Well, personally, I am waiting for the responses with bated breath myself.

 

Handsome boy 🤩 Can you describe the reactivity? Does he pull a lot? Lunging at people/dogs? Or something else? Do you know the trigger? What kind of training does he have? How do you deal with it when it happens?

I am no expert by all means and have a reactive dog to deal with too. Other members will give you very good advice on this matter but you need to be more specific about the 'problem' in order to for them to help.

With dedication to training, you will see the light of the end of the tunnel, providing it's not medical issue/bad genetic.

 

Thank you 😁 Generally speaking he is well trained and has passed all obedience levels, he walks amazingly in a loose Leash unfocused heel and is responsive and cooperates amazingly UNTIL we see another dog, if I can I will avoid and change direction and I can actually manage him by saying leave it and redirecting him away. But if I have to walk directly passed another dog he hyper focuses on it and just stares up until we get in with it. As soon as we’re online with it he lunges and barks. We go to obedience twice a week and in this environment he can be tense but manageable with is surprising because it’s a field full of dogs, but if it’s just one dog we have to walk passed he goes mental.

 

I'd say both and it depends on the dog. However a lot of people with success are actually managing the dog by reading the body language of a reaction building and interrupting the cycle. Plus avoiding situations that would be impossible to manage.

For us 80% of the time a simple "ignore" works, but if the other dog is reactive all bets are off as Jaz says " You talking to me!"

 

You can absolutely fix it - it takes obedience and using drive to refocus your dog back to you.

 

Respectfully, leash reactivity has become a catch all term that covers several underlying issues.
My current dog is fear reactive and it's genetic weak nerves that caused it. Training and proper handling cover it. They don't fix it. So if my handling takes a dive, so does her behavior.

 

I'd say a bit of both. I adopted my dog at 1 yo with quite extreme reactivity, I've worked nearly every day for months on end to get it under control. (increasing exposure, varying situations, lots of reps, watch me, formal OB, etc.) What I mean by under control is that now, Buck is actively making efforts to keep his cool when we pass other dogs on leash.
It is enough to fool outsiders, people won't think my dog is reactive now when they see us. Of course as an owner I'm not fooled though, the reactivity is still lurking, it will probably always be, it's part of how my dog functions overall. Also, just pass the leash to someone who has never worked with him, and he's gone. He's just not going to be a dog anyone can walk.
Because "reactivity" is such a catch-all term now, sometimes it's harder for people to really understand what it is and what it actually entails.
For my dog, well you may say he was "leash reactive" because it was the most obvious (and loud lol), it was like the emerged part of the iceberg. Now that my dog is able to shut up, can we say the reactivity is gone? Absolutely not.
The reality is it's much broader than this... it's deeply rooted in his overall "software", being hyper-visual, any high-priority target will create some kind of tunnel effect where he'll feel the instant urge to sprint at it full speed. Plus, not being socialized enough at a young age, the urge to "check" any strange dog is even stronger as his shepherd brains tell him that any stranger may be a threat.

So at this point, it's still there but well managed/under control, thanks to a good recall and all the work we've done.
That being said, a trainer I met at a seminary a while ago suggested a quite innovative counter-conditionning method that may, according to him, have a positive influence on how Buck is able to naturally approach other dogs (VS just being obedient as he is now). I'm planning to try it with him soon. It requires staging and quite a few other dogs, so I'll go to his place for this. I'll definitely post here to let you guys know how it went and if it had positive results for us.

 

@Chloé&Buck Outstanding answer to a difficult problem. You guys rock! Thank you.

 

Good luck
Reactivity can get very frustrating sometimes, with your dog's reactions being so disproportionate...
My dog would lose his mind at the sight of a puppy far on the horizon when I got him.
I'm so glad we are past this stage. Sometimes while working on it in the first few months, I thought of my dog as a recovering drug addict.
"One more day without using. Check" 😅 (one more day without reacting)
It helps to celebrate small victories.

