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- Tackling Reactivity [CORE COURSE]
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Lesson 1
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Lesson 2
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Lesson 3
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Lesson 4
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Lesson 5
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Lesson 6
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Lesson 7
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Lesson 8
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Lesson 9
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Specific Types Of Reactivity
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Wrapping It Up
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Part II
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Gail Dog Owner
Millie is a cross breed and is 1/3 German Shepherd. She has always been a very nervous dog. I employed the services of a behaviourist because I had never had such a nervous dog and she suggested I let Millie greet every dog we encountered which I think made things more difficult. Also she has a completely black face and has been attacked a couple of times by other dogs.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Yes, I would not recommend to let dogs greet every other dog they come across, especially on leash. It can quickly turn into either extreme excitement whenever they see a dog, or frustration/reactivity when they are unable to get to another dog – in addition, not every dog wants to closely meet other dogs.
I think it is totally ok if they rather keep to themselves and don’t want to meet. In my eyes, the most important thing we can do is to make sure nobody oversteps their boundaries, and nobody approaches them closer than they are ok with. Many shy dogs become a lot better once they understand that they don’t have to worry about their personal space being invaded.
And I am really sorry about the attacks! Poor Millie 🙁 Hopefully we can help her feel calmer soon 🙂
Louisa Dog Owner
I have a 13 month old Tervuren boy (Jet). As a baby he was uncomfortable with people but fantastic with other dogs. Over the last few months he has improved with people (still has more work to do in this area though) but has become quite reactive to other dogs when he is on leash. He is still good with other dogs when he gets to them. I think he is mostly frustrated that he can’t get to the other dog to play with them and he is unsure what he should be doing instead.
My 5 year old belgian was extremely fearful and reactive as a young dog but she is much better now. I think Jet will improve as he matures too but I don’t want to let the problem get any worse.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Yes I agree – reactivity can easily develop from frustration. I am glad to hear that your 5yo Belgian improved so much! Keep working with Jet and I am sure he will get there as well 🙂
Elizabeth Dog Owner
My son moved home with a dog, a pitbull mix named Lola. She is very excitable and if I leave for work (back at work some days, hooray) and come home, she starts jumping on me. She jumps on my one friend who is allowed to visit during COVID times. She is constantly barking whenever there is a car driving down the street, when the mailman is passing by… if a car idles in our driveway, it’s a nightmare. She is also very reactive to other dogs. My son had gotten her from a friend, who got her from another friend and it’s my understanding that in her first home, she was attacked by the other dogs, and in her second home, the neighbors had a dog that also went after her.
I have not done any training with her, but I am hopeful that with hard work we can get to a point where I am not muted in meetings all the time due to her barking, and where we can take a walk without having to turn and flee anytime we encounter another dog.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
I am sorry about the barking – that can be really stressful and difficult to work around!
To me it sounds like the reactivity and jumping are two separate issues. As for the jumping, I would recommend to change the expectation Lola has when you or your friend come inside – instead of making it into a greeting for Lola, ignore her for a while. That way she starts to not expect a “party” to start as soon as you get home. If she already enters the situation less frantic, it will be much easier to reward her for less jumping.
You can also give her something to chew, like a filled and frozen Kong, every time you get home – that way she will start to expect a calm chewing time rather than a big welcome party.
As for the reactivity-based barking – I hope that the tips in this class will be useful! Let me know how it goes 🙂
SARAH Dog Owner
I have a 2yr old Blue heeler beagle x, he is great with other dogs off leash but while walking on lease he is reactive when passing with out enough space. Lunges and barks at the other dog, does not become aggressive but it is still very annoying!
He is not reactive to people walking on their own.
If he is off leash at the dog park he just runs up to other dogs he encounters and tries to play…no barking
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
That’s actually a very common occurrence – dogs are fine as long as they have space and no restrictions but become difficult when they have the (physical and body-language) restrictions that come with leash walking. Hopefully this course will be able to help 🙂
Selina Dog Owner
We check all the boxes. Pulsar is a 2.5 yr old Aussiedoodle. As a puppy we exposed him to a lot of things, but I now realised that we did not make sure that he has positive associations with these things. I felt like there are a few events that might have cause additional issues: meeting a dog he played with often in a park inside our garage; a kid in the park behind our yard that started barking at him. He was sick a lot as a puppy so we never had a lot of people come over when he was young and showered him with treats, which we did with our older dog, so he’s wary of people as well and we don’t understand his herding/nipping instincts with people. The first time we realised we have serious issues on hand was when he lunged at a bus, on a street we have walked on many times, seemingly out of the blue. On top of all this our older dog (6.5yr) while easy to redirect, often reacts first and causes Pulsar to react. We have been working with them separately.
I have never heard of reactivity until Pulsar started having issues. Learning so much because of him.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
First of all – I love the name Pulsar! So cool. I think that all of the events you mention are likely contributors to the reactivity. Hopefully we can help make it better with the course!
Richard Dog Owner
My dog is a rescue beagle (Cooper). He is a very active younger dog–1-2 years old is best guess. He has been introduced to our household where we already have 2 other beagles. We have now had him a month and I would say the 3 dogs now get along fine (the older one sometimes has enough of his antics and will chastise him but otherwise it’s going really well). The big issue for Cooper is he is highly leash reactive–mainly for dogs. He will lunch, bark, pull, etc.–basically uncontrollable. This happens on walks, going to PetSmart (he is in training class there and goes once a week to doggie daycare for socialization). I have tried many things all not working and probably some that are just not good practices (water bottle). He is not fearful of the other dogs–he wants to go see them and play. In daycamp or at a dog park, he is the life of the party–having fun with everyone–no reactivity at all. Just when on a leash. I am hoping this course will help. I have invested in a new harness to help with pulling and am looking at some supplements that might help him focus. Treats work sometimes–but once he gets agitated it takes a while for him to calm down. If on a walk, I have had to just stop and sit with him and allow him to chill out–and then usually the rest of the walk goes better–even if there is another dog (not always though).
Any suggestions are welcome. Looking forward to the class.
RJM
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Hi RJM,
Leash reactivity is really common and often found in isolation – the dogs are not reactive at all when not on leash. I think that working through this class and implementing the approaches to decrease the general excitement level of Cooper while on leash, and also around dogs, will help. A good thing is that Beagles are typically VERY interested in food and sniffing so I think the exercises will be useful in establishing an alternative mind set for him 🙂
Linda Dog Owner
Gussy is a 7-year old Papillion (not sure if pure). I got him at 4 months from life on a farm, where he had virtually no socialization – was just left to wonder outside with the other dogs. At the time, he was fearful of all people and dogs – including me. He is great with people now – I gave everyone we met a handful of treats to share with him. Most of his reactivity with dogs is on leash – like many others, but also off leash, depending on the situation and dog. If he knows the dog, he if fine. If he doesn’t, he may go after it. He can go to doggy daycare with absolutely no problem though. He also competes in agility and while I keep a close eye on him when other dogs he doesn’t know are near, he is pretty good. On walks however, he barks, howls, and lunges to get to dogs. He knows where the neighbourhood dogs are and begins reacting before I even see them – he can sense that they are outside, before we can see them and starts whining and pulling. The closer we get, the higher he elevates – adds in barking etc. When walking, I always cross the street as soon as I see another dog coming near. That distance is good, but you can still tell he is upset. It really does seem like a fear of unknown dogs. His attitude seems to be – I will eat you before you eat me. For years, I tried bombarding him with treats when another dog was too close, but it never really helped. The past 2 years, I’ve just done my best to avoid other dogs as much as possible while we are walking. The problem with that though is that now my young Cavalier (Kenna) is reacting to his reactions. When she and I walk alone, she is as calm as can be and easily walks by other dogs. When they are together though, she now goes crazy lunging and barking. Hers seems more happy though. Regardless, I really don’t want her taking on his bad habits and I’d really like to reduce Gussy’s (and my) stress.
Linda Dog Owner
Gussy is a 7-year old Papillion (not sure if pure). I got him at 4 months from life on a farm, where he had virtually no socialization – was just left to wonder outside with the other dogs. At the time, he was fearful of all people and dogs – including me. He is great with people now – I gave everyone we met a handful of treats to share with him. Most of his reactivity with dogs is on leash – like many others, but also off leash, depending on the situation and dog. If he knows the dog, he if fine. If he doesn’t, he may go after it. He can go to doggy daycare with absolutely no problem though. He also competes in agility and while I keep a close eye on him when other dogs he doesn’t know are near, he is pretty good. On walks however, he barks, howls, and lunges to get to dogs. He knows where the neighbourhood dogs are and begins reacting before I even see them – he can sense that they are outside, before we can see them and starts whining and pulling. The closer we get, the higher he elevates – adds in barking etc. When walking, I always cross the street as soon as I see another dog coming near. That distance is good, but you can still tell he is upset. It really does seem like a fear of unknown dogs. His attitude seems to be – I will eat you before you eat me. For years, I tried bombarding him with treats when another dog was too close, but it never really helped. The past 2 years, I’ve just done my best to avoid other dogs as much as possible while we are walking. The problem with that though is that now my young Cavalier (Kenna) is reacting to his reactions. When she and I walk alone, she is as calm as can be and easily walks by other dogs. When they are together though, she now goes crazy lunging and barking. Hers seems more happy though. Regardless, I really don’t want her taking on his bad habits and I’d really like to reduce Gussy’s (and my) stress. Sorry if this posted twice. I was not logged in the first time.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Gussy has had quite the story, but it sounds like you guys have been working together a lot already!
The fact that he is so reactive to the neighborhood dogs will actually come in very handy in this training. One of the biggest challenges can be to set up predictable situations for our counterconditioning/desensitization sessions. We want to be able to expose the dog to his triggers, but in a low enough intensity so that the dog can still eat and make positive associations. If you have those dogs right around the corner, we will be able to make a lot of progress with consistent sessions in which he does not cross his threshold.
Please keep me updated on your progress!
Linda Dog Owner
Thanks Steffi,
Yes, it is good that we have “know” places where there are consistently dogs that are either behind fences or on balconies, so the situation is controlled, but available. He is such a sweet, loving boy now, I really would like to ease his stress around other dogs. I had pretty much just given up and tried to just keep distance, but that doesn’t always work. I’m looking forward to trying again.
Estefania Dog Owner
Im not sure how to write my own comment but my dogs bark at any person they do not know as well as other dogs and they did have some situations that happened about 3 times where other dogs come running up to them and since my chihuahuas are small they get pretty scared of big dogs so they all started barking and whining as if they got bitten but they did not , now they are scared of any dog and automatically start barking/wanting to bite them ):
Élise SpiritDog Trainer Team
Hey Estefania,
Thank you for joining us!
I’m sorry to hear about those incidents. Very scary for sure 🙁
IT sounds like this course will be a great match to help your dogs feel more comfortable and safe around triggers.
To post a question, you can go to the bottom of any of the lessons and comment. Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions you may have along the way.
Looking forward to seeing you and your dogs progress trough the course!
Estefania Dog Owner
Thank you ! How would I train if I have 3 dogs, it’s kind of hard to do it and another issue is that they fight over their food/ bones
Élise SpiritDog Trainer Team
Definitely be trickier with multiples dogs but definitely doable! I would work with each dog separately 🙂 You can give the dogs who are not working a break in another room with a chew or a kong.
It’s definitely more work having to practice with each individual dog but will make a huge difference in the long run!
Wendy Dog Owner
My girl Storm is a border collie and I started seeing signs in her as young as 3.5 months old. Unfortunately she started off with some bad experiences with meeting other dogs. Then she was not meeting many people yet as it was discovered that she had Coccidia (? Sorry for spelling). So she wasn’t off to a good start with early socialization. I also believe she is fearful and worst when outside her home (leash). I believe helping her with these fears and building her confidence will help her. It is very weird as I can have my boyfriend’s sister over who is loud and very animated and Storm will be all over her. This is because she ignores her and doesn’t give her eye contact.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Aww, poor Storm! Negative experiences as puppies are hard, and missing out on socializing due to illness (whether human or dog!) is not easy. I am glad you found this course, I hope we can make her feel less fearful and more confident around other dogs and people 🙂
Kimberly Dog Owner
I believe Violet (approx. 7 years old, a Bichon/Japanese Chin/Maltese mix, if you believe Wisdom Panel ????) missed out on critical socialization. I adopted her about four years ago. She was surrendered to a shelter at approximately 3 years old and came from a house with four or five other, similar (related) dogs. It’s my understanding that the previous owners didn’t take them out into the world. She actually has always been great on a leash (from the perspective of allowing it and not pulling), but I think she was never properly exposed to the outside world with one on.
She is fine (if a little pushy for her small size) with dogs if she’s *not* on a leash. She goes to a small day care that focuses exclusively on small dogs and loves it. On a leash, if she sees a dog she hasn’t met up close, she spins and barks. (She does not do this if it’s a dog she knows.). If allowed to greet (which I RARELY do), she jumps at a dog’s face if she’s on a leash.
Weirdly, if the OTHER dog is not on a leash, but she is, she’s also usually fine. Her body language is a little stiffer and her tail a little higher than I think is ideal, but she does relax and then move to sniffing the other dog and letting them sniff her.
She is an anxious dog (has separation anxiety managed by fluoxetine and day care). I think she lacks confidence overall, which is something I’m always trying to build for her.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
That indeed sounds like critical socialization didn’t happen at her previous home. It is great that she does alright at the daycare and off-leash. The more specific a dog’s area of reactivity is, the better we can plan and set up our counterconditioning sessions. I hope this course will be useful – let me know how it goes for Violet!
Nicki Dog Owner
Excited to start this course! I got Mocha when he was 1.5 years old at the Humane Society and have had some issues with leash reactivity of lunging and barking. He is currently 2.5. I did a DNA test on him and he is Lhasa Apso/Yorkie/Jack Russell Terrier.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Such a fun cross 🙂 I hope the course will be helpful! Let us know how it goes 🙂
Auguste Dog Owner
Hi Steffi,
I have a 2 year old chihuaha/terrier mix rescue, his name is Watson! He is such a sweet boy…only around comfortable people and places. I have a big problem with him attacking visitors he has not met at home. He has once run out of my apartment and attacked the pizza delivery man. Since then, he has lunged, barked (in a mean way), and tries to bite visitors / strangers. He has also lunged, barked aggressively, etc at people in hallways, coming in and out of elevators, and in the car. It’s been quite stressful and have been trying many things with him. I’m not sure what to do in these situations.
Best, Auguste
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
I am sorry to hear Watson is so uncomfortable, and sorry about the attacks – that is always scary 🙁 I hope that the course will help to make him feel better. As you will see in the lessons, my approach is less how to fix situations when the dog is already over the threshold (because that’s often impossible!) and more how to set up increasingly close situations that keep the dog under the threshold and let him build a new Conditioned Emotional Response there.
Reilley Dog Owner
We are very excited to start this course. We recently got a 4-year old Alaskan Malamute (Freyja) who struggle a lot with over-stimulation. She struggles with walks and other dogs specifically. Her reactions tend to come off as pushy and annoying to other dogs which can sometimes lead to fights (she has never instigated, but is the larger of the dogs involved and definitely wins any arguments). We have found the more time she is around other dogs, she is able to relax and accept their existence and spends the next week or so less over-stimulated. We are getting a puppy in about a month so we are hoping that will help her. Until then (and after), we want to help her learn how to handle over-stimulation and help us learn how to help her with that.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Glad to have you on board! Let us know how it goes and feel free to ask questions under the lessons. Definitely a breed whose actions can be misinterpreted by other dogs they have quite a high body tension and can come off as pretty intense just by their body language. Have fun working through the course! 🙂
Sarah Dog Owner
My now 13 month old Irish Wolfhound/Labrador became reactive during covid lockdown.
Before lockdown as a young puppy, she was friendly with all dogs and most people.
Now, she is reactive to all dogs, but ESPECIALLY small dogs. I strongly believe the small dogs part is because when she was socialising as a puppy, the ones that were reactive to her were always small dogs. Her behaviour to other dogs in general, I believe she developed from her adopted older brother who reacts to just about anything that moves that isn’t me, my pup or my two sisters. Even birds outside set him off.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Yes, often small dogs are more reactive (I believe because their reactivity is easier to manage and so owners don’t always bother as much to fix it …). Do you think that the reaction to bird is “just” motion-induced excitement or also reactivity?
Nicole Dog Owner
I have an 11.5 year old long-haired miniature dachshund with a BIG bark. He has been reactive since I adopted him at 4 months old. He’s a barker and likes to lunge, mostly at other dogs. Very rarely does he lunge at people. He is definitely an anxious dog with little man syndrome. Once he gets used to a dog he’s fine, but it would be nice not to have to continuously cross the street every time there is a dog coming my way!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Aww yes, not uncommon, the little men with a big bark. Hopefully this course will work well for him!
Lisa Dog Owner
We adopted a dog (not sure of breed) from the SPCA during March right when shelter in place started. She is somewhere between 1 and 2. She didn’t get to meet or see many other dogs or people during that time. Now she has become quite reactive when walking on a leash. We took her to a national park this past weekend and it was horrible. She lunged and growl barked at other dogs and people on the trail. She especially lunges and jumps at children and men. On one part of the trail it wasn’t wide enough to keep her away from this man and she lunged at him and took his water bottle right out of his hand! She dropped it and then lunged and snapped at his hand. It was the most stressful experience ever. I said I would not ever walk her in a public place again. Now I am afraid to have anyone come over the house!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
I am so sorry about the experience 🙁 That does sound scary and super stressful indeed. I really hope this course will help – let me know how it goes!
Lisa Dog Owner
I think she missed the socialization window, and may have had a traumatic experience (s). Since she’s a rescue we will never know.
Susan Dog Owner
I adopted my mixed breed dog Edith at age three. She’d had an extremely limited start to her life (confined to one room and just let outside in a yard) so it sort of blew her mind when we brought her home and started walking her on the sidewalk and she saw other dogs and people. At first it was great and she was very easy going, but as she got acclimated and bonded to us, she became extremely protective and aggressive toward other dogs. I think she feels like she’s on guard dog duty when she’s with us, because she does not display this behavior when walking with a trainer. She also patrols the front windows of the house and gets agitated when dogs walk past on the sidewalk. I’m hoping to reduce these behaviors so that walking her isn’t so stressful with trying to avoid other dogs at every moment.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Hi Susan,
I am so sorry that Edith had such a rough start in life. She is so very lucky to have you now and her life really turned around 🙂 It happens rather frequently that dogs do not show us a lot of behaviors right after being adopted, and they gradually come through as the dog settles in. In my opinion this is because at first all emotional resources are used up for just “dealing”. As the dog becomes more and more familiar and relaxed, we see other behaviors pop up.
Dogs do often show this type of only being reactive with their owner (or only being *that* reactive and much better with others). The dog, Brodie, in the videos in this course actually was exactly like this as well – much much better with me and much more difficult with his owner.
I wouldn’t say it is so much a guarding thing for all dogs as a situational association as well – you will see in the comments under some lessons that a lot of students’ dogs actually go to daycare just fine, but react intensely to dogs when they see them e.g. on walks. Not all reactivity is shown in all situations – so some dogs are very reactive in one situation that they have prior associations in, and not reactive in another one.
I hope the lessons are useful! Don’t hesitate to ask any questions 🙂
Rachel Dog Owner
I just adopted a one year old dog one month ago and found out she’s an Australian Cattle Dog/German Shepherd/Border Collie/Chihuaha mix (with lots of other things too). She is very reactive to most dogs and I think it is definitely fear based. When I took her to the dog park the very first time, she hid in the corner and cried and cowered. But on a leash, she’s aggressive with other dogs. I don’t know her history, so it’s hard to know if she had a traumatic event. But I’m sure it has something to do with her breeds as well like you said.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
It is quite common for dogs to show a very different type of reactivity on-leash vs off-leash. Or even (as you will see in some comments) being friendly off-leash and reactive on-leash. The breeds in her mix are rather high-strung so this definitely can contribute to the general disposition around other dogs. And with adopted dogs of course we never quite know what happened before in their life!
katie Dog Owner
I adopted 2 dogs beginning of April 2020. My female mixed breed Gypsy (german shep, min pin, pit, etcc) is the sweetest most loving dog, but she will attack and jump at any dog smaller than her. She has attacked 2 small dogs, one she left a bite on that thankfully recovered. I’m not sure how/why she developed this but I really want to correct it so we can go to dog parks, hikes etc…and also not have to worry she will hurt another dog
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
I am sorry, it is always stressful and difficult to have a reactive dog that has a history of going after other dogs. I hope this course will be useful! Let me know if you have any questions, and don’t be shy to post under the lessons … everyone here has the same issue, and we all work together towards having our dogs be friendlier and calmer 🙂
Sarah Dog Owner
My dog is a Bull Arab, he might be around 6-7 years old. He is a hunting type dog, used to hunts pigs in the bush mainly. My difficulty is I have not idea why he reacts as he is a rescue dog. He was surrendered to the RSPCA in 2016 and I have not back ground information as all, aside from he was not desexed until arriving at the shelter. I would guess that some one has put in some time with him, to train him to follow his natural instincts and chase things and then I assume too that he would have been kept with quite a few dogs, possibly with pack aggressive issue, but at the end of the day, its all just assumption. I am sure that a lot of people with rescue dogs end up in this situation with reactivity, it is unfortunate as it makes a simple dog walk so stressful. I would like to not have to cross the road every time I see another dog and to be able to let my dog off leash and know he would chase down anything that moves
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Yes, with rescue dogs it can be really tricky as we have no idea what might have happened or caused their reactions! Unfortunately, most of them do not end up in rescue because they had a perfect life and then very unlucky circumstances happened such as the owner passing away (thought I actually had someone in exactly this situation … and her rescued dog was also very reactive!). Often, their prior life wasn’t so perfect and some mistakes in training and management were made which made behavior worse over time until rehoming happened. But, as you said – we will never know for sure! Let’s focus on what we can do in the present and future 🙂
I hope that the course will be helpful 🙂
Lindsay Dog Owner
I’m looking at rescuing a tripawd pitty mix and he’s developed dog reactivity from being at the shelter for so long (he’s been there 1.5 years). He responds well to other commands and because he wasn’t always like this I think he can get better. I hope it can anyway and I hope I’m the one who can do that.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Thank you for considering rescuing <3 Please let us know how it goes. 1.5 years is a really long time in a shelter ...
Leigh Dog Owner
Koda is our 6yo GSD/Husky cross who we have had since a puppy. We thought we had socialisation covered but I think we eased off during the fear period. He seems to be leash reactive (pulling and barking) to some dogs and people which has only just become more apparent since our other dog passed away aged 15 last year but he’s totally fine with some friends dogs.. He also barks at visitors as we didn’t really have many people round when he was a pup. He’s okay with the friends I go dog walking with and will allow them to pet him. I would say he has certainly improved since we started trying to tackle it earlier on in the year, I can actually hold a conversation with people in the street which I couldn’t have done before as he would bark at them. Looking forward to getting started.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Selective reactivity is very common (being fine with friends’ dogs – being reactive with unknown dogs), in fact I would say that all dogs are selective in their reactivity to some extend and react more strongly to certain dogs than others. It is good that your dog likes friends’ dogs already – and also that you have already reduced the barking at people in the streets – that is a big one!
I hope this course will be useful to further help Koda feel more relaxed. Let me know if you have any questions 🙂
christi Dog Owner
Just over a week ago we adopted Hurley from our humane society. He’s a German Shepherd mix (possibly Shar Pei) and about 2 years old. His history is spotty, but we were told he was picked up as a stray when he was about 1 by animal contol and then later moved to the humane society. He was altered a month ago and then adopted to a family who returned him a week later because he did not do well with their cats. He’s highly reactive to other animals, mostly dogs, but does great with people. Just by applying some techniques from the blogs, he’s already showing some improvement. We believe he can get over his fears and are looking forward to this training series to help.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Thank you for adopting Hurley! I am glad that the techniques from the blogs already helped 🙂 Poor guy has been through a lot already in his short life! I hope we can help him be more comfortable and relaxed 🙂
[email protected] Dog Owner
My dogs react to the noise of the children next door. They have money bars and climbing equipment which is on our fence line. . The children are 4 and 5 and have high pitched voices when excited. The older one can bark whenever she hears them (she is 12 so if asleep often doesn’t react until they get really loud ). The younger one usually only starts when they get close to the fence. I have done work with treats and as long as I am there feeding them they are distracted. The children were heard saying that if they make the dogs bark then I will come out to them and I will then talk to them (the children). It is hard while we are in lockdown. If I hear the children in the back yard I try and keep the dogs inside or take them for a walk. There are other things that set them off but this is the one I am concerned about most at present.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Oh man, I am sorry! That is not easy to solve especially since the children seem to plan on it … I would try some YouTube videos of kids yelling/singing/etc. in low volumes for the beginning counterconditioning process.
Kirsty Dog Owner
Love the idea of you tube videos
Of noises of children ! Definitely going to give this a go 👍🏼
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Let me know how it goes!
Amanda Dog Owner
Thank you for this intro video! Speaks volumes I think for what could be the potential causes for our girl Sophie.
We adopted her about a month and a half ago on July 26, 2020. In the first few weeks of walking her, she was great on the leash. She didn’t care about people or other dogs. She was very well behaved. Then she slowly became a little more reactive on walks, barking and whining. Perhaps because she was becoming more comfortable with us and her surroundings?
We had an instance where we were walking on the road on our neighborhood loop and a dog charged us from his yard (they have one of those electric dog fences) and that really startled Sophie. A few weeks ago, we were on a hike and some bikers passed us, from behind and I think that frightened her as she barked and lunged.
Things have gotten progressively worse since then, she now crosses threshold when she sees people even, and I honestly dread our walks. We were taking late night walks to avoid people/dog and have now been changing our route. I don’t want that for her. I was very upset because I thought I had done something wrong and let her down. I really appreciated this video!
Your other two points apply for Soph as well. She’s an Aussie mix, so there’s that. And with her being adopted (she will be 3 next month), we don’t know how she was socialized (or not socialized). We were told she came from a farm, but that’s all we really know.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
This happens very frequently with rescue dogs: They start out rather neutral with everything (people, dogs, certain situations, sounds etc.) and as they warm up, we see more and more of their personality – and also their triggers.
I am really sorry that Sophie got startled by the neighborhood dog. That can certainly be the start of reactive responses (even if nothing “happened” from our view point – for the dog it is very scary!)
I really hope the class will be helpful in making her feel safer and happier 🙂 Let me know how it goes, and ask questions whenever you have any!
Ashley Dog Owner
Hi! Thank you for this video. I really needed to hear your take on guilt, as I have been feeling it recently. I recently adopted Pepper who is a Labrador Retriever, mixed. I have a suspicion that he may have some German Shepard in him, but we do not know for sure. He is almost three years old.
Pepper came to us with some behaviors due to a prior suspected abuse situation. When he is at home with his family, he is the most calm, gentle, playful dog you have ever met!! However, there are behaviors that I am noting when it comes to anything out of the ordinary. If he hears a noise outside that isn’t typical, he will often begin barking half heartedly. If his suspicion that there is something different outside is confirmed (specifically a person he does not know), he will begin barking at them. He is most challenged when meeting new people, as he is fearful of them and often barks or lunges at them. We have been working with this and it has been getting better. He settles down faster and focuses on me to work with him instead of constantly barking at the new person, which is a HUGE step compared to where he was when we first met him.
There are additional behaviors that have developed, such as fearful reactivity to new objects (mailboxes were the main thing until recently), barking when startled, lunging at passing cars (I suspect that he thinks the car will hurt me and is trying to protect me), similar guarding issues in a variety of places (food has been getting better, but his car is another place), every once in awhile fence fighting, and leash fighting (the later two I believe it is because he feels taunted by the other dogs and he can’t greet them properly, as when he is off-leash at the dog park, he gets along with others just fine).
I am going to continue through this training, but if there are any beginning tips, I would very much appreciate anything offered!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Funny, I actually trained with a local reactive Lab mix named Pepper back in 2018!
Yes, please don’t feel guilt over your dog’s behavior. If anything, I have found that many owners of reactive dogs are very educated in dog behavior, proactive in managing their dog’s actions etc. It can have a lot of impact on your life to own a reactive dog, and guilt in addition to this is the last thing you need 🙂
It sounds like Pepper is generally pretty high-strung. I think that the sniffing lesson will be helpful. As a Lab, he will probably also be a fan of the chewing lesson 🙂 Let me know how it goes and please ask if you have any questions!
Candace Dog Owner
My boy Ori (husky/german shepherd) has always been on the suspicious side, I suspect from his genetics, but it didn’t get out of control until we moved from a quiet house in a spread out neighborhood with a backyard that was “his place” to an apartment a few months ago due to drastically changed financial situation. At first he was okay, but I think the fact that people and dogs pop up out of no where, there’s ALWAYS at least one dog barking, and the general unpredictability of this new environment (not to mention no longer having an outdoor space that’s just his) has caused the sudden increase in reactivity. Unless something unexpected happens, we’ll be in an apartment for the next year, so I’m really, really hoping I can find some way to help ease his stress and anxiety levels. He’s such a loving, cuddly, caring dog with me and my mastiff mix — I just want him to feel safe enough to be that way with others, too.
Guilt is definitely something I’m struggling with, but I also know we’re in the best, safest place we could be and that I’m willing to put in the work to give him his best life!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome 🙂 And for you as well – don’t feel guilty! He sure is very lucky to have you and we will try to help him feel less stressed.
I agree that Ori sounds like he might have some genetic suspicion – and moves and sudden changes of environment can always lead to increase in sensitivity and reactivity in dogs. I hope that we are able to help him feel better with this course! Let me know how it goes, and feel free to ask any questions you might have.
Jade Dog Owner
I rescued a Cattle Dog x ? Staffy ten days ago and named him Freckles. He’s about 20 months old. Lucky enough to know his history. He grew up with 3 dogs and one started to target him. He didn’t know what to do so started to growl. The owners gave him to a friend who was under prepared and he became destructive. Now on walks he can be very reactive. On the 4th day I had him he was jumping so much he got out of his harness. He’s already settling, very overexcited, not necessarily aggressive. Walks pretty good on a loose leash, and I’ve found pulling the leash in tight makes him worse. Looking forward to the course.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome, and what a cute name, Freckles 🙂 Being targeted by another dog most likely started the reactivity, yes … that’s pretty crazy he jumped out of his harness! Are you using a backup going forward? For some escape artist dogs I trained with, we always had a carabiner clipped into the harness and collar, or front and back of a harness. Let me know how the course goes, and ask if you have any questions 🙂
Amanda Dog Owner
I have a Cane Corso mix that I rescued and since I got him at 3 months of age he has been leash reactive especially towards other dogs And a high pray drive. Other then the fact of him not getting socialized properly before I got him because they just left him alone to his own devices and didn’t take him out I don’t know what else could have happened to him as a puppy. I started socializing the first day I got him with people animals and inanimate objects and showing him that things he hasn’t seen before isn’t all that scary. Which helped with people. But nothing I have done has helped him much with dogs while on leash. Off leash he plays happily with other dogs without issue though. We’ve worked him so he isn’t like reactive with people any more. But with people he meets he goes all weird and jumpy and then chews and rips up grass and play jumps whenever they go to pet him. Which to me is a nervous reaction. He doesn’t bark growl or lunge at people any more though but this other reaction I don’t think is good either. I’ve been trying to work on him to calm him down first before allowing him to greet people but I haven’t found something that works. He is a guard breed and so he wants to make himself known. He’s only 5 months now but walks are terrible when it comes to seeing another dog. He’s less reactive now working with him with dogs behind chain link fences but when the other dog is also walking forget it. He loses it no matter what I do to try and prevent it. When I saw your online training I thought it might help me help him because as of right now money isn’t an option I have to spend $800+ On behavior training. I wish I did though. But finding the right trainer that actually helps instead of worsen the issue isn’t easy to find either. I already lost $180 on a trainer who said they could help and all they did was waste my time and money and make it worse for me to control him at the end. So I thank you for offering this course.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome 🙂 I agree, it can be very tricky to find the right trainer for reactivity. I have found that many training programs do not take the difference between classical and operant conditioning into account that I explain in one of the next lessons. They attempt to reward the dog for “being calm” and use timeouts or punishments for crossing the threshold, and it often does not work at all.
