Managing and Reducing Leash Reactivity

BEHAVIOUR BEHAVIOUR AND TRAINING TRAINING TRAINING AND BEHAVIOUR

Managing and Reducing Leash Reactivity

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There’s nothing more disheartening than when your dog reacts aggressively towards other dogs when out on walks. I should know, I’ve experienced it with one of my dogs and therefore I feel your pain. I know too well how you need to have eyes at the back of your head, as well as missile-like homing abilities to be able to spot an oncoming dog more than a kilometre away. Always kept me on my toes!

But why does reactivity on the leash occur? What is the dog thinking and what is he trying to achieve by reacting? And what are the steps we can take to help manage and reduce it?

Firstly let us look at the many reasons why some dogs react on leash:

• Lack of early socialisation as a young puppy (first 16 weeks)
• Frightening experience(s) as a young puppy (the pup was bullied, rushed, tumbled, bitten or attacked) causing fear aggression
• Genetic predisposition for aggression (the dog’s parents were that way)
• Mishandling by owners 
• Learned reactivity (e.g. copied the other family dog who always barked on walks)
• Over-excitability*/arousal on leash causing a frustrated greeter

In the case of fear aggression, the dog wants the other dog to go away. The dog learns that barking and lunging causes one of two things to happen: 

1. The other dog goes away, OR 
2. Your dog is moved away. 
Either result is exactly what a fearful dog wants…distance! Therefore aggressive reactivity is now a trusted strategy for the dog.

* Reactivity on leash is not always due to fear aggression. In fact, fear aggression is probably just as over-diagnosed as separation anxiety is when it comes to dogs. 

Some dogs can become reactive due to over-arousal and excitement upon seeing another dog. If a dog has always been able to approach another dog when in an excitable state, then this behaviour naturally becomes reinforced.

Because of the escalation in behaviour, the owner one day decides to hold the dog back from greeting the other dog. This not only increases the dog’s frustration but also the dog’s reactive behaviour. 

Unfortunately, this can tip over into aggression if the dog is not managed correctly.

Other dogs seem to be fine with dogs when off leash, but not so good when on leash. This is probably due to the fact that when dogs are off leash, they can better control their distance from other dogs by moving away; which unfortunately is something they cannot do when on the leash. Being on leash (barrier) is usually the cause of frustration for a dog that is much more confident when he/she is off leash.

The main elements owners of reactive dogs need to know and practice:

1. AVOID & MANAGE: If you are not sure of the outcome, then don’t gamble. U-turning away, crossing the road or moving away before your dog reacts is always the best form of management. This is especially so if you are ill equipped and not sure what to do. Don’t allow your dog to practice the unwanted behaviour!

2. DESENSITISE: Regular, controlled exposure to a small group of calm dogs at a distance will assist in reducing your dog’s reactivity level over time. A dog school/club is excellent for this.

3. CHANGE the way your dog feels about other dogs: Give your dog yummy treats, or anything else your dog enjoys, whenever it sees a dog in the distance and does not react. Over time, this helps change the way your dog feels about seeing another dogs.

4. CONTROL: Good strategies allow you to gain and keep control in all kinds of situations. Get the help of a professional and qualified dog trainer to assist you with this.

If your dog has only mild reactivity then good management strategies and changing the way your dog feels about other dogs can greatly assist to reduce the behaviour. But don’t leave it to chance! Set up scenarios with a friend and their calm dog to allow you to practice regularly with your dog.

If your dog’s reactivity is medium to severe, then we suggest calling in a professional and qualified trainer with experience in working with reactive dogs and who can assist you with correct and workable strategies as well as guide you with the desensitisation process.

A Word on the Desensitisation Process...

Desensitisation (reducing the fear and reaction) can take any period of time to achieve. It’s not something that simply happens overnight, or even after just 2 weeks of practice. In some severe cases of fear aggression, desensitisation has taken up to 12 months to achieve! After this time, the learning can be generalised with the dog learning to cope being around dogs in many and varied situations.

There is no magic pill or potion that will help speed up the desensitisation process either. However if the dog’s fear is producing high levels of anxiety, then medication may help lessen the dog’s anxiety levels only. This will create a calmer dog and in turn allow for the desensitisation process to start taking place. 

Best of luck and please keep enjoying walking your dogs !!!