 

Haha love the analogy; yes the good days feel great, just takes one bad day to ruin your positive outlook though 😫

 

Mannix was 6.5 months old when I got him but everything was new to him. On one of our first walks with a leash during the night a rabbit shot out of a bush next to the sidewalk. In a split second there goes Mannix with the retractable leash flying behind. Just about ripped my hand off. We would walk everyday and if he started to pull I would give the "Back" command and tug on the leash until he would leave a little slack.
My GSDs of past I trained/used the "Heal" command successfully. I'm guilty of not training/using this command for Mannix.
I really like the retractable leash because I can adjust it for the situation.
He can lead me or stay by my side. My choice.

Now he doesn't do that anymore. Now if he sees something, even a squirrel, he slows and takes a stalking pose. If I unleash him he will wait for the "Okay" then full speed ahead!
The first couple of times I put the collar on him he was like a wild animal. He did not want that slipped over his head. Now he gets excited and sticks his head through it while I hold it out for him.
He gets walked every day mostly without the leash because of the "private" woods we go to. If I hike a mile Mannix probably gets 2+ miles out there.
He's a hunter.

 

Yes and no. It depends on the dog and on your level of skill, as well as being able and willing to correct your dog as often as needed until the behavior changes. I’ve had two dogs that were leash reactive. Even using trainers and correct methods I was only partially successful. Some dogs just can’t be that close to other dogs. They can’t tolerate it. I’ve heard a lot of blame thrown around but it’s also in their genes. Some dogs are more sensitive to other dogs and to restraint. I don’t like comments that make owners feel guilty if their dogs become reactive. I have had many German Shepherds and all were raised in similar ways. Some developed it and some did not. The leash reactive dogs have also been extremely drivey and intense.

 

Yes, thank you. The popular misconceptions about reactivity are part of the annoyance...
To be honnest, while working with Buck I didn't talk about it too much. I just didn't need to hear all the BS. lol
(e.g. "oh, you are probably creating tension, it's probably because of your emotions" blah blah)
Nope. Never had a reactive dog before. My older girl that I raised from puppyhood is the most non-reactive dog ever, she's a buddhist monk.
As I said, it's related to how the dog functions. And yes, it comes with intensity! Intensity in all aspects of the dog.

 

you just constantly have to reassess and balance it all... it's multitasking taken to a new level

This is what good dog trainers do all day long. Having the ability to read the dog, adjust training and apply whatever will communicate things effectively to the dog is what makes a good trainer.

3-4 weeks worth of consistent training can solve reactivity behavior issues if you are putting in quality training time.

In my training system, I don't bribe dogs with treats or toys to do something, aside from luring positions early on. I would never pull out a tug and shove it at the dog while it was focusing on another dog. That's just counterintuitive. I will certainly reward for focus on me, but that's after the focus and then a mark. Then the toy comes out. It's a huge distinction to the dog.

 

I would never pull out a tug and shove it at the dog while it was focusing on another dog. That's just counterintuitive.

Well it is for you apparently, but not for that many people...
I see that all the time in many contexts.
As for solving it in three weeks, I'll take your word for it then.
But again, it depends what you call "solved".

 

Leash reactivity takes lots of time and patience to overcome, but it is doable if you're willing to put in the time and effort.

Figure out a distance where your dog can see other people or dogs, but remain calm, and just spend time sitting and watching the world go by. When the puppy gets accustomed to the environment do some obedience and/or play at that distance for a few sessions. Then next time move in a little closer and do the same thing. Rinse and repeat and move slowly closer and closer.

At some point it'll feel like you're hitting a platue, at that point when the dog starts to react, I tell them to "knock it off", then have them do something else. I do this because I want the dog to know that I don't like it, and it won't be tolerated! But, go there with caution!

You can't correct a dog into feeling calm, nor can you rush them! I just find that at some point, it seems to help, if used sparingly, get them over that last little hump.

 

You can't correct a dog into feeling calm, nor can you rush them! I just find that at some point, it seems to help, if used sparingly, get them over that last little hump.

So true, exactly what I have found too.
You need to srike that balance, meet the dog halfway so to speak.