Leash reactivity as you mentioned is very common and if you read through the comments on the lessons here, you will find that many other owners are in exactly the same boat: Dogs are fine off-leash (or even just off-leash at eg the doggy daycare) but not good at all once some kind of boundary (like a leash) is added.
I hope we can help your dog – please let me know how it goes and ask any questions you might have 🙂
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Poor August! I cannot believe they just put down a bowl for the week-old puppies to feed themselves. It is mindblowing to me that that the puppies survived that!!
It definitely sounds like she has some scary experiences such as with the man smacking her ( 🙁 ) at the park and the Malamute charging at you.
I really hope we can help her feel more relaxed with this class! Let me know how it goes, and please ask any questions you might have 🙂
Erika Dog Owner
I have two dogs – a 3 year old Catahoula that I’ve had for 2 years and a 2 year old Mountain Cur (?) who I’ve had for 7 months. The Catahoula was fine with most dogs, and leash reactive to just a few when I first got her, but I lived in an area where people would constantly let their off leash dogs run up to us on walks. At one point she was bitten, and this is when she became reactive to virtually all dogs on leash. I think the cur just learned it from her as I often have to take them out together (and I want to be able to take them out together!). I think that we would be in a much better place if I had started out living in an area where people leashed their dogs.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! A dog bite unfortunately often is the starting point of reactivity. I am sorry this happened 🙁 And I agree – dogs can definitely learn from other dogs to be reactive. Since you will be working with both dogs in this class, make sure to train them separately at first – it is impossible to be a great teacher for two dogs at once. It will be a bit more work, but of course the result will be twice as good when both make progress in their reactivity 🙂
Let me know how it goes, and feel free to ask any questions you might have 🙂
Katarina Dog Owner
Dear Steffi,
We got our doggo Mino who is a mixed-breed, 8kg, 3.5 year old rescue dog 5 months ago. When we took him, we were aware of his “dislike” of other dogs – whenever he sees a dog he is barking and lunging at them (not in 100% of cases, but 99.5% so almost always). However, as we live close to the airport and train station we noticed very soon that he also “dislikes” trains and in particular loud transporting objects (garbage trucks, loud motorcycles, busses, trams, etc.). But only on trains, he reacts in basically 100% of cases – sometimes even when he only hears the train and does not really see it but seeing it is a much greater trigger for him to start barking and lunging. Apart from that, my biggest worry is that whenever outside he has a feeling that he needs to look out for everything, he is now pulling less than before but still pulling, his ears are always straight and his tail high and wagging. Sometimes it’s so dramatic that when we are walking towards an edge of a building he is rushing into and immediately looking left-right to make sure it’s safe. We are training him to sit and stay before walking out and while he sits we pretend that we are checking if everything is ok and then invite him to go outside with us. We have been doing this for 2-months now and it didn’t make any difference to him – is there anything we can do to teach him that we will take care of things and he does not have to worry about his safety as all walks are so frustrating and anxious to him, like a battlefield??? Regarding trains and loud noises for now we were advised by our dog trainer to simply ignore him and continue walking, but the end result after 2 months is the same – he has the same level of frustration – is there anything else we could try in these situations as we cannot really change where we live and trains are passing in all directions. And other dogs we are now trying to avoid as much as possible and we are training calling him and sit and stay outside in a more peaceful environment.
We were told that Mino is also very territorial (he used to pee everywhere and on everything, now we allow him to pee only 1-2 times on secluded, uninteresting areas) and aggressive out of frustration – is this something closely related or different from reactivity. Is it possible that even though he is territorial, that his reaction to trains/dogs is due to reactivity? and if so are there than a different approach in training we should take?
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
I am so sorry Mino has been that stressed out about so many different areas of life 🙁 And I am sorry about the struggles of working with him! It sounds like there are a looooot of triggers in his life.
I think that the beginning lessons of this course will already be quite helpful in understanding what is going on, why having him sit and wait doesn’t do so much for the anxiety and why ignoring the noise sensitivity didn’t change it.
For Mino it will be very important to have a “holiday from stress” – meaning that in the first steps of retraining, you will expose him only to very little, very controlled triggers. For a dog with such pronounced and generalized reactivity this might mean only short walks, only far away from anywhere that might trigger him.
As far as peeing – I disagree with the assessment you received on this being a territorial issue. Peeing is actually a form of stress release in dogs and I ALWAYS encourage nervous dogs to pee as much as they want, wherever they want 🙂 Because as long as they are peeing, they are not yet over their threshold, and it can help them calm down a bit (not 100% – but maybe 20% – which is still good!!). So, I think he should be allowed to pee wherever and whenever he likes 🙂
Nancy Dog Owner
My husband and I recently adopted our now 11 month old German Shepherd Australian Cattle Dog Mix. We have had her for about 6 months now. I adopted her from a former co-worker who could not care for her and would keep her locked up in a small crate in a dark laundry room from anywhere between 12 to 16 hours a day. When she came to us she was not at all socialized, but didn’t show any signs of reactivity to people or dogs. It wasn’t until lately (maybe 2 months ago) that she has started showing reactivity to people, especially men. She becomes very protective of myself and my husband. When anyone comes too close to her or us. She does just fine with other dogs and doesn’t really seem to mind the male workers at her doggie daycare she goes to, but it can be a little frustrating when we try to take her to parks and a lot of people are around. She loves being outdoors and we love taking her on adventures and helping her with her reactivity will allow us to help her enjoy more activities.
We are definitely looking forward to this class
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome, and thank you for adopting her! Man, that sounds like a really difficult first year in your dog’s life … she is very lucky that you adopted her 🙂 It happens quite frequently that recently adopted dogs do not show reactivity for a while. They are often a bit overwhelmed with all the changes and are adapting and only once they feel more secure and comfortable, the reactivity comes through. This of course does NOT mean that you caused it. I have seen this scenario countless times, when rescued dogs e.g. lived with many other dogs in a foster family and were completely fine, and then once adopted out started showing reactivity towards other dogs after 1-2 months.
I hope you enjoy the class and we can make her more comfortable 🙂
Jaime Dog Owner
Bruce is 25% miniature shepherd, 12.5% Catahoula Leopard Dog, 12.5 Australian shepherd, and 50% non-specified herding, hound, and terrier groups. We’ve had him a year now, we think he will be 2 in March or April. Our friends found him abandoned in a national park on their honeymoon a year ago and were told by the park rangers that Bruce had been on his own in the woods for at least two weeks. He recently stayed with our trainer for a month in an attempt to work on his reactivity towards other dogs. The trainer said based on his behavior she is pretty certain his previous owner “beat the shit out of him” and likely dragged him on leash and based on his fear of brooms she thinks he may have been beaten with a broom as well. He also has couple of small scars on his nose that were clearly old and healed when we first got him so I am sure they weren’t from his time in the woods. He has had a couple instances where a dog pounced on him but in our care he has never been actually attacked (although I am sure the pouncing scared him).
He was briefly reactive towards my husband on rare occasions when Bruce was already on the bed and tried to lay down, but our trainer helped teach us and Bruce coping mechanisms so Bruce knew how to remove himself from those situations if he got stressed. Since then, no reactivity towards us in that regard, although he panics if we are leaving and used to panic at the idea of getting his leash put on or being put in a crate.
His reactivity now is that he randomly becomes fearful of the outdoors, is terrified of wheels (bikes, scooters, skateboards, etc) and has a handful of dogs he DOES NOT LIKE. He gets along with most any dog, even dogs that hate other dogs. But there have been 3-4 dogs that he has been very reactive towards on leash (we haven’t tried off leash). The dogs are all friendly, some have been boys, one was a girl, some have been his size, one slightly bigger, one MUCH smaller, they don’t have similar appearances to each other. He also has been friendly with different dogs of the same breeds as the few that he does not like. He will be on guard when meeting new dogs (ears may go back, slightly raised fur on the back of the neck, head pushed back like he is nervous to get too close) but almost always he will decide pretty quickly that he likes the dogs and it will be fine. If the dogs are the few that he does not like, he can spot them from pretty far off and immediately gets defensive.
I think due to covid he also missed out on some socialization, so I believe his reactivity stems a little from all three causes. We’ve been trying to work on his reactivity to his outdoor environment in general because it’s pretty hard to get training done outside when we live in an apartment complex and there are days where even a gust of wind terrifies him. I was hoping if things improved with his response to his environment, tackling his reactivity towards other dogs might become a bit easier because it would be easier for us to regain his attention.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome, I am glad you are joining us! I am very sorry about Bruce’s past, little guy has been through a lot 🙁 He is so lucky that he is now part of your home 🙂
Did he improve during his stay with the trainer? Did they work on all his reactive tendencies are did they pick out some?
Please let me know if you have any questions as you are working through the course, always happy to help and follow the progress 🙂
Jaime Dog Owner
He was with them the entire month and they did what they could, but he didn’t show his full reaction tendency until the morning of the day they were bringing him back to us, so they didn’t get to work with him on it that much.
He saw two new dogs today at the apartment dog park and was very excited at first but they were off leash, as was he, and they were getting in his face due to excitement and ignoring his fur being up and his uncomfortable growls. He didn’t escalate beyond that and their owner and I acknowledged Bruce’s discomfort quickly and he took the dogs away since they weren’t respecting Bruce’s boundaries. But that took a couple of minutes and through that he was very stressed but he didn’t show his teeth. He was still in the dog park and they were walking away and then he ran to the fence and so did those same two dogs, and that’s when Bruce showed his teeth and really started growling. He seemed more stressed by one dog than the other despite those two dogs having the same stature, height and looking like they were the same breed. I think he was more stressed by the dog that is more excitable.
Bruce always takes a defensive and nervous posture when he first meets dogs. I am starting to think he becomes reactive towards dogs who are friendly but not acknowledging his signs of discomfort. It’s hard for me to be certain but I am thinking that this could be at least one of his triggers.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
To me it sounds like the experience included some “trigger stacking”, there is a lesson on this later on in the course. Dogs’ stress adds up (just like for humans!) , so while Bruce might still have felt good enough to deal with the first situation as you described, when another one occurred, added to the presence of the fence (which can intensify reactivity like all boundaries), it was too much for him and pushed him over his threshold.
I agree with your assessment about other dogs not seeing his signs of discomfort – this is actually a really common occurrence!
Do you know any friends with e.g. old and “boring” dogs? These often are very aware of calming signals, or don’t want to interact in the first place. They might be good dogs for Bruce to start out with.
Jaime Dog Owner
Bruce has plenty of dog friends he is very good friends with. At some points he gets nearly daily interactions with dogs. He gets along with most dogs, it’s just a few that set him off. He also weirdly gets along with dogs that hate other dogs, so he has become very popular in our dog friendly complex because a lot of people’s dogs only like Bruce and no other dogs.
Lucita Dog Owner
We adopted a third dog last Christmastime; she was a foster fail! She was 10 weeks when we got adopted her, and for the most part, she has been a very chill dog. The DNA results said she is 55% Great Pyr, 25% Border Collie, and the rest unknown/mixed. We did puppy socialization classes with her in January and February, but then the pandemic hit right around the time she could start going to the dog park. However, she continued to meet and play with friends’ dogs, and we also foster puppies periodically. About a month ago, she started barking and lunging at other dogs during our daily leashed walks. I’m a fairly experienced dog owner and have always carried high value treats with us, and I have always clicked and treated her when walking by other dogs. I could tell that she had been getting more anxious when we were approaching other dogs before a month ago, but I could still keep her focused on getting treats. Then one day, she just lost it and lunged at every dog we saw (4) on our walk. So, we’ve been working hard on walking places where we can stay on the other side of the street instead of on trails where we can only be 10-15 feet away and on the command “leave it, look at me.” She has gotten a little better, but we have some great days and some 50-50 days. I just feel like we need more tools. I’m pretty sure her reactivity is to other dogs while she’s on leash. However, I’m afraid to bring her to the dog park at this point to test that theory. I’m also not actually a big fan of dog parks because sometimes, it’s not the best place in terms of dog interactions. She’s definitely fine with all the foster puppies we’ve brought home and dogs of all our friends. Incidentally, our 7 year old Aussie/Border Collie mix, who has always been leash reactive to about 10% of other dogs, is now totally unreactive whatsoever since the young one started being reactive! What is that about?
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
As you will see in the course, we actually use a fairly different approach from the common click/treat or distract/look at me. You will see in the next lessons exactly what my reasoning for that is. Great Pyrs can have a standoff-ish trait for sure, and the pandemic didn’t do good for anyone with socialization 🙁 I also agree that you should not go to the dog park to test the theory at this point.
I think the lessons on using long lines will be helpful to see how she does without any leash pressure while still having a safety net if she should become reactive.
I am not quite sure about your other dog who stopped being reactive! That is quite rare. In fact, bringing another reactive dog into the mix usually only increases existing reactivity. I would say you were very lucky in that respect 😀
Kayla Dog Owner
My little girl is very dominant. She was the biggest puppy in the litter and I think that made her a bit of a bully! She did wonderful with potty training and actually walks really well off leash, but just this past year (she turned two!) she’s started displaying some really anxious behavior. I went through a divorce and moved to a new home with her and I fear that may be the cause of her anxiety. Now she barks at every sound and lunges and jumps on people and won’t return to me when i call her. I miss my good girl!!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
Big changes in our lives definitely influence our dogs’ behavior. They pick up on new schedules, new surroundings etc. and it can make them be more on edge. The good news is that they are highly adaptable and with some help from our side can learn to behave well again 🙂 I hope you enjoy the course! Let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Katie Dog Owner
I have a one year old Sheltie. We have just begun agility and this course was recommend to us by the instructor. While in class he is easily over excited by the other dogs and his surroundings, though I can get him to sit, he barks constantly while the instructor is talking or other dogs are practicing. At home or out walking this is not as big of an issue however he will lunge and bark at bicycles, scooters and motorcycles. He does not become aggressive but I am looking forward to begin the lessons.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am glad the class was recommended and I hope that we can get your dog to calm down a bit and attend the class in a more relaxed way 🙂 Please feel free to ask any questions you might have 🙂
Jos Dog Owner
We have a lovely 15 month old Koolie (small working dog). He came from a rather hectic breeder on a stud farm where there were lots of dogs and chaos. He has always been very excitable but is super friendly to people and dogs. He has always had tendencies to resource guard against other dogs with food and us. He does not have much follow through so his usual pattern is over excited at the start, a little bit of snipping and snarling if the dog specifically approaches us but it always settles when he calms down and he would prefer to be off interacting with and having fun with the dog. We have had good experiences with dogs that he has befriended as he then will accept us patting them, and has even shared treats with dogs he likes.
He can start barking and lunging when on leash and sees a dog he wants to interact with. This has now become more intense and sometimes his hackles are up but it does not happen off leash and seems to me like a high state of arousal getting out of hand? I would love to be able to help him reorganise his greeting behaviour as he really loves interacting with other dogs but seems to struggle with the rules. When he interacts with an older dog who is good at managing the situation he calms very quickly and has a great time.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Leash-specific troubles with keeping the arousal low are very common, you are not alone 🙂 I think that the sniffing ideas that you will learn in this course will be helpful.
I also would strongly recommend to not let him greet every dog he sees. This can easily lead to the expectation of guaranteed greeting and the dog’s excitement rises because he thinks he KNOWS he will meet another dog.
I would probably try to make 3/4th of all times that he sees another dog on leash “greeting-free” – only let greetings happen sporadically (or not at all). Already that might make a difference in how he reacts to seeing dogs (as he might think “Ah no big deal not gonna meet them anyway”).
Jos Dog Owner
Yes I’m pretty keen to make on leash greeting free. I’ve been watching the videos and although we have done a lot of positive training and thought about these ideas before it’s the first time its really sunk into my brain that the reactivity is ‘involuntary’. So now changing my tactic and at home with situations when he is reaching threshold eg a noise at the door or my partner going into the chicken pen I have started picking him up and physically distancing us. Before I was calling him or pulling him away. Amazingly that seems to calm him much quicker- I’m thinking because I’m not putting the responsibility on him? I think me always wanting him to control himself when he doesn’t know how to is pretty stressful for him. Now I’m going to focus on helping him build better strategies and let him rely on me to get him away when he hits threshold. Hopefully he will start to be able to do this himself.
Started sniffing practice yesterday and today going to incorporate it into some slightly more exciting activities 🙂
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
I am very happy to hear the explanations are helpful! Yes, if we treat reactivity like a voluntary behavior and try to use rewards, punishments, consequences, timeouts … we usually do not make a lot of progress as it addresses the problem from the wrong end 😉 It is a much better approach to manage the situation for the dog, rather than expect the dog to manage himself 😀 Let me know how the sniffing practice goes!
Michael Dog Owner
Adam was brought into Animal Humane when he was found as a stray puppy on an Indian Reservation. He was adopted, but then returned before we adopted him (along time ago). We had another dog when we adopted him, and they got along well, but any other dog he encounters he lunges, barks, and wants to go. When he was young we bought him to a dog park with our other dog. But it did not go well. He is a cattle dog mix, so has some guard instinct too. Thanks.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
Thank you for rescuing 🙂 Adam is very lucky to have you! I hope this course will be useful in getting him to be more relaxed around other dogs. Let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Elisabeth Dog Owner
We adopted our sweet Terrier mix from a Hungarian kill shelter. She was at the kill shelter for a few months, like from 6 months (date on the adoption page, where we found her) to another six months. So we know that she was at the kill shelter for a year at least. She was born around Janurary 2018. We adopted her in April 2019.
She was afraid of men, she still is shy around them. Tall men especially.
She is okay with females.
When we got her, she know nothing of the dog abc. She was afraid of cars, traffic, driving in a car, train, bus, afraid of my husband, my dad, my brother, afraid of her “sister” (my parents dog, a Lab Mix).
We have her for over a year now and she has grown so much. She is more confident.
She tolerates her “sister” at her place but other dogs (the dog of a friend) is very difficult).
She is protective and reactive.
She is triggered by pedestrians, slamming car doors, people talking on the sidewalk, the door bell, she barks at visitors, tries to protect us from people ( luckily it was another dog person but still not good…), she is like a heeler and nips at the heels or calves of your visitors. She is fucking afraid of my inlaws.
Yeah that is everything in “word vomit” i guess.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Thank you for adopting 🙂 What a difficult history your puppy has, that is a lot that has happened in her short life. I hope that the lessons will be helpful in explaining to her gradually that other people and dogs are not so bad. It sounds like it will be extra important for her to make sure she stays under her threshold so she can make new experiences and learn that the world is actually pretty friendly 🙂 Please let me know if you have any questions!
Jo-Ellen Dog Owner
I completed the worksheet and it got me thinking about several things that could have contributed to my dog’s reactivity. My dog, Price is a 3 year old high drive Aussie. I did not realize that Aussies were prone to reactivity. We do agility and competition obedience. He was socialized well to places, noises, people etc. and brought him to dog shows and events frequently as a puppy. He didn’t have much of a chance to play with other puppies though. When Price was a puppy, one of my other dogs at the time was an elderly dachshund who was reactive and would bark and lunge at Price at times, especially if he moved erratically. There were times when Price was in his crate and my dachshund would react to him when he was walking by. Price tends to react when he is crated and another dog gets too close. Another event that comes to mind is that a dog also went after him at a training party. Another, the dog next door used to charge our fence, so he would want to fence fight. I take him out on a leash now. Price is reactive to some dogs, especially if the other dog is looking straight at him, barking at him or if the dog has fast movement. I have been informally trying to feed him for calm behavior when other dogs are around and try to get him to look at me if he is worried about something. He is never off leash in public. I’m glad that you address the issue of guilt. I’ve thought that I must have done something wrong along the way.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome to the course 🙂
It sounds like the occasions you mentioned could have definitely contributed to Price’s reactivity. Being snarled at while in a crate can be really difficult for dogs, as they have nowhere to go to get away from the confrontation, and it is also very difficult/impossible for them to use their body language to communicate that they would like to be left alone. I am sorry about the neighbor’s dog charging the fence 🙁 That’s really tricky and a big point of contention between many reactive dog owners and their neighbors.
I think this course will be helpful – feeding for calm behavior in the sense of “rewarding” does not always help with moderate to severe reactivity. In the lesson about classical and operant conditioning I explain why, and how we can instead use the treats to actually change the dog’s underlying emotion (“CER”).
Let me know if you have any questions!
Katherine Dog Owner
Hello Steffi and everyone. I am SO glad to have found this course which my dog trainer found online or me. I have an almost three year old Sheltie. As a puppy, parvo was running rampant so we did not do as much socialization as needed I am guessing. I tried hard and we took classes starting as a puppy to help with that. Also as a puppy, my girl was charged at a number of times with off leash dogs, knocked over, growled at.
She is highly reactive to other dogs on leash. Unless they are a couple of blocks away, she lunges and barks. I have tried all kinds of things and my normally really well trained dog, who listens beautifully when we are alone, – nothing I do or say is helping her not be highly reactive to other dogs.
Her lunging is so severe I was concerned about her hurting her neck. I got a halter and can at least control her body movements a bit more to avoid injury. I am at the point of almost dreading walks because of her behavior and my distress not being able to help her.
I am very much looking forward to tips from this course so I can enjoy walking with my dog again.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am glad you joined 🙂 I am really sorry that her reactivity is so severe. It can really impact your enjoyment of the dog when you cannot even have a relaxing walk and are always “on guard”. I really hope that the tips in this course will be useful!
Let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Letisha Dog Owner
duke is a jack russell terrier and duke gets mad at george(george is a begell mix and has lived here longer then duke.) for no reason wen humans are eating and attacks him.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
This is actually a pretty common occurrence – basically, the dog “calls dibs” on the food he is seeing on your plate (in the sense of thinking “I am going to have the leftovers!”) and then gets grumpy when he feels like another dog invades his space with his perceived resource (your food). I would highly recommend that Duke and George are not in the same room when you guys are eating – because this can quickly escalate to fights.
Letisha Dog Owner
duke also gets mad at george randomly even wen there´s no food and attacks him.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
I am sorry, this sounds really difficult … I would keep a little chart of when these attacks happen: what time of the day, what has happened so far, where did it happen, what lead up to the attack etc. Often we see patterns that make it easier to address the triggers once we start to keep track of everything that might play into it!
Nadine Dog Owner
Hi there,
Bubba is a 18months old puppy. According to Wisdom panel he is 37% Amstaff, 25%Australien Shepherd, 12%Bulldog, 12%CHow chow and the rest Rottweiler. He is super sweet with people but loves to jump so this is defenitly something we need to work on. But my main concern is his reactivity when he is on a leash. We have worked with a local dog trainer before. I did not like her way of training and since then we pretty much try to fix it on our own. Needless to say with little to no success. I don´t think it is aggression. We took him to a day care a couple of times and he was doing just fine. We also had an older dog the first year Bubba came into our family. But unfortunately due to cancer we had to put her down not too long ago. They got along fine. Our older dog just didn´t want to play anymore but they cuddled and slept in the same spot. I decided to give this course a try because I am exhausted. I don´t enjoy going on a walk anymore. There must be a way to train him (and me) without prong collars, shock collars etc. That is NOT an option for me. I just want to understand what is going on.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome, and I am sorry that the trainer so far did not work out. You will not find prong, shock or similar collars in this course 🙂 I am also sorry about your loss of your other dog 🙁 I really hope that the ideas on this course will help.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
christine Dog Owner
HI,
My Cooper is a little over 2 yrs old. Mixed breed. very small percentages of boxer, bulldog and strat terrier confirmed by DNA,
But majority DNA was a question mark- most likely a hound/pointer mix or parson russel terrier was mentioned. He is fine around other dogs and people if we are away from the house. He goes to doggie daycare and always gets good reports. He is very reactive with barking, crying, pacing, with anything that moves outside such as deer & fox if he sees them outside the window. He chases my cat, but does not attack, however she can never really relax in the same room with us or sleep with us, and I really dislike that. And the worst thing lately is any stranger that comes into the home or near the home he is aggressive with, barking, even nipping a little. He will calm down for my family because he knows them now, but I don’t want to hide him away when I have company. He also loses it for any mail, ups, or food deliveries to the door. I don’t want him to bite anyone or jump up on anyone. (he also jumps a lot on people). Overall he is a loving dog, but I need some assistance in getting him under control. He also pulls a lot on leash. And not a reactive thing- but is scared of the car and won’t get in. Have to carry him and the poor thing shakes. I was told to try some motion sickness pills
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Cooper sounds like a fun dog, but we can definitely help him feel and behave a little better. How long has he had those issues for? Did they start with a sudden onset or did it gradually get worse?
Lisa Dog Owner
My boy is a 3 year old samoyed named Helo. I’m so hopeful that this course is going to help us give him a better life. We struggle to give him enough exercise because of his reactivity (so self-perpetuating behaviour challenges). I feel like his lunging and barking has always been because he wants to play with the other dog and is frustrated he can’t get to them (I feel that maybe bringing him to daycare and puppy classes as a puppy was part of the cause, and while he loved playing, perhaps created stress with other dogs.) But I’m starting to see anxiety, too, in his behaviour. He often whines or barks even if the wind is just funny or if we step off of our usual routine. He tries really hard but ends up spinning out on almost every walk.
I’m curious if part of the cause could be that he was the tiniest of his litter and almost didn’t make it. He was removed from his mother and siblings to nurse on another mom with fewer pups. Perhaps that was some trauma from the start? He’s always been very fixated on other dogs and indifferent to us in any situation where they’re around.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
Very early experiences can certainly contribute to reactivity earlier in life. In singelton litters for example (meaning litters with just one single puppy – rare but happens every now and then) the pup often turns out a little bit “off” due to lack of littermates. I actually have a close friend whose dog was a singelton, and even though the breeder got him together with other puppies from other litters and really did a phenomenal job raising and socializing him … that dog is just off with other dogs 😀 Not really very apt in body language, has difficulty interacting normally etc. While he is not reactive he certainly is not a joy to have around other dogs either. Tends to keep to himself, stand at a distance, snarl … is completely fine when other dogs don’t bother him (eg doesn’t go out of his way to go and antagonize anyone) but definitely is not what I would call a dog with good social skills.
Anyway, just a little singelton example from my own life 🙂 I think it could very well be that your dog already had a more difficult start to life with this and that could have set him up to develop some of the overexcitement/reactivity! (Plus Samoyeds just are very excited dogs, too 😉 )
I hope you enjoy the class – please let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Lisa Dog Owner
Thank you, Steffi. I would definitely agree that Helo is a bit “off” and struggles with his social skills.
I’m curious if you have any advice about getting him places in the car. Initially, I believe he went over-threshold in the car because of excitement as we were always taking him to puppy classes and daycare. Now, it definitely sounds more like panic, though he’s very eager to get in the car and not hesitant at all. It’s prohibitive because I can’t bring him to the vet without 20 minutes of him being over threshold during the ride. Not only does it feel dangerous to drive like that, but it can’t be good for him.
He as an appointment coming up and I don’t know how I can work around this. If you have any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Aww, poor guy!
I have some more questions before being able to answer that completely – are you currently taking him any places in the car or not at all? Does he immediately ramp up or is it a bit gradual? Can he eat in this heightened state or not?
Lisa Dog Owner
Thank you for the questions! We take him to the vet or for grooming maybe once every two months, and that’s all the rides we do with him. He ramps up at ANY sign that it might be happening. If we put his harness on in the daytime, for example (since we only walk him at night) or even if I call someone on the phone (I guess because I used to call before bringing him to daycare). I can sometimes get him to eat a treat, but he almost chokes on it and mostly he ignores anything at all in this state. Even the chews that would normally drive him crazy with excitement.
We’ve worked hard at trying to get him to go to the car calmly, so there is sometimes a few good moments on the way out there where he’ll sit to “unlock” the next step, like the door opening or the car door opening. He’s quiet for 1 second once he’s in there, then ramps right back up again.
I tried weeks of taking him out there, sitting with him calmly and actually saw improvement until it came to trying to get in the driver’s seat.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
So one idea I have is this (a bit unconventional but works well for some dogs):
Dogs build up expectations for highly exciting situations and they start to get high on their own “anticipation adrenaline” (such as you describe about going to daycare). What can work is breaking that expectation and “bumming them out” repeatedly on purpose. Essentially, changing the behavior chain they are expecting.
I would pick a time when you will be at home quite a bit (such as for example the weekend starting tomorrow) and start to pretend to go for a car ride over and over and over and over and over … start with a step that is doable but makes him excited. Maybe for now this is putting on the leash, walking to the car, opening the door (dog stays outside) – and then you close the door, go back inside, take off the leash and go about your day. 1 hour later you take the leash walk your dog to the car, open the door, close the door, walk back inside, take leash off, go about your day etc.
Essentially, we want to break the connection of “every time I approach the car … it is going to 100% exciting things to follow”. We would like this to go down to “99% of the time we go to the car … we just go straight back inside what a drag.”
It is important that you do this really many times after another to make the new connection very clear. You would want to still follow your regular schedule with him otherwise, eg going on a walk or doing training so that the car doesn’t become the central piece of his day 😉 Just a repetitive, pointless, anti-climatic exercise 🙂
I once had a client who called me because her dogs would go CRAZY whenever she was getting ready to take them on a walk. I mean CRAZY – really very loud. They lived in a townhome and the neighbors finally blew a fuse and their stay there with their dogs was up in the air … I told her to tell the neighbors to give us 3 more days of crazy barking and then it should be a lot better. In those 3 days I had the owner pretend to leash up her dogs every hour on the hour. They would walk to the door, take one step outside and go straight back in. First handful of times the dogs were super loud and excited. By the end of the first day they were a lot less impressed already thinking “well we probably aren’t going anywhere anyway …” By the third day, any excitement was gone. The owner had successfully bummed them out and changed their expectation and curbed the resulting anticipation adrenaline.
In your case, you would progress similarly, just that you do have to work on the car ride, too. So maybe once he doesn’t get excited about walking to the car and back anymore, have him hop in, hop out and go back home. Then hop in, turn on engine and go back in. Then hop in, turn on engine, drive up and down your driveway, go back home. And so on …
Does that sound like you could put it in practice?
David Dog Owner
hi! I have a nearly 3 year old male Welsh Collie/New Zealand Huntaway cross, who when I first got him (just over a year ago) seemed to have no reactivity issues at all, but over the last few months he’s developed into a bit of a problem dog, though I hardly noticed it at first. Initially it was just a bit of lunging and barking at one particular dog we’d see on walks, a dark coloured lab or similar breed, which wasn’t particularly interested in him, but it always set him off. Most other dog encounters were fine – mutual sniff, carry on… But lately more and more times when we see another dog approaching, he’ll start barking, hackles up, pulling to get at them – and not in a friendly play way. I’ve got in the habit of doing an instant 360 if I see another dog in the distance, just in case – which of course means he’s not able to socialise or greet other dogs that he might be fine with, but I can’t take the chance. On two occasions he’s attacked and bitten other dogs, pretty much unprovoked I have to say, and I was mortified. Luckily no real harm done, but he has drawn blood on a dalmatian. Now walking him on local streets he’s always on his lead, but I do let him off for a run in fields near us, and there are 4 or 5 other dogs who he knows and will play with quite happily there (one of whom is actually the above mentioned dalmatian, which does suggest there is hope of fixing him!)- and when we walk back with them all on the leash he’s great – but if we spot another dog not from ‘his gang’ he becomes Mr Hyde again!
It’s very frustrating and – despite what you say about not feeling guilty – I can’t help thinking something I’ve done when walking him has triggered this change in his behaviour. Outside of leash walks he is a 99% perfect dog, gentle and loving, friendly to every human, well behaved, smart, no resource guarding issues etc. – it’s just the walk reactivity that’s driving me nuts! I’m looking forward to your programme and hope it will give me some pointers to start making him a happier dog around other dogs again.. 🙂
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
Your dog sounds like a really interesting mix of breeds – pretty sure I have never met one like him yet!
What you have been doing with the instant turn when you see another dog is great, as you will learn in the lessons preventing dogs from having escalations and crossing their threshold is the first step towards stopping the reactivity from becoming worse. I am sorry about the attacks, that is always scary and upsetting 🙁
As mentioned in this introduction, reactivity can be very situation-specific. Sounds like the situations for your dog are encounters with dogs that are not part of his gang, and leashed encounters in general. It is good that we know what exactly his triggers are – the more predictable, the smarter we can be about setting up controlled situations to help him change his response.