Trish Harris is the co-founder and director of Four Paws K9 Training which is one of the largest, privately owned dog training schools, operating in 4 locations around Melbourne. 

She is also a lecturer for the National Dog Trainers Federation’s “Certificate lll in Dog Training and Behaviour” course, teaching many new ‘would be’” instructors some of the necessary skills required to train dogs.

Positive Reinforcement Dog Training

TRAINING TRAINING AND BEHAVIOUR

Positive Reinforcement Dog Training

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Positive Reinforcement Training Techniques For Your Dog or "When Close Enough Isn’t Good Enough"...


Our goal whenever we are teaching anything to our puppy is to do it POSITIVELY! It’s up to us, as the puppy’s leader, to teach it how to become the dog that we want. Old School methods of crashing and banging the puppy through behaviours may have been tolerated in the past, however we now understand they decrease the puppy’s drive and motivation to learn. Not to mention the potential damage to our relationship with the puppy. 

All the behaviours we want to nurture and enhance in our puppy can be simply prompted with a lure and rewarded with food, affection or play. But what happens when the value of that Food, Affection or Play is less then the value the dog perceives in doing something else?

We advocate and promote active engagement with your puppy. We want our puppy to see us as the Sun, Moon and Stars. Always looking to us for leadership and guidance! Always wanting something that we have! 

We love to teach our puppies lots of different things. Some of them are cute tricks that are just fun to do. Others are obedience-based commands that might some day save our puppies life. So how can our puppy tell the difference between these? Well, THEY CAN’T!

Before we can discuss how to handle a situation where your puppy isn’t doing what you ask of it, we need to all get on the same page and explain how you know for sure that your puppy knows what you want. 

#1. Teaching Phase

Whenever we are teaching something new, we start in a distraction free environment. There is nothing of interest but us and we will have the puppy’s full attention. 

#2. Introducing a Distractions Phase

When we have the puppy going through the motions of whatever behaviour we are teaching in a distraction free environment we slowly start to introduce distractions. A distraction could simply be having another person nearby and then build up to being right amongst an environment so busy that the dog has to really focus to stay engaged with us. 

#3. Proofing Phase

This is where we test the puppy. We must be 100% sure the puppy knows what is being asked of it. We must have put the puppy in a similar situation with similar distractions and have had success. We ask the puppy to complete the behaviour and if it doesn’t then and only then do we compel it to comply. 

So, what behaviours do we proof and what do we not? The answer is ALL OF THEM! All behaviours can be proofed with very simple techniques, causing almost no stress to the puppy. 

So why is all this relevant?

Imagine a scenario where a pet dog owner is in the park with a group of friends. In front of their friends they ask the dog to sit, but it doesn’t. 

Normally, through embarrassment or to avoid an uncomfortable situation everyone laughs it off and the dog continues to play. You may hear an excuse like “oh it’s because I don’t have food with me” or “he’s tired, that’s why.” The people go back to talking and the dog continues playing and everyone puts the situation behind them. 

Everyone but the dog! 

The dog has just learned that he can choose not to listen to his leader. And not just when the leader says to sit. But when the leader says anything! 

So what went wrong? Does the dog not know how to sit on command? Or did he choose to ignore his leader. Either way it’s the human’s fault. And that human may just have put his dog’s life in danger. 

When we are training a dog, or living with a dog we consider fully trained, CLOSE ENOUGH IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. If you are going to ask your dog to do something for you, you must be in a position to reward it for that behavior and be prepared to take control of the situation and guide the dog into that behavior if need be. 

So how do we keep our dog safe WHILE avoiding embarrassment? I’ll tell you.

1. Put the work in and concentrate on training those key behaviours that are going to keep your dog safe. 

a. RECALL

b. HEEL

A dog heeling properly matches his owner's pace

c. DOWN AT A DISTANCE

2. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. If you haven’t proofed a behaviour then look around, assess the level of distraction you are working under and make an informed decision on whether you should even give that command.

3. Follow through. If you do end up in a situation where your dog ignores you then you need to correct it and carry out the necessary retraining right there and then. 

Remember our goal is always to develop a bond so strong with our dog that their engagement and focus on us will make any distraction fade off into the background, but if you are not there yet, be careful. Close enough is not good enough. 

