# Recent reactivity to certain dogs



## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

Hi all. I haven't posted a question of my own in some time. Thor has been doing well, has calmed down quite a bit at 2 years old. We can't say he's 100 percent there yet, but he's great fun. He's sweet, usually very friendly to other dogs, gentle with puppies.
We go to a dog park sometimes and he always has a great time (we go at less busy times). He's never been anything other than friendly and goofy at the park.
Around our neighborhood he is also friendly to most dogs and has many old pals, but there are these couple of dogs from the same household who had been mean to him when he was younger (they were never allowed to greet but would bark or growl at him from across the street, lunging while their walker contained them and led them away and I took Thor in another direction). 
Well, now he starts barking his head off at those dogs as soon as he sees them, and what's worse, he does the same to a third dog from that household who is innocent of the whole thing, and he did the same today to another dog that looks like one of them. There is the bark he does when he's just trying to get the other dog's attention, but this is different, this is a "don't mess with me" bark. 
I need to address this issue! So far we've been trying to avoid each other, their walker and I, but this is clearly not enough if he's going to extend the behavior to other dogs.
Here is my plan, I'd like some feedback and other ideas if you have them:
I'm thinking I'll start by getting his attention, clicking and giving him treats for being quiet as soon as we see any dog at all, while still avoiding the dogs that set him off. When he's focusing on me when he sees any dog, I will take him out when those dogs are there (but not let him look at them directly) and follow the same procedure. When he's doing that well I will chance an encounter with the dogs in question (leashed of course) and when it happens I will put him on a sit, and start clicking and treating every few seconds as long as he's quiet. What are the holes in this plan? Please fire away!
A couple of clarifications: I don't need him to be friends with those dogs, just to ignore them from across the street! Also, Thor has been neutered for nearly a year. I don't think this has been a factor one way or another. Thanks for any advice!


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## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

The first phase of the plan is under way. This is the easy part since I'm only working with the dogs he doesn't react to anyway (the vast majority!). I would still love some input based on my original post.


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

If he's not reactive at all to other dogs, then I probably wouldn't do anything special around other dogs. Feeding him treats won't make him reactive, but then he might start getting all excited when he sees another dog. The main thing I've heard about dogs and reactivity is to avoid a tight leash. 

We have a cujo, a mastiff, that lives around the corner. The owners tie Cujo out in the front yard and Cujo barks at all the dogs that walk by. Cujo also barks at dogs from his backyard. Makes it kind of hard to get away from Cujo. Sometimes, particularly at night, the owners let Cujo out off leash. Three times Cujo has attacked Casper. The last time we saw Cujo at night, and he was on a walk, Casper barked at him. I think Casper was perfectly justified in barking, in fact, that's what barking is for. Casper was warning off Cujo.


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## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

I do agree with you that the barking is justified and it has sort of worked for him...


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## lloyddobler (Nov 30, 2014)

How are things going for you thorbreafortuna? I wish I had some suggestions for you, but am here looking for answers on what may work. Unfortunately, my dog is becoming reacting to nearly all dogs. It's a nightmare. I really hope your plan is working well for you!


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## DJdogman (Apr 23, 2013)

I hadn't seen this thread before. One of our boys was like this, but to all dogs unfortunately. Treats didn't help as he was in such a frenzy there was no amount of chicken/steak that would break him from it. We went to a trainer who showed us a simple "flick" of the lead. You hold the lead taut and just flick your hand up and down, it gives a little jerk and snaps the dog out of the frenzy. At first he needed quite hard jerks, but gradually he needed only a tiny little movement of the lead and he would behave.
Also make sure you are in between him and the other dogs, even if you are on opposite sides of the road to the other dog. They don't feel as open and threatened that way.



lloyddobler said:


> How are things going for you thorbreafortuna? I wish I had some suggestions for you, but am here looking for answers on what may work. Unfortunately, my dog is becoming reacting to nearly all dogs. It's a nightmare. I really hope your plan is working well for you!


I truly know this feeling and it brought me to tears. Try what our trainer suggested above. Another thing was to feed him his kibble throughout the day from your pocket, not from a bowl. This makes him put all his attention on you. If he is hungry going for a walk and he knows you are his only method of getting food, he will behave a lot quicker. This, combined with the lead flick, made our walks much more enjoyable and he is now a very well behaved boy.


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## lloyddobler (Nov 30, 2014)

Hi DJdogman. Thank you for sharing your story. Was your dog also aggressive? IE, would you fear he would bite or fight another dog if given the chance? I believe my dog would since he got into a fight off leash once and has nipped towards other dogs that got too close to him while on leash recently. It was more or less an air nip or warning to the other dog, but I have no doubt it would escalate if the other dog didn't back away or I didn't get him out of there... 

I'm now trying to ensure that we keep a safe distance from all other dogs and considering a muzzle to ensure everyone is safe. However, there are always those times when a dog seems to come out of nowhere or pops around a corner and I need to ensure I react appropriately to help my dog react appropriately. 

I wonder if a leash pop to a dog who is truly aggressive would make them more reactive or if would redirect them in the way it did for your dog?

I use a harness (easy walker type) on my dog, so I don't believe it would work unless I switched to a regular collar. What type of collar did you use?

Thanks again!


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## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

Hi everyone
I am sorry I haven't responded, I missed the new posts in the thread until today. The plan seems to be working. He was able to sit and look at me for a treat while one of the dogs in question walked fairly close to him. The trick is I still have to spot the dog before he does and gain his attention first. And this was with the nice one, which makes the exercise safer because she doesn't growl or bark at him. With the two that really are dog aggressive I haven't gotten to practice much because I think avoiding is still best since they are more likely to justify his fear by growling and lunging. I got him to calm down and look at me for a treat when he saw one of those the other day. He initially did bark but stopped quickly. We continue to work on this but I think it's looking promising. Also I'm happy to say that he continues to be friendly with all other dogs, my biggest fear was that he'd start to transfer that response to more and more dogs and this has not been the case.


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## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

lloyddobler said:


> How are things going for you thorbreafortuna? I wish I had some suggestions for you, but am here looking for answers on what may work. Unfortunately, my dog is becoming reacting to nearly all dogs. It's a nightmare. I really hope your plan is working well for you!



I do hope you find some answers! I think in our case it was easier because there was a clear reason that I could identify behind the behavior, and it has not been generalized.


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## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

DJdogman said:


> Also make sure you are in between him and the other dogs, even if you are on opposite sides of the road to the other dog. They don't feel as open and threatened that way


YES! This has been the key to getting the progress I haven been getting, it makes a huge difference!


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