Izzysdad Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 I mentioned this in another post about how well Tobey has done, but it seems he still has trouble with other dogs. He is not aggressive, he loves other dogs, but when he can't get to say hello he barks and goes nuts. Other dog owners automatically think Tobey wants to kill their dogs which is so not true. We don't have any other dog friends so I'm wondering if anyone in my area would up for a bit of a training session to help Tobey. I started another thread tonight about doing SAR and I don't think he would be accepted the way he tends to react. We did some work on the 50' lead tonight and he did awesome. I wanted to see his focus so I threw small treats in the grass and he tracked them all down, which I thought was excellent. He has great focus and determination, which is a plus. I did the same with Izzy but she's too young still. Anyways, I'm rambling. People on this board understand dogs better than pretty much anybody else, and that's why I'm asking. He is a sweet boy who wants to please and be loved and play with other dogs/people but his excitment gets in his way, and his bark is intimidating so people don't understand. When Tobey was reacting to people, it didn't take very long to fix that issue, so I'm not expecting a long process here. Thanks all. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 I know we've online-met before: I teach in West Newbury, and live in Haverhill. My dog Buddy is the inverse of your dog: he'll be quite calm and act like he's perfectly normal when dogs are around, but when they get just-this-close, he gets fearful, and he'll often try to drive them off with a snarl or snap. I have to warn people off - they seem to want to approach so the dogs can meet, and they can't tell that Buddy is poised to get snarky until the very second it happens. Alas, my dog's reaction to your dog's barking and excitement would most likely be a stern correction. Effective, but not something I like to allow in this civilized modern setting. If the dogs stayed on-leash, we could work on rewarding for calm behavior on both their parts. My other suggestion would be to go to Mill Pond and see if you can find and knowledgable owners with calm dogs. I used to meet quite a few people who were happy to work around Buddy's issues. Seems like you need to have Tobey meeting as many new dogs as possible, so you can reinforce calm behavior in many different contexts. I also walk at Winnekenni Park in Haverhill, and Weir Hill in North Andover. Weir Hill has a lot of fairly calm, responsible owners with easy dogs - you might have good success working there, too. Good luck! Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzysdad Posted September 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Thanks Mary! Yes, both dogs would absolutely stay on leash! Tobey gets excited at the sight of another dog, no matter the distance, that's why I'm asking for a bit of help. He needs to meet many new dogs, but needs to learn to be calm at a distance. Because he was tied to a tree for so long and just out of the reach of everything he wanted to meet, his barking is what he uses to get attention. I've been taking him across the street to Pentucket HS and using the large athletic field by the road. The thing is, we haven't seen any other dogs and humans now finally give him no interest. Could we work on setting up a time? I'm going to take him to the pond today, and see what happens. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InLikeFlynn Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Hey, we live in Haverhill too!!! Flynn has similar issues with dogs (on leash), if he can't meet another dog, he starts barking and whining. We've been having him sit and focus on us during walks when other dogs are around. We go down to the Cape on weekends in the summer, and bring Flynn to the beach. We are still working on redirecting him by bringing him to the water to swim or by playing Frisbee on a long leash. Flynn is 2 years old, so we think he'll get the hang of it pretty soon. He has a thing about small dogs or black dogs, particularly GSDs, doesn't like them at all, but we can get him to sit and focus on us, or tell him "quiet". Good luck--and it would be fun to meet up with you sometime. Cassie and Flynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Maybe we could all meet and do doggie manners practice training. This weekend didn't work out (plus, it's raining!)... but it would be cool to do a BC Forum BC Training session. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fergmatt Posted October 5, 2009 Report Share Posted October 5, 2009 i live in North Reading and Jax went through a period of being a "psycho" when other dogs were in the same state as he was. After making him sit and stay (on occasion do puppy push ups" he got better. He still gets excited but its much better. My trick was take him places where there are a million dogs and work on him focusing on you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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