I hope that this course will be helpful!
Please let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Lisa Dog Owner
Hi! I have a 2 year old greyhound/pit/lab mix rescue named Bert. He is extremely mellow at home and for the majority of our walks. He is a perfectly behaved boy for the most part. He has no reaction to anything except for dogs on leashes. He will whine, whimper, and if we are close enough he will lunge (his threshold is currently about 20 ft for passing a moving dog and about 10 ft for a dog who is standing still). He LOVES to play with other dogs and is very friendly off leash. He is just struggling with reactivity to other dogs on leashes (interestingly enough he does not really react much to unleashed dogs except for a small whine). When we first adopted him at 6 months old, he was not reactive on the leash at all. He became reactive at about 14 or so months old. We think it stemmed from a bad leash meeting with another dog (he got nipped in the face). I’ve been researching online and have successfully improved on his reactivity quite a bit with treats and “watch me” and “leave it”. However, I’m at the point now where I need some more structured help than what the internet can give me. I’m very excited to start this course and learn how to help him.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
I can tell you already have a very clear idea about your dog’s triggers, his threshold etc. – perfect start! I am sorry about the negative leash meeting, it happens unfortunately and can really cement a negative opinion in our dogs’ minds.
You will find that I do not use “watch me” and “leave it” – so the approach in this course will hopefully be a good addition to the work with treats you have already done, and help change Bert’s CER in the future.
Let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Danielle Dog Owner
I have a 15 month old Australian Shepherd with strong herding instinct. Unfortunately when covid lock down started, we rarely went out and no one came over. Once restrictions were lifted, we started going out again, but because of not the greatest behaviors, I opted to not go out as much as we should. So I hope to start fresh and help both puppy and I do better.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
Covid sure has made training difficult for many dog owners, especially of reactive dogs and dogs that thrive on keeping their routine. I have never had as many signups for this class as now with Covid! But avoiding difficult situations by not going out so often is actually not the worst approach … it does more damage to take out a dog into situations that push him way over his threshold than to just avoid the tricky encounters until you have a training plan in place 🙂 I hope that this class will be useful!
Please let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Nicholas J Dog Owner
I’ve got two rescue dogs. Bluey, a Ridgeback cross and Keeley, a Kelpie cross.
I got them both when they were 10ish months old. Bluey is pretty chill but Keeley is a very nervous dog (absolutely terrified of walking across bridges, how weird is that?) Unfortunately they’ve both developed leash reactivity after being attacked by another couple of dogs on a walk. Bluey was already very protective of Keeley but now he’s much more reactive to other dogs.
Fortunately I’ve got a large bit of land for them to run around in but it’d be good to walk them without worrying about other dogs!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am very sorry to hear about the attacks 🙁 Poor guys! Funny enough, I know quite a few dogs with this strange fear of bridge walking … I think they can hear/feel that it is a surface unlike any other and it spooks them.
I am glad that you have space for them to run without having to worry about the other dogs! I hope that you will enjoy the course and we will get them more comfortable on walking on leash. Let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Molly Dog Owner
I have two dogs and both have become reactive due to lack of socialization and ongoing medical issues. Rosalita is an 11 year old Sato mix that I have had since she was a puppy. For many many years she was great- we could easily meet new people and dogs in a variety of settings (at my home, at dog parks, etc). Then, when she was about 8 years old, I rescued my second dog Finley. He’s a 4 or 5 year old terrier mix that was returned to his rescue several times for “growling,” but when I brought him home I saw no such issue. For a few months he was great, no growling, and he and Rosalita bonded right away. Soon after I brought him home though, the medical issues began, and the “growling” issue started up. He had to be hospitalized several times and his treatments took about 2 years to finally work through (heartworm, dental disease, lyme disease, allergies, and the list goes on…). When I finally thought I had all his medical conditions under control his behavior had become worse.
He started by just grumbling/growling, mostly when he was disturbed while sleeping. It then became more frequent, and he would growl and sometimes bark at new people, dogs, etc. Now if guests enter my home he growls and follows them at their ankles- I worry he might bite. He cannot meet new dogs because he is so reactive (seems like a fear response to me), and now Rosalita has become that way as well. While she is still great with people, she is highly reactive to other dogs. I had hired a trainer that came to my home for several weeks, and while I have seen some improvement, things still are not great. The previous training had zero impact on Finley’s growling, though I did learn new strategies to prevent him from following houseguests.
Basically I cannot trust Finley around new people and I cannot trust either of them to encounter dogs without becoming very reactive. I am hopeful that this course will teach me new strategies to handle their reactivity and hopefully improve their responses (and mine) over time.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
I am so sorry about the long and difficult medical history of Finley … poor guy! How unlucky was he (and you) 🙁 You talk about how he is reactive with house guests and “new people” – how is he with people outside the home? What is the distance at which he starts to become reactive?
I very much recommend to start with the approach I teach in this class outside of the home. Reactivity is much more difficult to address inside the home, mostly due to the limited space that we have. Many dogs are over the threshold at distances that are much larger than what we can realize inside a house.
In the last lesson of this classI recently had a conversation with a student where I outlined the process for people coming to the house, it might be useful for you:
https://spiritdogtraining.com/online-dog-training/tackling-reactivity/lessons/a-look-into-the-future/
Please let me know if you have any questions, and enjoy the course! 🙂
Molly Dog Owner
Thank you for your reply, Steffi!
Finley is not consistent when outside of our home. Sometimes seeing a person or dog way far off in the distance makes him growl, sometimes he lets them come right up to us without paying them any attention. I think his reaction might have more to do with the setting (open fields versus walking on paths maybe?). I plan to definitely start taking greater note of his behavior on our walks.
We started sniffing activities, and now I am on the hunt for the right treats!
Thanks again for your help,
-Molly
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
What you say about the setting is a great observation and I actually have an entire video dedicated to picking the right settings for training 🙂 It can make a real difference how closed in/open/with escape routes we are set up with our reactive dogs. I hope you find some treats he enjoys! One of my clients recently showed me these that were a big hit for her dog, I had never heard of them before:
https://www.amazon.com/Buckley-Flavored-Training-Rotisserie-Chicken/dp/B071DJQWJT
Leanna Dog Owner
Hi Molly! I know this is an old post so I am hoping you will see this, but I am wondering if we can connect? I am having the same issues with my dog Skye (began with growling when he was pet while sleeping or lying down and now growls at random dogs and people.) Please let me know if we can connect; would love to chat and share some ideas/advice or our experiences. Thanks so much!
Gordon Dog Owner
We recently adopted a 3 year old Great Dane cross, while he is great at home, pure gentleman, the moment we put him on a lead and take him out of the house, he will not give us any attention, pulls on the lead, and being a large bread is hard to handle.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Indeed, a big boy like him is very tricky to manage if he crosses his threshold and is too wound up. I hope that the class will be useful – the sniffing exercise in particular should be good for him and his excitement 🙂 Let me know how it goes, and if you have any questions I am glad to help 🙂
Vanessa Dog Owner
Hello, my dog got attacked at her first “socialization” class (let me just state that at the time I did not know as much about how to properly socialize dogs and I thought by signing up for a class that let a bunch of unsocialized dogs all run around together free was going to socialize her as this class was offered by a trainer in my city). Ever since the attack that was lucky wasn’t any more serious as it was to her face and drew blood she is reactive to any dog the same size or bigger than her as it is out of fear, she will snap and bark to warn other dogs to back off and it that doesn’t work she will try to hide or run the other way. I have worked with private trainers to the point that we have got her to the point of a 2 meter threshold, which I am super proud of. I want to continue helping her and learn as much as I can about reactivity!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am so sorry about the experience in the socialization class … I don’t think you did anything wrong – you had the right intentions – but the trainer who thought to run such a chaotic and dangerous class was not very educated. However, working up to a 2 meter threshold is amazing and you have done some really great work by achieving that!! Big thumbs up 🙂 I hope that this class will further be helpful. Let me know if you have any questions!
Gabriel Dog Owner
My dog, Jade, is a 6 month old mix of mostly Labrador and German Shepherd with a bit of Groenendale and Akita mixed in. I think her reactivity might come from a range of things; the protector and shepherd breeds within her, her life before we rescued her at 9 weeks, her being bitten at 3 & 1/2 months and spending 3 weeks mostly inside from 4 & 1/2 months old.
Gabriel Dog Owner
Most of her reactivity seems to be to other dogs but sometimes to people. It seems to be fear based. Weirdly she doesn’t have much issue with dogs she is close to, it’s usually dogs (most often) or people in the distance. She seems completely happy and social at the puppy daycare that she’s been going to since we got her. She’s generally doing very well with training and is mostly very calm and content to relax when at home apart from barking at an unknown trigger once or twice a day. She’s a very loving pup.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
It is great that she is doing well at the puppy daycare! Dogs are very situational learners and often associate one situation with certain behaviors and emotions, and another situation with others. If she is social at the daycare she is already building good experiences with other dogs and people, which is beneficial! I wish you a lot of fun and success in the course 🙂
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Those are indeed several issues that even by themselves can quite likely lead to reactivity. I am sorry about her being bitten as such a small puppy, that was scary for her and you!
I wish you a lot of success with the course. Please let me know if you have any questions, and if I can help in any way!
Gabriel Dog Owner
A little more info on Jade: Most of her reactivity seems to be to other dogs but sometimes to people. It seems to be fear based. Weirdly she doesn’t have much issue with dogs she is close to, it’s usually dogs (most often) or people in the distance. She seems completely happy and social at the puppy daycare that she’s been going to since we got her. She’s generally doing very well with training and is mostly very calm and content to relax when at home apart from barking at an unknown trigger once or twice a day. She’s a very loving pup.
Leigh Dog Owner
I truly think my dog’s reactivity was sparked by her 3 month crate rest necessitated by her heartworm treatment. We knew she was positive when we adopted her, and we learned what we could about the treatment to keep her safe. Unfortunately we didn’t know to ask and no one warned us about the issues with reintroducing activity and consequently socialization afterward. She was super easy going on walks before. I’m looking forward to learning how to help her through this class.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Ah man, I am sorry you had to go through the 3 months of crate rest! You are troopers!! Thank you for adopting her and going together through this process … she is super lucky to have you 🙂 While reactivity can be tricky, I think you already went through the hardest part with the months of crate rest – should be easier from here on 🙂 I wish you a lot of fun and success with the course – please let me know if you have any questions in the process!
Gretchen Dog Owner
Winnie is a 2 year old border collie mix we adopted through a rescue organization. She was a stray who was brought into rescue at about 6-9 months old and we have had her since shortly after. She has become reactive since the pandemic started. When we are on walks, she desperately wants to greet the other dogs, but we cannot due to social distancing and that makes her frustrated. Plus our backyard fence line runs along a walkway and everyone seems to have now adopted puppies and she goes nuts at the fence line. Plus, she is no longer accustomed to the doorbell ringing or people approaching the door so when it does happen, she goes a bit nuts. Her reactivity is not at all aggressive. Just a combination of frustrated, excited and startled. Hoping to find ways to work through this! Due to increasing covid cases in our area, in person classes have been cancelled. Happy to have found you!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I love the name Winnie for dogs, I know 3 Winnies and all three are awesome 🙂 Many dog owners are in the same boat – the pandemic and subsequent reduces access to classes and public socialization has brought out nervous, reactive and overly excited behavior in many dogs! I wish you a lot of fun and success with the class. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask 🙂
Ida Dog Owner
Myself and my partner have recently taken on my family dog- a german Spitz who has had quite a traumatic upbringing consisting of being attacked by another dog, who lived alongside him. As a result, he is extremely fearful of other dogs and will lunge, bark, howl etc at any dog he sees. We recently worked with a behaviourist, who advised us to gently, but rapidly tug at his harness whenever we notice Yuki’s body language change. This is meant to supposedly ‘snap him out’ before he gets a chance to bark and lunge. I’m worried this is doing more harm than good, as it’s useless when he is already in a heightened state. It can sometimes snap him out of continuing to bark once the trigger has passed or if we are at a safe distance, but I dont think this is the right approach…hoping this course can shed some light onto this!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Thank you for bringing the Spitz into your life 🙂 Poor guy, such a hard puppyhood 🙁 Being from Germany myself, I am always excited when I see a Spitz here in the US, they are very rare but back home very popular dogs 🙂
I do not quite agree with the behaviorist on the “snapping him out”. This can indeed work with mild cases of stress as it works nearly like a “reset” for the dog – but it is not successful with dogs that have some more profound anxiety or stress, and it sounds like this is the case for your dog!
I hope that you will find my approach useful – please let me know if you have any questions along the way 🙂
Michelle Dog Owner
Hi! We adopted a year old healer/lab mix 2 months ago. We were told he was good with other dogs but couldn’t stay with his fosters family be he liked their chickens too much. Not an issue in our house. The day after we got him we noticed he was barking and lunging at all the squirrels on our walk. He then met our neighbor dog who he greeted by smelling and she barked at him. He backed up a d growled back. Now he lunges and barks at all the dogs he sees on our walks
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am sorry about the miscommunication that happened with the foster home regarding dog friendliness … I actually see that a lot in my work with local clients that dogs come through rescues and are labeled as “friendly” but then they turn out to really not be all that friendly. What happens is that the stress and big change of going through a shelter/foster home often “limits” the dog’s expressions in some way – they function but they do not show all their characteristics yet. The more they settle in at their forever home, the more layers of their personality they show. It sounds like the meeting with the neighbor’s dog also didn’t go so well …
However, I do hope that the course will be useful and help you and your dog to make progress 🙂 Please let me know if you have any questions, and enjoy the training!
Kim Dog Owner
Hi, Zenn is a 1.5 year old sheltie that reacts to many things on walks. He looks like a crazed dog at the end of his leash. Though he will react even without a leash. He lunges and barks at cars, bike, dogs, joggers. In the house, he will lunge at the TV when he sees dogs on the screen. He lunges and barks at his own reflection in mirrors. He does love with 2 others dogs, and has one other doggie friend that he has played nicely with.
I do not know why he is like he is, but it has been a challenge for a long time. As a young puppy he was nervous in some situation, and at times on walks. His socialization as a pup involved a puppy training class, and foundation agility training.
I hope to obtain tools to help Zenn cope with his world.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am glad you and Zeus joined. Shelties can be really high-strung dogs that I often see struggling with nervousness and being quite on edge about a number of things! I hope that the class is useful for you. Please let me know if you have any questions or I can help in any way 🙂
Amanda Dog Owner
Hi there! I have a sheltie as well, Nova, she’s 8 and had a bit of a rough start- I adopted her when she was 11 moths old, and was basically a wild farm dog when I met her. She used to be scared of everything and everyone, but she definitely had made lots of progress the more she began to trust me, up until we moved to a new townhouse about a month ago. She seems much more reactive to people and other dogs since the move- which is completely understandable since shelties are so sensitive- but I’m hoping this class will help that. I don’t want my neighbors to think she’s a dangerous or nuisance dog.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Many owners experience a flare-up, worsening or even novel onset of reactivity after moving houses. It is a lot of change for the dog and a lot of new input that they have to process. I hope that this course will be useful! Let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Victoria Dog Owner
I have an 11 month old Malinois that is extremely reactive/fear aggressive. I believe it was due to a mixture of breed, lack of socialization (covid), and an incident as a pup with an off leash dog charging us. Although my dog isn’t even a year old yet I have been to multiple trainers and even kicked out of classes. Many of the techniques use corrections/balanced training and I have seen some Improvement but not a significant amount. The more research I do, the more I am interested in positive reinforcement. I know his behavior is out of fear and I am hoping to change his thinking rather than suppress his actions.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am sorry … this sounds tough! The breed definitely has an edge to it and is very high-strung and tends to not like strangers. (But, they are such amazingly hard workers and companions! Can learn anything, are super loyal, will work by your side all day) 🙂
I hope that the approach in this course will be useful. Please let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Jennifer Dog Owner
Hudson is now 2 – we rescued him at 7 months. He is a Norther Canada rescue dog – perhaps Husky or Shephard mix – He’s 45 lbs. He was very very nervous when he was first recued and had had little to no contact with people. Now he is getting better with accepting people. We have been told by trainers that he has become attached to me as a partner and not as his leader. My male partner needs to step up and play the other leader role so that Hudson stops playing that role. He accepts females into the house better than males but always reacts when someone come over with barking/yelling. Hudson barks at anyone coming onto our property except me (yes including those that live here). He does NOT do this when I am not home, even if other family members are home. He barks at strangers and dogs on his walks (not all, but many). It is clearly a fear response, we have not found the right training or trainer…so we are here.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am glad you joined, and thank you for rescuing Hudson 🙂 As you will see in the course, I do not really agree with the theory that reactivity stems from some sort of leader/alpha/in-charge issue, but rather stems from an unfortunate Conditioned Emotional Response towards triggers. Many dogs react less strongly to women, this is just due to the fact that we are “naturally less threatening” – smaller statue, higher voice, less broad shoulders etc. all makes many dogs perceive us as less sketchy.
I hope you will enjoy the course – let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Emma Dog Owner
I think ours is a combination of socialisation and breed specific. We have a Border Collie x German Shepherd dog who we got as a puppy just as Covid hit so we missed out on Puppy classes as they were cancelled a couple of weeks in. He also gets very focused on other dogs as soon as he sees them even if they are still a fair way off and it is hard to try and distract him before he gets to the actual barking and lunging stage. Am hoping this course will be able to help with that.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
Covid has brought out some level of reactivity in many, many dogs … I hope that the approach in this class will be useful! How old is your dog now? Around 1 year?
Emma Dog Owner
He turned 11 months yesterday.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Yes, really an important time to lay the foundations of showing him that the world is a safe and friendly place .. around this age dog’s “opinion” of the world becomes set and we really need to make sure that it is a good one 🙂
Jennifer Dog Owner
Hi Steffi I have a 19 week old Lagotto that I bred myself. Whilst we did well with early training, socialisation and habituation (I did Puppy Culture / Early Neural Stimulation with the litter) the recent pandemic has stopped us in our tracks. I attended a puppy class last night (other classes have been on Zoom) and she was obviously scared and barking at everything. It was a cold barn too and that did not help. She was still able to focus on me but jumped at every noise.
I am worried that returning next week will potentially make the situation worse as she was clearly unhappy with everything and perhaps too much stimulation for her at a crucial time? I’d appreciate your thoughts?
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
I love that you did puppy culture/ENS! Perfect start in life 🙂
As far as whether group classes work for reactive dogs, it needs to be decided on a case-by-case basis. If there is ample space in your group class and you are able to get away from the action and e.g. work with your puppy on some of the sniffing from this course, and your instructor is understanding and supportive, group classes can actually be a nice training setup.
If the barn is small and tight, it is required that everyone works on the same exercises at all times, the instructor does not like you to “do your own thing” … then I would say it is better to skip it.
I teach a lot of agility and other outdoor classes during non-Covid times. I always invite my reactive dog clients to attend for free from the sidelines as it can be a really good and predictable training setup (owners know other dogs won’t come after their dog … they know they can move away as much as they want … they know when and where we will be there for predictable training). Many progress really well with that. However, for attending group classes with a reactive dog it is crucial that you can be in charge of your own training progression and can focus 100% on what your dog needs.
I never invite reactive dogs to attend indoor classes, as our indoor space is rather small and it doesn’t lead to any success to have them there (but, depending on your class layout, this might be different).
Clark Dog Owner
Our primary reason for purchasing this course is our newly adopted 6 month old German Shepard nabbed Deisel.
He can’t from a household with quite a bit of yelling and poorly treated by one member of the household and was also to not well socialized.
Deisel barks at every noise or movement when he’s outside, in the back of the SUV, and becomes aggressive with people if we try to take him into a dog friendly store. (It may be that everyone is weaning masks).
I think this course will also benefit of other two dogs, Jasper, a 12 year old white German Shepherd who is incredibly sweet and mellow until he meets large Huskies at the dog park. Jasper had a good life for 9 years until his owner passed and he went into the shelter system and had some quite bad experiences. We’ve had him for 3 years.
Walter, our 8 year old lab/border collie/golden retriever mix is the happiest boy until we go to some place with a dog friendly patio and he becomes incredibly nervous and whines
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am glad you joined.
Poor Deisel, having experienced a not-so-good home already in his short life! He is lucky to have you now 🙂 It is really, really good that you address the reactivity now. For dogs under a year we usually have a lot better options to change reactivity rather quickly than for dogs that are physically matured. Somewhere around 1 year the dog’s opinion of the world seems to set. Dogs that show reactivity at a couple months old and that are not helped with training can really cement that negative opinion when they turn 12+ months old …so kudos to you for addressing it now 🙂 Will make it much easier.
I hope the course will be useful for Jasper as well!
Walter whines at the dog-friendly patios because he wants to play so badly with the other dogs, or because he is uncomfortable?
Clark Dog Owner
Hi Steffi,
Walter seems uncomfortable and perhaps nervous in those situations.
Also, I took Deisel out this morning and just let him sniff all around the yard for at least 30 minutes. Perhaps it’s just me, but it seemed to make his trips outside through the day a little less stressful for him. Excited to get into more lessons and thank you
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
I am so glad to hear that the sniffing was useful already! I think Walter would benefit from these exercises as well 🙂
Debra Dog Owner
Hi, we have a Staffordshire/bulldog mix, Xander, that we rescued just before the pandemic shut down in March. The vet figured him to be 9 months old at the time. He had flat feet and she believed him to have been kenneled most of the time. During his second day at our home, we had a neighbor’s dog get loose and she ran up to him growling, barking and baring her teeth. Her owner chased her off and she did not attack. After things started to open back up, I tried taking him to classes mainly for socialization. Unfortunately, he reacts to every new person or dog he meets in the same aggressive reaction that the neighbor’s dog did. I can put him in his kennel when we’ve had guests over and he will settle down and can be eventually let out, but then he becomes a nuisance with jumping and licking. Dogs take a bit longer. I’ve taken him with to visit my sister who has a Golden Retriever. Her dog is well behaved, which I feel helps, but I still have to keep Xander separated for a day or two before he settles down enough to be out. Afterwards they play, sometimes a bit rough, but they will also settle down and relax afterwards. Hoping to get him to be less anxious, and enjoy being around others. He is horrible on the leash, which makes burning off some his energy difficult. I feel that will get easier if he not reacting as much.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Thank you for rescuing Xander, poor guy, what a bad life it was for him before he came to you 🙁
That was really unfortunate with the neighbor’s dog running up to him – it certainly contributed to his reactivity.
I have to say I am really impressed by the way you have managed him around people and dogs so far. Many owners are not patient enough to eg keep the dogs separated for 1-2 days and waiting for the energy to get less intense. Nearly all escalations happen when too much is happening, too fast and too soon. It sounds like you are really well-aware of his mental state and whether or not he is too triggered in a situation – perfect prerequisites for success in the course and training 🙂
Kurt Dog Owner
Hello! I have a Miniature Australian Shepherd named Bear who deals with quite a bit of reactivity. He is about three years old and has been reactive since I can remember. Because of his natural tendency to reactivity, I put off socialization because I didn’t want him to attack any dogs or people. This definitely did not help the situation. He also had a couple of traumatic experiences with other dogs and with little children. I compete in agility with him so we have had to work on his reactivity, and I am hoping to get more knowledge on how to help him. He has learned to switch his behavior to focusing on me, but it does not work all of the time and so he ends up lunging and barking at other dogs. Before doing agility, we could manage his behavior well enough. However, I am hoping to become more competitive in agility with him, and to do so his reactivity needs to lessen.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
I am glad you joined. I also do agility and the good news is that many reactive dogs can do really well even in trial environments with the right steps. How does he do at trials? You will learn a bunch of different ideas in this class, but for trials specifically I would check out the lesson on the “Mega Reward/Grand Finale” and see how much you could implement this at a competition. Ideally, a competition should be the funnest, most rewarding, most awesome place in the universe for your dog 🙂 so that he associates it with just amazing times instead of triggers.
The cool thing is that you get to start over somewhat with trials as that situation is unique and unlike anything else your dog has experienced so far – very different from e.g. a walking your dog or taking him to the park. Which is good! It is harder to fix a situation that a dog has already associated with a negative CER than to have a fresh start.
I hope this class is useful – let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Kurt Dog Owner
He does fairly well at trials, I leave him in the car (the trials we have been to have had nice enough weather), and bring him out about 15 minutes prior to our run. During that time he does a good job of focusing on me unless the dogs competing are loud. Then he gets riled up and wants to lunge towards the ring. He gets the most reactive when other dogs are active and barking. If they are calm he tends to stay calm.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Nice, it sounds like you have a great routine with crating out of the car and bringing him out just before his run! 🙂 Very good foundation, and I am sure with the reactivity training it will only become better 🙂
Jeannette Dog Owner
My dogs name is Levi, he is an almost 3 year old border collie heeler mix. He was socialized with dogs when he was a puppy all the way to age 2, he was attacked by 2 huskies in our front yard when he was around 1 year old. Since then he has barked at every dog in the neighborhood on our walks as well as at the park and around town. It has gotten better as to his threshold of when he starts to react but we’ve hit a wall in our progress. He still loves our other 5 dogs, since the attack I’ve not let him greet another dog, since he his anxiety is so high and with the barking and lunging at other dogs, im sure it would and up leading to a dog fight. Im super excited for this course and see where we can get with his reactivity.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am glad you joined. I am so sorry to hear about the attack in your own front yard!! How horrible 🙁 Hard to not become skeptical of other dogs after such an event … 🙁
You did great in avoiding meetings for now. It is so much better to prevent escalations than to try and undo the damage done after the fact!
I hope the course will be useful – please let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Amanda Dog Owner
Willow was born in Nov and was left abandoned in a barn, with her mom and littermates for the first 2 months of her life. She was first fostered in February with a different foster family than myself. She missed out on all socialization during that time because of COVID. I got her in July, at 7months, where we then traveled to go to my university. She is a mix of many things: Great Pyrenees, Australian Cattle Dog, American Pit Bull Terrier, Australian Shepherd, and Border Collie are the main ones.
She is primarily reactive to people outside the house (we live in a duplex, so when the upstairs neighbors are coming and going), and then when she sees the neighbors and other dogs outside the house. She will not stop barking. On a leash, she is great around other people, but is reactive towards other dogs (trying to get to them/whining/hackles raised). We are working on the word “Settle” to get her to calm down her barking when she is inside the house, with some success, as well as utilizing white noise. She has gotten accustomed to some noises such as footsteps, but reacts very loudly to car horns and doors opening.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Aww sweet Willow, what a story she had had! Abandoned in a barn in November, that sure is some stress very early on in life 🙁 Thank you for adopting her 🙂
I hope that you will find this course and the ideas on how to reduce the reactivity helpful! It sounds like you already have a very good idea of what her triggers are exactly in which situations, which is a great first step.
Now to counterconditioning against them 🙂
Let me know if you have any questions!
Megan Dog Owner
I adopted a Redtick Coonhound 5 months ago. I purchased all of your courses and honestly am not sure which one to start with because he has so many issues. He is reactive to all other dogs in any situation from a very far distance. He is very prey driven and due to this will yank full force on the leash to get to whatever he sees. He always wants to be as tight as possible to the end of the leash to either follow a scent or to go faster. He despises heel and wants to lead the way. He barks incessantly up trees where there is nothing there. He obsessively digs up vole tunnels anywhere we go. When on the long lead in the yard if we are outside. He gets very upset when the kids are outside and he is not and barks at them the whole time. If we are on hikes with the kids he is extreymely anxious and if the do not stay directly with us with calm bodies. It is almost as though he thinks that he is in charge of them. He can not settle if we have company over and we are all outside; he barks and carries on whether on the long lead or the leash. Rascal also is reactive when in the car; he tries to attack and barks non-stop at every car that we pass whether it is in motion or parked. He had started to resource guard me and has growled at everyone else in the house at one point or another for trying to pet him or sit next to him although we have been able to stop this with a combo of no furniture, putting distance between him and I when relaxing in the living room, and teaching the kids about dog body language/respecting a dogs space. Rascal is mostly well behaved when in the house and generally a joy in that situation. We hike 2-3 miles a day on the remote trails behind our house and some days he does better not pulling than others but the bad days are more often. I make it a point to take short drives (10 minutes or less) to fun locations twice a week using high reward treats to distract him from losing it which works until it doesn’t. We walk in downtown 1 – 2 times per week with the goal of having successful interactions not getting exercise using some techniques a local trainer showed us. This also seems to work until it doesn’t. We use enrichment toys like puzzles, snuffle mats, interactive toys etc. during the day and play tons of tug. We are using some basic reward based techniques that the adoption agency we got him from showed us and they work when they do and they don’t work when they don’t. One local trainer i contacted suggested anti-anxiety medication without ever even meeting him so I don’t think she is a route i will pursue!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
I am glad you found the courses. Rascal sounds like a very energetic young man!
I generally in favor of not physically wearing a dog out every day. Of course every dog needs and deserves some type of activity and interaction, but it doesn’t always have to be a long hike or run. If you feel that the pulling on leash on your hikes makes it difficult to enjoy and his reaction to the kids walking up ahead is intense, then maybe the hikes are not the best option for now as they keep repeating and ingraining unwanted behaviors and associations.
I wrote some more about this here:
https://spiritdogtraining.com/no-you-dont-have-to-wear-your-dog-out-every-day/
I would recommend to start with this reactivity class and also definitely the Slow Down class. It has a lot of ideas and explanations that will be useful in understanding what’s going on with his excited state, and how you can help him settle quicker. The introduction of the leash walking class will be useful in understanding why it is important to stop any walks on which you cannot control the pulling. Then work on the reactivity in counterconditioning sessions with a trigger, and regulating excitement in the Slow Down class. I think you need these two before you can really make some headway with the leash pulling – very difficult to try and teach leash walking to a reactive and hyper-aroused dog. It will be much easier if he is already a bit less reactive and calmer.
Megan Dog Owner
Thank you for your response. I will start with reactivity to slow down to loose leash. I am already very happy with how you explain the psychology of a dog; it is extremely helpful insight.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Very happy to hear 🙂 Let me know if you have any questions!
Megan Dog Owner
i should mention that Rascal is about 2 years old.
Jason Charles Dog Owner
I got Oliver, a Border Collie mix when he was a pup at 8 weeks during the height of COVID. We were off to a great start with meeting other dogs and people as much as we could but I came down with some symptoms when he was around 12 weeks old and that effectively stopped for awhile. Since then he’s been leash reactive to other dogs and sometimes people. I currently have him go to daycare once or twice a week to play with other dogs. He’s a very good boy just highly excitable and can be wary of other dogs/people we encounter on our walks. Its a hit or miss on a walk and there are days where he will not react to anything and will listen to all my commands for “Leave it” or “Look at me” then toward the end of the walk (we usually walk for 3-4 miles morning and night) he will become completely reactive to everything around me. I am still trying to figure out what his triggers are for people but for dogs, its usually the other dog barking first then he will react.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I really like that you used daycare to have him get some exposure. I have never recommended daycares as much as these days to my clients! They have been such a gift during COVID as the only option for many to get regular positive interactions for their dogs outside the family.
Since your dog is at an age where many things are scary (especially for a bit nervy herding dogs) and it sounds to me more like trigger/day specific reactivity, I am sure that you will be able to make a difference with the ideas in this course 🙂
Let me know if you have any questions!
Laura Dog Owner
Hi Steffi! I enrolled in this course to help me and primarily my rescue Bluetick Coonhound Toby. I have a second rescue Redbone Coonhound Annie who has some reactivity issues that could be helped as well but Toby is my focus.
I adopted Toby from a local rescue in May 2020 in the middle of COVID stay at home orders. He is estimated to be about 2yrs old and I have no information about his history. I suspect that he was dumped when he failed to be a good hunting dog. He is very fearful of loud noises, such a fireworks. Although I was primarily at home during the first month, it was immediately apparent that Toby has severe anxiety issues. His separation anxiety was so severe that he could not be left alone at home at all initially. I either had to find a babysitter(who primarily prevented him from hurting himself or destroying my home) or take him to doggie daycare. I have always crate trained my dogs but the crate seems to amplify his anxiety x100. He would spend hours barking and pacing in the crate. He has been prescribed Prozac by the vet since June and also takes Calming Care probiotic. I stopped using the crate and started using baby gates to keep him confined to safe spaces at home. His separation anxiety has dissipated at home to the point he can be home all day while I have returned to the office. The key has been a consistent routine. He still struggles with separation anxiety if I leave him at my parent’s house, even though he has visited them multiple times and is fine as long as I am around. I am a single pet parent so I think he has become very bonded to me as his main safe person.
