I know a friend (online) with a reactive dog who has used this book and does recommend it. I haven't decided if I'm going to get it yet. I already have 3 books about reactive dogs to read at the moment as is.
I have it and have read it. It is okay but I find that as in all things with reactive dogs you have to be in a totally calm setting in order to be able to click the dog. The dog cannot be allowed to be in a situation where he may react, so you would have to be able to set up with other known calm dogs to work on this.
I think the clicker is a really cool gadget, I have several and I use them, but I find when I am in a situation where I am working on reactive issues I need both hands for other stuff, namely leash and food. I don;t have an empty one for the clicker and even if I use one with a wrist strap it still has to be in my hand to work it. I use "yes!" instead.
My trainer recommended "Control Unleashed" by Leslie McDevitt and I have seen Kathy recommend it as well. My copy is in the mail as we speak (type?).
I also have "Scaredy Dog" and "Focus, Not Fear" by Ali Brown that someone highly recommended to me. Both are on my bookshelf but I haven't gotten to read them yet. I'm not sure how much use they'd be for a dog like Grimm who isn't fearful. Once I actually READ them, I'll have a better idea.
I agree with Jamie. I have found that IF I let her, my Kayos will be a butt head. As she is not a fearful dog and she is not dog aggressive I consider that her deciding to bark at another dogs to be inappropriate behavior and she is corrected for it. Were the behavior fear based the course of action would be different.
Now I do not correct her harshly as I don't want an association with the correction and the other dog. I do use a strong verbal correction along with a tap on the head with my index and middle finger. That is usually all it takes to get her to deflate and mind her manners.
I posted in the letting your dog walk ahead of you thread that the dog out in front is the "in charge" memebr of the walk. If Kayos is out in front she is more apt to bark and be inappropriate. If she is at my side all I have to do is quietly tell her no and she continues to march with out a look. In a nutshell she is a dominant little witch and I love her to pieces along with her spunk!
I also like Control Unleashed. It is written mainly for agility dogs but all the exercises can be used with dogs that are reactive in any walk of life. Some of those dogs in the book are not necessarily fearful just over aroused by all the action in agility. That can be the case with any dog. So the exercises may help Grimm.
Jamie, you're right, Grimm isn't actually fearful.. but I like 'reactive dog' books, cos anything that helps a wimpy, nerdy little wobble-legged, weak-handed, cross-eyed owner wirh her very first enthusiastic, snortin'-an-cavortin', jumbo Czech wuffa-pup-teen
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stay as calm as possible, and not send her into orbit, is a help.
Thank you for asking, Ruth-- I am missing GrimmiSweetPiggy like you cannot believe. We just got home from a 2 week trip to the lunc hospital for my new hubby Ulrich to have a section of lung removed, so in the next few days we will be phoning the lady who runs the doggy hotel where Grimm is staying. We will be asking her to:
1) Show us Grimm gallumping freely in a group wth other dogs, as she says she has had him doing for the past almost 4 weeks... cos this is something I have never seen before, and NEED to see, to begin to relax about this,
2) to show me herself walking Grimmi on lead past other dogs, and finally,
3)to help ME learn to calmly walk Grimm past other dogs.
MOST of Grimm's barking on lead at other dogs issue was him not being sure what other dogs were, or how to behave.... the lady said at first in the supervised doggy play, he was badly behaved due to not yet knowing what to do round other dogs, but very soon relaxed, learned how to be a dog, and how to just have fun around other dogs. A small part of the problem possibly may be me tensing up in anticipation of Grimm lunging/barking, even in noisy interest-- as I am small and weak, and Grimm is a big fella.
I have just gotten Click to Calm.
I just read "Feisty Fido"-- THANK YOU to someone absolutely wonderful
here who sent it to me!!!!-- and am really interested in trying the techniques, even if Grimm comes home no longer being a nerd-on-lead
I'm glad to hear things seem to be going well. I was also wondering how Ulrich and Grimm were making out.
Glad you got to read "Fiesty Fido." That book deals with dogs who are reactive for all sorts of reasons so I'm sure it was beneficial.
Once I finally get around to reading the two books I have (you'd think with the writer's strike I'd have all the time in the world but I haven't felt like getting into the dog books lately) I will let you know what I think about them and if I think they'd be beneficial to Grimmi.
Originally Posted By: KathyWI also like Control Unleashed. It is written mainly for agility dogs but all the exercises can be used with dogs that are reactive in any walk of life. Some of those dogs in the book are not necessarily fearful just over aroused by all the action in agility. That can be the case with any dog. So the exercises may help Grimm.
That's what I'm loving about Control Unleashed - Keefer is not at all fearful, he's confident and social, but he gets excited and distracted easily. While his impulse control at home, (reinforced with routine daily NILIF), is good, it doesn't always translate to the great out of doors where there's so much more going on. He is easily aroused, and has mega prey drive, so he's exactly the sort of dog the CU exercises are for. Many dogs who are reactive on leash are fearful and would choose to move away if given the opportunity. He's the opposite, he wants to go greet other dogs and gets frustrated and barks in this high pitched whiny tone when he's restrained on leash.
Jamie, I think you're going to love Control Unleashed! I liked Fiesty Fido, and found the exercises useful, but so far (only about halfway through CU), I think this book is more geared towards the type of dog he is, although it would also work for fearful dogs. But what I like about it is there's just so much more stuff in it to try.
I will look for this one at the library! Rafi is also like Keefer. He gets very excited when he sees other dogs or people when we're out walking. And now he's discovered bunnies and today he caught a little rodent (a mole).
So I am working with him a lot on these same issues!
Patti, it's very easy to read, not technical at all. She goes through week by week the kinds of exercises she'd do in a typical class, but what I've read so far is stuff I can easily work on at home. I would really LOVE to take her class though, too bad she's on the East Coast!
We put together a video series that's a cross between A Dog's Purpose and Motorcycle Diaries. In on 2 Wheels + 4 Paws, German Shepherd, Moxie, narrates her travel adventures from the back of my motorcycle through Mexico and Central America, sharing the people, places and lessons she learns along...
I thought with so many new members coming on board recently, it might be a good time to post some of our favorite books we’ve read on the most wonderful breed of all… the German Shepherd. They can be about training, behavior, the breed in general, rescue or adoption or any others you feel...
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