Has Anyone cured "Dog Reactivity" with LAT/CU?

[Cassidy's Mom]

Leslie is amazing, and I love the CU program! Are you on her email list? You have to have read the book or you'll be on "read only" status if you sign up, but there's still a ton of great stuff there.

Halo is very good at the LAT game, which is only one part of CU. There are a lot of other great exercises as well. I started out doing a lot of them with Halo when she was just a puppy.

[FlowersGSD]

Cassidy's Mom-how do u get on her email list?? would love to do so.

yes- i am not opposed to corrections with Ben, but think it works best with the LAT approach to build his confidence and give a structure within which to work in response to the reactivity .
Leslie said that if a dog understands the structure within which he must work ( with any issue) that the knowlege that there is a structure/game/rule does much to bring the anxiety level down in the first place. Thus less need for corrections. If he isnt ramped up as much he can respond to a correction. If he is over threshold...Nope-not gonna work.
I think this answers a question that many have about whether prong collar corrections actually do work or not.
It may be more about how far over the threshold (OT) the dog is rather than how effective the collar is.

Dog still in thinking mode?-yes-prong correction works.
Dog in 100% reactive mode (no thinking brain left to think with) - no, prong correction doesnt work.
JMHO based on what I am learning.

[Jax08]

Prong Collars and Reactivity....

Based on my experience, and many others, the prong collar will actually ramp a dog up instead of working as a correction for an undesirable behavior. I find the e-collar a much better tool if you can get the timing right and if YOU can react correctly.

If you choose to use an e-collar (or ANY correction collar) for a reactive dog, make sure to do so with a trainer. You can make things much worse if you aren't sure what you are doing.

[Ucdcrush]

In my own experience, I think all the "correcting" I was doing for reactivity symptoms made things worse. I think I had a feeling that I needed to discourage any sign of reactivity, from forging ahead, to fixation, certainly whining etc and should not stand for them.

But I'm having much better luck with a more laid back approach. Now when he forges ahead (a reactivity symptom for him), I gently guide him back into place or gently hold him in place as we walk. Fixation, I gently nudge his head with my hand or by walking slightly towards him.

In the past, I would have given a harder correction for forging, trying to get him to get into the "proper" position by himself (to avoid more corrections). Bad idea, never worked. I'm giving him much more of a break now and he has made huge progress. We can now pass dogs of all sizes with a very interested look, but no big noisy reactions and no lunging. We can also approach dogs on leash, I can stand there and talk to the owner, with no big reaction. Unheard of for us before.

And we are seeking out dogs to walk past. Much different mindset than avoiding dogs. Now when we see another dog out, I think (and say out loud)-- cool! Another doggie! Let's go see him!

If I had to summarize what I find works:
* Don't correct/punish for the "wrong" behaviors , but GUIDE the dog to do the "right" behaviors. By getting out of the mindset of correcting, you will stop viewing his reactivity as "WRONG" or something that needs to be corrected, and you will probably feel more relaxed. He will be more relaxed too, which is the whole point.
* Remember the dog is just reacting to past associations, nothing more than that.
* Throw formal OBEDIENCE out the window in reactive situations until the dog is more comfortable. To expect a sit/down/stay in a reactive situation is setting everyone up for stress and failure. It may well be the cause of the reactivity in the first place, I believe it was for us.
* Work at a distance, end on a good note. Do not push the dog too far. Your job is to keep the dog under threshold and gradually build the association of normal calmness around dogs (that is the key to the whole thing).
* Expect setbacks. Again not a big deal, they are his old patterns again. Learn from it and move on.
* Seek out exposure to dogs, it will change your mindset (from avoidance) and the dogs mindset.

[kiya]

Originally Posted by Ucdcrush

If I had to summarize what I find works:
* Don't correct/punish for the "wrong" behaviors , but GUIDE the dog to do the "right" behaviors. By getting out of the mindset of correcting, you will stop viewing his reactivity as "WRONG" or something that needs to be corrected, and you will probably feel more relaxed. He will be more relaxed too, which is the whole point.
* Remember the dog is just reacting to past associations, nothing more than that.
* Throw formal OBEDIENCE out the window in reactive situations until the dog is more comfortable. To expect a sit/down/stay in a reactive situation is setting everyone up for stress and failure. It may well be the cause of the reactivity in the first place, I believe it was for us.
* Work at a distance, end on a good note. Do not push the dog too far. Your job is to keep the dog under threshold and gradually build the association of normal calmness around dogs (that is the key to the whole thing).
* Expect setbacks. Again not a big deal, they are his old patterns again. Learn from it and move on.
* Seek out exposure to dogs, it will change your mindset (from avoidance) and the dogs mindset.

I think you summed it up perfectly, sounds exactly like the course I've been on with my 2 older dogs and now what I am going thru with one of my dogs and a kitten.