At the same time as some of his anxiety has lessened, he has become way more reactive to things at home and while on leash. On leash he will bark and lunge at other dogs, other people, and even yard decor and Christmas decorations. He will also sometimes lunge at large vehicles. In the past we were able to take the dogs to outdoor venues with us without any problems but recently Toby has been reactive in these situations as well, barking at any other dogs that are around. At home, Toby barks at any people or dogs that go by. He will go crazy if the neighbor kids are playing in the front yard. He is also reactive if new people come over to my home, barking and lunging at them unless introductions are done very very slowly. He recently also started barking and whining while we are in the car, something he hadn’t done before. Being a hound dog, his bark is very loud and very disruptive to everyone around.
Walks are an important part of Toby’s routine to give him exercise and enrichment using his hound nose to explore things. I walk the dogs together for 1.5m every morning. Most of the walk could be fine but things escalate quickly if another person or dogs walks by. I also would like to help Toby to feel calm and safe around new strangers and experiences so that we can bring him on adventures to parks and trails and also enjoy social activities with him once the pandemic is over. I am so hopeful this course will be helpful and will greatly appreciate any training you can teach me to support him. Thank you!
Laura Dog Owner
I should probably also add that like the other Coonhound owner mentioned, Toby has a very strong prey drive. If something runs from him, he will want to chase it. Squirrel, stray cat, or small dogs. I suspect he had some training on trailing animals because it becomes obvious from the change in his body language on walks when his “hunting switch is turned on.” That behavior is usually managed with redirection but if he is already excited about trailing something and then is triggered, his reaction is much more overly excited and out of control.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Yes, that is a very good observation – when a dog already has a higher arousal level, everything triggering/exciting on top of that will make his reaction much stronger!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Laura!
I have to give you my biggest compliments on how you managed the separation anxiety. Quite frankly, when I started reading your text I did not think that you would say you are able to leave him at home alone at all these days, let alone all day! Wow. I thought this would go the way most separation anxiety stories go that I encounter, where a solution is eventually found for the dog so he is just never alone.
I honestly think that this kind of progress can be harder to achieve than working on reactivity – so you have the best possible starting point to work on the reactivity as well. I really like that you already noted that letting Toby sniff is an important part of enrichment – we will further make use of this in the class!
Laura Dog Owner
Kori is a mixed breed (About 20% Siberian Husky and GSD and 10% Great Pyrenees, Rottweiler, Saint Bernard, and American Pit Bull Terrier according to Embark) 2 year old that I’ve had since she was 10 months old. Prior to that she was adopted by a family when she was 4 months old that had another dog (English bulldog maybe?). I was told that they played well together, but she was returned to the rescue because of resource guarding when the 2 dogs were fed table scraps. We seem to have remedied this situation (no feeding at the table). Since I’ve had her, she has not had a lot of exposure to other dogs. We had two play dates with my friend’s dogs (a 4 yr old husky mix and a 10 yr old border collie mix) before COVID. She did well when we carefully introduced them outside of either of our homes and played very well with the 4 year old both in their home and in ours. The older dog wasn’t really interested in her puppy energy level and mostly stayed out of it. I had her stay with a pet sitter for a long weekend (also before COVID) that had 4 other dogs. She did well when we introduced them initially and played fine with them, but on the last day another dog arrived and she pinned it down and was very agressive. I don’t know how the introduction was handled as I was not there (I won’t be returning to that sitter as I don’t believe it was handled well). We were in a Basic / Intermediate Obedience Class with a local trainer that ran from late Jan – June (with a break from Mar – May due to COVID). She did fairly well in the class, but I had to distract her if another dog started making eye contact with her or she would bark and lunge. There was a VERY reactive dog in the class and they frequently barked at each other. She was much better when he was not there.
Other than that, she has only been around other dogs while on walks, runs, or hikes with me. She typically gets pretty reactive to other dogs whether they are on leash or in their yards. If they are in their yards and far enough away, I can usually get her to go by without too much excitement just some slight pulling in their direction. If they are closer, she pulls and barks. I can’t tell if it is aggressive / fear or excitement / wanting to play. I haven’t allowed her to greet any other dogs (other than my friend’s 2 dogs) so it could be frustration. She also gets very excited and wants to chase my cat, but is not aggressive with her. I try to keep them apart to minimize her getting any sort of “high” from the chase.
I want to be able to do Canicross with her (we already run together 2-3 times a week) and I’d love to be able to get her into Agility as well at some point, but I am afraid of how she will react around other dogs. My trainer has some Doggie Daycare spots opening up soon, which I was considering to give her an opportunity to play with other dogs one day a week (I work from home, so it is not a necessity), but I’m not sure if that will be good for her or not.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Kori sounds like a really cool mix 🙂
It is always good if dogs have any situations in which they have enjoyed other dogs before (like in your case playing with your friend’s dogs). To me it sounds like the reactivity is somewhat boundary-specific (on leash, at the class). That is pretty common and many dogs who are rather reactive on a leash actually play really well off-leash. So if you have the opportunity to try out the daycare I would share Kori’s history with the supervisor there and see if you can try it out in a safe and controlled way.
The class should be able to help very well with the reactivity on leash and on walks – and also get you ready to try out some dog sports, which I am sure you both will enjoy a lot! I do competitive agility and I have found that many reactive dogs are able to do really well, once they understand how fun it is they are able to focus all their energy on the game 🙂 (similar to what is taught in the last lessons in this class).
Let me know if you have any questions!
Tabitha Dog Owner
We have a 17-month old, Border Collie x Golden Retriever named Ace. He’s sometimes reactive with other dogs on leash but not aggressive. Sometimes he goes into what we call “creep mode” where he slowly creeps forward eyeing the other dog and then lays down to patiently wait for them. Sometimes he says hi to the dog and he’s great, other times it will start off great and something will trigger him to bark and lunge at them after they have said hi and other times it’s bark and lunge right off the bat.
He’s friendly with some dogs in our neighborhood that he’s known since he was a baby, we even go for on leashed walks with them and he’s great. If we’re out walking and he sees them, he’s always super excited to see them and when we say hi, they’re great together and play for a bit.
We see a difference when we walk in a different neighborhood as opposed to when we get close to home. You can see the change in his demeanor and how alert he gets the closer he is to home.
We’re looking forward to taking this course and applying what we learn.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
Having both 2 Border Collies and a Golden myself, I can imagine what a fun cross Ace must be! Lots of energy and always up for fun I bet 🙂
It is really good that he has some doggy friends and generally enjoys playing. It sounds like his reactivity is specific to dogs he does not know or places he is unfamiliar with. That is good to know – you will use this to set up the situations for counterconditioning as you will learn further on in the course.
Let me know if you have any questions, and happy training!
Whitney Dog Owner
Hi Steffi,
I just signed up for your reactivity class! I thought I would put the answers to the worksheet here, and maybe you can give me a few tips.
Lola is a 45# Staffordshire Terrier/Bulldog mix (probably), and she is deaf. She is a rescue, and there is evidence that she was used for breeding large puppies before she was found as a stray. She lived with a foster home for 6 months with other large pit-type dogs, and things were mostly peaceful. I adopted her 3 months ago, and I’m finding that she’s leash reactive and has very poor greeting manners, and I haven’t been able to successfully introduce her to another dog because she’s just so rude. I’ve meet with a behaviorist, and we did a few stuffed dog trials, and we all agree that she is a frustrated greeter/frustrated reactive.
Using your worksheet, I’m guessing that she didn’t have excellent socialization as a puppy, and may have a few traumatic incidents in her history, too. I have not been able to tell a pattern of reactivity specific to different types of dogs. She is great with people, cars, squirrels etc on leash, and is OK with my cat at home (overly enthusiastic and curious but not aggressive).
When she sees another dog on leash, she freezes and stares at them until they have walked all the way past her, and then she barks and lunges and jumps around. She’s more likely to react when another dog stares at her or otherwise reacts than if they walk calmly by.
My goals with working on reactivity are to add more peace to our walks, and introduce her to my boyfriend’s dog, who has little patience for her in-the-face greetings and play. I’m looking forward to adding the pieces of your course onto the work I’m doing with my behaviorist, whom is so busy I can’t meet with her as often as I’d like. If you have any special tips on how to adapt your program for deaf dogs, I’d be happy to hear them! Thanks!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome, I am glad you found the course!
The good news is that this program does not actually utilize a single verbal cue 🙂 So it will work perfectly for a deaf dog! We will be linking the (visual) appearance of a trigger with treats in order to change how Lola feels about them. There is only one lesson in which we practice this process with a ringtone, but you can adapt it and use eg a flashlight or some other visual stimulus for it.
It is usually not good when dogs go into the “freeze and stare” mode – too intense, too confrontational and nothing good really comes out of it. You will learn how to use sniffing in this class – you should be using that a LOT when she wants to start “freeze and stare”, and also take care to keep a large distance from the triggers at first. We can use distance really well to decrease the intensity of seeing another dog, and to avoid our dog staring down another dog.
Let me know if you have any questions, and enjoy the course!
Mary Dog Owner
We adopted a 6 week old Australian Cattledog (Otto) back in June. He’s now about 7 months old. When he was little, we tried to take him to my parents house and parks with our friends as much as possible, but we probably didn’t socialize him as much as we should have because of COVID! Starting at about 5 months, he was becoming very reactive towards every person/dog he saw. He lunges and barks at other people and dogs. I tried to do attention games with him that were suggested in a puppy class we took, but he’s very determined and hyperfocused on his triggers.
The only people he trusts are me, my partner, and my parents. He loves my parents 4 dogs, but he’s snapped at other dogs before so I’ve been very hesitant about letting him meet other dogs. When other people are over he barks at them. Eventually he’ll start ignoring them if they just sit still. However, there’s been a few times when the person got up quickly and he ran at them and nipped at their heels.
I think it has a lot to do with his breed. I think he thinks he needs to protect us and his territory. He’s also not the most confident dog, so I think sometimes he reacts out of fear as well. He likes to sniff a lot on his walks and seems very afraid of going to certain areas in our neighborhood. It seems like he only wants to go to one area, sniff, and go back inside. Even getting him to turn back and walk back to our apartment has been difficult. I think that’s partly because they’ve been doing a lot of construction and he’s afraid of all the construction workers in the lobby.
I’ve noticed that he gets most reactive when someone leaves a building and it’s unexpected, when he sees a jogger, or when he sees a skateboarder/cyclist.
We currently don’t have a backyard, so we really would like to be able to walk him and take him to the park so we can exercise him! I try to take him to my parents house so he can play with their dogs twice a week, but it would be nice to help him with his reactivity so we can go outside more without either of us feeling anxiety!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
Otto is a fantastic name. I am from Germany originally, a very popular name there, don’t think I have ever heard in an English speaking country before 🙂
COVID made puppy socialization for so many puppies difficult – you are not alone!! (In fact, just looking through the other comments here you will find many that are in the same boat as you).
You are correct about the breed’s tendency to be stand-offish and suspicious (and intense in everything they do!). It is great that he enjoys sniffing in a certain area in your neighborhood already. We will build on this sniffing, as it is really relaxing and calming for dogs. That he already seeks this out a bit himself is a fantastic start.
Let me know how the training goes, and please ask if you have any questions 🙂
Kelli Dog Owner
Hi Steffi,
I introduced myself on your Facebook page a few weeks ago. We have had our 7.5 month old rescue border collie for about 8 weeks now. Originally he was scared of absolutely everything. We have slowly built up his confidence and he is able to comfortably walk around our house, yard and the very front of our house. He was sent to the rescue due to his reactivity and we see this when he is in less familiar situations where he is super vigilant and barks and lunges towards other dogs. From the worksheet I can see that his reactivity is most likely due to a lack of socialisation as he was originally on a farm and a breed tendency.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am glad you are here. Please do post questions here as I always check the comments, but since the Facebook group is open to everyone whether they purchased a course or not, I do not always keep up with it.
Herding dogs certainly tend to be quite nervy and on edge, often predisposing them to reactivity and skittishness. I love that you built up his confidence already! I hope the course is helpful – let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Megan Dog Owner
I have an 11 month old lab-cattle dog mix named Goose. Very sweet with people, loves belly rubs, and loves to go run with me. He is everything I wanted. He is becoming more aggressive as he gets older with dogs. He always had some leash aggression that I’ve worked on, and had it under control until about two months ago (not sure what changed because we train consistently). He lunges and barks at other dogs, which makes it really hard to hold on to him while we run. He is much bigger than the shelter told me he would get. He also instigates fights. I took him to the dog park and other places to meet dogs as soon as he was able to go, and it always seemed like nothing bad happened. He would run and play and had a fun time. He started instigating fights about two months ago and also fights with our other dog (they’ve bloodied each other several times). We keep them separate now and I don’t take him to the dog park anymore. Hoping this class helps at least get his leash aggression under control and helps me get him to be friendly with the other dog in the house.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
I am sorry to hear about the troubles with Goose, especially with the other dog in your house – that is always very stressful and scary 🙁 ). Cattle Dogs definitely have an edge to them and they tend to be snarly with other dogs in general. Is Goose neutered?
I hope that the course will help with his reactivity. As far as the situation with the other dog in your house, you are doing exactly the right thing: keeping them separated for now in order to avoid confrontations if the best thing you can do.
John Dog Owner
Hello Steffi,
I’ve had my rescue/foster fail dog for almost 6 months now and have found he’s quite reactive to other dogs (not all) / bike/motorcycle/scooters and even some trucks when out in public.
He’s a 9 yr old jack Russell / Stafford whos has a history of separation anxiety and the main owner in his life was an elderly lady to which I don’t think she socialised him properly with other dogs. He may have had a traumatic event in the past, I can’t be sure (you know how it is when rescuing a dog from a rescue organisation and past history)
He’s fine with humans, some dogs as well, but in social situations such as contained off lead dog parks (we have them here in Australia) he sometimes becomes reactive and needs to be pulled away from the situation he’s in and separated from the other dog to avoid any injuries. So I’m hoping this course will provide some tips in assisting him with this reactivity and sensitivity 🙂
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome, and thank you for fostering and adopting your dog! I have worked a lot with rescues and it can be so tricky to find homes for older rescue dogs. He is super lucky to have you (as I am sure you are to have him 🙂 ) and yes, a lot of previous history that contributed to the reactivity sure could have happened before he ended up with you.
I hope this course will be useful – let me know if you have any questions!
Virginia Dog Owner
Beamer came to us as Leo in August, he is a 3 yo Coon Hound. We have no idea what his background is before summer, he is a rescue and we believe was a failed hunting dog but I think the rescue we got him from is just guessing. He was housebroken when we got him and he had not been in a crate. His manners inside were pretty good and he walked on leash ok, just a lot of pulling. I was taking him on 3.5 mile walks in the am with a friend and her very well trained labradoodle and ended up getting tendonitis in my hand from his pulling. He is in a harness. He started becoming more and more reactive, so I started just taking him on a shorter walk alone. It seems the longer he is with us the worse he is becoming. We discovered that he will bite upon being woken, and then he bit my 18 yo old son Christmas morning when my son went to pet him while he was in his bed with a new toy. So here I am
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Virginia! I am sorry – that sounds like a bunch of difficulties piled up with Leo 🙁
First of all, while this is not a leash walking course I would very much recommend to stop taking him on any walks that bring out the pulling that much. I am so sorry about the tendonitis, I had it once for another reason and it hurts a lot!! You say that you are taking him on shorter walks now but it is really ok to find non-walking outlets for his energy (playing in the yard, running in fenced-in areas, nosework, playing with toys, …). You do not need to walk him if it results in pulling and reactivity, in fact it would actually be more beneficial to the retraining process to not let him rehearse that in general.
About the biting when woken – this was a singular event? Has he ever shown to be startled before? Some dogs startle badly when woken and it is not always caused by reactivity. Do you feel it was connected to resource-guarding the new toy?
Virginia Dog Owner
Thank you for the reply. He is SO schedule driven that I worry that taking the walks away might make things worse but am clearly not an expert ha! The last walk of the day is usually around 7:30 pm and we rarely see any other dogs on that one and is almost always a “good” walk, would it be ok to keep it in the rotation? When we get back from that one he generally gets in his bed and goes to sleep until the morning!
Biting when woken- 1x when he was in his bed, sound asleep and my son bent down and started to pet him. 1x when he had been invited onto the sofa with me, fell asleep and my daughter came to sit down on the other side of him and it woke him up and went after her. He nipped my hand while on leash and was told “leave it” /pulled away when he was completely absorbed in licking/eating some pumpkin in the street. With the toy, I just assumed it was resource guarding, though our schedule was also off due to it being Christmas. He came over to my son moments later to be petted.
Virginia Dog Owner
We really have no idea about anything that happened to him prior to August. He doesn’t really know how to play, he only likes stuffed animals, not balls etc. Once he becomes focused on something (usually another dog but sometimes something we can’t see/hear) outside of the house or our fenced backyard it is very difficult to break that focus and it he is reactive. He is fine with our neighbors dogs in our house, in their house and in both of the backyards.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Yes absolutely, any activity that your dog can already do without being triggered or pushed over the threshold, you should continue doing – such as the evening walk.
Interesting about the nipping, it does sound like some resource guarding issues going on there (also the situation with the pumpkin). I have an article with videos on this here, it might be useful:
Preventing and retraining resource guarding
Eileen Dog Owner
Isaac is a four year Old Neutered parti standard. He has always been on the shy side and in the past, I have worked on getting him more accepting of people. Once he knows individuals, he does warm up. He also barks furiously when the doorbell rings. He had also been very reactive to other dogs on our black when walking. He particularly reacts to the white golden retriever across the street. I
He had three scuffles at the dog park, two on the same day and the third with the young folded retriever in the first incident. I feel I should have removed hi. From the park when the first incident occurred. I kept him from the dog park for four weeks, and also brought him to a supervised doggie day care. He has now returned to the dog park and is doing okay. Of course, I watch him closely and am satisfied that he is doing okay.
I have been focusing on distracting hi. With treats when he sees another dog on our walks. I try to make sure the dogs are at a distance. I have also sat with him in our screened entry, treating him when another dog passes. He has improved a lot — today he turned to me for the treat when he saw the other dog. (Ultimately, that was how I got hi. To ignore golf carts).
I feel his reactivity has gotten worse during the pandemic. Fewer people in the house, no random trips for hi. To the store, no in person dog training sessions.
I feel we are on the right path but want to learn more techniques. I also need to address the barking at the door.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
The pandemic has indeed created or increased reactivity in soooo many dogs – I am glad that you found this course and are ready to learn more techniques to help Isaac feel better about other dogs!
I like what you said about sitting with him in your entry and treating him when other dogs pass. This is exactly the underlying idea we will be using in this course: connecting triggers with positive experiences. I personally am less of a fan of distracting the dog as one day we will not be there to distract or we will be distracted ourselves 😉 and then the dog might regress. By using the technique of pairing the triggers with positive and calming experiences we will be setting our dog up to handle these situations better – because we change how he feels about them.
Let me know if you have any questions as you are working through the course!
Cydney Dog Owner
My dog Coquelicot (Coco for short) is a 9-month old rescue, a staffer/chocolate lab mix. When we got her, she was beaten up, had wounds all over, was terrified and always had her tail between her legs. She was afraid of tall men and reactive to all sound and motion. Three months have passed, and her fear for people has subsided, unless we are out walking, in which case she is triggered by any person, dog, or movement she sees. In these situations, she pulls on the leash and lunges to try and approach.
I have not seen her demonstrate aggression. Rather, she seems to want to approach to play. Still, she is causing me a wrist injury (even with a gentle leader on) due to her yanking and pulling. My husband has no patience for her, no experience with dogs, and is afraid of her.
Although she loves playing with dogs, she attention barks. At the park one day, we took her to a spot with water and she was aggravating the dogs there, because they were chasing balls and she wanted them to play with her. She barked insanely and was not taking cues from other dogs when they gave her warnings. I eventually removed her from this park. On this day, she also did a full body slam into a wall when trying to lunge/jump off the leash to greet a dog.
She has extremely high energy needs. I love this (I’m the same), but it has been a problem getting her exercise because of her behavior and because she injured her shoulder while at the park that day, jumping off a ledge. I have had to keep her inside for nearly three weeks, except walks, which is difficult for all of us.
Other problems include her inability to learn that my 7-year old stepson is a child and not a puppy, jumping up on kids and adults (despite 3 months of training), and mouthing/nipping (this is slowly getting better).
She is also completely unaware of me the majority of walks; even when she is abiding by commands, she rarely looks at me. She struggles with generalizing come, sit, and other commands. Even though she has learned an impressive number of commands (sit, stay, down, knock it down, find it, sniff, turn around, catch, jump, paw, out).
The kids are only with us
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Coco sounds like a very energetic dog indeed 🙂
I would caution you very much against using mostly physical exercise to meet her needs for activities. Unfortunately, by satisfying the dog’s need for an adrenaline kick through running, jumping, playing rough etc. we get a dog that craves this more and more.
I wrote some more about this here:
You Don’t Have To Wear Your Dog Out Every Day
Now, I myself am a really active person and I LOVE to take my dogs on hikes, go swimming and skiing and do competitive agility etc … however, I think it is really important for their mind (and body – to prevent injuries!) to learn and be able to be content also without profound physical exercise.
The sniffing exercises in this class will definitely help get Coco calmer and help her enjoy also not-so-crazy activities. Moving forward, I would really recommend to explore other ways of activity – puzzles, sniff walks, brain games, tricks, chewing, … it will pay off many times in the future 🙂
Btw – “just” 3 weeks of rest with walks is still a very good way to recover 🙂 Some injuries in dogs – such as broken toes, shoulder injuries etc. – can require up to 3 months of crate rest! Because we never know when our dog might have a layoff like this, getting them used to having fun while their body is still is a good idea.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
PS – since you mentioned this – I think working on sit, come, etc. in different environment, also combined with the sniffing, will be a great start to get her to use her mind instead of just the body 🙂
elli Dog Owner
Shiloh is my Westie COVID puppy that I got in June, 2020 at 12 weeks from a reputable breeder. I’ve had him in numerous puppy, manners, dock diving, CGC, prepping for Obedience classes starting in July, but pulled in November due to the COVID surge. I tried to socialize from the car, taking to a few stores, classes, walks, etc. He is a sweet puppy (now 9 months), but barks at every noise that he doesn’t know the source. He barks at anyone he sees from our windows and the car. In the classes his behavior varied. I would have to deal with his barking quite a bit or I could keep him busy with the exercises/treats and have no issues at all. In the yard, he will stop barking and run to the patio and sit for treats with me.
I’ve looked some of the future lessons. At least Shiloh is a good sniffer of treats in the grass. We are ready to work on this issue and hope your lessons help us.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Elli and Shiloh!
First of all big compliments: you have taken her to so many classes even with COVID going on, well done! Even dock diving and CGC, that is really great.
As you will see when looking through the other comments, many puppy owners are in the same boat as you: the pandemic made socializing and exposing the puppy to a variety of positive experiences really difficult.
I am glad to hear Shiloh is a good sniffer of treats – the first part will come easy for him 🙂
Have fun, and let me know if you have any questions 🙂
katie Dog Owner
I rehomed a Doberman 6 weeks ago, he is almost 2 years old and was never socialized.
We take him to dog day care and the dog park multiple times a week, and he is fantastic except barking at the dog parks to initiate play. He is getting better at recall, so hopefully we can distract him enough that he doesn’t get into trouble barking at the wrong dog!
His leash walking is getting better but he barks and tries to get to dogs that we pass on our walks, I can see an improvement when the dogs are further away, and every day he gets better and better but I’m looking forward to this course to have more tools under my belt to help him out!
Élise SpiritDog Trainer Team
Hey Katie,
Congrats on the new family member!
It’s great to hear that you are committed to working with him.
It sounds like this class will be a good fit for him.
If you have any questions along the way, please don’t hesitate to ask!
Megan Dog Owner
Hello-
I am starting this course today. We just adopted a shepherd/lab mix (we think) from our local shelter where I volunteer. Bernie is about a year old and very snuggly at home. I believe he missed out on learning to walk on leash early and perhaps due to his reactivity. We have him in training with a local trainer but we are unhappy with the results so far. Our local training has us using a collar high up on his neck to avoid hurting his trachea which is great but it doesn’t always work well due to his large head and slim neck. We have also tried several harnesses but they have resulted in mixed results and some abrasions under his forearms. He is actually much better walking on leash at the trainer’s place than near our home. He is reactive to cars (extreme and scary) as well as people walking and on bikes and some other dogs (selectively reactive). We would like to get to the point that he is less reactive and will walk without hard pulling and lunging. Hoping this course will help and then we can move on to some other fun classes (we signed up for the masterclass). ~Megan
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
Some dogs can be really tricky to fit into a harness. Do you want to share which harnesses you tried? The abrasions were due to Bernie pulling or just from normal walking? I might have some ideas for other harnesses you can try.
The leash pulling solution for reactive dogs is often extra difficult as it requires a combination of solving the reactivity and solving the ingrained pulling habit. I am glad you got the Masterclass, that will help with retraining general leash walking outside of the reactivity context as well. (Also check out the Focus In Public course – I have some additional leash walking ideas in there!).
Don’t worry about “real walks” for now, for a while your outings will probably be training walks rather than exercise walks. It is much better to focus on the reactivity and pulling behavior first, then once you have made improvement there take your dogs for “regular” walks again 🙂
Cheryl Dog Owner
Hello!
We adopted our sweet Bella five years ago. She was 2-3 years old at the time, and we don’t know anything about her background. Just that she is “a runner”, and “No Cats” (both have been solidly confirmed). 80% Border Collie/15% Airedale Terrier/5% other.
Great with people, in all situations. Very well-behaved indoor manners.
Non-existent recall when something else has her attention, so no off-leash unless in our fenced yard or at daycare (by the way she is a model citizen at daycare, no issues whatsoever).
The “biggies”:
1- Reactivity on leash, she gets the intense “border collie stare and body language” a soon as she spots another dog, even blocks away. Close contact (even with some distance, like across the street) and it is barking, pulling and lunging time. Kujo.
2- Barking at passing dogs when she is riding in the back seat of our car. Unprovoked, just sees them out the window and starts barking and lunging through the car window.
3- Barking at dogs passing by outside the yard fence, fence is solid wood not mesh, even if the other dogs don’t react back. And/or at the next door neighbor dogs, who sometimes return the barking and other neighbor dogs do not. I’m less concerned with #3, focusing our learning and training on #1/#2.
Hopeful and encouraged that we aren’t the “only ones”!
Cheryl
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Cheryl and Bella!
No, indeed you are not the only ones. There are many, many fellow students that experience just the same issues 🙂
As far as the three areas of reactivity mentioned, I would start out with with #1 as this is the one we can manage the best. You will see in later lessons that we have to put some effort into setting up situations that will lead to successful training. If we do not have sufficient space to move away should the dog cross her threshold or are unable to turn the situation into a pleasant experience, we will only further ingrain the reactivity.
Yard and especially car will be a bit more difficult in the beginning, but leash reactivity can be improved really well with the right setups.
Then once you can decrease your “critical distance” in the leash situations, we can move onto the other two areas.
Let me know if you have any questions as you work through the course 🙂
Misty Dog Owner
Hi, I have a lab mix who is 95 pounds and is dog reactive. He has never injured a dog, but gets very vocal and if off leash, I would say they are in a dog fight, but it never results in injuries. I have taken him for evaluations with trainers in the past and they say that is he untrainable since he is almost 6 years old. One board and train place said he is unadoptable as well. He loves people, just not so sure with dogs. I signed up for this course looking for recommendations on how I can improve his behavior and make him less reactive. I appreciate any suggestions you have.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Misty!
First of all, I do not think that any dog can quickly be labeled as “untrainable”. While it is true that the longer a behavior has been going on, the longer it will likely take to change it, it is always worth investing time and effort into making the dog comfortable with his triggers and changing his CER (conditioned emotional response – I will talk more about this in one of the first lessons).
Good for you for keeping on searching for solutions 🙂
Let me know if you have any questions as you work through the course!
Alina Dog Owner
Hi! our dog Roo was found wandering around rural Mississippi at around age 1 1/2; he was eventually brought to our area where we adopted him about 6 months ago. he is now 2 1/2. we don’t know what happened to him prior to him being rescued. He is only 23 lbs and probably a mix of Beagle, Chihuaha, Lab and others things – a true mutt. He’s a sweet, loveable cuddly dog and very playful. His worst problem is leash reactivity to other dogs. It’s difficult to take him anywhere for fear we will encounter a dog at which point he zeros in on the other dog and starts barking at him/her as if he wants to rip his head off. we did hire a trainer to work with him and she gave us some good tips on how to work with him, but we are still struggling. He gets very stressed when he sees other dogs. I just want him to be relaxed and be able to enjoy outings. He loves to sniff and sometimes if he is sniffing hard at the ground he will completely miss the fact that there is a dog nearby. He also reacts to loud trucks. we do not have a cat – but my mother does and he has a stroong drive to “hunt” the cats where we visit and it’s a struggle to keep him away (the poor cats get traumatized!) Thank you and looking forward to learning how to help him be calm on a leash and in a public place where there are other dogs around. Oh – and we have taken him to a dog park a few times and let him play in the small dog area and he did ok there. It’s just a leash thing.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Thank you for rescuing Roo 🙂 He sounds like such a cool mix!
Leash reactivity is really common. The good news is that we can usually make a lot of improvement by implementing the changes described in this course. It is great that he already likes sniffing and can focus on it intently, we will make a lot of use of this skill in the course!
Let me know if you have any questions, and enjoy the training 🙂
Alina Dog Owner
thank you!
Priscilla Dog Owner
Toffee is a Australian Shepherd out of working lines. She is lovely with humans she knows and more or less ignorant to strange humans. I’m really happy that it’s no problem to have friends or strange people (as plumbers) visit us at home.
With dogs she got to know slowly she is great and has real good social abilities.
On the other hand she get’s reactive if we meet strange dogs in the street, while she is on leash. We got to manage is to a point and we have great days, but also not the best days. Toffee also doesn’t get along while off leash with small or shy dogs. Since I know that she can’t behave properly with those kind of dogs, I call her back if I see such dogs from a distance and put her on the leash or change our path. I’m not sure we can change this part…
Toffee got a little calmer when we leave the house, but still she is quit nervous and tends to whine… Also if she smells a strange dog, which walked our path shortly before us, she gets quit nervous and more or less loud.
As a puppy she had a great socialization, she loved all dogs until around 14 weeks of age. Then she started to bark on leash, because she wanted to greet the other dog right now. I didn’t expect to take a downhill path from their and didn’t allow her to greet a dog, when she behaved like that. Out of this she got frustrated and more reactive.
Except for the frustration, which might be her traumatic event, nothing bad happened to her in the presence of an other dog…
In other parts she is the great dog I hoped for, she is a great working companion in dog sports and cuddly, lovely and funny family member.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am glad you joined.
Aussies are really common candidates for reactivity – it is surprising for many owners as they seem to be such a fun-loving and outgoing breed, but if we look at what they were bred for (herding more or less in solitude) it makes sense!
I really like that you are already so proactive in putting on the leash when you see others approaching, that is a great first step to managing the reactivity – now we “reprogram” her emotional response to the triggers.
I hope you enjoy the course, please let me know if you have any questions!
valerie Dog Owner
Hi, Coco is a 5 year old long haired chihuahua mix just rescued. She is ok walking on a leash, as long as we don’t encounter other dogs. She pulls towards them and if they want to meet, sometimes it’s ok and others she growls/barks first. Alot of times, if we’re just talking to neighbors and someone approaches with a dog on leash, she’s on leash also, she’ll start going in circles around you, barking, growling until you have to pick her up. Sometimes she’ll calm down when picked up and other times, you just have to move on, she’ll keep growling towards the other dog. She also has charged a few people who’ve come to the front gate and door. Sometimes she’s fine but when they leave and open the gate, she charges them. Othertimes she’s riled up as soon as the door bell rings. Alot of power in her little body. I would like to be able to walk her, as many have mentioned, without always having to cross the street and turn around when someone approaches with a dog. Thanks for your help.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Any kind of on-leash meeting has the potential for escalation, even in dogs that are generally good off-leash.
