Advice Please - A GSD Walk Encounter

[Veronica]

There is a GSD that lives a few doors down. When I walk Panzer past this house, I lose control of him. He barks his big boy bark, lunges, hackles up the whole length of his back.

I don't always have him in a heel when we walk, but I have tried putting him in a heel before we approach the GSD's house, but that hasn't helped. He breaks the heel. In training, if the dog wasn't minding the heel, we would abruptly turn the opposite direction and give a collar correction. Do you suggest this for this situation? We walk with a choke & prong. I'm at a loss as to what to do, as this is a consistent problem only with this one other dog.

I live in a cul de sac, so can't vary my route.

Thanks.

[ayoitzrimz]

I was typing you should change your route while you work on this, but then I saw your last sentence.

I'm all for a balanced approach in training, and I'm all for corrections when needed, but in the case of reactive dogs I think popping them with the prong might only exacerbate the situation.

How is he with NILIF? better yet, how are YOU with NILIF? I would suggest starting with that while you work on this issue.

As far as the reactive / aggressive behavior. It could be so many different things. Maybe he just doesn't like the dog. How is he with other dogs? With that said, it's no excuse for him to bark and lunge unprovoked or play barrier wars with another dog on the other side of the fence. I would watch him closely when you approach the house and redirect any posturing, staring, stalking, hackles up, etc the instant you notice it. I would not continue walking forward until you have the dog's attention and then reward any attention towards you immediately. Hey, if it works for you you can even grab a string cheese and just feed him as you walk by the fence. You can show him a ball if he likes it and reward him focusing on you rather than the dog on the other side.

The heel doesn't work because he hasn't been proofed in that scenario. You need to proof a heel command in a controlled environment with a dog he's neutral to and then SLOWLY move closer to walking past this house.

Generally, I wouldn't correct here because it sounds like the dog hasn't been proofed enough on heeling and that can only lead to confusion. Of course, once you show him what you DO want him to do in this situation (by redirecting and rewarding) you can correct him disobeying with a NO and a collar correction (no tension, just a quick sharp pop on the prong) and then reward him "snapping out" of that fixed state of mind and focusing back on you.

Hope this helps, others feel free to chime in.

Oh yea, and the best thing you can do is find a trainer / behaviorist in your area if your circumstances allow it.

[Veronica]

How are we with NILIF? Well, we subscribe more to EILIF (everything in life is free). He really is generally very well behaved, but he's pretty effective at communicating what he wants, and he usually gets it (some people might call it being spoiled ). For instance, if he wants to play ball, we usually comply even if that wasn't our original intention. He's our boy, so we enjoy making him happy.

Panzer is fine with other dogs - big, little, old, young. This is the only dog to which he reacts this way. I suppose he doesn't have to "like" every dog, but it would be nice to be able to walk by the neighbor's house without causing a scene, especially with these particular neighbors. Panzer stares in the direction of the dog as soon as we're within sight. Sometimes the other dog barks first, sometimes Panzer barks first. Either way, I'd like to change it, and appreciate the suggestions very much.

Thanks!!!

[x0emiroxy0x]

Is the dog in the yard when he barks?

Do you tense up when you walk by this house? When I used to walk Rocky by his "triggers" (people he is scared of) I always tensed up. My trainer said maybe I was scared, not him. I relaxed and Rocky stopped barking.

Has your dog ever been able to meet this other dog? Perhaps you could ask your neighbor if yall could have a meet and greet. Find some kind of nearby field and start out with your dogs 100 yards apart. ASk the other dog's owner to just have his dog sit. Start walking towards them. If/When your dog tenses up as you get closer, stop walking closer and wait until he calms down and ignores the other dog then treat him. I saw this on Its me or the Dog and it worked really well. If your dog is very reactive, it might take a few days of this before they can get close enough to sniff. If your dog nips, muzzle him during this exercise.

I'm not a certified trainer, just sharing stuff I have seen.

[x0emiroxy0x]

Perhaps you could take them to the dog park together early in the morning and put one on the small side and one on the big side so they have a fence between them and they can sniff eachother off leash?

[marti]

I stopped a Shelter Husky from male dog aggression by standing very sternly between the two, facing the Husky and in no uncertain terms said to him, NO, NO Grrrrr.
He was never aggressive to any male dog after that.

I think the Husky thought that was what he was supposed to do for me.

But you must lay the law down way before the growling-lunging stage. The split second you feel him thinking about acting like an idiot. I say it in terms of
"I just dare you to try that!"

Would the other dog's owner do the same at the same time?

Caesar Milan used this method on his television show.

[Ucdcrush]

I would advise against the correction technique you ask about. The most important thing is how he's reacting to that dog, not whether he heels or not. All a correction and heeling is going to do is increase the negative energy he already has for that dog.

As for what to do. Try approaching slowly, as far away as possible. When you see your dog start to react, turn into him and walk away making sure he is ignoring the dog behind him. Get closer and closer, doing this retreat as you get closer and closer. You want to work towards the distraction little by little in order to prevent a reaction, rather than to elicit a reaction in order to correct for it. Plus, he will slip up and react anyways even with your best intentions to avoid it, and you can of course correct him then, then go further out and continue your work.

It's most important to keep yourself calm and be upbeat about it, if you are getting frustrated or tense it will just add to his reactivity.

[Veronica]

Meeting the other dog is not an option. These folks aren't the most warm & cozy neighbors, and I do not know the temperament of their GSD.

Today, shortly before the house, before any staring, etc started, I put him in a sit, gave him a little piece of string cheese, and told him to heel. Every several feet, I gave him another piece of cheese. He did great till we were about 75% past the house. I dropped a piece of cheese - should've ignored it - but instead stopped to have him pick it up. That broke his concentration and by that time the other dog was barking.

All in all, an improvement though, and I will continue this method. He's pretty treat motivated. Thanks all!

[onyx'girl]

The LAT game may work for this.

Panzer probably has a long distance 'relationship' with this dog, and they will always have communication.
I think if they could meet on neutral ground it may take away the curiosity factor for both. Though I don't see that working if the other dog acts aggressive.

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