Having Problem When Meeting Other Dogs

[Laurie S.]

I sure would appreciate some advice on how to handle Cheyenne on a walk. When she sees another dog, she goes crazy wanting to play. I'm having problems keeping her under control and it's getting worse. I've been wallking her with only a collar, so tomorrow I'm going to the harness. It's not the dogs in the yards, but the ones we meet. Some of the other dogs aren't into playing and I'm worried she's going to get into a fight, although so far it's only the little anklebiters that are problems in that way. I've been stopping and getting a good hold on the leash, but she jumps around so much it's hard to control her.

 

Once we're past the other dogs, she walks calmly (unless she sees a bird or lizard). I'm working on the jumping up behavior, but it's not under control yet, either. She's just a little over two years old, so she's a big puppy, but any tips on what I should do would be great.

[Sue R]

I'm sorry that no one yet has had the opportunity to reply to your question. I'm sure you will get some good advice from people who have dealt with this issue in their own dogs.

 

My advice would involve working on having her focus on you (when, of course, there are no distractions, and working up to when the distractions get greater). You could use treats or a toy, or praise, or a combination to reward her when she makes eye contact when you say her name and something like "look at me".

 

At the same time, work on rewarding her when she sits (or downs) for you without distractions, and also working up to greater distractions. She does not get rewarded if she doesn't comply.

 

Does she have the opportunity to play with dogs at all? Neighbor dogs, family dogs, dog park situations? If not, is there some way you can set up "play dates" so she can interact with dogs in a play situation on a regular basis.

 

I am dealing with something similar to you, except my four month old pup loves children (and nobody is a stranger to him, but someone who needs to be greeted with too much love) but, with smaller ones, his exuberance is manifested in jumping and rough, enthusiastic behavior - which is not acceptable, can hurt the children, and is a real turn-off to most kids who find him to be too much. So, I'm working hard when the opportunity presents to teach him that he won't get attention unless he sits and is polite and, I'll tell you, it's a real challenge and we aren't seeing a whole lot of progress yet. It doesn't help that we don't have (or make) enough opportunity to really work on this sufficiently.

 

I am sure someone will give you much more helpful and better advice than I can. Best wishes!

[desertranger]

Morning Laurie,

 

The answer is actually fairly simple but it does take some work. You'll need a bait bag with her fav treats in it. Typically when people have this prob they see the dog and just pop a treat into there dog hoping it will be enough. Wrong. When yoju see a dog coming down the street get Cheyenne's attention with a treat (crumb or pea size) and keep her attention.

 

Have Cheyenne sit, then start stuffing her with treats. "Hhave a treat, some salad, an appetizer, entrée, more veggies, more entree, desert, etc. Keep the treats coming until the dog has walked by and Cheyenne has seen it. Don't stop until the problem is past. The idea is to keep Cheyenne focused on you and the food, not the other dog.

 

Hope that helps.

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

Having her focus on you, like Sue and DR mentioned is a great idea. I wouldn't start right off the bat on walks though. I would treat this situation the same as I would with my own fearful dog and work on the "watch me" in the house in a quiet area with minimal distractions first, then work up to being outside with other dogs around. Perhaps looking into the book "Control Unleashed" may be of some use to you. It's a book for sports dogs, but the stuff in there is priceless for any owner who's dog goes a little bonkers from time to time! It will show you how to calm your dog and work with her in a focused manner. There is also a game called "look at that!" in the book that is similar to having your dog focus on you, but instead the dog is allowed to look at (in your case) the other dogs and be rewarded for returning attention to you and remaining calm.

In the mean time, while you are training her to be calm and have good focus, if you see another dog on your walks, can you just try to turn around and walk the other way very quickly so that she doesn't have the opportunity to behave this way?

I also wonder about Sue's question too, does she get time to socialize with other dogs when not on walks?

[Cody & Duchess]

Ditto above - I have our dogs sit and look at me. I also use this command with cars or bikes coming. Biggest thing is consistancy - everytime the same situation occurs - the same command is given. I would love to have our dogs "visit off leash play" - but that option is not available here. No dog parks where off leash is allowed and most of my friend's dogs are the little ones. How do you socialize a dog to other dogs when there really isn't a proper environment for it?

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

Ditto above - I have our dogs sit and look at me. I also use this command with cars or bikes coming. Biggest thing is consistancy - everytime the same situation occurs - the same command is given. I would love to have our dogs "visit off leash play" - but that option is not available here. No dog parks where off leash is allowed and most of my friend's dogs are the little ones. How do you socialize a dog to other dogs when there really isn't a proper environment for it?