Something that makes this even harder is that in small dogs the leash automatically pulls upwards nearly perpendicular.
I would recommend to watch the lessons on equipment, setting up situations and the first session with the trigger and read the one about walking your reactive dog. Right now I would not approach dogs so closely that she is likely to have a reaction like you describe.
As for charging people coming to the door, you would also want to avoid these scenarios – for example by having her in a separate room when you expect visitors.
Let me know if this makes sense, and if you have any other questions 🙂
Jen Dog Owner
I’ve got 2dogs with what is now minor reactivity (getting better as we’ve been counterconditioning and working on finding threshold and specific triggers but still, sometimes, sudden and explosive). I figure, more tools, more options for training (why I’m here).
My 3 year old Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle dog has a number of reasons for being leash reactive. The biggest being that he was attacked on a number of occasions by random loose dogs in my neighborhood as well as two (of note) that were on fully extended flexi-leads (in both instances, the dog crossed the street and broadsided him, taking out a chunk of skin and fur while the owner just stood there gawping. Damage done. Recently, he and I have had the experience of trying to walk calmly past another leashed dog whose owner makes them sit and stare at us (which results in that dog exploding as we pass the closest point). Now my dog is worried about all dogs and some people. If we have a few days of avoiding that experience and only pass calm dogs, he is fine again. He has excellent obedience skills as well as loose leash walking skills (we were often in very crowded classes before Covid without incident. His reactivity seems specific to my neighborhood.
My 2 year old Australian Cattle Dog (you call them heelers above) is occasionally leash reactive. I’m not too concerned about her tho. She is extremely protective, pushy, and generally not interested in dogs other than her family. It’s my thought she gets irritated if other dogs come into her bubble uninvited. She’ll get better at navigating these situations as she ages and with proper guidance. (My other 2 dogs, a 4 yo border collie and an 8 yo ASTCD are stellar in public on leash and not at all reactive????)
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Hi Jen,
I am so sorry to hear about this attack! Horrible 🙁 And on a flexi leash of all things, that is just so bad. I was really happy to get your email yesterday with already some success story – keep up the good work and I am sure you will continue to see improvement!
I have a very soft spot for all herding dogs 🙂 I really hope yours can overcome this horrible attack experience 🙁
Please let me know if you have any questions, and enjoy the course!
Bridget Dog Owner
My dog is a Dane/Lab mix. She is a rescue and had a HORRIBLE 2020. She was relinquished to a shelter and stayed there for several months, then a foster home, then adopted but starved by her adopters (lost 20 lbs in 2 months), then relinquished again, then fostered, then adopted by us. We have a very stable household but she’s become incredibly reactive with other dogs and when dogs walk by the house (furious barking, growling, lunging on walks, etc.). She’s amazing with people, great in the house but at her size (85 lbs now) we really need to get reactivity and barking in check. I took another reactivity course and she doesn’t care at all about food when she’s in full reactive mode and it can’t always be totally avoided.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Oh boy, this is a horrible 2020 🙁 I am sorry to hear about such a rocky year. She is so lucky that you have adopted her 🙂
You will see that we have several lessons on how to deal with dogs in “full reactive mode” and how to meticulously plan your sessions so that you can keep her below her threshold. With a dog with such pronounced reactivity it is usually not possible to “go out and see”, but rather the dog’s daily schedule and life might need to change for a bit until she has a bit better reaction to her triggers. It is absolutely ok to reduce frequency of or completely stop “regular walks” for a while, if they are guaranteed to have her cross her threshold. The good news is that after we change the dog’s response, you will be able to resume them 🙂
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Sarah Dog Owner
My dog, Izzy, who is believed to be a German Shepherd and Pitbull mix is reactive to other dogs.
We adopted her in October of 2020 and we are her third (an final home). we don’t have much history about her previous homes other than her second home was with an older couple that couldn’t handle her high energy. I have said from day one that her house manners are excellent but her outside manners needs a lot of work. We have worked a lot on how to greet people and she now does amazing with walking past people, she doesn’t even give the time of day. Her reaction to dogs on the other hand is not great.
She becomes visibly agitated or anxious especially around any dogs her size (medium, 55lbs) or bigger. We have the most trouble when we ware walking her and we have to pass another dog who is out walking, she starts whining and jumping and throwing what looks like a temper tantrum. She has gotten better with passing dogs who are in some kind of enclosure like a kennel or inside their own home.
It seems to be that if we are walking and the dog is inside a house she is pretty good, gives it a quick glance but continues on. If the dog is outside but inside a chain link kennel area she pays more attention to it but again seems to do okay. If the dog is outside and on a lead or rope tied to a tree we have a lot of trouble and usually can’t walk past it without her reacting. This also hold true if the dog is outside but in a closed in kennel like a solid wood fence.
We have also found that she does much better overall if she is on a longer (like 12 foot) leash (not the like retractable ones though) rather than the traditional 6 foot leashes. I am really excited to take this course and help Izzy overcome or even better manage her reactivity.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Sarah and Izzy 🙂 I am glad you found us, and thank you for adopting Izzy! Third home, she has been through some stuff I am sure … she is lucky to be in her final home now 😀
It is really good that you have such a clear knowledge of her triggers already (dogs on a leash vs dogs inside vs dogs behind a fence). A lot of successful reactivity training is analyzing these exact situations and figuring out which training scenarios to set up to let the dog be successful in staying calm and happy.
I also like that you found out that the longer leash works better – this is actually one of the adjustments I always recommend 🙂
I hope you enjoy the course, let me know if you have any questions!
Jesse Dog Owner
Hi! I adopted a new dog 2 months ago, a 2 year old springer spaniel/(maybe) Australian shepherd mix. He is wonderful with people, and for the first month I had him, he was great with dogs too. Lately, though, he has been snapping at more and more dogs. Sometimes I can predict this, and prevent a stressful interaction, but sometimes he will greet nicely for 5 or so seconds before suddenly deciding not to be nice. I want to give him chances for successful interaction, but I don’t know how to predict when he will decide he’s had enough. He’s also 65lbs, so it is hard for me to redirect him quickly once he is greeting another dog. He goes to daycare a couple times a week, and is selective about the dogs he likes there as well – I can’t tell if this is good socialization practice for him, or if it might be exacerbating the reactivity.
Thanks!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Hi Jesse,
Welcome! As you will learn in several lessons, selective reactivity is really common in many dogs. Unfortunately, if we do not know exactly if something is going to be a trigger or not, we always need to assume that it is – otherwise we run into the risk of putting the dog into situations that will indeed increase his reactivity.
About the daycare … there are many selectively reactive dogs that can go to daycare successfully and have a great time, however you want to know exactly “what goes on there” – does he have confrontations with dogs regularly? How does the daycare staff handle this? I agree that if not managed well, this could indeed make the reactivity stronger.
Jaselle Dog Owner
My dog Hex (staffy x) is very challenging to walk. When we are in our home I am her favourite thing. She will follow me from room to room, pays attention to any request or command and is generally very focused on me. As soon as we leave to go on a walk she will almost completely ignore me, lunges towards and barks at people with or without dogs, lunges at fences where there are dogs behind and barking at her and generally barks her head off at any dog she sees.
I think this may have started from a couple of traumatic incidents as she used to socialise well with dogs on lead and at the dog park. But we had to stop taking her to the dog park after one incident where she got into a bit too much of a rough and tumble with another dog. And another time she was bitten by a dog through a fence.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am so sorry to hear that Hex got bitten through the fence 🙁 This can be so scary and really manifest itself in longterm reactivity.
It is great that Hex is so focused and attached to you at home! Every time our dog trusts us a lot already, the future training will be easier 🙂
I think the lessons will be useful for reducing her reaction to both people and dogs.
Let me know if you have any questions, and happy training!
Lorna Dog Owner
I have a 3 year old border collie. I bred him, he went to his new home at 8 weeks – a very experienced handler who already had 1 of my dogs and dogs from the lines I was breeding from. Moy was returned at 15 weeks as “a seriously aggressive puppy” towards other dogs, he also “wouldn’t listen”.
He left me on a Friday afternoon, apparently spent the weekend in her van with her other dogs as she was on a training course with an older dog (I didn’t know this was going to happen) – I’d only just started crate training him at 6 weeks. As a training venue I guess he would have heard a lot of dogs barking over the weekend. He is also very work, he would ‘work’ one of her other dogs – to discourage this a pet corrector spray was used and rolled up newspaper to hit a surface (not the pup) as a way to interrupt the behaviour ????
When he came back to me he was zoned out to voice. I swear that when he came into my living room I heard a loud sigh of relief, his body just relaxed. It took almost 3 months for him to tune back into the human voice, I changed his name very early, it meant nothing to him. He responded really well to “Oi!” So it became Moy ???? He is a great dog, very good at scent games. He is very reactive towards other dogs out and about. In the home, with my other 5 dogs, he is mostly a dream. Pushy and very ‘worky’ with my 7 year old boy at times but, it’s the outside stuff I’m concerned with.
I’ve never experienced a reactive dog and whilst I’ve seen some improvement, I’d really like to try and sort it out, so that walks will be more enjoyable for us both.
Looking forward to your course ☺
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Lorna!
Oh man, I am sorry … what a rough start in life Moy (what a cute name) had! I am glad you got him back and started to work with him positively and patiently 🙂
Border Collies (and other herding breeds) are so sensitive and can really take corrections to heart – especially when they are so young 🙁
Please let me know how it goes, and ask if you have any questions 🙂
Barbara Dog Owner
Hi, our older rescue dog Rocket, a staffie, had clearly not been socialized when we got him, he’d been abused, he doesn’t know how to play, he soaks in the attention, he had anxieties. We got a second dog that was very balanced. Rocket would be pretty reactive, but not in a bad way, just really wanted to meet them. Libby was chased by a couple of dogs when it was just her and became reactive. That was several years ago. After we moved to MN last May, they were attacked 3 different times while on walks with us by neighborhood dogs in an unfenced yard. Three different locations. Now they figure they’d better attack before they are attacked. We are at our wits end. They will start barking and pulling at their leash when they see a dog, very aggressive, either in a yard or on a leash, from a distance, and of course closer. We have just got to do something. I’m really hoping you can help us.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
I am so sorry Rocket had been abused AND attacked, poor guy 🙁 Thank you for rescuing him! Sorry that your other dog was attacked as well, it is so scary and upsetting when it happens.
As you are working through the course I highly recommend to either do individual sessions with your dog (so one dog trains with you first, then the other one) OR you get your spouse, a friend etc. to handle one dog and you handle the other.
You will see in the course that we are always reacting and adjusting our approach to the dog’s reaction. When you have two dogs, they might have two different reactions and then you cannot react equally well to both (one dog might need to move away, the other might need to keep on working where he is etc.).
It is much better to spend 5 min training each dog individually than to spend 10 min training both at once.
Let me know if you have any questions as you work through the course!
Katie Dog Owner
We have two dogs. Skyler is the newer of the two and she is a Rat Terrier/Schnauzer/Maltese mix. She was under socialized and is a shy, reactive dog. Since getting Skyler our other dog Hazel (terrier mix) has become reactive in many situations where she never was before. The two dogs are buddies and we feel like Hazel is trying to protect Skyler from other neighborhood dogs. They are not large dogs but when they both get going with barking and lunging it really stressful. It’s a bit confusing because their problems are worst when they are together, but I’m not sure if I should be working with them separately first or with them together.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
Many owners of two dogs that are just a bit reactive by themselves experience that the dogs are a lot worse when together. Some of this is “just” situational learning: they start to associate reactivity with the situation of being out together, and it grows from there.
It is crucial that you either have a different person (spouse, friend, relative etc.) work with one dog while you work with the other or you work with them one after the other. It is impossible to react well to two different dogs who might be needing different things!
We like to start at a point at which reactivity is low and manageable – it sounds to me as if this is when they are out by themselves. Ideally I would probably start with the lessons with just one dog at a time, and as they show some improvement have setups where each dog has one handler.
Sarah Dog Owner
We adopted Watson in November. According to SPCA, he was a one-year-old stray who seemed to enjoy the presence of other dogs (seen through the fence at their facility). Since we brought him home, however, he’s been lunging and barking loudly at other dogs any time we see them. He walks nicely on a leash for me… unless he sees another dog, even from a distance. He’s grown more reactive over the past two months, now barking at people, bicyclists, etc. I want him to feel safe and calm, and I want to be able to enjoy walks with him. I’m excited to start this program and help out my pooch!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Sarah and Watson! I am glad you found this course.
Many owners experience that their dog’s reaction to other dogs (or people) changes once rescued and settled in at the new home. This is not uncommon (though, of course, not fun at all) – dogs have a very different mood at the shelter than in their final home. I think that the course will be very useful for your pup’s issues with leash walking. Please let me know if you have any questions as you work through the lessons 🙂
Julie Dog Owner
I have a 17-month-old neutered male australian shepherd. We tick all of the boxes on the worksheet: interrupted socialization (pandemic, cross-country move), traumatic event (two orthopedic surgeries for him between the ages of 8 and 11 months, also leading to interrupted socialization during his post-surgical recovery), and breed-specific tendencies.
He was pretty normal in the two puppy classes and one Tricks class we had him in before the surgeries, pandemic, and move. He became suspicious of new buildings and people after his first surgery. His rehab vet used the fear-free approach, and he became friendly and affectionate with her (her rehab clinic is separate from a general clinic). However, after the specialty clinic where his surgeries were done noted he was “vicious” during a follow-up visit after his second surgery, we use a basket muzzle and sedation for vet visits (other than his rehab vet). Given time and patience (fear-free, no look, no touch, no eye contact), he does accept new people and becomes affectionate towards them. Taking him for walks or other things that you want to do with a dog does not really allow for that, though.
We have had some improvement using long-leash (BAT-inspired) work in open public spaces, and he is on 40 mg Prozac every day. We are having mixed results with distancing, distracting and redirecting him in areas with less open space (e.g., a trail).
I am hopeful that this course will give me some ideas of where I am making mistakes, as well as other ideas for handling different situations.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am glad that you joined. And wow, your boy has had quite the history already! I am especially sorry about the two surgeries, that is a lot for any dog, but especially one so young and in the middle of socialization. No wonder he didn’t like the vets at his follow-up …
You will see in this course that I do not use specific distracting or redirecting, but rather “reconditioning” the dog’s response. These two approaches might look very similar but by changing how the dog actually feels about a trigger, we will later on be able to be more relaxed – not always on the lookout and having to be ready to distract and redirect.
Please let me know if you have any questions as you are working through the course 🙂
Melissa Dog Owner
We have two dogs – Koda is 15 months old and possibly a Dutch Shepherd /heeler mix. She was found by a rescue on the side of the road eating garbage , she was freezing and malnourished at 5 months and we adopted her at 6 months . She really is the sweetest , snuggliest dog ! We are so grateful she found us . Koda is reactive to other dogs , especially on leash , at the fence , windows , veterinary office or grooming salon. She can also be reactive to kids , strollers, cars , the door , men , backpacks and vacuums . Koda loves her sister Bailey who we adopted when Koda was 9 months . Bailey was also a rescue from the reservation , her parents were hit by a car and she and one sibling survived. We adopted Bailey at 6 weeks and she is probably a Swiss mountain or Great Dane/heeler mix . Bailey definitely is very afraid of loud noises (especially her sister barking ) and other dogs in her home . She is very friendly on walks and at the grooming salon with other dogs . Bailey is most reactive to loud sounds on walks ( she tries to run away) and Bailey is reactive to her sister being reactive to other dogs . Meaning she jumps at and on Koda while Koda is being reactive . Walks are becoming a nightmare as the dogs get bigger , yet we love walks and take them everyday . Koda let’s us know like clockwork it’s time for a walk . She often pulls from the very beginning. But we have worked hard for her to sit and do “eyes” something we learned can help her snap out of the pulling. It doesn’t last though she goes right back to pulling. They are both using escape free harnesses . They definitely are worse on walks together but we do walk them together on a tandem leash . I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn how to help them be the best dogs they can be on walks , at the vets and grooming salon and with guests . We love them both so much .
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Melissa, Bailey and Koda!
Aww, what a challenging start Koda had in life. Thank you so much for adopting her and giving her a loving home 🙂 She sounds like she is a real sweetheart!
Many Dutch Shepherds are very on edge, I actually just met a local one this summer who was only 6 months old and already had some pronounced reactivity (that is an unusually young age for dogs to be reactive … Brodie who you will see in the lessons also started his reactivity this early on!). Anyway, there is certainly a breed-tendency there.
I am glad you adopted Bailey as well 🙂 Most dogs are much more reactive when they are together. It can be a combination of feeling “backed up” by their sibling dog, and also just cumulative situational learning in the sense of “every time we are together things get REALLY INTENSE”.
I hope you find this class useful – please let me know if you have any questions along the way!
Alysia Dog Owner
I have a 14 month golden retriever, Theo. Due to covid, we didn’t get to training and he wasn’t exposed to other dogs as much as I would have liked. We did go on A TON of walks though. He was doing perfectly, then around 5-6 months, he became unbearable. There are several dogs on our street that barked at him and once a chihuahua attacked him which I didn’t think much of because of the obvious size difference, but I think it really freaked him out. Now on walks, whenever we see another dog, he growls or barks and often lunges. I got a gentle leader that helps a lot but the behavior is still happening.
He does have dogs that he sees regularly and gets along with them great! He regularly hangs out with a 6 year old male golden retriever, a 6 mouth old pit bull mix, a four year old vizsla. We also live with a two year old Catahoula leopard dog and a chihuahua. Unfortunately, the Catahoula leopard that we live with has a lot of guarding and barking tendencies that Theo has picked up.
In addition to the walking behavior, my boyfriend’s brother has a dog (mini Australian shepherd). They played really well together mostly, but about three times when there was a shared toy, Theo has aggressively gone after the puppy. No biting to draw blood, but definite guarding that is unacceptable. I would like to reintroduce them, but I want to get the reactivity under control first.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Alysia and Theo!
Covid did that to sooo many young dogs and their owners – you will find many in the same boat as you in this class!
Poor guy, Goldens can be really sensitive. I have one as well and he is such a gentle soul and definitely would take even a Chihuahua attack very personal and be hurt!
It is really good that he does have some doggy friends and enjoys hanging with them. This is a great first step and can be useful later on, when he feels better about other dogs and might be interested in playing with them!
I would not worry too much about the resource guarding of the toy. For many dogs a line is drawn once it gets to shared toys and food – if nobody crosses the line, everyone can coexist just fine.
I had a podcast on this topic last week, it might be interesting for you!
Resource Guarding Podcast
Jocelyn Dog Owner
My dog, Pepper, is now a year and a half old. We got her at 3 months from a shelter. I don’t know how much socialization she had there and she did not have much with us for the first month or so. She was our first dog and I think we may have made mistakes in her early training and not been able to read her cues well. For example, she gets nervous on walks and would often stop walking or turn around to run home. Too often we tried to lure her/pull her/pick her up to go further, but I think now, I should have just turned around and tried again another day. She is a German Shepherd/Corgi mix (possibly with other breeds mixed in there too.) She is usually sweet at home with us (me, my husband and our two kids, age 12 and 10) but is generally nervous and stubborn. She will bark at people, especially men or people carrying things (shovels, rakes, bags, etc) and often growls or barks at other dogs. She has had a few times when another dog has lunged at her and I think that has scared her a lot. She also gets very hyper and excited around the people she knows and likes (my mom and our kids friends). It’s hard to stop her from jumping and running circles around them.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Jocelyn and Pepper,
A GSD/Corgi mix just sounds too adorable! She must be the cutest 🙂 Both breeds certainly can be pretty nervous and suspicious of strangers. I think that the sniffing exercises you will learn in this course will be very useful for calming her down and taking off the edge when she is worked up. Over time we can teach her to be less charged up in these situations.
Let me know if you have any questions as you work through the course 🙂
Andria Dog Owner
We adopted a puppy last June and she is about 10 months old now. She’s come a long way with her anxious tendencies but now she is very reactive towards children. My husband and I don’t have kids so she is really only exposed to them at dog parks where she is off leash. She doesn’t go after them but gets very nervous when they pass by. Ripley is a pit/aussie mix and was found as a solo puppy so we assume she had little socialization in her early months.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! This is very common for dogs who do not live with children … but nothing that we cannot make better 🙂 Interesting about her being found as a singelton puppy. They are so fascinating as it is quite rare (especially in larger breeds).
One of my friends has a singleton (he is nearly 6 years now) and even though she has been investing a ton of work and time into training him (she is actually a dog trainer herself), the dog has always been a bit … off in certain situations. We certainly know that he was a singelton as he was born at a breeder’s (something went wrong in the pregnancy) and even though the breeder himself put a huge amount of work into raising the pup, there is something different.
Now, this is an incredibly sweet dog, very friendly with people, super well trained, can be around other dogs ok-ish- the “special characteristics” are nothing that impacts day-to-day life. However, I have always found it fascinating what interesting differences can be found in singletons.
Carla Dog Owner
We adopted Bergen as a rescue a little over two years ago. He came in as a stray and was not neutered, but clearly was owned by someone at some point as he was housebroken, and recognized what a leash meant. The shelter listed him as 7, because he had a noticeable limp and back pain, and he seemed like an old man dog.
We did a DNA test, and he is mostly German Shepherd and Mastiff, followed closely by Chow, Husky, and Rottweiler. As our trainer said, we are working “against” his guard dog breed tendencies.
Once we adopted him, our vet said he was no more than 4! He suffered from horrible separation anxiety and was exceptionally reactive to everything and everyone. We worked extensively with a trainer, and now he’s great 90% of the time. No more separation anxiety, but still is reactive on leash to other dogs, sometimes people, and bikers/skateboarders. (We took care of his physical ailments too, through meds and PT.) He goes to doggie day care, and they say he’s been nothing but fabulous. So, seems as if the leash and our presence as owners is the biggest issue.
I’m hoping this course gives us tools to work with him to get him to be more relaxed and less reactive to the world around him on walks.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Aww, thank you for adopting Bergen! He is very lucky to have you 🙂 Poor guy, so much anxiety and reactivity … I really hope that we can help him see the world in a better light in this course!
Megan Dog Owner
I have a black lab-collie cross (Mione – short for Hermione) who is around 4 1/2 years old now, we had her from a puppy, and when we are at home or with people and dogs who she already knows she is a really lovely dog.
She was relatively well socialized as a puppy and was always great with other dogs but not so reliable around people, she used to see people without a dog and would run at them, she also used to chase anything that had wheels. As she got older she started to become more and more aggressive towards dogs as well and started to ignore people. She would also offer be quite happy to completely ignore other dogs but if they were too friendly or too intrusive to her personal space – sniffing her rear or face, she would then react. Gradually her reactivity got worse and then on one incident she was attacked by another dog on a walk and since then she has never been able to be around other dogs, either on lead or off lead. We had been told to keep up with socialising but she got worse and worse, until eventually we stopped taking her out all together. She is usually OK if she is around a dog she already knows but, generally, if she encounters a new dog, she will bark and lunge.
We did work with someone once who helped to teacher us how to ignore other dogs and had made some amazing progress but there has been a few times when we have been going through the motions in an encounter with another dog but they have either attacked her or have intruded so far that she has finally snapped and reacted to them.
Throughout the Covid-19 outbreak her behaviour deteriorated and she has gotten quite bad again and now training techniques that used to work aren’t effective anymore.
I am hoping that by doing this course I will be able to get a deeper understanding on what is happening in her doggy-brain and have the tools to really be able to help her.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
I love the name Mione – so cute.
I am really sorry to hear about the attack 🙁 Poor thing. You will find many fellow students in this course who had a very similar experience with Covid and reactivity – the reduction in possible outings has been very difficult for all reactive dogs.
I really hope that you will find the course useful and get some ideas on how to set up situations in which Mione can feel well. As you say – continuing to socialize is not always the right approach for dogs with high reactivity, as already “normal socialization” can push them over their threshold!
Let me know if you have any questions as you work through the course 🙂
Nadine Dog Owner
My Groodle is 10 years old. Over the last couple of years he’s developed an aggressive response to other dogs but it’s only intermittently. He’ll be perfectly fine one moment but will snap all of a sudden. He doesn’t bite the other animal but he has removed fur before. He was well socialised as a puppy, went to my parents most days whilst I was at work and interacted well with their dog. He developed seizures around 5 years ago and this behaviour has been escalating since then. We also moved states and has had to adjust to a warmer and more humid climate. I really hope I gain some insight into how to manage this behaviour as I’m now not overly keen on taking him away with other animals like we used to.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Hi Nadine,
Welcome!
One thing I would like to point out is that we sometimes see an onset of reactive/aggressive behavior in aging dogs due to physical discomfort. I guess that since he has lived with the seizures for 5 years (which is amazing btw! I am glad you could manage them well 🙂 ) he sees a vet regularly and has had multiple check-ups.
I had a client about 2 years ago whose large-breed (and very overweight) dog developed sudden onset of aggression at age 8. There was no traumatic event that occurred, nothing in their life changed – I sent them to the vet before even starting any training. He was diagnosed with arthritis and the vets began to manage this (including quite a bit of weight loss – which often makes this condition in dogs a lot better right away). As the weight and pain went away, so did the aggression.
Now, of course your Groodle’s reactivity is not a sudden onset and has been going on for a while – but I think it is very likely that the seizures contributed to it (and perhaps other age-related changes). Can he see and hear well?
Since you mention that Groodle’s response is intermittent, the lesson on unpredictable triggers will be especially useful for you. Do keep in mind that every time we have a neurological condition like seizures we need to be even more careful when it comes to trying to predict a dog’s behavior (as I explain in the lesson on trusting reactive dogs).
Barb Dog Owner
Jenga is my almost 2 year old lab mix. She was born in a feral pack and was attacked as a puppy in the pack. She was captured, treated fo her injuries and placed in a rescue. I adopted her in February 2020. Shortly there after, the COVID quarantine hit and we missed socialization milestones. Overall she does okay with male dogs but she struggles with females, especially those taller than her. Jenga has poor greeting manners – runs up to other dog, places her head above their shoulders and postures. If the other dog attempts a smell or any reaction, Jenga will red-line. My goal would be to improve her greetings and improve reactivity to other females.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am glad you and Jenga joined us. That poor thing, born in a feral pack and attacked 🙁 She is so lucky to have ended up with you. This course should be useful in teaching her how to behave calmly in the presence of other dogs and not race up to them, as well as being more relaxed around females 🙂
Shareen Dog Owner
I have two dogs. One is mixed with boxer and sharpei. He is scared of men and protective of the house. Have had him since he was a puppy (he is 6 now). Missed socializing as I had 2 small kids at the time.
The other is a rat terrier that I found on the street when he was 4 months (He is 3). He barks, lunges at everything – people, dogs, and cars. He’s done that since we found him, but he is fine with my family. He seems to be getting worse.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am sorry to hear about the reactivity troubles. With two dogs, it will be important to train them separately and/or make sure each dog has a designated trainer during the session. It is impossible to react well to two different dogs with different behaviors … so you want to either train them one after the other, or have a spouse/family member/friend handle one dog while you work with the other.
Please let me know if you have any questions as you work through the course!
Robin Dog Owner
I have a 2 year old Great Pyreness mix, who we rescued in November of 2019. He is blind in one eye and we do not know what caused this injury but there is no question by the appearance it was some type of physical trauma. You talk about both breed specific and traumatic events causing reactivity and I have both.
This is my second time going through the course but my first time asking questions. I knew he was reactive prior to COVID but now it only seems to have escalated. Have you heard that from many of your clients? People he used to be OK with, now he isn’t. Also, different settings trigger him now where they didn’t in the past. I’m hoping by going through the course again, and with the weather getting better soon (I live in Upstate NY), we can spend more time training outside.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
YES, Covid has done a number on so many dogs!
I have trained with many reactive dogs that got worse … non-reactive dogs that suddenly became reactive … previously reactive dogs that had improved and then regressed … it was a dramatic shift in everyone’s life and routine.
Many reactive dogs can be kept at a “tolerable level” of reactivity solely by exposure. This was not possible during Covid, and the lack of exposure caused many dogs to become worse. In general, the more rare an event is, the more it will have an impact on our dogs – both in a negative and a positive way.
Dogs that lose their mind from excitement when going for a leash walk will become worse the more rarely they walk. Dogs that are reactive will usually have especially bad reactions if they see the trigger only rarely because then it becomes a “grand event” etc. I mention in the lesson on consistency that dogs of homeless people are the best-behaved dogs – because they have so much exposure!
On the other hand – less exposure often makes reactions worse.
So yes – it has been very common for many dogs during the past year.
Kerry Dog Owner
Our family consists of me, my husband and my dog Landon (boston terrier/pitbull mix). We rescued him and flew him from Texas to Chicago. He had been abandoned and left to fend for himself in a state park. He was was brought into a rescue and we found him online one day. We welcomed him into out home initially with our other dog Logan, who has since passed. Logan had some anxiety and aggression issues that got worse over time and Landon began to take on dominant traits, which Logan did not like. They both were very dog reactive from day one really and we don’t know why. With just Landon now, we wonder if it is because he feels very protective of us. There are only 5 other individuals and 3 other dogs he can be around, because he has known them and been exposed to them since we got him. He is now 8 or 9 years old. I am really hoping he can still learn to at least improve! It is very hard to walk him without having a “buffer” around us; If a bike goes by or even another dog walking across the street- it sends him into meltdown mode …
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am glad you found the class and that you adopted Landon. It is actually quite common for dogs to show changed behavior, especially stress and thin nerves, when another dog of the family passes. It does change the dynamic of their family and especially if the two lived together a long time, can be the start of all kinds of novel behaviors (that we usually do not like).
At 8 or 9 years old, I certainly believe that he can improve. However, as I am sure you know, the longer a behavior has been ingrained, the bigger our task when it comes to changing it! Just take it step by step and let Landon show you how much time he needs to progress 🙂
Sabrina Dog Owner
We have am 8.5 year old standard poodle who has always been a nervous dog; when she was almost 6 we got a border terrier puppy, Gryff. Gryff was a very shy puppy; the instructor invited him to a shy puppy class but he went from shy to very playful with larger dogs to barking at and trying to attack those same dogs in a matter of weeks. We’ve worked with a couple of trainers with food rewards (in puppy class he only got near other dogs if there was food on the floor near them). Part of our problem is that we live in an area that seems to over-burdened with dog owners who do not believe in leashes or keeping their friendly dogs away from our dogs. Very frustrating as we feel like we are making progress (maybe not parking at dogs that are 10-15 yards away and then one dashes up, sometimes from behind and it feels like we are further back than when we started. Hmmm, I think this sounds as frustrated as we feel. Looking forward to the course. Sabrina
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Ah yes Border Terriers, they can be very intense little guys.
It sounds incredibly frustrating to live in an area with so many poorly behaved off-leash dogs! That makes training so difficult and situations so unpredictable. I hope that you will find some ideas in this course that will help you guys progress!
Let me know how it goes and please ask if you have any questions 🙂
Jessie Dog Owner
We adopted our rescued American Foxhound puppy, Simon, in January 2020. By the time he had all his puppy vaccines, the COVID lockdowns began. His puppy class was cancelled, and our intentions of going to dog parks and doggy day care were put on hold, so his socialization suffered at a critical point in the puppy raising process. We think this is the biggest factor in his on-leash reactivity now, in addition to his natural cautiousness and submissive personality. He’s the sweetest dog, and it genuinely feels like he just wants to play and meet people and other dogs, but unfortunately he’s going about it in the wrong way, and our efforts to fix the problem have given us mediocre and inconsistent results. We’ve recently learned that we are expecting our first (human) child, so it’s imperative that we get Simon’s reactivity under control now more than ever.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Jessie and Simon!
A lot of Covid puppy owners are in the same boat … I am glad you found this class and are ready to get started with working on Simon’s leash reactivity!
And congratulations on the human child as well 🙂 I hope this course will help in getting Simon ready for his little sibling 🙂 Please let me know if you have any questions as you are working through the lessons!
Nancy Dog Owner
I have adopted two 4 YO cowgirl corgis- sisters and litter mates. I have had corgis before but never two dogs. At first they were pretty well behaved and co-dependent but after 6 months they are becoming more aggressive and reactive. The more dominant dog is bossy and super reactive to other dogs when I take her for a walk. Both are reactive when there are deliveries or other visitors. One good thing is they are both very good in the crate. I feel bad about having them sleep or spend too much time in the crate but maybe that is how we turn things around?
