So she's ok with your dog, it's just ones she doesn't know?
I'd start very small and desensitise her to other dogs. Walk her places that she's not likely to encounter them, and very slowly expose her to other dogs - at a distance at first (and praise, reward, praise) and back off ... make it a very very short exposure - seconds at first if necessary... building up to minutes, then maybe a meet through the gate for a few seconds, building up very slowly over several months. If your dog is able to show it's safe to meet others and act in a non-threatened way that would be very useful to have along, but if your dog is overly excited or reactive in some way too then seperate them for this work.
If she shows any sign of stress it's time to stop the exposure - watch for all the ususal ones, licking, whining, lip curling, tense shoulders etc... let her get used to it stress free. It's going to take you months.
Yes, she's fine with my dog. When the woman brought her over we introduced the dogs by walking them together and they've gotten along since. That said my dog is very calm on his own to meet other dogs but whenever we foster if they get worked up, he'll bark so I don't think I'll be able to use him to help.
So far I have been doing what you suggest so hopefully it's just a matter of time before she's feeling more confident and showing improvements.
If you can, get a copy of Control Unleashed (http://controlunleashed.net/book.html) and read the section on Look At That. It helped my reactive dog immensely. The key is working under threshold though. You need to stay far enough away from a trigger while playing LAT, and then gradually decreasing the distance as her reactivity goes down.
Aww she reminds me of my little man with her little white paws!
My older girl was really reactive when we got her and I 100% second the Look at That game. It helps her SO much.
One of the biggest keys is to keep the dog under threshold, so far enough away that they are not going nuts, but close enough that they notice the other dog. Sometimes it requires simply turning and walking in a different direction to avoid another dog.
My instructor also used tug as a way to work her dog through fear and reactivity. So she got her really into tug and she soon learned to find the tug toy and play when she saw another dog.
Comments 4
I'd start very small and desensitise her to other dogs. Walk her places that she's not likely to encounter them, and very slowly expose her to other dogs - at a distance at first (and praise, reward, praise) and back off ... make it a very very short exposure - seconds at first if necessary... building up to minutes, then maybe a meet through the gate for a few seconds, building up very slowly over several months. If your dog is able to show it's safe to meet others and act in a non-threatened way that would be very useful to have along, but if your dog is overly excited or reactive in some way too then seperate them for this work.
If she shows any sign of stress it's time to stop the exposure - watch for all the ususal ones, licking, whining, lip curling, tense shoulders etc... let her get used to it stress free. It's going to take you months.
Reply
So far I have been doing what you suggest so hopefully it's just a matter of time before she's feeling more confident and showing improvements.
Reply
Reply
My older girl was really reactive when we got her and I 100% second the Look at That game. It helps her SO much.
One of the biggest keys is to keep the dog under threshold, so far enough away that they are not going nuts, but close enough that they notice the other dog. Sometimes it requires simply turning and walking in a different direction to avoid another dog.
My instructor also used tug as a way to work her dog through fear and reactivity. So she got her really into tug and she soon learned to find the tug toy and play when she saw another dog.
Reply
Leave a comment