 

How about doggy day care? I know it can be kind of costly, but believe me, I wish I would have known about it 4 years ago. Maybe I wouldn't have some of the problems I have now, you know. You can usually send them in for half a day, which is usually cheaper and the owner (granted it's a good facility) should be able to match your dogs play style with other appropriate dogs and everyone should be a winner. OR, in you back yard with friends that have their own dogs. You could be in a situation like me, I don't have any friends with dogs nor a fenced back yard. But every chance I get we are enrolled in a class of some sort AND the rescue I volunteer for offers sessions to people who handle the dogs so they can learn how to interact with dogs and we address issues that some of our current fosters have, like shyness etc. I bring my dog to every one of these and if there is a lack of foster dogs, she's in there learning how to socialize. You just have to dig deep sometimes and find alternatives I guess.

[Laurie S.]

I have a treat bag so I'll try that today. When I spot other dogs, I do stop her and try to distract her. It's okay if the dogs are on the other side of the street, but when they come face to face, she really gets excited. The other day when I had the biggest problem, I couldn't cross the street because one neighbor had two big unleashed dogs, so I chose to stay on the side with the two smaller leashed dogs who were coming toward me. Once I got past them, the two unleashed dogs ran for the dogs we had just passed. They were friendly, but it would have been a major problem with her. I guess I need to keep crossing the street, when I can.

 

I'm in a group in Tucson that has monthly play dates, but we've only had one so far. She's normally with me all day long at the office, but yesterday I had to leave her alone because I was doing a survey. I know that leads to more craziness than normal but I wanted to give her a walk to burn off some energy. When she is home, she has full access to a large fenced yard so she's not simply cooped up. She loves chasing birds. I keep telling her she's a sheep dog, not a bird dog.

 

I'll keep working with her and let you know how it goes.

[M.L.]

The important thing to remember is to start small. Don't expect Cheyenne to pay attention to you out on walks because you have treats, etc. You will have to start the focus training at home, then move to the yard, then move to somewhere fairly quiet, then add distraction, etc. Then you will need to work on her focus when other dogs approach or when you approach them. The hard thing is that you will need to only work at her limitation, which may be when the dog is on the other side of the road. Then 10 ft. from the other dog. Then 5 ft. When you get to a point where her focus is off you, you have to go back to a point where her focus is on you. It is very hard to control situations, which is the tricky part, especially when you are out and about.

[Laurie S.]

I tried treats tonight when we went for a walk. The first time I tried it was when she started going crazy as we passed several yards in a row with barking dogs. She was jumping so much she didn't see what I had. But, when she finally did, she did a double take and slapped her butt on the sidewalk to get a treat. I always make her sit before giving a treat and half the time I don't have to give the command. I did it three more times on the walk and each time she reacted more quickly to me and calmed down better. I praised her each time, too, of course. She's so smart that on the last treat she saw my hand going to the treat bag and she focused on me. It's going to take time, but I can sure see this working.

[Laurie S.]

She's doing even better today after two outings. She picked up that I was saying "settle down" before she was getting a treat. At the last encounter today. I said "settle down" and she plopped her butt down and looked up for the treat. The encounter only was a person, but there was a dog barking nearby in a yard.

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

That's really good! Remember you have to be consistent and there will be regression. You know, the old 1 step forward 2 steps back. When that does happen, don't give up, just work a little harder and you'll get through it!

[Laurie S.]

I'll keep working at it. She's very smart, which can be both good and bad. LOL, right now she's curled up in my lap on the bed, which makes typing a little difficult. I only use my laptop at home.

[Laurie S.]

She is so smart, it's amazing. We were walking tonight when she suddenly stopped, sat down, and looked at the treat bag. There wasn't any reason for a treat, but I couldn't resist her. She started to try it again a few minutes later and I stopped her before she got into a "sit."

[sweet_ceana]

Sounds like she's getting the idea of what type of behavior you want. Keep up the good work Cheyenne!

[Sue R]

Sounds like you two are doing great! When she "offers" the right behavior (sitting and looking at you), just go ahead and reward it. Put a name to it ("watch me" or whatever) and reward.

 

Just remember to be consistent (as you appear to be) and prepared all the time. At some point, you will be able to wean off the treats by making them unpredictable - no treat but just praise or petting one time, several treats the next, and so forth.

 

Best wishes for continued success and improvement!

[Laurie S.]

She's doing great, next thing to work on is the counter surfing. She actually got all the way up on the counter on Sunday and flipped on the garbage disposal while eating some graham crackers. So now, all the food on the counter is in glass jars or the breadbox, neither of which she has learned how to open.....yet.

[pansmom]

She's doing great, next thing to work on is the counter surfing. She actually got all the way up on the counter on Sunday and flipped on the garbage disposal while eating some graham crackers. So now, all the food on the counter is in glass jars or the breadbox, neither of which she has learned how to open.....yet.

 

OMG, wow, she is scary smart!