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Just to clarify – the dogs are reactive towards other dogs but not towards each other correct?
I do agree that having plenty of rest is good for dogs, and it is important especially for stressed and nervous dogs to have regular naps. However, this will only help to a certain extent, and there is no real benefit in crating the dog for long time periods – it is not really going to change the reactivity.
As you hear in the second lesson however, preventing the dog from crossing the threshold is very important in not having the reactivity become more and more ingrained. So, crating them for naps and in order to avoid reactivity in foreseeable situations in good – but beyond that we will also need to practice with the dogs in the actual settings in which they react of course 🙂
Cynthia Dog Owner
I am still trying to figure out if Loki, my 1 year old Norwegian Elkhound is reactive, I think he is but can’t figure out why.
He was brought home at 12 weeks and have been socialized from a young age with puppy friends and daycare.
Now- he whines or barks if he doesn’t get to say hi to another dog. He would sit very well and wait but if I don’t let him go he starts whining and barking.
The latest (in the past 2-3 weeks) when his pup friends are over and they play, they play well. But as soon as the other puppy gets leashed to leave, Loki sometimes jump on the other dog.
I am looking forward to working through this course and figuring it all out.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! This sounds like leash reactivity, which is very common and can stem from frustration. I hope we can help Loki feel calmer on the leash when other dogs are around. It is good that Loki enjoys playing with his friends off leash 🙂 I also wonder if over-arousal and anticipation plays a role in this. Sometimes, dogs start to expect instant playtime as soon as other dogs are around and they can get “grumpy” if they cannot get to them.
In the exercises in this class we will have our dog rehearse being calm at a distance from other dogs. You can also try out the exercise of food chasing in the last part of the class to see if engagement with you can help him deal with the frustration of not being able to meet and greet 🙂
Lindsey Dog Owner
I’m hoping for some help with my 8 year old Weimaraner, Mandela. He is an awesome dog and has dog friends (after slow and structured introductions and walking), but he is very skeptical/fearful of new to him dogs and when people don’t put their dogs on a leash on hikes, walks, etc. and those dogs come up to us off leash, Mandela reacts defensively. He also doesn’t always “say hi nice” to dogs ON leash who want to say hi so I don’t allow him to say hi to most dogs. It has not yet resulted in a full on fight with injuries but I worry that it might one day. And I would love for him to be more confident and less fearful of new dogs.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I love your dog’s name, what a perfect name for a Weimaraner 🙂
I hope we can help Mandela feel more comfortable around other dogs in the class. Please let me know if you have any questions as you are working through the course!
Nikki Dog Owner
Roman is a Welsh Sheepdog he will be 2 next month. Had him and his brother since 10 weeks. They were well socialised took them to pubs, cafes, bars, restaurants, shopping centres, near water, you name it we did it. We took them out separately and together. They met with other dogs and played. They are like chalk and cheese. Roman’s brother is confident and independent. Roman is very much the baby at home craves affection and out of the three dogs the bottom of the pack. The spaniel female is 3 is the top and he adores her. He gets on with his brother but does get told off occasionally. Roman is quite vocal and his brother snaps at him to quiet him down maybe this is a factor not sure. When he played as a puppy was all good. But he developed reactive behaviour around 9 months. He is fine with all the dogs he grew up with from puppyhood but dogs he doesn’t know he reacts to on a lead or if they come to close to him. He can ignore at a distance. He is a welsh sheepdog so they tend to be breed specific to reactive behaviour. However he has no issues with bikes , scooters, cars, people or children just dogs he doesn’t know.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Nikki and Roman!
What you describes sounds like pretty classical leash reactivity. I am glad that Roman has some dog friends he grew up with, that is always a huge plus! I wish you a lot of fun and success working through the course, I know you will find many ideas and training approaches. Please let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Margaret Dog Owner
Hi , My dog Daisy is a rescue we in the beginning of February. We were told she was a Shepard mix but she looks more like a mini Doberman. Waiting on DNA results . She is about 40 pounds and is approximately 8 months old. We do not know much about her background except for she was rescued in SC and brought to VT where we got her. She was in a SC foster home for a few weeks prior to her trip to VT. First couple weeks we had her she was very good , got her in with a local trainer for in person sessions. We have been working some basic obedience using a clicker and food reward system . Week 3 she found her bark …and growl . She barks at people walking by the house, she barks at people when we are driving in the car, she barks and growls at noises she hears when at work with me like door closing or people in hallway. She is super jumpy when meeting people. I have been working to socialize her but it is frustrating to take her out and about and have her so vocal . Is this just normal “puppy” behavior or true reactivity?
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Margaret and Daisy!
Since your dog is rather young, I would not say this is ingrained reactivity. However, puppies go through something called “fear periods” during which they are especially jumpy and startle easily and basically can react to any kind of noise, person, dog, object (such as trash cans or trucks), even if they were previously fine.
There are 2 fear periods, an early one at 3-4 months and then a second one that can happen anywhere between 6 and 14 months. If you search on Google for “puppy fear period” you can find a lot of information about these!
The most important thing is to try and get your dog a lot of positive, low-stress exposures just like described in this course. You can usually turn the new-found fear around again by creating these training situations in which the dog encounters the trigger in a low intensity and gets to pair it with positive experiences (food).
Please let me know if you have any questions as you are working through the course 🙂
Abby Dog Owner
Hi! Our dog, Trudy, is about 5 years old and a mixed breed…definitely some Shar-Pei, probably pit bull and labrador, but who knows? We rescued her from the shelter about 4 months ago, and she had arrived there as an extremely malnourished stray, so we don’t know any of her history. She is incredibly sweet and well-mannered in our house and is good with people, including children, but is very reactive to other dogs when on neighborhood walks, on leash of course. It’s not all dogs, but it’s been very hard to determine which dogs might set her off. She does have a couple of doggie friends who she can play with under supervision, but our neighborhood is so full of dogs that we currently only go on walks very early in the morning and late in the evening to minimize any negative interactions while we work on reactivity.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Abby and Trudy!
Wow, poor thing, what a journey she has behind her! She is so lucky to be with you now 🙂
I am glad she has some doggy friends already. Leash-specific reactivity and reactivity to only some dogs are very common. There is a worksheet in a later lesson that can help determine what it might be that sets her off:
Unpredictable triggers
I hope you enjoy the course – let me know if you have any questions!
Mounisha Dog Owner
Hi! Our dog Sushi is a 10 month old Japanese Spitz. He certainly lives up to his breed by being a very good watchdog, barking at most things that move or make a sound. Inside the house, he is usually quite good at not barking unless something is really wrong (he stuck because a door closed, etc.).
He’s not so great when he is on leash because he’s a very outgoing pup that LOVES humans and gets a little frustrated when every passerby doesn’t pat him. This results in a VERY loud bark that scares people (and sometimes makes little kids cry) as they don’t expect it coming out of a little fluff. He also tends to growl and lunge at other dogs that he meets while on leash.
Off leash, he is usually great and plays with dogs of all sizes. Sometimes he gets a little too rough with toy-sized dogs but will usually back off after we give him a firm ‘NO!’ and a stern look. We’ve been taking him to doggy daycare once a week to get him socialised with small dogs as well which has helped, but it has also made his on leash behaviour worse as he isn’t getting the constant attention he craves.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Yes, doggy daycare can indeed create the expectation in a dog that all other dogs will always greet and play … it is important for dogs to experience being around other dogs (and people) and NOT greeting or playing.
What a dog that reacts like yours is craving is of course interaction and engagement. The good news is that we can show that dog that he can have this through us as well – not just other dogs or strangers who pet him. I would recommend that on a walk you let him NOT say hi 90% of the time or so – but on the other hand that YOU are a very engaging and fun walking partner. I am actually not quite sure if the reactivity course is the right one for you or if this one would be a better fit:
Focus in Public
If you think it would suit your dog better, let me know and I will switch you over 🙂
Sydney Dog Owner
Hi all! So glad to have access to this class and to read others’ stories; it makes me feel less alone in all this!
Our dog Ernie is 2.5 years old. He’s a 3/4 treeing walker hound and 1/4 cattle dog mix (we sprung for one of those doggy DNA tests, haha). We adopted him at four months old, so we don’t know anything about his life as a young puppy, but he did arrive at the shelter with a brother, who he got along with swimmingly. We did all the puppy socialization and obedience classes, but he still started showing some reactivity to other dogs around one year old. I imagine some of it has to do with his breed and high prey drive, but it’s probably more due to the pandemic happening right as these behaviors reared their head. We didn’t realize what a big impact our working from home and his not interacting with other dogs or people for a year would have on him. He’s both people- and dog-reactive now, especially at home or in the yard (but we have trouble on hikes and walks as well). The only place he behaves perfectly is his doggy day care… We’ve heard that it’s not uncommon for reactive dogs to be calmer away from their owners and their home?
Once he’s settled, he loves people and other dogs, but he can be very scary and threatening at first: lunging, barking, growling, and snapping. We’re also working with a behaviorist one-on-one, but I’m hopeful this class will help me understand some of the science behind it and some tips for working with him between sessions!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Sydney and Ernie!
You are correct, reactivity can be very situation-specific and many reactive dogs are great in a setting that they have made great experiences in (such as the daycare) and very reactive in others (usually these involve any kind of constraint – such as a leash or a fence etc.). You will see in the other comments you are not alone at all in this!
I hope that the class will be useful in addressing Ernie’s reactivity 🙂
Victoria Dog Owner
My husband and I adopted a Corgi/Terrier mix two months ago. From what we were told, he lived with one owner and no other dogs. He was returned to the shelter before for biting. With us, whenever he meets new people he lunges and barks at them. He has tried biting my husband’s parents when he first met them. We worry about taking him outside the home because of his behaviors, but he does not do well with being away from us due to separation anxiety.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am glad you found the course. Where does he meet these new people – is it usually inside your home or outside? There is a lesson further down on reactivity towards visitors. Do you know anything about the circumstances in which he bit a person prior to being returned to the shelter? This could help us identify the triggers and address them effectively.
In general, I would start with the counterconditioning process towards people as described further down in the lessons – in an open space, far away from people, with no interactions; so that he can build positive associations. Of course, with any dog with a bite history you want to be extra vigilant and watch out that he does not get too close or pushed over his threshold!
Ruth Dog Owner
Hello! Glad to find this course. I have a 2.5 yr old German shepherd mix named Roxy that I adopted a few months ago. It took her a while to come out of her shell, and now that she has, she lunges and barks at all dogs we pass and has started getting scared of people that we pass while walking as well. She doesn’t bark at people, but will stop walking and refuse to approach them unless I basically drag her past them. She always seemed to be scared of large men, but now seems to apply to everyone. I think these behaviors have been getting worse over the past few weeks, though I was likely pushing her into more triggering situations on a more regular basis without realizing that’s what I was doing. We’ve started going hiking more frequently, which I thought she loved as she’s really excited at the start of every hike. But I’ve noticed that sometimes we’ll pass a fallen tree and she gets scared by that and sometimes starts to shake 🙁 and sometimes we encounter off leash dogs that just come straight up to her as she barks and lunges at them. So I think these new situations have probably been too much. I’ll try to start being much more aware of when she starts to get scared or alert and lead her away from any approaching dogs and now people that she seems scared of. I would love her her to get to a point where she can go for a run or hike without having it be a super stressful situation for her and where she can see another dog without going nuts.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am glad you joined. Shepherds (even though they look “tough” and strong) can actually be rather nervy dogs. Poor thing, shaking when passing a fallen tree … that sounds very stressed out!
I think that the sniffing exercise from this class will help her feel better and relax more. Off-leash dogs coming up to an on-leash dogs can often lead to escalations. From the perspective of the off-leash dog it is very rude actually. Approaching another dog face-on can be perceived as rather threatening and lead to the on-leash dog lunging, because she is very uncomfortable with this kind of bold greeting. Leading her away from approaching dogs will be a very good start!
I hope you enjoy the class let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Antonina Dog Owner
Hi Steffi,
I adopted an American Staffy x about 6 months ago. In the beginning, he was super friendly with all dogs (very over excited) and just wanted to play and interact with everyone. Until about 2 months ago when he began to show aggression toward puppies! It’s very strange because it was such a sudden change in behaviour and so selective too. We don’t know anything about his history however he came to us with a lot of anxiety (fear of shadows, sudden sounds, tv etc) which he has overcome really well. I’m looking forward to this course and hope he can overcome whatever is happening physiologically.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
How old is your dog? Many rescue dogs actually appear completely non-reactive at first, and only over time “the reactivity comes out”. This can be due to the stress of being in a shelter or foster family – the dog essentially has limited energy to deal with stress, so we see less (or no) reactive behavior. Once settled into the new home and feeling more comfortable, he may start to react to triggers that previously were not a problem at all.
I am glad he has become so much better about his anxiety already! Sounds like you are on the right path 🙂
Let me know if you have any questions as you work through the course!
Antonina Dog Owner
Thanks!
Buddy is nearly 2 years old so we’re trying to throw as much training at him as possible while he’s still relatively young and sussing out our boundaries too. He definitely tests us to see what he can get away with, particularly outside on walks, so I’m hoping this will give us some guidance.
Your comment about his true self unraveling as he becomes more comfortable is very true as we’ve seen it in other areas too.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Yep, it sure happens as dogs settle in. It is so important that owners do not take it as a “sign” that they themselves caused these behaviors! But as a natural part of the “arriving home” process 🙂
Kristina Dog Owner
I have a two and a half-year-old Border Collie. She was the smallest of her litter of six. I think we did a reasonable job of getting her out and about when she was young, but maybe not quite as much as would have helped – we did bring her home over the winter, as a puppy. She had a lot of mixed experiences with other dogs on walks. One doodle really overwhelmed her, though it was with happy enthusiasm. I think that’s when everything started. Now, she tends to be very selectively reactive – and only to other dogs. She’s always fine (sometimes cautiously observant as they approach, but no more than that) with people. She’s better with little dogs. She is very good with puppies. She’s still small herself, at only 28 pounds. She has huge fear with big black dogs, and also can’t cope with more than one dog at a time. She exhibits most of her issues at the window, or on leash in subdivisions. She tends to be pretty relaxed about other dogs if we are on walks in the woods or other natural settings. She now walks on a Gentle leader. I can control her better that way. Sometimes I can distract her with high value treats. Sometimes she’s okay if we have a street between sidewalks. She’ll usually freeze, stiffen, and then the hackles will either go up, OR her tail will wag and she will welcome an encounter. But – she is really excited about a rough collie across the street. She liked him. She wanted to go see him. But he’s getting bigger, and he is jumpy, and he jumped on her, and she really snarled hard at that point, and then wanted to get out of the area. She’s also very excited about a male Border Collie that lives nearby – but I’m really cautious about letting them get too close, because he’s also jumpy. She is more reactive after a few days without walking a route.
She is also occasionally jumpy and startled by sudden noises on walks – a skittering leaf, or a garage door opening. She’ll jump and skitter to the side. That’s much more rare.
She pulls a lot on the leash. Her behaviour is easier to work with using a Gentle Leader, but she does find it very itchy about the muzzle. She puts up with it, but is always glad to have it removed. Without it, walking is unpleasant for us.
She is walked 7-15km/day almost every day.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome,
I like how aware you are of the specific triggers of your dog already – this is a huge plus to know exactly what reaction you can expect depending on what dog you meet!
It is actually very common that dogs do not like other obnoxious dogs, especially more reserved herding breeds like Border Collies. My own two certainly do not appreciate dogs jumping into their faces or on their backs. I would recommend to look for rather “boring” dogs for your training sessions.
Do you feel that the leash pulling is a behavior that exists independently from the reactivity – does she pull on leash even if there are no dogs or sounds or anything that makes her feel stressed?
And wow – lucky girl, so much walking! 🙂
Kristina Dog Owner
Hi, Steffie, and thank you for your response.
I like the idea of looking for boring dogs, lol. She does like little white fluffy dogs that lie down on the ground when she walks up to them. She’s also very fond of the white Great Pyranees puppy next door, as long as he doesn’t maul her too badly. She seems to be VERY patient with puppy behaviour most of the time – that rough collie is just too rough and excited for her. But yes, generally speaking, puppies are pretty stimulating. Nice old dogs, rather smallish and patient, are good to see on a walk.
Yes, I think the leash pulling is independent of the reactivity. She pulled all the time, and even though she’s small, she’s determined. It was undermining our walks, and I couldn’t seem to correct it no matter how many times I just moved backwards to correct her and we started over. The Gentle Leader was a compromise, and it restored the friendliness of our walks. I have a much more comfortable shoulder now, which is good for me.
She is lucky to get so much walking in, but I’m lucky to have her along as a companion through it. I think I wouldn’t stick to it without her.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
I think the gentle leader is a good management tool for now until you have to be less watchful with the reactivity, and then you can always address leash pulling as a separate issue. We have to “pick our battles” – if we try to at the same time work on reactivity and leash pulling that is independent of reactivity we can end up with just too much to address at once.
Yes, many dogs are rather patient especially with small puppies, it seems like they can tell if it is “just a baby” or a naughty adult dog 😉
Ana Dog Owner
Hello, Bowie is a 9 months old border collie, we believe he is reactive due to a combination of situations. Little background history (at leas the one I know. Bare with be is a long story 🙂
I got him at 7 weeks old (almost 8) from a girl who couldn’t take care of him, she said she already had him for a week, she didn’t knew where he came from, got him as a gift. This means the little guy (Bowie) was separated from his litter at a very young age, which I believe makes him lack confidence and also deprive him from learning things that they only learn with their litter.
Since we got him he has been a very shy dog always hiding under the couch, later in his kennel and finally behind me. I got him in the middle of the pandemic so I couldn’t socialize him. I was also told by his veterinarian that he was going blind and that he was deaf (he is not) and also that I shouldn’t take him for walks till he had his full panel of vaccines which prevent him form socialize even further. (with covid going on took even longer to get is full panel done) I decided to look for new veterinarian (new veterinarian confirmed what we though, he is totally fine) I enrolled him into puppy classes once we reopen, Bowie was doing great but then we had a second lockdown.
He started to be reactive to dogs and people when we took him for walks, naturally since he had been months at home and only with our other dog. We stop taking him for walks and instead took him for runs in the middle of no where (we still do). Now that take him to training classes and agility clases is harder for me to control him since he is bigger and stronger and he is more reactive.
Now his reactivity it happens all the time in class, when going for car rides, walks, is a constant barking and lunging to bikes, motorcycle, people, dogs basically anything that moves.
When we are in class he wont bark at the dogs in the class only if the dogs move near him or he thinks is towards him he barks at them and growls. He is not terrible, but if we go out of the training space and there’s other dogs outside the class he will loos it and there’s no command or treat that will redirect his attention, instead he will redirected it to me if I try to move him out of the situation.
I have been through 6 different trainers already, so now I am giving a try to this online course hoping this helps me to get him into a better place so he can be happy.
Also I want to remark that 90% of the time he is a very very sweet boy.
Thank you for reading me 🙂
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Ana and Bowie!
Covid has made socialization so hard for so many owners and dogs … if you read through the comments you will see that you are not alone at all and many others are in the same boat as you!
So strange about your vet though, how weird he thought Bowie was losing his sight and vision. I am glad that is not the case! It is really good that he already doesn’t bark at dogs in class.
I think this course will be useful in learning how to set up situations in which Bowie can learn that other dogs are not so bad without crossing his threshold or redirecting towards you (ouch! That does not sound fun). Let me know if you have any questions as you work through the course 🙂
Florence Dog Owner
I’m very excited about learning how best to help my 10 month old Shetland Sheepdog! She’s very reactive to so many household and outside sounds, from the noise that’s made by ripping a piece of aluminum foil from a box, to sounds on the tv, to garbage trucks, etc. She also reacts to shadows (both inside and outside.) She’ll jump at the shadows on the wall and tries to “bite” them, and will pull/lunge at noisy sounds. I’m hoping to find out how best to handle these types of triggers. Thank you!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Yep, these dogs can sure be pretty noise sensitive! My friends have several Shelties and they are all pretty on edge about sounds. I think that the lessons on noise sensitivity will be very useful 🙂 Let me know if you have any questions as you are working through the course!
Nicole Dog Owner
my girl is a rescue dog and she didn’t get enough socialization, also cause she was ill when a pup. She also got attacked by a dog when she was with me. All that has led to the dog she is now. It has taught me a lot. So much so, that her story is now a book that is published. And i still continue to invest my time to learn more and more about dogs and their behavior. And reactivity is my main subject, because there is never enough to learn. And since every dog is its own individual, you need to find what works for your particular dog.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am so sorry to hear about the attack … scary and difficult to overcome! Please do share the title of the book, I would love to check it out. They teach us so much, right?
Please ask any questions that you have as you work through the course 🙂
Mari Dog Owner
Hi Steffi!
It’s great to meet you- thank you for this course, and for making it so financially accessible! I adopted a 2 year old rescue pup about a month ago- I think she’s a pug/beagle mix (you can tell by her classic beagle howling!)- her name is Toston (named after a fried plantain dish from my country). And like someone mentioned a couple of comments up, she was very quiet and shy at first and recently has been showing lots of signs of reactivity!
She barks and lunges at new people anytime they get too close, and sometimes barks and lunges at other dogs when on a leash as well. I really want to support and train her as soon as possible, hoping she won’t develop any more aggression! I also wonder if reactivity training can help with excessive barking when at home? Sometimes she just barks at the tiniest sounds, and I’d love for her to feel more safe and relaxed at home and outside!
I’m looking forward to learning more, thank you for reading 🙂
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Mari!
There is a lesson on noise sensitivity further down in the course, check that one out! In general, dogs that “bark at the tiniest sounds” often live in rather quiet homes. Can you make your home a bit more noisy 😉 by having the radio run at a low volume, the TV or even a sound CD specifically for puppies? You can feed her an especially delicious meal or do some sniffing games while doing that as well.
Let me know how that works, and if you have any questions as you work through the course!
Alexandra Dog Owner
Hi! I just signed up for your class and watched this introduction. We have a rescue pup that is 8 months old. He is probably a pumi mix. We dont know much about his life before he was 5 months. Then he was picked up by this rescue organisation, and was kept in a “country foster” aka he was living in a house with a big garden in a pack of dogs. After this he lived 1,5 months in Budapest. He walked well on leash and went to the dog park without any problem. He was eager to say hello to everyone but not overexcited. Both the organisation (that I know well so they were for sure speaking the truth) and the foster described him as very well balanced and quiet. Then he was put on a plane, and came to live with us. First few days was fine, but then we bumped into my friend and her viszla on a walk and he barked a lot and lunged, and didnt stop. The viszla didnt lunge or bark. And since then, our rescue hasnt stopped barking. He barks when people walk past our windows, he barks in the garden and out on walks, he barks in the car and he even continues to bark when he is inside the house and he cant even see outside.
We are very concerned about what might have gone wrong as he never barked at all in the foster homes, not in the country side nor in the city. Could the changes have made him reactive? Or did he experience something (like the viszla) that we didnt see as a traumatic event but he did? In your experience: what would be the most likely explanation?
Alexandra Dog Owner
And I forgot one thing. He doesnt bark when people enter our house. And he loves everyone he meets, but he prefers to just say hi first, then he takes a step back and lies down somewhere else in the room/house. And after a while he can come back for snuggles. The first few days when he wasnt a barker at people on walks we didnt let anyone approach him, he got to choose himself. He usually chose to just look at them and then ignore them. Some he asked for cuddles after some minutes.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Just read this – that sounds like a good coping mechanism already actually (lying down somewhere else then coming back for snuggles). Good job 🙂
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
It is actually quite common that dogs show no reactivity at a shelter or foster home and then suddenly they do show it once they get settled in at their forever home. Reactivity is also curiously often seen LESS intensely at a home with many dogs … because there is simply so much going on. If the dog is then an only dog and can “zone in” on any one specific dog (such as the Viszla), we can see a much more intense reaction.
Now, I would also take into consideration how young your dog is and the fear periods that puppies go through. If a pup gets freaked out during this fear period it can lead to a much more intense response than it usually would.
There are many possibilities … flying can be scary for dogs (I have flown quite a bit with mine). It could be that he had a bad encounter during the country foster and the Viszla reminded him of this … Viszlas in general (even though they are usually very sweet dogs) can look a bit scary to other dogs, because they have a high body tension, short coat, might carry their tail in a rigid way (there is a lesson later on about how different dogs can be different levels of scary to our reactive dogs). The many changes in his short life certainly added stress as well (but, he is so lucky he is with you now 🙂 )
So, bottom line – I cannot say! It sounds like your pup has both a reactivity that is triggered by visuals AND one that is caused by sounds? Definitely check out the lesson on that specifically.
Alexandra Dog Owner
Thank you for all of this! I think the reason I am a bit worried is that he was for 1,5 monhts in a foster home in the city and never had a problem. And with us, he started after three days and is still going one month later. We were expecting a “honeymoon phase” but he never had one with us 😀 But I guess this may also caused by what you say: even in the city fosterhome there were loads going on. Budapest with all its dogs and people is a very different place than this tiny village of 200 people in a remote area. So he can fixate on both people and dogs here in a whole different way.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Yes, they sure can be a lot more intense when they fixate on one trigger than if there is a lot going on at all times! I am sorry there was no honeymoon phase for you guys … some dogs sure do make us work extra hard, don’t they 😉 hopefully you can see improvements soon!
Ingeborg Dog Owner
I think my 2yo English Cocker Spaniël Ollie, is insecure and sensitive and when he was younger a few times a dog snapped at him. I think he is mainly afraid. He reacts mostly to male intact dogs. He reacts quicker to dogs who look like border collies. I think it is because they fixate and than my dog is intimidated.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! You are spot on with saying the Border Collies are intimidating with their fixation … great observation! Dogs that stare or have high body tension indeed are a lot more threatening than dogs with low body tension and no eye contact.
I am sorry about your dog getting snapped at … that can be all it takes to develop reactivity unfortunately 🙁
I wish you a lot of success with this course, please ask if you have any questions!
Katherine Dog Owner
Mia is a 1.5 year old Belgian Shepherd/Border Collie/??? mix and we adopted her when she was a year old from the shelter, where she had spent pretty much her whole life. She has come so far already in the 6 months we’ve had her, especially towards people. We went from barking and lunging at the nice lady waiting for the bus across the street to being able to pass people on hiking trails with no problems (she still barks when she gets startled and doesn’t expect to see someone, especially when people come to the house, but it’s getting better!) She definitely missed out on a lot of socialization, and gets startled easily by unexpected noises/people/dogs/cats/etc.
We live in a neighborhood where almost every other house has multiple barking dogs that make walking really difficult (it’s not even always possible to cross the street to get more distance because there are dogs on both sides), and we’ve found the route with the fewest possible dogs, to try to limit those encounters. She loves to play with other dogs and it definitely seems like some of her reaction is frustration because she wants to go and play with them and can’t, but I also don’t know what traumatic events she might have had at the shelter with other dogs?
Thankfully she’s super food motivated, would do just about anything even for her regular kibble, so that’s a huge help! Hopeful we can keep making progress and expand our walking routes!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Your dog indeed has come far already, nicely done 🙂 This progress really makes all the training worthwhile, right?
Check out the lesson on noise sensitivity, I have some ideas there that could be useful for the barking dogs. I would try some counterconditioning inside with recordings of barking dogs before taking the sniffing exercises outside to the real world. If we triggers of different kinds (auditory/visual/etc.) we are usually most successful if we can split them up and work on them separately at first 🙂
That’s great that she is food-motivated – this will be a big help 🙂 Let me know if you have any questions as you work through the course!
Katherine Dog Owner
Thank you! And yes, it totally makes the training worthwhile 🙂 That makes a lot of sense about splitting up the triggers!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
🙂
Merav Dog Owner
Hi, I signed up to this course after I signed up to the puppy’s course for my son puppy’s. Our dog Nero is 7 years old and we have him, I’m feeling shame to say, 5 years. When we chose him from a rescue shelter he was almost a year old and we were his 3 home already. He was joining our family which includes 4 children and a small female jack Rachel that was at that time 5 years old. He had a lot of health issues like parasites in his stomach and kennel cough. and later on we had behaviour issues like reaction to other dogs and people. We always thought his body language is different. He’s very friendly to people and also for other dogs but while on leas he is barking and looks stressed. During the years we worked with different trainers, the first one was not positive and the 3 others were only show us what to do and for us it wasn’t enough. We learned to leave with that but mostly we just avoided walking for long walk because it was embarrassing to meet other dogs in the neighbourhood. We always felt guilty.
Now when my son decided to have a puppy I insist that he will follow a course for a better future with his dog and since he is leaving with us now (COVID) I thought to give it another chance.
I chose your program after I watch the free video, we leave in the Netherlands so English is not my language so sorry for the mistakes.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am glad you found us 🙂
Poor thing, 3 homes in such a short time 🙁 He is lucky to have you now. Good for you for addressing this in addition to training the puppy. Often when another dog is added to the home the training of the older dogs slips, which can even wear off on the new pup! It is perfect that you tackle the reactivity now in addition to working with the puppy.
Please let me know if you have any questions as you work through the course!
Amy Dog Owner
My dog is a 9 month old chocolate lab named Phoebe. She’s very sweet and smart and was easy to potty train and train to sit and lie down. I live way out in the country and we walk most every day often in the woods. I live alone so she only sees other people when someone comes to my house or when out on walks. I’m not sure if her problematic behavior is a conditioned emotional response or she is just a super excited dog or maybe a combination of both. Does it matter if she is reactive or just over-excited as far what training I do?
A bit more background: From the time I got her until about a month ago I was dating a guy with 2 crazy German Shorthairs- one is 2 yrs old and the other a month older than Phoebe. The GSH puppy is a very aggressive player who liked to drag Phoebe around by her collar or neck. Phoebe liked playing with her but I’m pretty sure did NOT like to be dragged around by the collar and I tried to stop the other dog from doing that. The older dog mostly ignored Phoebe but bit her in the face twice. I’m guessing it was stressful for Phoebe to be with these dogs and I am wondering if this caused reactivity.
Her problematic behavior–she goes BONKERS when a person, dog or car comes to my house. If not on a leash she will jump on people for a while, but settle down in a few minutes especially if they turn their back and ignore her. If she’s on her leash she gets frantic and never does really settle down. When out for a walk she does the same thing but since starting this class she’s done well if she’s maybe 5 or 6 feet away pretty and I scatter treats for her.
A couple days ago we did the first session with a trigger at Petsmart. She did great and after starting far away from the store we were able to go right up to the door and she kept looking for treats and ignoring the people and dogs even right in front of the automatic door. Then we had to go inside because she had an appointment to get her nails cut. Going inside was clearly over her threshold and she lunged and jumped and whined (ie went nuts). I’m assuming I just need to try again and be more gradual about going inside.
What do you suggest about her behavior when someone comes to the house? Since starting this class I put her in her crate in the other room before answering the door and that works fine but I of course would like her to learn to be calm under these circumstances.
Thanks very much!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! First of all, the session where you stayed far away from the petstore sounds great. This is indeed how many dogs have to start. I actually wrote an article about this here (this dog was hyperactive rather than reactive, but the same threshold approach is about the same)
Getting kicked out of Petsmart
There is a lesson further down in the course specifically about visitors, did you see this one? Does that help or do you need additional pointers (if so ask ahead – happy to give more advice as needed 🙂 )
Tiffany Dog Owner
We have a 5 month Belgium Malinois puppy who is very reactive to almost everything outside! He’ll bark and lunge at people, dogs and cars, and once worked up any sound will set him off it seems. Even indoors he’s quite reactive to noises, and has barked at the tv and phone calls. We’re quite certain he’s had a lack of socialisation partly due to the pandemic and also as we don’t think he had a good start to life, when we re-homed him he was quite underweight and shy, and it took a while for him to come out of his shell with us. We have been working with a behaviourist as his reactivity seems to be getting worse, to the point that taking him for a walk or even a loo break is incredible difficult and draining. Im really hoping this class will help teach us some techniques to help him improve!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Aww poor guy, that sounds very stressful for both of you! Unfortunately this is a breed in which we frequently see reactivity due to their breed characteristics. Socialization has been hard for all Covid puppies!