Pat Stuart is "Top Dog” from the MS Kennels Sydney pack. MS Kennels are able to provide just about every level of dog training service including behaviour consultations and providing fully trained dogs to meet a variety of purposes.  MS Kennels also offers an online video training series teaching average people how to effectively raise a puppy. 

For more details, visit mskennels.com

Introducing a New Dog to Existing Dogs

BEHAVIOUR TRAINING TRAINING AND BEHAVIOUR

Introducing a New Dog to Existing Dogs

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Bringing a new dog into your home can be a very exciting time, but it is also a stressful situation. You may have children or existing dogs or pets in the home, and might not be sure how your latest addition will fit in with current family members.

When it comes to introductions, advance preparation and patience will be paramount. Make sure your current dogs/animals are able to cope peacefully and happily around dogs before you decide to bring another dog home. Multi-dog households can work very well, but they can also lead to serious fights and potential injury if proper management and guidelines are not in place.

If you have children in the home, you need to teach them how to stay safe around dogs, and make sure your new dog will be comfortable with children.


Introductions should occur slowly and should never be forced. Dog to dog introductions are best done on neutral territory, and I recommend that your current dog(s) meet the new dog at least twice so they can check each other out and interact, as well as taking the dogs for a walk together, before bringing the new dog home. Minimise face-to-face greetings (or those through fences) as much as possible, as these can get tense quickly.

You should stay calm at all times during these initial introductions, as any tension can be felt by the dogs. If you are having trouble with introducing a new dog into your home, then you should contact a qualified animal behaviourist or dog trainer for assistance before the situation gets out of control.

TIPS TO INTRODUCE A NEW DOG TO YOUR PACK

If the existing dog is a male, then it is wise to introduce a more submissive female into the mix and vice versa. Inter-female aggression is very common, as are fights between competing males, and while dogs of the same sex can co-habit peacefully, it is often better to mix the sexes up.

It is advisable that your second dog is close in age, size or temperament to your existing dog, making sure their energy levels match. If a puppy is brought into a home with an established older dog, every effort must be made to keep puppy’s desire to play with the older dog to a minimum. In some cases a younger dog will breathe new life into an older one, but age gaps can also be the cause of major irritations! My preference for age difference is 4 to 6 years, depending on the breeds of the dogs.

Initial introductions need to be made on neutral territory with both dogs on loose leashes, so that they have the ability to interact without the frustration of being held too tightly. If the initial meeting goes well, both dogs should be allowed to interact off leash in a safe area, giving them freedom to form a relationship.

Established dogs can become jealous when too much attention is given to the new addition. It is extremely important that both dogs get equal attention as well as having quality one-on-one time with the owner.

Feeding the dogs separately will ensure that there are no fights over food bowls, and that each dogs’ dietary requirements are being met. High value chews, bones or toys need to be given to the dogs in separate rooms or areas, as even the best of friends can fight over valuable resources.


Rewarding the existing dog when he or she behaves well around the new arrival will show the dog that the new dog’s presence means good things happen. 

Walking the dogs individually a few times a week will also assist in strengthening the bond with you, as this is each dogs “special time” just with you! And you will get to know your new dogs’ personality even better! 

Brushing or massaging your dogs improves the bond you share with them, and again gives them one on one time just with you! 

TIPS TO TRANSPORT YOUR NEW DOG HOME

Having your existing dogs secured in your vehicle is essential for their safety (and it is also a legal requirement in NSW). 

Putting your new dog into a good sized crate that is secured in your vehicle will help the dog to not panic, or injure itself, plus has the advantage of minimising any car sickness mess. 

The use of a pheromone collar (such as Adaptil) on your new dog may really help him during the travelling and the first few weeks of settling into your home. My advice is to put it on at least an hour before travel is to commence so it has time to activate. 

You may need to pull over if the dog is not travelling well. For some rescued dogs, travelling in the car can be traumatic and they believe they are going to be dumped or surrendered, as this may be what happened to them once before.

TIPS TO MAKE THINGS EASY AT HOME


Take your existing dogs in first, and put them in the back yard, then bring the new dog inside the house, and let him check out the new environment. Set up his/her crate/pen in a safe yet quite area.

Then swap, by bringing the existing dogs in, and taking the new dog out to explore the yard freely.

You can then let then all interact freely in the yard under your supervision to ensure that there is no territorial behavior going on, and if play starts to get intense, calmly intervene by bringing the over-excited dog inside to calm down.

