of his little world.

Are you able to walk him more than once a day?

What breed is your boy? Is the trainer experienced with small breeds?

@drivinmecrazy both realistically as people tend to use behaviourist and trainer interchangeably, I've found, which makes it very unhelpful!!

If your dog is from a well-known or popular breed, it's worth hitting up your local breed club or rescue or even the national breed specific rescue or club as they might know people who may be able to help 😊

Hes an HPR breed so falls between all sides.
we’ve used gundog trainers, neither of them had experience with his breed and admitted defeat.
used I lovely trainer locally who could work with him in an empty field but not with distractions.
Any recommendations for an Essex based trainer for a Weimaraner?
To be fair he’s actually fairly well trained but could really do with some help with working with distractions.
(sorry to detail the thread!)

@MyPuppyLuv @TheHungryHungryLandsharks Mine is a Maltese. My trainer seems to do multiple breeds (mostly big) not specific to my breed or small dogs. He has walked out with me, in a park, but not near my house. There were less issues in big park as more distance from threats I think. I walk him 2x per day (sniff walks 20-30 mins each) plus several days a longer walk where I encourage him along/go to big park. He also socialises at dog minders house half day per week. With 4 other dogs.

It sounds like you're doing all the good things!

Have you researched your dogs age bracket? Often, small dogs are reaching the end of puberty at about 2 years of age. They mature a lot slower than big dogs and are not considered adults until 3 years of age. Because of this, they will experience more "fear phases" than bigger dogs.

You may find that he grows out of it with continued exposure and time and possibly within the next 12-18 months.

Some dogs just don't like other dogs around them when they're walking and they're spooked by strangers. This doesn't make them a bad dog it just means they have a preference that you'll have to manage.

Not all dogs are carbon copies of each other. Not all behaviour is "good" or "bad" and not all training is going to work etc.

Dogs are very individual. So, try to be patient and don't be hard on yourself if you're told to do something and it doesn't work immediately or at all.

If he's doing fine with 4 other dogs, in a setting other than his home, then it confirms that his reaction is fear based from being in an unfamiliar environment. He might be overstimulated from all the different sounds, noises, people, smells etc so he just needs more time.

Thank you @MyPuppyLuv - I just want him to be happy & enjoy a nice walk. He gets his nose in a bush and if anyone 'sneaks up on him' (i.e. walks along normally on the path) - he reacts immediately. No treat is as interesting as a bush, pile of leaves, other dog's pee. I have decided to try to 'break the pattern' by taking him on walks at a quiet time, and if I see a dog in the distance, walk away before he sees it so there is no encounter at all. Today we have had 2 successful walks, at his pace, no encounters, no barking. I know this is not going to solve the problem but might break the barking/lunging habit so I can try more things after. Very many thanks for your help & advice.

If it helps, I have had 3 dogs of the same breed. One was reactive to everything. He was not treat motivated. In fact, he would spit his treat out in favour of barking/lunging or whatever else he wanted to do in the manner that he saw fit. I had a trainer, a behaviourist and a vet who all told me the same thing, "He is what he is." Interestingly, the vet also said that not all dogs enjoy walks and find them stressful so do what suits him and not what suited my consciousness.

Fast forward to now, I have 2 more of the same breed. Brothers, different litter, 1 year apart. One is so treat motivated that I can't get him to focus on anything BUT treats. The other one could take or leave treats and is easily spooked, but wouldn't say boo to a goose, and both listen to commands like a dream.

So, as I said, we can do all the right things and consult all the right people but, ultimately, dogs are individuals. As long as he's not hurting anyone, it's okay for him to do what he's doing, at his own pace, etc.

Keep us updated and share a pic if you wish!

Ours is like this - if I put him in the car and drive him somewhere, even if it's just to another part of the neighbourhood, then he's far less reactive. If I walk him from our house he seems territorial and will lunge and bark at random dogs and people until we get far enough away from our home, and then he settles down. He's also far worse until he's done his first poo on the walk, and again will calm down once he's done that.
He still doesn't like passing head on if it's a narrow path, so I've just adjusted how I walk him and we're both a lot more relaxed as a result. It's bizarre, I can take him into the middle of the city and he'll trot about quickly happily, watching the world go by and having lots of sniffs, but if another dog or certain people are in the vicinity of our house in the quiet suburbs he's like a crazy thing. The unpredictability is the worst, I find.

That's really interesting. As the owner of a small(ish) dog this does makes some sense to me.

Is he just as bad if someone else in the family walks him? I've got a Patterdale bitch who is reactive and aggressive if she is walking locally with me, but if one of my adult kids takes her she's an absolute saint (apparently). She seems to see me as in need of defending. But off home territory she is less sure of herself and isn't as bad.

She's eleven and a half now and is calming down and becoming more sociable but I think she's just aged out of being bothered.

I think some dogs are just like this TBH.
Neutering doesnt always make a difference, as others have said. In fact it can make an already nervous dog even more so.
Also Im not sold on the territorial aspect. Fear aggressive dogs often look like they are throwing their weight around but its usually to protect themselves. I think the reason that they are often worse near their home is because they are closer to a place of safety and it makes them more confident (which manifests as more barking/pulling!).
Id look for a decent behaviourist and try lots of distraction with positive reinforcement.

My current dog is like this. Ive tried allsorts with him but he is just a very nervous soul and doesnt adjust well to change. My vet has said some dogs just are less outgoing then others and training will only get you so far.
So I try and keep things comfortable for him. Familiar walks, on lead (off lead just makes him panic and he glues himself to my legs!). Plus I keep to areas where Im unlikely to meet many other dogs.