Please let me know how he does with the course, and if the sniffing is helping him relax a bit … the good thing is that this breed is usually very driven and motivated by ANYTHING, so using plenty of great food for positive associations should work well 🙂
Evelyn Dog Owner
Hi Everyone! I’m Evelyn and I’ve raised by 2 year old corgi, Somi, since she was a puppy at 8-weeks old. As she has grown older, I’ve noticed she is developing worsening leash reactivity. I truly believe that I misinterpreted socialization as a puppy and allowed her to greet all dogs on walks. Therefore now, we can’t walk past a dog without her getting frustrated and lashing out (barking, lunging).
I live in an apartment so we do not have a yard and rely on these walks for potty breaks as well as decompression sniffs. However, its hard to predict when we will see another dog and walks have become so stressful. I always carry a pocketful of high value treats an sometimes can lure her far enough away from a dog’s sight. We have good days, we have bad ones too. Hoping I can learn lots from everyone here. Thank you!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! It is indeed several times harder if you don’t have your own yard and HAVE to take the dog on walks for potty breaks and general exercise. However, it sounds to me like you are already doing this very well prepared, with high-value treats and luring her away from any dogs that surprise you 🙂 I wish you a lot of fun working through the course and please ask anytime you got a question 🙂
Kirsty Dog Owner
Mac my 4 year old border collie can be reactive over strangers especially men & small children . He can also get frustrated on the leash and reactive to other dogs. When he was a puppy a man kicked Mac when he ran towards him he would of been around 5months (the sponge period) ! We made the mistake of letting him greet most dogs when he was a puppy on our walks (something we now obviously regret) so he now either lyes down and won’t move or barks to want to see them. We don’t have children and although the met a few friends children when he was young we should of done more desensitisation with him, he now lunges and has nipped one child not drawn blood but enough for us to worry. He is on medication and we have been working hard for the last 2 years with decreasing his threshold with positive reinforcement but I’ve hit a road block and would like your assistance. We are travelling Australia in our motorhome (for the last year) so our backyard is forever changing. He is a very affectionate dog and very obedient in every other way . Thank you for your help in advance x
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! That’s so sad he got kicked as a puppy, who would do that 🙁 I am sorry to hear about the nipping of the child, and I agree, that is always something that is worrying and demands attention and training.
I am sure that many other students here are quite envious of your situation with the motorhome, you will be able to find sooooo many counterconditioning setups in so many different places! That will be very useful.
Please let me know if you have any questions as you are working through the course 🙂
jessie Dog Owner
Tika is a two-year old Siberian Husky – Golden Retriever mix. I love her to death; she’s perfectly well behaved in the house, rarely has accidents, doesn’t counter surf or trash dig, and gets along well with our 9 year old Australian Shepard. She’s can be a little mouthy when she plays, but with minimal training she now directs all of that to toys. She great with kids. I have no idea how we stumbled across such a well tempered dog from the shelter with so few issues. She is a little nervy, but the minute you kneel down and give her some love she warms right up to you, and she’s never been reactive to people on walks unless they’re aggressive towards her or me. She does like to stare at them sometimes if they’re the only person around, but busy streets are no problem, and she took to a college campus like a champ. I can always get her focus back from people. However, her dog reactivity has always been a problem, and instead of improving with training and socialization I feel like it’s only gotten worse, and I’m at a loss. I tried the dog park, and she did really well until a guy and his nervy pit-bull ruined the fun for her, and made her lose a lot of the confidence she built up playing with the other dogs. She’s fine meeting new dogs through fences; she can even meet them on leash if she’s interacted enough through the fence. But when she’s on the leash and its a new dog, its no holds barred: jumping, barking, and just generally going crazy, sometimes aggression and sometimes just excited, and I haven’t be able to figure out what triggers her to move into aggression. It doesn’t matter if the other dog is reactive or not, she will bark and go crazy. And if the other dog is reactive, it’s even worse. I’ve tried just about every treat you can think, from fruits to fresh cooked meats to freeze dried liver, and nothing works to motivate her; the other dog is always more interesting. I’ve tried toys, they don’t work either. I’ve tried having her “work” for the treat doing things like the touch command or asking for focus, and that doesn’t work either. We did a group session at PetSmart, and that didn’t really help; even at the end of it she was still incredibly reactive to the dogs in the class. I could get her to quiet down and focus, but something would always trigger her and it’s impossible to get her focus back. She’s VERY high energy with a very low threshold for her triggers. I’ve tried running her out before walks, still a no go. She definitely has some prey drive, because she’s super reactive to small animals running around, (She gets whiny and tries to chase them and you cannot break her focus off them, which is why I thought toys might work; alas, no bueno). I’m at the end of my wits, I don’t know what to do, and I’m hoping this course has some tips I haven’t already tried. I just want to be able to walk on the beach or go for a hike with her without every other dog she sees making her flip.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
What a cool mix is that! I am sure she is stunning 🙂
I am sorry that your training so far has not brought good results … I have to say I am really impressed by the many things you have explored already, from different treats over dog park to training class … good for you for being so proactive and ready to work on this!
Let me know how the course goes for her – I think she is a candidate who will really benefit from the sniffing exercises 🙂 And please ask if you have any questions!
Sarah Dog Owner
Our boys are rescues. They’re both livestock guarding breed mixes. They’ve always been reactive to loud vehicles driving by, people walking their dogs, people minding their own business in their own front yards that happen to be within eyesight of our front window…they go nuts. We keep the windows closed, otherwise they might go through the screen and plummet for a half a story fall. This is annoying when trying to relax or hear other people talk, but when on walks, amp it up even more for cats, squirrels, heaven forbid other dogs or go carts. We cause an absolute ruckus wherever we go. In the thick of it, not a care is given for the best of treats…cheese, shredded pork, peanut butter…might as well be a piece of paper when their focused on an all-out effort to get to sniff another doggo. When we go to the park, though I know our boys wouldn’t start a fight if you gave them 18 cheeseburgers, they’re so obnoxious, they seem to scare other dogs into biting…then ours stand their ground and…no good. I think this all starts because they’re guarding their herd (our house/us). Then, they’re also not properly socialized because we have avoided it because they’re nuts. Goodness, I hope I’m in the right place to help us all (and the whole neighborhood)!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am sorry your dogs have such intense reactivity, that does indeed sound very tricky to manage in daily life. It sounds like part of their reactivity is sound-related (vehicles driving by)? If so, I would start with that as sound is very easy to regulate in its intensity (by turning volume up or down on recordings of the triggering noises). Check out the lesson on sound sensitivity, I think it would be a good place to start. You can also use this for barking dogs, people talking … then, as they get better with this, you can move onto the visual triggers.
Btw – with two dogs, you should either have a helper for training (you train one dog and your helper the other) or train them one after the other, so they can have 100% of their handler’s atention.
Jennifer Dog Owner
My 10.5 month old Milo has become very difficult to walk. He’s a Saint Berdoodle (Saint Bernard,-poodle mix). We got him at 8 weeks and everything was going well. Because of Covid, we had a lockdown and curfew here and he really missed out on socialization from the age of 5/6 months to now. When the weather got warmer, I tried taking him out for walks but it would have to be early morning or late at night. He lunges and barks and has gotten very strong. My kids can no longer take him on a walk. His bark is louder and scarier than he actually is. He really only wants to meet the other dogs (and owners) because once he does, he is quiet. He plays well on doggy play dates and actually ends up usually being the submissive one. He also reacts and barks inside the house when he hears dogs barking outside or sees people walking by alone or with their dogs. It has become very frustrating. He’s a sweet, lovable dog but it’s to the point now where it’s embarrassing and big chaotic “show” when I bring him outside because he reacts so much and so loudly. As he gets bigger, I don’t know if I’ll be strong enough to hold him in place. I’ve tried several trainers and I feel like it’s costing me more and what I’m actually getting out of it. I see only short term, little changes despite how much practice and time I’ve devoted.
I look forward to the courses and hope to return to enjoying Milo outside more often again.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Doodles actually have a surprising tendency to have reactivity issues … their high energy lends itself to being quite “on edge”. If you find that this course is not quite the right fit for you (as it mostly addresses dogs that do NOT want to be friendly with other dogs), I am happy to switch you over to this one for no cost:
Focus in Public
As for the reactivity inside when he hears dogs barking, check out the lesson on sound sensitivity. By using low volume recordings of barking dogs you should be able to make some progress pretty quickly 🙂
Maurie Dog Owner
I have a 1 year old Snorkie (yorkie/mini schnauzer mix) named Benji. I am not sure where his reactivity came from. I socialize him well. We go on daily walks, dog parks, hiking, longer walks on the weekends, doggie play dates. He is fine when he is at home unless he hears people walking on the hallways outside (we live in an apartment). He does great in dog parks but when I leash him he starts barking, growling and running towards other dogs, people, bicycles, birds etc. I started carrying treats with me when we go on walks but it is uncontrollable when we see other dogs or people – especially if it is another reactive dog or another person that goes up to Benji without permission. Walks are becoming stressful and I wish to change that!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Maurie and Benji!
I am sorry about the sudden reactivity … sometimes we just cannot tell for sure where it came from! For the reactivity inside the apartment towards sounds, I recommend to check out the lesson on sound sensitivity and work with recordings of footsteps on that. As far as walks, it is quite common that dogs are much more reactive on leash than off-leash at a dog park or daycare. I think the sniffing exercises will help him become calmer and more relaxed on the leash as well 🙂
Let me know if you have any questions as you are working through the course!
Dema Dog Owner
My girl, Onyx, is a 7 month old Cockapoo. I guess she is a Pandemic puppy. She is mostly very relaxed at home although she is sensitive to weird noises. We didn’t realize she was so reactive…we didn’t have any visitors for months! Combining that with waiting for vaccination protection and other covid restrictions she just didn’t get the early socialization she needed. She does now go to a good doggy daycare once or twice a week. But, she barks at people and other dogs on leash. She is a sweet girl and to date hasn’t tried to bite, but I certainly want her to be able to relax taking walks and greeting people. She does play well with our other older bichipoo.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! Yes, this is the story of maaaaaany pandemic puppies you will find in this course. The good news is that at 7 months Onyx is still quite young and at this age it is usually easier to change the conditioned emotional response than if the reactivity has been going on for years. Good for her that she can go to doggy daycare, this is beneficial!
Let me know how it goes as you’re working through the course – and please ask if you have any questions!
Rebecca Dog Owner
Our little Bentley is a pomeranian and toy poodle mix. He is a year old and is very reactive. I believe that some of his reactiveness is due to the breed, but we also live on a busy corner and our large backyard has lots of people and dogs walking by. On nice days he loves to be outside in our fenced-in yard, but we have to bring him back in because of his constant barking. He likes to go on walks, but he often starts growling or barking if he sees another dog, so we have to go during times when there are fewer people out. He does not like kids playing or riding bikes, but he has had positive interactions with kids he just doesn’t like them when they are running and loud. He really is a sweet boy, so I am hoping that you can help us make things better for him.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Rebecca and Bentley!
I think we will be able to help Bentley feel more relaxed 🙂 Definitely check out the lesson on sound sensitivity and work on that with sounds that he would usually encounter outside in the yard (people, traffic, dogs, kids playing …). That way you can help him become calmer with the sounds, and then we can add the additional trigger of the visual.
You might need to seek out training places other than the actual yard (this is described in the Situations lesson) in order to make sure he stays below his threshold during your training.
Let me know if you have any questions as you work through the course!
Jessica Dog Owner
Charlie is a three-year-old male bichon frise. Within his 1st year of life we were at a park, up to that point Charlie had been doing well with other dogs. An owner of a German shepherd dropped the leash and the dog ran and jumped up on me. Charlie freaked out and I wasn’t able to calm him down even after a showed him the dog was nice. Now Charlie tends to bark at other dogs especially if they are German shepherds.
If other dogs bark, growl, or lunge near him or me he also goes off. There are some people particularly adults that he does not like. He does not like anyone taller than him which basically everyone is. Actually does well with babies and children.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Charlie and Jessica 🙂
I m so sorry about the incident with the German Shepherd. That must have been so scary for your little guy. For small dogs, these incidents are extra difficult as other dogs are just SO MUCH bigger than them, we can only imagine how scared they must be in a situation like this.
Make sure to check out the lesson on sound sensitivity and work on some counterconditioning towards the sounds that you say freak him out (bark, growl etc.) in addition to actual sessions with other dogs 🙂
Please let me know if you have any questions as you are working through the course!
Heather Dog Owner
Louis is a tiny little papillon, 3 years old. He’s the sweetest dog and does really well with people of all ages, but he’s been getting worse with reactivity to other dogs, particularly when he’s on a leash. We got him in June of 2019 when he was already a year old. He was pretty cool then but something happened at some point, and now when we take him on walks he freaks out whenever he even sees another dog. He is fine with dogs he knows who he met before he started this reactivity. I’m not sure why he’s doing it. He did have a bad experience with a neighbor’s dog early on where their little dog snapped at him and he freaked out. But he does it all the time now. We can barely take him out. He screams and lunges, completely out of control. We tried some training but the problem is that he’s not that treat motivated so we’re struggling with how to train him when he doesn’t care about treats. I think the covid quarantine really hurt his progress. I’ve noticed a real difference from before and after…we weren’t able to give him the socialization we wanted to for quite a long time due to being locked down for so long. Now he’s gotten so bad we don’t know what to do. I want to get him to the point where we can take him out on a walk around town where there are a lot of other dogs and he can just walk like a normal dog and not cause a scene.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Heather and little Louis!
Yes, Covid has been so hard on dogs with any level of reactivity … being shut away without possibility for (happy) exposure was not good for any of them!
We will need to figure out something he likes to eat. The good news is that every dog is food-motivated, or they would be dead from never eating ;). we just need to find out what motivates them! With little dogs, you want to also be very careful with how much you feed them during regular mealtimes. Their tummy fills up so quickly! I would experiment with feeding treats before meals (and definitely not leaving any food out for him to graze on).
Caroline Dog Owner
Nash is our scruffy boy, and is about 3 or 4. He’s been with us about 2.5 years. He’s also been a bit protective and barky, and reactive with certain dogs. We adopted him, and his DNA test claims he’s half GSD, and then is a quarter mini poodle and a quarter shih tzu.
We moved during COVID and he’s had some issues adjusting to people in our new building, but it’s been happening slowly for most. However there is one woman he’s getting worse with (possibly because she’s actually unpleasant and he can tell me and my SO don’t like her?).
We want him to get better with everyone in the building, especially the dogs (he does not like squishy faced dogs at all!). We’d like him to be more manageable with the woman on our floor he really doesn’t like.
We think his reactivity is due to breed + the trauma of being a stray, and some of his regression this past year is due to the stresses of COVID and of moving.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Caroline and Nash!
It is a really good starting point that you are already so aware of the triggers for your dog (that particular woman and brachycephalic dogs). The better we know the triggers, the better we can predict the training situations and prepare and react appropriately during training. I do think it is possible he dislikes the woman you guys also dislike, dogs sure can pick up on our feelings like this.
And you are right, Covid made life a lot harder for all reactive dogs … If you search “covid” on this page, you will find many in the same boat!
I wish you a lot of fun and success working through the course – please let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Barb Dog Owner
I have a 14month old Zuchon. She has a lot of anxiety. She plays with a 2 year old Shih Tzu daily and does great. She is often reactive and barks and tries to lunge towards unknown dogs. She can also do a low growl when strangers pass by — sometimes but now always— very inconsistent. She does not like car rides — shakes and pants.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! It’s great that she has a doggy friend already, that can really be helpful 🙂
About the car rides – does she throw up? Is she drooling? You might want to check with your vet about giving her something for nausea – for some dogs, the nausea during car rides can be really intense and make them very apprehensive about driving!
Barb Dog Owner
I have a 14month old Zuchon. She has a lot of anxiety. She plays with a 2 year old Shih Tzu daily and does great. She is often reactive and barks and tries to lunge towards unknown dogs. She can also do a low growl when strangers pass by — sometimes but now always— very inconsistent. She does not like car rides — shakes and pants. She used to love car rides. Something happened last fall and we have no idea what triggered fear of car rides or unknown people and dogs.
Alex Dog Owner
My beloved pup, Ginger, is going to be 8 years old (how is that possible??). She’s a rescue pup that I brought home when she was about a year old. She has always been highly anxious. And early on, we learned that she is leash reactive. We know she was abused as a puppy, and while she’s grown so much over the last 7 years, the trauma of puppyhood stays with her. And she was never on a leash until she was at the foster home. [Her foster mom thinks that that’s part of why she is so aware of being on leash vs. being off leash] She has a number of doggie friends, including our upstairs neighbors’ dog (they will run to each other’s apartments), beg to go out if they see that the other is out, etc.
This girl is a treasure. Seriously. With the exception of the leash reactivity, by far the sweetest, most loving, emotionally intelligent dogs I’ve ever met. And I want to be able to do more with her. We’ve tried a number of different things over the years. I want us both to enjoy walks more so that we can explore. Which she LOVES. Until she sees another dog, or sees something on wheels, or sees a runner/ bike, etc. So thank you so much for this course. I’m so excited to finally be able to do more with her.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Alex and Ginger!
It really shines through your words how much you love her, she is very lucky to have found such a wonderful forever family 🙂
Yes, traumatic experiences can stay with our pups for a long time, and during puppyhood they can be especially intense on their imprint.
It is great she has some doggy friends already! I think you can make quite some improvement on the leash reactivity with the approach in this course. Please let me know how it goes, and if you have any questions!
Sara Dog Owner
I have a 3 year old beagle mix named Benny. I adopted him a year ago, after he had been rescued from a bad hoarding situation. They think he had lived there 1-2 years and was in an outside pin with 1 other dog. The property had over 70 total dogs. He was never socialized with people or dogs. Even though he craves human affection, he has only recently gotten over his fear of people and now wants pets from everyone. He still has a lot of reactivity to animals. He lunges and barks/growls at animals on the tv, when he’s inside and a dog walks past the house, and when we’re walking. I try to put as much space between him and other dogs, by crossing the street. We’ve also been working on the “leave-it” command, so he gives me attention and doesn’t fixate on the other dog. This usually works, unless we can’t get far enough away or the other dog is also reactive. My ultimate goal would be for him to be able to calmly walk past other dogs.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Sara and Benny!
First of all thank you so much for adopting him. These hoarding situations are so horrible, I have in the past worked a lot with a local rescue that was always called when authorities would dissolve such places. I fostered traumatized dogs from such places myself and I know first-hand the struggle that it can be to get them comfortable with life again. On the other hand, I also know the intense joy that it brings us when they finally start to trust and relax 🙂
I wish you a lot of success working through the course, and please let me know if you have any questions!
Amanda Dog Owner
Saphira is a 4yo America Staffordshire Terries. I made sure to socialize her as soon as I got her when she was 4 months old. She always played with dogs smaller or bigger than her. She never had an issued off leash. As I said before, I got her when she was 4 months. before that she had never been on leash or alone. So as a puppy she had anxiety separation (now is controlled) and she was very excited on leash. She would bolt and go crazy every time she saw a dog or a person that she couldn’t play with it. Saphira and I went thru an intense training on leash because we were moving from Brazil to the US (this was in 2018). She learned to control herself on leash, and we flew from Brazil (13h) without any problem or reaction to other dogs or people. When we arrived in the US she made a few dog friends without any problems, but moving from another country she started to get a little reactive or leash again. A few months after moving Saphira was attacked when she was on leash from another dog of leash. Saphira didn’t bite back, she just tried to run away. She was attacked and snapped at other 5 times at the dog park. She never bite back or was the one to start the fight. The last time she was attacked was a dog that she was used to play since we moved (more than one year playing together), this time she was hurt. The other dog bit her head, she defended her self but didn’t bit the other dog. After all this events her behavior and reaction or leash got really bad. She never barked or growled to other dogs. She started to react do people and dogs at my window. Again Sphira and went thru behavior training and she is getting better, but she is not playing with other dogs and I didn’t introduce her to other dog since the last attacked. I am doing the training because I want to improve her life, I want t=her to understand that she can be calm and interact with dogs again. I am moving to Canada in a few weeks, and I hopping to introduce her to dogs again.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Amanda and Saphira!
Aww, she sounds like a real sweetheart. Being picked on by other dogs repeatedly and only ever trying to run away, what a sweet girl. I am sorry she had that many bad run-ins with other dogs, that is never easy. Hopefully we can get her to see that she does not have to be worried about other dogs on a leash through this course.
It sounds like the parks/other dogs you visited for playtime are not so suitable – I am glad you didn’t take her anymore or introduce her to any other pups. Right now she needs to be really certain that others are not going to harm her. I would definitely stick to on-leash areas with her for now. The more reactive a dog is, the more important it is to select places that have a very high chance of enforcing leash laws, that way you won’t have any bad surprises! In the lessons on situations there is more information on that.
Let me know how it goes for you, and please ask if you have any questions while working through the course 🙂
Laura Dog Owner
Leia is nearly a year old now, we adopted her when she was 3 months from a local animal shelter. She started showing signs of being shy of strangers within the first week we got her. Unfortunately with no vaccine history we had to wait to take her to most places and her socialization suffered for it. She started beginner training classes at 5 months and we’ve kept her going to dog training classes ever since as well as going to stores with us, riding in the car, and the occasional camping or hiking trip. She does okay, but she’s reactive (huffs, growls, barks, very rarely but occasionally pulls in the direction of or even more rare, lunges) at people who come too close, other dogs on leash, and fast moving objects like scooters or bikes. We have a personal trainer who is showing us how to work through these issues in various situations, and things are improving, but we aren’t where we would like to be just yet. She is better when off leash at a dog park or in a friends home, but still doesn’t want much to do with people. She likes to play with other dogs. She is NOT okay with anyone entering our house other than myself, my husband and our two kids. She doesn’t just react and then get over it, she will react the entire time (even if multiple days) if someone is visiting. She is crate trained so will spend most of her time in there when we have visitors. Also of concern – she is very reactive when startled from sleeping. In the evenings she likes to sleep on the couch with us when we watch TV. It is a rare occasion (and thus very startling to us) when once in awhile she will be startled by something and jump up barking. Most recently, my husband came into the dining room (adjoins our living area) while she was sleeping next to me and she jumped up from the couch and ran toward him barking loudly and taking an aggressive stance. She did not get any closer to him than about 8 feet before she stopped moving forward but she continued barking at him and she did not respond to me or him telling her to stop. I had to walk in front of her and back her up and tell her to sit – she complied and snapped out of it. It was like she did not recognize him. She does have some visual problems in low light, but he was standing in a fully lit room and was not obscured by anything. She normally loves him very much. She also typically listens to him better than she does to me, so it was weird that she did not respond to him when he spoke to her and told her to stop. She has had reactions to things in the past that she does not recognize, strange objects that she’s unfamiliar with or sometimes when someone makes a strange noise but she seems to have outgrown that for the most part. We did a DNA test and she is thoroughly mixed – 15 different breeds – mostly herding and terrier breeds and a little bit of hound. She is 48 lbs, solid bodied and strong but not overly difficult to handle. She hasn’t ever bitten anyone (so far) but her reaction of running toward the trigger, rather than backing away while barking, is concerning. She used to stay in one place or cower and pee, so I am hoping she isn’t feeling more emboldened to act aggressively as she gets older. I would say her reactivity is of great concern only about 10 percent of our time. The other 90 percent of the time she’s basically a doll. Her comfort zone is just very small. She is a quick learner and easy to train as far as obedience commands, our biggest issue is likely that she needs to improve her confidence and learn to cope better with things that trigger her anxiety. Looking forward to learning more from this class.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Laura and Leia!
I really like how clear you are about her triggers already, and how well you are observing her body language. Both are very important pre-requisites to successful reactivity training!
It’s unfortunate she didn’t have a known vaccine history and you had to wait until 5 months of age to really take her out and about … that definitely could have contributed to her being sketched out by triggers. Additionally, Covid made socialization so much harder for every puppy owner!
The one thing we will need to be careful about is the startling in her sleep. There is no guaranteed way to address this. Some dogs startle very intensely when woken (if you search the comment sections, you will find some other owners who have been experiencing this). They seem to be “out of it” and not recognize people at times (just like you describe).
One thing I wonder is – does her vision (and hearing) generally seem alright? Brodie, the dog in the videos, definitely has some less than perfect vision, which lead to him being startled super easy especially in low-light situations (which perhaps it was in the evening when you watched TV)?
Let me know ow it goes for you in the course, and if you have any questions!
Laura Dog Owner
Thank you Steffi. We have had her vision checked and she does have low-light vision issues. She does not focus quickly in dim light, so I know that is part of the issue. For the incident I described it was evening and while the living room (where she was) was dim, my husband was in a fully lit room. It could have been that her vision did not focus right away. But, she typically responds to our voices right away and that time she did not. Since then, it has happened a few more times, but her reactions have not been as severe and she has calmed down quicker. I have been making a point of limiting her evening couch naps and putting her to bed (crating her) a little earlier in the evenings as she gets sleepy to avoid her falling into a deep sleep on the couch and startling awake, as I have noticed this only happens later in the evenings. I’ve also ordered a tactical collar with a handle that I can (hopefully) quickly grab in the event that she does startle and jump up. (she always lays on or near me). Her in-person trainer has provoked her in all sorts of ways to test her temperament and he does not think she is a bite risk but has stressed the importance of de-escalating when she begins to react.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
I have been making a point of limiting her evening couch naps and putting her to bed (crating her) a little earlier in the evenings as she gets sleepy to avoid her falling into a deep sleep on the couch and startling awake, as I have noticed this only happens later in the evenings.
Good! This is a very important step and probably the most impactful change you can make. Continue to be proactive like this – it might be a lifelong routine that you have, as soon as it gets dark she goes into the crate. Sometimes the best steps to take are to implement successful management procedures rather than trying to fix difficult situations through training that may or may not work (because it is so hard to work around the vision issues and startle reflex). Keep doing exactly what you are doing 🙂
Katherine Dog Owner
Bradley is possibly a pit/bull dog mix, and at the time of adoption (June 2019), the shelter estimated his age at 5 years. He was very nervous, yet still quite friendly when I brought him home. During the first few days I discovered some reactions that made me believe there was possibly some abuse – he would cower and close his eyes if I bent down to pet him, and the first time I picked up the broom he hid in a corner and started shaking. The shelter said that he was one of their best behaved dogs, loved to play, but also loved to lounge around, and was the only dog they allowed off leash outside of the fenced in play area since he always stuck around the volunteers and never tried to run off. They did not give any inclination that he potentially had a negative past. Not that it would have affected his adoption, but it’s something I would have liked to know ahead of time.
I looked through his paperwork and found a dog control file. I assumed he was picked up as a stray, but come to find out, it was a seizure report and he was removed from a home. The report stated that the family had him for 2 months, and that he was stolen. I can only assume that they found him as a stray and decided to keep him, since his original owners were never found, and the people who had him could not provide an address or name. Obviously I had him microchipped ASAP.
The report said that he was dirty, dehydrated, lyme positive, and nervous. The report did not provide an address, but it did mention an intersection and a town name, so I looked it up in Google Maps. It was in the middle of nowhere, houses literally a mile apart.
My assumption is that he had little to no interactions with other dogs since he would not have been walked in a residential setting if he originally lived around the area he was taken from. When I took him on walks he was originally rather fearful of the other dogs we came across. Even little tiny fluffy dogs made him put his tail between his legs! As time went on, and he became more confident, he started barking and lunging at other dogs during our walks. I think he’s become territorial because he does not do this when we visit the pet store or the vet’s office (neutral ground, so to speak). His reactions have made me nervous when we come across other dogs. Since he’s a pit mix, and there have been incidents with his breed in my area, I’m afraid that he’ll be viewed as a vicious dog. I think he can sense my nervousness, because, in the past month, he’s now started barking at people without dogs when they walk past us. He never used to do that, and would actually love meeting the other people on the sidewalk. He’s a very sweet dog at home, and it breaks my heart that people might be afraid of him.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
Ah man, poor boy Bradley … that does sound like he suffered some very negative experiences in his past life 🙁 He is so lucky to have you now!
I am really sorry to hear about that horrendous experience with the shelter’s way of “informing” you about his past life. Hearing stories like this makes me really angry!
I had neighbors years ago in a similar situation. They had adopted a dog and that dog very quickly showed some difficult to predict and strong reactivity. They only got to know each new trigger as it happened (e.g. screen doors (not all doors just screen doors), hot air balloons, people with certain physical features, dogs with certain features etc.) They had actually seen another dog trainer first who had brought in a decoy dog, well that specifically was a dog that the reactive dog was not triggered by so she was labeled non-reactive (I need an eye-roll emoji here).
The owners went back to the shelter multiple times asking them about the dog’s history, the reactivity, they just wanted to know some more, it made no sense that they claimed she was surrendered as completely friendly and docile. Eventually, the dog bit someone, when they went back the x-teenth time the shelter “found” the paperwork that listed prior bite incidents. Nightmare all around. I understand shelters want dogs to have maximum chances in life, but they need to be transparent …
As time went on, and he became more confident, he started barking and lunging at other dogs during our walks.
That is usually how it goes – at first, all their emotional energy is put towards just settling in and getting to know the new life. As they feel comfortable, we see the reactivity come out. (That usually was always there – the dog just had different “priorities” for their emotional energy)
I think he’s become territorial because he does not do this when we visit the pet store or the vet’s office (neutral ground, so to speak).
I would be interested how he does at e.g. parks you have not gone to before, or other neutral places that are not specifically the vet or the pet store. Both places can be somewhat intimidating for dogs, not all dogs shut down – some just are “squished” a bit in their outward emotions. Many usually barky dogs tone it down a lot in somewhat intimidating places like that.
Kenz Dog Owner
I have a sheltie aussi mix (mostly sheltie), who, after a no-greet puppy foundations class, became reactive after a puppy startled him in class by jumping up on a chair right beside us. After he had a great experience in a meet-n-greet puppy class where the dogs WERE allowed to socialize, I should have taken him out of this no-greet class to just take him to the socialization class. However the trainers at the no-greet class recommended I bring him back despite his barking episode at the first no-greet class, and we took him to the 2nd session of the no-greet class. At this session, he lost his marbles completely, barking and lunging even in the corner of the room very far away from the other puppies. He was 4 mos at the time, and after that point, began barking at dogs when we were out. We were no longer able to take him for relaxing walks and hikes, and had to change our lifestyle. I feel extremely guilty for trusting the trainers instead of my instinct, and have had a lot of stress and hard time not being able to do normal things with my family like walking with everyone, or going to the park to relax. Most of my non-work time is spend either planning or executing his counter conditioning training and general training for obedience, tricks and reactivity, reading books about reactivity, taking courses or watching courses, and listening to audio books. It’s having a negative impact on my mental health and my family relationships, and my focus at work, as I feel a frantic need to help my dog before it is too late. He’s only 5 months, so I hope I can learn what I need to help him from this course. We’ve consulted with private trainers and behaviouralists, and are working on counter conditioning with him in the meantime.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am sorry to hear of the troubles at the no-greet puppy class. There is a lesson on group classes in this course, and what it says there is also true for no-meet puppy classes: If there is enough space to make it work for dogs, great. If the instructor is ok with owners leaving before the dog makes a negative association, great. If this doesn’t work – then the class is not the right place. I have actually sent owners home multiple times, when their dog did good for 30min and I could see that we were nearing the end of their attention span.
Of course you trusted your trainer, they should have picked up on the puppy’s struggles and recommended an alternative approach in which he can be successful. I am sorry you are in this situation 🙁
Especially this hit me:
Most of my non-work time is spend either planning or executing his counter conditioning training and general training for obedience, tricks and reactivity, reading books about reactivity, taking courses or watching courses, and listening to audio books. It’s having a negative impact on my mental health and my family relationships, and my focus at work, as I feel a frantic need to help my dog before it is too late.
First of all, in the very unlikely case that it will be difficult to change his behavior (which I do not believe because he is soooo young and has not really had that much time to ingrain this response) – owning a long-term reactive dog is not the end of the world either.