Your new dog may not be house trained, so you need to be prepared keep a close watch for behaviours that indicate toileting is needed. He should however learn quickly from your other dog(s).

Some rescued dogs may have some ongoing behavioural issues due to the way they were treated at some point in their life. They may have been abused or starved, and you might be surprised at some of the triggers.

It can take up to three months for your rescued dog’s personality to develop and shine – he/she is finally allowed to be themselves, and develop their character in a kind, loving and respectful home environment.

Should you need any assistance with any of the above, or something totally unexpected occurs, be sure to contact a qualified professional dog behavioural trainer who has first-hand experience with adopting and working with a rescued dog. 

For more details, visit the Dogology® website, where you can enrol your dog in my new Rescued Dog Program!

Janene Branc, Dogology® 2015

Janene Branc has been training dogs since 1995. She completed the Certificate IV in Dog Behavioural Training with the Delta Society of Australia in 2002 and the PetTech PetSaver Certificate course in 2012. She has attended many seminars on Agility, Obedience, Canine Musical Freestyle, Ethology & Canine Behavioural Management. She has been the NSW Regional Representative for the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (Australia) since 2010.

How to Solve 7 Common Bad Dog Habits

BEHAVIOUR TRAINING AND BEHAVIOUR

How to Solve 7 Common Bad Dog Habits

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Individual dogs, like people, misbehave in their own unique ways. Sometimes this is tied to breeding. Some dogs, like coonhounds, were bred to be very vocal. It’s therefore not really the dog’s fault that it has a predisposed drive to loudly howl. In fact, under the right situations, that behaviour is desired.

However, surveys still show that certain behavioural problems are common among all dogs, no matter the breed.

This list mentions the most common problems as reported by dog owners:

#1. Jumping up

Jumping on people is a simple problem to rectify. It can and should be rectified as few people like a dirty dog jumping on them. Also many children are injured by unruly dogs jumping up, and the elderly are also at risk.

#2. Barking

Dogs bark as we speak, a certain amount of barking for the right reason is a plus but your dog should be taught what is and what is not acceptable barking.

Dogs bark at the doorbell for any number of reasons. They could be excited or anxious about visitors, or they might bark as a watchdog tendency. Some dogs even equate their barking with you opening the door, so they think they're training you to open the door when they bark. One of the best ways to stop barking at the doorbell is to teach and reward an alternative behaviour, like sitting on a nearby mat and waiting for the door to be opened.

For additional advice on how to deal with barking issues, read our article on "When Dog Barking Becomes a Problem".

#3. Begging for food

Begging for food should not be tolerated. No matter how cute or desperate for food your dog looks, consistency is the key to curbing dinner-table begging. Make sure no one in your family feeds the dog from the table.

Even if his begging only works once in a blue moon, he'll repeat and escalate the behaviour until all his barking and whining pays off with a rare food reward. Instead of giving in, provide your dog with an appropriate dinnertime activity, like enjoying his own toys or food puzzles.

#4. Jumping on furniture

Dogs do not understand the concept of clean vs dirty, old vs new! It is best to teach your dog not to jump on furniture especially if you plan on taking them to visit family or friends.

#5. Digging

Digging is an extremely rewarding activity for dogs, whether they're digging to reach a scent or simply to release pent-up energy. Help your dog practice this behaviour appropriately by giving him a sandbox or section of the yard where he's allowed to dig.

Make sure this area has clearly marked visual boundaries, and use treats and toys to make this new digging place more exciting than the old one.

#6. Chewing

Chewing is a natural behaviour for dogs, since they explore their environment with their mouth. It also relieves stress and boredom, and helps keep their teeth clean.

When you catch your dog chewing inappropriate objects (like shoes, as many dogs do), redirect the chewing to an appropriate item, like a chew/stuffed toy. Then praise your puppy for selecting an acceptable outlet for his chewing behaviour. Talk with your veterinarian about which chews are safe for your dog.

#7. Stealing food off counters

Trainers call this behaviour "counter-surfing." It's one of the more difficult habits to break, since Fido experiences a huge reward for stealing the food: He gets to eat it! 
The easiest way to solve this problem is to eliminate the opportunity. Don't leave food around, and use baby gates or fencing to restrict your dog's access to the kitchen when you're not there to supervise him. Teaching the "leave it" command is useful for when you catch him in the act of stealing snacks.