Intro & Question
Hello everyone! I'm new here. I live in cold Manitoba and have a 3 year old Belgium Mal cross and I foster dogs whenever I'm able.
Right now I have a 1-2 year old border collie mix who was found as a stray running in a rural community. She was in good shape when found but was not claimed in the pound after the holding time. I was contacted to foster her so she would not be euthanized. She is such a sweet dog, wants to snuggle, wants to please, fast learning, loves playing. She's good with my cats, kids and dog. However she's very reactive to dogs outside and walking her is a nightmare as she lunges, snarls and barks like a maniac every time she notices another dog. I tried to positively reinforce and use gentle leaders but when we encounter a dog she gets so hyperfocused she can't be redirected and I literally have to drag her home while she freaks out. Due to this I am no longer walking her at a reasonable hour, which means less walks for her because when I work evenings I work until 12:30am and I'm up at 6am with my kids and she doesn't get a walk at all. She does get exercise, we have a good sized fenced yard where she plays with my dog but otherwise during my late week isn't leaving the property.
Any advice in this situation? I cannot afford to take her to specialized behavioural training and I don't think the rescue could afford it either. There are no other foster homes to switch her to who have more experience and my time is very limited every other week. I want her to be successfully adopted so I really want to help her with this. There was one potential adopter turned off by seeing her freak out when a dog in the distance walked down the street.
Right now I have a 1-2 year old border collie mix who was found as a stray running in a rural community. She was in good shape when found but was not claimed in the pound after the holding time. I was contacted to foster her so she would not be euthanized. She is such a sweet dog, wants to snuggle, wants to please, fast learning, loves playing. She's good with my cats, kids and dog. However she's very reactive to dogs outside and walking her is a nightmare as she lunges, snarls and barks like a maniac every time she notices another dog. I tried to positively reinforce and use gentle leaders but when we encounter a dog she gets so hyperfocused she can't be redirected and I literally have to drag her home while she freaks out. Due to this I am no longer walking her at a reasonable hour, which means less walks for her because when I work evenings I work until 12:30am and I'm up at 6am with my kids and she doesn't get a walk at all. She does get exercise, we have a good sized fenced yard where she plays with my dog but otherwise during my late week isn't leaving the property.
Any advice in this situation? I cannot afford to take her to specialized behavioural training and I don't think the rescue could afford it either. There are no other foster homes to switch her to who have more experience and my time is very limited every other week. I want her to be successfully adopted so I really want to help her with this. There was one potential adopter turned off by seeing her freak out when a dog in the distance walked down the street.