In fact, owning a reactive dog that has not made a lot of progress in training, but that you have a solid management plan for (perhaps only walking in remote places, or only walking early in the morning, or never letting the dog off-leash ever) will be less stressful than your current life right now. So please do not worry so much – we can still with a super high likelihood change your dog’s behavior a lot. But even in the unlikely case that not much progress is made (I am saying that just hypothetically so that you see that even the worst case scenario is not so bad) you can own a reactive dog and sleep well at night, have time for your family, do hobbies, succeed at work and also spend time with your dog that’s just your fun time! (and not always meticulously planned training time)
I am not one of the trainers who believes that the owner’s emotions influence the majority of the dog’s behavior (you can hand an anxious person the leash of a very calm dog – that dog will still be chill). However, I do think that once a significant part of our lives evolves around the dog and his training problem, we can sometimes stand in our own way.
I would really recommend that you set yourself a reasonable time limit each day (maybe 1/2hr) for reactivity-related topics (that can be watching videos, training with your dog, reading, etc.) and when that time is over you go and do something different and fun. This can be something fun with your dog (training tricks – but without thinking about reactivity!) or you can watch a movie or call a friend or have some wine … but nothing reactivity-related, ok? 😉 We all need a healthy balance 🙂
Kenz Dog Owner
Your reply almost made me cry, thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful response. It’s very difficult to put a time limit on the learning and training, because I think about what I didn’t do for him before, and I don’t want to look back at me now and wish I had done more. 🙁 I did think about what you said, though, and made myself a plan for now (that I’ll modify as I move through and continue to learn from a few different sources), so that I can rest easier knowing that I have my plan set out for the week, and I’ll limit my training time to less than all-consuming.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Good 😀 Let me know how it goes!
Caryn Dog Owner
I have a 8 month golden retriever and a 7 year old golden retriever due to covid the 8 month old didn’t have proper socialization and she is very reactive, she barks at everything that in front of the house and when she encounters anything unknown
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! After reading your other comment I am not quite sure if she is truly reactive or “just” overly excited … read my response in the “reactive or excited” lesson and let me know what you think 🙂
Maria Dog Owner
My new dog is a lab/shepherd mix. She just turned 1 last week.. we have had her for a little over a month. She is a rescue from Texas… the only thing I know is she was given up with her brother who was quickly adopted and then spent 3 to 4 weeks in a kill shelter before being rescued by the organization who I adopted her from. The rescue who transported her noted she reacted poorly to a puppy also in transport… the original shelter said she was ok with dogs… when I picked her up she was in a back yard with the rescue lady’s dog… she was definitely submissive but ok. Since home she was initially reactive to every sound and settled down to just dogs and being left alone. We have dog neighbors on both sides… unfortunately the ones next to us are barkers… they rush their fence which is still 50 ft from ours whenever they are out. My dog will cry yelp, bark, and try to get out of the fence… she does the same thing whenever we see another dog during walks. I have been working with her by keeping her far away and giving treats… unfortunately we keep getting surprised on walks (one time it was so bad her collar unsnapped and she ran… I now bring her out with both a collar and harness attachment) and by the neighbors who have 2 dogs and sometimes visitors who rush the fence… my poor girl. She does show some progress and then we have to start all over. Hoping your course will give me confidence and some more tips… I feel so sad for her to be so fearful… she is very sweet and loving- we are a very active family and I hope for her to be included in all our activities in the future..
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Oh wow, she went through a lot before coming to you! She is very lucky to have you now 🙂
Your setup with the yard and the neighbor dogs sounds very stressful 🙁 I like how well you manage it already, by keeping her far away and using treats.
You mention she is so sound sensitive, definitely check out the lesson on sound sensitivity in this course and work with her through low-volume recordings of all the triggering noises – it will make a big difference!
Please let me know how she is doing, and ask if you have any questions 🙂
Maria Dog Owner
Thank you so much. We are now up to the practicing with the cell phone lesson and I have noticed good changes… simply avoiding other dogs, lots of sniffing, and most recently I discovered car rides REALLY calm her down… yesterday I was taking her out of my car when my neighbor (with the backyard dogs) came over to say hi(without her dogs) and she was so much calmer(generally she is so excited she can’t contain herself)Of course across the street another neighbor happens to be walking his dog(I didn’t notice till they were half way past us!) I scattered some treats on the ground and she looked and went right to sniffing for treats. No barking, no lunging. Both myself and neighbor 1 were absolutely amazed how well she did! I have a neighbor 3 with neutral dogs who has offered to help us with the next step. I have pledged to not do any counterconditioning on days she has had a lot of other excitement(people over)or triggers(left alone-this is getting better too). I’m hopeful she will get there… and also settled to the idea of “management” for as long as we need to.
****Another question… when we first got her and until recently she greeted everyone by jumping up and then plopping down to roll on her back for a belly rub. But lately she isn’t doing the belly thing anymore. Is this a sign she is more confident or comfortable or maybe she just doesn’t want a belly rub?
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Fantastic, I am so happy to hear about the increased calmness, the sniffing and ignoring the neighbor dog! And good for you to recognize trigger stacking and making a plan on how to make sure you don’t do counterconditioning on the days when she might have already been triggered.
****Another question… when we first got her and until recently she greeted everyone by jumping up and then plopping down to roll on her back for a belly rub. But lately she isn’t doing the belly thing anymore. Is this a sign she is more confident or comfortable or maybe she just doesn’t want a belly rub?
I honestly don’t know … sometimes dogs change their greeting behavior without any obvious external causes. And we cannot always make sense of it! I would not worry about it.
Maria Dog Owner
I do have a question.. if my dog has 2 problems… will one trigger episode ruin the other training… for example if I have to leave her alone… which doesn’t happen more than once a week… will it make her dog reactivity worse?
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
So your dog has separation anxiety and reactivity?
In dogs we see so-called “trigger stacking” (described in a later lesson) – that means that stress adds up and intensifies the dog’s reaction. So if you for example leave your dog alone and she gets very scared, and then come home and take her out to a counterconditioning session, she will likely be too wound up to do well.
It does not increase the reactivity long-term, but it will make immediate training much harder or impossible if your dog has just had a “trigger episode”.
Kristine Dog Owner
I have a 3 year old Bouvier, Atlas, who I effectively “rescued” from a bad breeder. I got him at 9 months and he has developed reactive behaviours over time. I don’t think he was properly socialized, despite having other dogs around him at the breeder. He very quickly fixates on shadows, reflections of light (obsessively) and over the past 3-4 months anything that he sees when in the car. He was very good in the car and then started barking at a dog he could see, then it escalated to barking at people and now even passing by a parked car. I recently bought a crate for him because he gets so worked up he’s going to hurt himself or ruin the interior of my car. The crate is helping some but he’s still freaking out at things that we pass by, it just doesn’t last quite as long. He’s very reactive towards other dogs on our walks, it seems to depend somewhat on the energy of the other dog. Low energy dogs don’t appear to trigger him but other dogs that stare at him or have higher energy set him off. I’ve learned to watch the approaching dog’s body language and will do 360s to refocus Atlas on me and it helps some but doesn’t entirely de-escalate him. I do socialize him at a very responsible dog day care where they practice group obedience, quite time, and impulse control (the dogs don’t just run around all day) but even there he is muzzle trained because he snapped on a golden retriever one day without any obvious provocation. After watching this video, should I try covering his crate with a sheet when he’s in the car to stop him from seeing things that will set him off?
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome, and thank you for rescuing 🙂
Poor Atlas, he sounds really stressed! I love that you already got him a crate for the car, that’s very good.
I also really like that you are already vigilant on walks and closely watch the other dog and plan escape routes with Atlas – perfect 🙂
For the car, I would definitely recommend covering the crate! If he can eat on a car ride, you could also put a frozen Kong, a bullystick etc. in there with him. You can have some practice runs just in your garage – put him in the crate, give him something to chew, cover the crate, turn on the engine but don’t actually go anywhere. Then, over time, take small trips, at first just 1 minute, eventually leading up to regular car rides.
Sarah Dog Owner
Hello! So excited to join this class & community, I have a lot in common with other posters on this thread. My dog Ruby is a 2 yr old blue heeler mix, and I adopted her at about 10 months old, a week before the COVID shutdowns (!)
She is super sweet with people in her inner circle and is a quick learner. She has a few dog friends who she loves and plays really well with. However, she barks and lunges at any new adult, anyone who approaches her while out on a leash, or anyone who comes to the door or approaches the yard (delivery, neighbors, etc). She loves young kids and is ok with adults she meets with a child or with a dog that she likes. She has also started barking and lunging at some dogs while on walks (but not all; I haven’t identified a pattern). The dog-reactivity has gotten worse over time; I noticed the people-reactivity in our first few days together.
I am sure part of this is breed-specific, but I really appreciate the part of the video about interrupted socialization. I have often wondered if I have inadvertently “trained” her response by avoiding people on sidewalks throughout the pandemic. We have worked with a trainer who told me not to give her any information when she is barking (that my job is to control *my* emotional response and direct the other person to give her space), and otherwise just not take her to places where she will become triggered. This is not working for me; I want to be able to meet up with a friend for a walk or a coffee and bring Ruby along. I want to be able to have people over to my house. I don’t need her to love all my friends or even interact with strangers, but I hate leaving her at home, because I know she could really enjoy herself if she felt safe and relaxed. I am also planning a roadtrip/big move in about 8 months, and want to prepare her for that whole experience.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Sarah and Ruby!
First of all, Ruby sounds like pretty much every Heeler I met 😉 Lovely with the inner circle and suspicious and on edge with the rest of the world … but we can help her!
You can find in these comments soooo many other owners whose training was made difficult by Covid as well. It has made puppy socialization very difficult for everyone.
We have worked with a trainer who told me not to give her any information when she is barking (that my job is to control *my* emotional response and direct the other person to give her space), and otherwise just not take her to places where she will become triggered.
Yeah, there is still this school of though in dog training that our reaction to a dog crossing his threshold gives him helpful information. It really doesn’t. A dog that’s flipped out barking and lunging does not have the ability or interest to assess our own reaction or behavior that much. They are not in the right mindset to think “ah my owner is not reacting…” in their brain all that’s happening is “ALARM ALARM ALARM”.
And in this course we will indeed work on taking your dog to many different places! I agree that this should always be the goal, to be able to take your dog along 🙂
Michelle Dog Owner
Hi! My name is Michelle and I have a small rescue dog that is extremely reactive to other dogs as well as children on leash. I rescued her from a box in which she was dumped as a puppy. She was covered in mange and had a belly full of worms and we think she was only a few weeks old. She grew up with 3 big dogs in the house and loved playing with them and then lived with two other small dogs. Since she is a rescue, I am unaware of any traumatic events and also not 100% sure what breed she is. I had her DNA tested and they said she was too mixed and could only pinpoint 25% chihuahua. She seems to be most reactive when she is on the leash and it really seems to be her way of protecting me. She often tries to put herself in between me and the other dog. She lunges and barks until the dog is out of sight.
I really hope there are some answers in this course because I worry for her safety. She is so small and her reactivity sets off other dogs which could potentially harm her. That is my main concern. Thank you:)
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome,
and thank you for adopting … you pup is so lucky to have left her bad situation behind and ended up in a loving and caring home 🙂 Indeed, for small dogs the safety is a true concern when they are reactive. The leash reactivity you describe is quite common, and fortunately we can make a lot of progress rather quickly with the right approach 🙂
Let me know how it goes for you as you are working through the course!
Michelle Kruger Dog Owner
Thank you. I look forward to seeing progress.:)
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Let me know how it goes!
Victoria Dog Owner
Hi there! My name is Victoria. Very excited to start this course and join the Spirit Dog community.
I have a 9 month Golden Retriever named Leo. I didn’t introduce him to other dogs until he was 3 months old because I was nervous that he wasn’t fully vaccinated. After he was fully vaccinated, I took him to a puppy training/socialization class where he had a bad encounter with another dog.
Leo is very friendly and playful when playing with other dogs off-leash. On-leash, however, he barks, growls, and lunges at other dogs if they’re too close or if they show any reaction towards him. He also growls then whimpers when he sees other dogs on the TV or from the window. Sometimes after he reacts to a dog on TV or from the window, he likes to grab a toy and show it to us.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Victoria!
I am sorry to hear that Leo had a bad encounter at the training class, that’s not good 🙁 At this age, just one bad encounter can make them really anxious already … the good news is that with the right approach, we should be able to improve the leash reactivity a lot! It sounds like he is already trying to redirect/soothe in some way when he is stressed at home. I think the sniffing exercises in this class will work well for him, especially with the food drive of a Golden (I have one myself 🙂 ).
Let me know how it goes for you as you are working through the class!
Nicole Dog Owner
We have a sweet beagle/lab mix who is a rescue dog. We have had her for about 3 months and while exact details of her past aren’t know she was a stray and had a litter of 4 puppies before she was 1 year old. She is almost 2 years now. Then after being adopted into a home, she bit another dog she lived with and now we have her. She loves us, her family, will let my boys lay on her and snuggle with her and follows me around everywhere.
She lunges and barks at dogs we encounter on our walks although when we go to training, she can listen to me without reacting to the other dogs there – as long as they aren’t barking or playing with each other or approaching us. She doesn’t like when she sees dogs playing.
She barks at anyone and any animal that walks in front of our house. She rides to school when I drop my boys off and pick them up and doesn’t bark at any of the students that walk by our car but will bark or whimper if we drive past another dog.
My goal for her is to learn to be calm enough on walks that she isn’t reactive to other dogs when we walk by. I’m looking forward to digging into this course.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Nicole,
Thank you for adopting 🙂 I really like that your dog is able to listen to you at your training place without reacting, that is great and a wonderful starting point. Many dogs begin at a place where they cannot listen (and of course, we can help them as well), but if your dog already can focus on you when triggers are around, the reactivity should not be too ingrained, and we can address it really well 🙂
Let me know if you have any questions, and happy training!
Amanda Dog Owner
Hi!
We have a 6 month old Blue Heeler Male. He is wonderful with his inner circle/family, but growls and barks at people and dogs that he doesn’t know. He was pretty well socialized, we took him with us everywhere and he met a lot of different people as a young puppy. His reactivity started out of nowhere about a month ago and we have gotten to the point where it is difficult to take him anywhere because he will growl, bark, and attempt to snap at people.
He loves to play with other dogs, and sometimes his bark sounds like a play bark like he wants to go play with other dogs. However, some barks are rather intimidating and sound scary. I would like to work with him to be able to go out anywhere and have people/kids/dogs be able to come to him and pet him.
I know a lot of it is breed specific issues, but I just want the rest of the world to know the sweet, loving puppy that I know he is.
Thank you and can’t wait to learn!
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome!
Yes, that sounds quite typical of a Heeler: “He is wonderful with his inner circle/family, but growls and barks at people and dogs that he doesn’t know.” Should be part of the breed description 😉
I think this course will help a lot! I recommend you think of socialization as an ongoing process until the dog is about 1.5-2 years old. We tend to only consider “socialization” something we do with small puppies – but really, a dog continues to form his opinion of the world until about his 2nd birthday. After that, it will be much more set.
So – I am happy that you reach out now! It will be much easier to address now than in a few months 🙂
Let me know how it goes, and if you have any questions!
Samantha Dog Owner
My dog is a lab mix and I think there’s some pit in there too- she’s black with white spots on her forehead, neck and paws. I got Radnor when she was a little over a year old, and she’d already been in the shelter multiple times for several months. I also have my suspicions that she was abused by a former family due to how anxious she was when I first met her, especially around men. Radnor has been improving greatly, but in February she moved down with me to Colombia (the country). At the time, I was unaware that pits are seen differently here and as a result, it’s been hard to make dog friends. There also aren’t any dog parks in my vicinity, and the few times we have been able to go to one further away it’s either empty or with smaller dogs whose owners immediately put their dog on the leash and leave. There was a surge of covid the past two months, and the rules here are so strict that when I contracted covid in early April, the government officials wouldn’t even let me take her outside my apartment to use the restroom. After the lockdown, I noticed an increase of aggressive behavior. She is now more reactive when she sees other dogs on the street and is hard to control on the leash. She’s about 50 lbs of muscle. I’ve had to start putting a muzzle on for her safety and other dogs. I had friends over the other night, for the first time with new people in my apt since the lockdown, and she was reactive at first with them as well. She was able to calm down after a walk and some time in a seperate room, but I really am at a loss for what to do. I do have some friends with dogs, but I’m still pretty new here as well and none of my friends live within walking distance (I don’t have a car and I haven’t tried putting her in a taxi yet). I want her to make friends with my friends and other dogs, but Radnor isn’t showing them the sweet, adorable and silly pup that I get to see every day.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Samantha and Radnor (what a cool name!). It has been so hard to expose puppies during Covid, you are not alone at all … I really like that you have been using a muzzle. There is way too much stigma around those, and they can make such a different in safety and just how the owner feels during outings!
I hope this course brings you many ideas, please let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Bisa Dog Owner
Hi! We’ve got a 3yr old Standard Schnauzer. I’m starting this program because he has not been socialized very well. He is fence runner, leash reactive, and very reactive in the house (deliveries, rabbits, birds, people, everything). He is absolutely fine with our next door neighbor when they’re in the backyard. We live in a cul-de-sac, so our back yard butts up against a busy sidewalk across from a school (the reason we bought the house). We didn’t anticipate him being so upset by the foot traffic. They are only 6ft away and his reaction would seem normal, if it weren’t so frequent. When outside the growling and barking is for dogs. He generally just runs and pants when it’s kids. We have been pretty isolated since the pandemic and missed crucial socialization time. I’m hoping this will help.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome! I am glad you joined us. You can see in the comments that sooooo many other owners are in the same boat when it comes to the issue socialization has been during Covid! But thankfully, we can make improvements even after some missed time 🙂
The good thing is that with your location, you will have a lot of counterconditioning opportunities – each one a chance to make an improvement 🙂 Please let me know if you have any questions as you work through this course!
Marisa Dog Owner
I have a 3.5 yo German Shepherd, Odin, who’s reactive to everything and anyone. Once he realizes the thing he is barking at is a person, he turns into a big baby and loves absolutely every person he meets. On the other hand, he does not warm up to adult dogs. He was armed up to puppies, but that’s it. He grows and barks at Carole in pastures when I’m driving past a farm and will even growl and bark at a dog on TV, even if it is a cartoon. On our walks, he was very reactive and pulled. I’m not sure how this training course feels about prong collars, but I started using one and have had good success with at least our walks and obedience . When we go on walks, he keeps an eye on dogs all the time but he is no longer lunging or barking. In my house, it’s a nightmare with his reactivity and any time I don’t have the prong collar on him, because I obviously can’t keep it on him 24/7, and it obviously must not be 100% effective if it has to be on him in order for him to listen. While in my house, he’s very reactive to everything. I know when he was a puppy, it was probably not the best time to get a dog since I was working all nights, so it made it difficult to work with him, and I think I focused too much on people socializing and did not add enough dog socializing. He’s also been attacked by countless dogs, whether we were at Petco, going on walks and dogs coming up to us, or my neighbors pit bull coming into my yard to either go after me or my dog, but Odin jumped in between us.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Marisa and Odin!
Bark-bark-bark and then realizing it’s actually not so bad sounds a lot like many GSDs I meet!
When you say he is reactive towards everything in the house, can you explain some more what exactly? Sounds, household items (like the vacuum), looking out the window … can he relax at all while inside? Is he always on guard?
I am so sorry to hear about the attacks as well! Even at stores, that’s not good 🙁 I am sure we can make progress together in this course. Please let me know if you have any questions!
Marisa Dog Owner
• So after thinking about it more, I decided to really pay attention to Odin’s triggers for his reactivity over a few days.
o My house
Inside my house
• Inside stimuli: Nothing, he has no issues with me making loud noises, running the vacuum, or anything that is going on in my physical house.
• Outside stimuli, when I am t home
o Noise: he will perk his ears up and do his huffing and puffing noise (I have a lot of shepherds in my family, and I have noticed they all do this huffing/puffing thing) but he usually forgets about it. He is relaxed, but I do have to try to limit his access to certain windows.
o Person or Animal: Reactive but I can usually calm him down and he will still stay on alert, but he will not be barking non-stop.
o My neighbor with the Pitbulls: If he even hears the clicking of their tags on their collar or even just that the neighbor pulls into their driveway, he loses it and it is very difficult to calm him down. He knows his vehicle so he knows when he comes home, the dogs will come out. He will have his hair up, he is prancing though the entire house, he goes window to window to try and get a glimpse of them, and he is either barking or whining. Seeing them is a million times worse. He will jump on my windows or doors.
• Outside stimuli when family or friends are at my house
o The only thing he reacts to when I have company over is the neighbor with the pitbulls, but the severity is not as bad if it was just me home alone. He is hardly reactive to anything when I have company.
• Outside stimuli when I am away
o I have a camera that I move around when I am not home to keep an eye on him, and he reacts to absolutely everything. The way he reacts when I am not home is how he reacts when I am home, and he sees or hears my neighbor with the pitbulls. He has scratched my windowsills and by back door is all scratched up, but the backdoor faces my neighbor with the pitbulls so when they are outside, he jumps on my window. When I am home, he does not jump up on the door and if he does jump on the windowsills, he just keeps his paws still and does not get as reactive. It has got to the point where I must crate him again when I am gone because he barks so much, I do not want my neighbors to get annoyed since it is much worse when I am not there. He does not destroy my items in the house, he just barks all the time.
When Odin is outside
• If people or animals are far enough away, he does not pay much attention to them.
• If people are close to my house, example my two separate neighbors are outside, he is reactive. The neighbor with two yorkies is not as bad but he is still very reactive.
• Just other dogs barking on my street: hardly reactive, as long as he does not see them.
• My neighbor with the pitbulls: There is absolutely no calming him or distracting him when they are outside. He cannot control himself. If I want to be outside , while they aoutside as well, I have to put him on his prong collar because that is the only way I can break his attention from them. Or if I don’t put the prong on him, I just go back inside, and even then, when he knows they are outside, he can be difficult to calm.
Windows
• Any window that he is able to see my neighbor and his pitbulls specifically, he goes absolutely nuts. The one room is his biggest trigger, so I usually just keep that door shut all the time.
o At my sister’s or parents’ house
Inside: No reactivity
Outside: Reactive but if I call him, he comes right to me.
o When Odin is not around me, at my sister’s or parents’
Both inside and outside, hardly reactive at all.
o Walks
With the prong: He will do his huffing and puffing, but not much more than that. If he just hears a dog, he does not pay attention to it while on a walk. I am always aware who is walking around me, so if I see someone coming with a dog, I go to the other side of the street. If he sees just a person, no reactivity. The only time he gets aggressive is if a dog runs up to us, which was when he was attacked on a few occasions. On one occasion, we were walking and suddenly, this dog runs out of nowhere and lunges right at us. When my neighbor’s Pitbull attacked him, Odin jumped out of my vehicle, in between the Pitbull and me, and a big fight ensued. Thankfully, no one got hurt. The last time a dog came up to use, it was once again a loose dog, but this dog was not showing any aggression and was a very small dog. I had not even seen the dog, but I noticed his body language change and that is when I saw this dog coming up to us. I immediately went to the other side of the road, but the dog kept coming. I turned around and tried to get away, but the dog caught up to us. Odin started drooling, almost foaming profusely from the mouth, (that was the first time I ever seen him do that) hair up, and he got very aggressive with this dog, even though I did not pick up on any aggression or even excitement from this dog.
When it comes to people, when he first sees them, he can be reactive, but once they are close enough, he has absolutely zero issues. I have had construction workers in my house, and I have to keep him away from them just because all he wants to do is play with them or be around them. My neighbors do not believe me when I say he loves people because I feel like the only time the see him is when they have their dogs around them, which in turn makes him reactive. He has such a love for people, but even more so for children. He grew up around my niece because I got him when I was living with my sister, and I have never seen a more tolerant dog. We have never left him alone with kids and my family always reminds the kids in our family to be careful of any dog. I have seen my niece, which I quickly stop her from going further, pull his tail, put her hand down his throat or ears, pull his tongue, climbs all over his body, and even stick her thumb into his eye. I know I always have to be careful with any dog with kids, and in turn be careful with any child with dogs, but Odin is one of the most tolerant dogs of children. When a person is close enough that makes him switch from being reactive to not being reactive, he has never growled or even tried to nip at anyone, all he wants is attention and love from that person, as long as an animal is not with them.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Hi Marisa,
First of all big compliments for this extensive list – it really helps us better evaluate the dog’s triggers and responses to write them all down in a clear and concise way like this. I think we can say with big certainty that the Pitbulls are his #1 nemesis. I would definitely focus on them first and foremost in the training and make counterconditioning against them your top priority.
That being said, the reactivity against the Pitbulls sounds extreme and very very difficult to manage even inside your home. While I am not a veterinarian, every time I work with a case that’s so severe that it is truly impossible to keep the dog under his threshold even at home I recommend talking to your vet about possible medication during the training process. This is NOT to “drug up” the dog but rather to lower his stress level to the point where you can actually start to change his response in training. What you mention about his behavior even inside when the Pitbulls are outside is really intense and pretty much impossible to manage for you (or anyone!). There is a lesson on this further down in the course, if you want to check it out. Is this something you would consider in order to make the training more beneficial? I would really like him to be at a place emotionally where he can relax at home regardless of what your neighbor is doing/where he is.
Lori Dog Owner
I ‘m not sure I’m in the right class. We have an 18 month Doberman that we rescued. He barks at ravens and squirrels he sees. He also barks constantly if we aren’t in his sight.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Ravens and squirrels definitely sounds like prey drive … can you describe the barking when you are out of sight? Does this mean you cannot leave him alone currently? I agree that this may not be the right class for you – let me know some more about him and I will try to advise as best as I can 🙂
Lori Dog Owner
As we understand Baron was with his littermate for 10 1/2 months before they both were surrendered to a local shelter at which time we adopted him (last September). He barks/whines when we aren’t in sight. As he was with us longer we noticed more behaviors coming out. His tail finally started to wiggle after 4 months and then in the last couple of months he barks at anyone/anything walking in front of the house. I’m currently working from home so that doesn’t help the separation anxiety at all. We do try to go away for a while every day. On weekends we do go away a little longer and our neighbors tell us he barks the whole time we are gone. We have recently purchased a bark cam and can see what he is doing. He does bark a lot but not constantly, I think he tires himself out and sleeps for a little while before starting again.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Alright, it is good already that he is able to sleep a bit while you are gone. Of course the barking is not what we want, but dogs with severe separation anxiety are unable to sleep or be calm AT ALL – so it is good news that Baron does not have a high level of separation anxiety.
What can really help is to have multiple little separations throughout the day. In these it is not even necessary that you LEAVE the house. I would recommend to put up a babygate or exercise pen with which you can restrict him to one room (such as a gate at the entrance of the living room). Have him be in there while you potter around … tidying up, moving from room to room, taking out the trash, coming back in … we want him to experience that you can leave many times and come right back. That way, we can gradually rephrase how he thinks about separations – from “100% of the time they leave I will cry on and off until they are back” to “80% of the time they leave they just go into the next room and come right back!” It essentially follows that same idea of keeping the dog under his threshold by presenting the trigger (leaving in this case) in small enough intensities.
Lori Dog Owner
So should I continue with this class or is there a better suited one for us?
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
I would actually think that the Outdoor Focus Class would be a good one to tackle the prey drive (we work up to “distracting” our dog with more and more tempting reinforcers that he has to ignore – similar to actual prey). If this sounds good to you, we will switch you 🙂
Lori Dog Owner
Please switch me to the Outdoor Focus Class
Carol Dog Owner
I have a 9-year-old Standard Poodle who has been with me since he was 9 weeks old. He’s always been a very friendly dog with both people and other dogs. We live at the end of a dirt road and next to a rarely used/unused railroad track. For most of his life he has been walked off-leash on back roads and the railroad track, and has always enjoyed meeting new dogs. When we have been in the city, or when travelling, he has adapted well to being on a leash. I have occasionally seen him react on a leash in our neighbourhood in the past, but when that happened, we would let both dogs off leash and it would be fine. In the last year, our municipality has turned the unused rail trail into a multi-purpose trail that has been very busy with bicycles, walkers and dog-walkers. They have put up signs that dogs must be on leash and certainly when it is busy it’s safest for all if dogs are on leash. This is when his trouble started. He has gone from giving an occasional low throaty growl when he’s on leash and another dog comes by to being very reactive, barking, lunging and growling. My reaction to that was initially correct him and say “no” very firmly. More recently to I’ve tried to get him to look at me and give him treats as another dog approaches. This doesn’t work when he’s in full-on reactive mode though. I’m hoping with this course I can learn to help him be more calm around other dogs when he’s on a leash. It has definitely been an adjustment for both of us to have a new, busy trail by our house.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Carol and Finn!
It’s unfortunate they limited the access to the railroad track now … sounds like this change is what brought on the leash reactivity! Leash reactivity is very common, it stems from the physical limitations of being on a leash, mixed with some frustration and intensified by the dog’s desire to move freely. The good news is that this is such a late onset in his life, after he has been fairly good with other dogs all his life – we should be able to make considerable improvement with the right approach 🙂
Let me know if you have any questions as you are working through the course!
David Dog Owner
I have a 5 month old mini schnauzer. He’s always been shy around new people. But six weeks ago he discovered his bark and now he barks and lunges at people or things that come into his space uninvited. I’ve been working with him so that he can usually go for walks without lunging. If he does bark, it’s usually at another dog… he will growl too. But sometimes he just sits and watches them. I’ve been nervous about having him around my friends because while I can get him to be calm when they are sitting, as soon as they stand or they leave a room he tends to bark and lunge at them again. My best experiences have been when my friends choose not to speak, touch, or talk to him. Then he seems to want to smell and greet them.
I want to feel confident in environments with dogs and strangers
Teresa Dog Owner
Keeva is a year and a half old border collie who joined my little family in February 2020. She’d been hanging out with me from January till the day she came home at school in my office and had time with kids and other teachers and was doing wel. March 2020 brought COVID and school closed and so our state went into “Safer at home” mode–she and I went to the park together, but just about everything else was closed. Fast forward to summer–she came back to school with me but we didn’t have kids (they were all virtual) and despite the number of construction people in and out of the office to love on her, she started showing a little fear. When we had kids back in the building, we had rolling quarantines, but kids still came to my office and she was fine with the kids, curling up under my desk or on her bed. In February this year, one of our teachers reached down to pet her (from above–he’s pretty tall and not a small guy) and she snagged his arm, breaking skin. Small, but enough to get her suspended. I’d already planned qnother round of classes toward her CGC (which went just fine–no aggression and gradually no fear either–she’d gotten her STAR Puppy in June), and when it was finished, my understanding was that she could come back to school. That’s on hold indefinitely despite others still bringing THEIR dogs… Generally she’s well behaved when we go new places, loves other dogs, loves their people (or is indifferent), loves fetch and frisbee. I think that the interruption of socialization is why she’s struggling–she’s fine 99% of the time, but will lunge at cars now and then and desperately wants to meet other dogs, which isn’t always appropriate. I feel like I failed her.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Teresa and Keeva!
Especially for herding dogs and breeds that need a lot of exposure to feel safe and happy, Covid has been sooo hard … and it sounds like you were doing everything you could by taking her along to school, etc.! Please don’t think that you failed her. There are many hundreds of students in this course who are in the exact same boat – Covid made life so difficult for so many puppy owners …
I am sorry to hear about the snapping, that’s rough. That happened while she was curled up under your desk or just “out of the blue”? Did you see any signs of discomfort or it was a really quick and surprising reaction?
In general I can tell you that I have worked with some dogs that had one bite and one bite only … because after that one incident, we took extreme care to not put the dog into a situation again in which he could be triggered, and of course did a lot of counterconditioning/desensitization. So there is definitely hope that this was a singular incident and we can help Keeva be happy from here on out 🙂
Sarah Dog Owner
Osa is a 3 year old Standard Poodle. Within her first year of life, we lost our miniature poodle to old age and moved into a new house. Then the pandemic hit. She has been increasingly reactive to just about everything: runners, walkers, bikers, cars, and especially other dogs. We have gotten her mostly better with cars and walkers, but with other dogs it seems to have gotten way worse. We are looking forward to getting ideas and tips from this course to help us with Osa’s reactivity.
Steffi SpiritDog Trainer Team
Welcome Sarah and Osa! I am sorry … that’s a lot of changes and traumatic events for Osa! No wonder she became a bit weary of the world. We will get her happier and calmer 🙂
Please let me know if you have any questions as you are working through this course 🙂