 

15 mos is better than 5 years. Usually exposure helps a lot, but be careful. Works best when you have controlled meetings with another person and dog, with the aim of gradual pressure. Some breeders/trainers - Haz Othman of Shield K9 for instance - will tell you much of it is baked into the dog, and dogs are wired how they are. Couple that to any bad experiences your dog can experience, especially at critical points in puppyhood, and the situation gets more complex in reading. So both, IMHO, you have what the dog is and you manage, and you differentiate what is Often misread by the human at the other end of the leash. Just bear in mind that some people, including trainers will freak and malign a dog as reactive as soon as they meet a dog, without context. Truth be told, everything a dog is trained to do is “reaction”. We train a dog to “react “ to our cue. When we fail to train a dog that is reacting to an environmental cue, we are essentially reinforcing that reaction. For some reason, a lot of people want a guard dog breed, that has no semblance to guarding. The trick is to read the individual dog, his maturity and experience, and level of training as he goes. Not trying to sound preachy. = )

 

I had my hands full of intensity at 15 months old. I was in over my head. I had little control. The control I had was situational. The lack of control overlapping increasing reactivity.

I struggled specifically with dog reactivity. Otherwise he did whatever he found self rewarding which was more disobedience. I was super good at teaching him to be disobedient. Live and learn.

At 5 years old he is a different. I put in work over the years at my own pace managing him. I had alot to learn.

I had a picture of what I wanted in my head. I saw other well behaved dogs.

Once I understood I had to work with the dog I had (at my skill level) I slowed way down. I stopped putting him in situations where he would be reactive while still giving him exercise and mental stimulation.

I do think maturity and the relationship that was built over that time played a larger role. I had to learn.

I have a dog I can manage with much less stress. I trust him more than I ever have. I have begun to think for us it's fixable.

All that said he is my first dog and I'm not very skilled.

 

With my limited experience and limited dog handling ability, I would have to say, "It depends."
Ole is now about 2.5 years old. His reactivity has gotten better but he is nowhere near as laid back as my other dogs.

When I got Ole just over two years ago he was totally bonkers. It was bad enough that I dreaded meeting other people and dogs when we were on a walk. I spent hours working with him on refocusing and desenitization.

Over the years, we have worked on three areas:
My handling -- I really need to pay attention. 50% of dogs Ole doesn't care about. 40% he mildly reacts towards. 10% he loses his mind. I have to pay constant attention to make sure that we don't go too far past his threshold with different dogs. Once he has reacted It can take 5 minutes to get him back under control. So letting him react is a big setback. Once he has reacted, he can pull hard enough to draw blood on his prong collar without realizing it.

Self-control -- I work with Ole on self-control and focus. This is the basic stuff of obedience and refocusing on me, treats, and toys in a distracting environment. Every single time we see a dog, I figure out his threshold with that particular dog and take steps to reward the desired behavior just outside of that threshold.

Reduce reactivity threshold -- This is closely related to self-control. We work at staying calm at, or just within, Ole's threshold with predictable and well-behavied dogs.

The most important thing for me was just learning to deal with it If I see one of Ole's arch enemies coming towards us, I have no problem heading up the nearest driveway or across someone's yard to find the threshold distance so I can put Ole in a sit and/or heel as we pass.

On the plus side, you really get to know your neighbors as they come outside and wonder why you are practicing heeling in their yard

As @Sabis mom said, leash reactivity is often used as a catchall term for a number of different issues. How to deal with it and your long-term results are highly dependent on your individual situation.

 

My pup would bark like crazy at other dogs and skateboards while we walked. Without getting into all the details, it’s more or less solved. We walk in the same area, full of dogs and skateboards, and he doesn’t bark or lunge. We are now working on a focus and heel command around other dogs and skateboards and that is helping a lot too, since he’s still not comfortable around them

 

I missed the whole leash reactivity part. The leash wasn't my problem. Apparently reading is.

 

@Apex1 nah! Reactivity is reactivity, but the leash makes a lot of dogs 10 feet tall and bulletproof.

 

Shadow would rather run away. Since the leash traps her she goes on the offensive. Me being on my game and heavy obedience makes it look like she's fine. She isn't.

 

It can 100% be solved. How you go about that depends on the dog. It's a matter of developing good habits, rewarding them in a way that matters to the dog, and then proofing those behaviors.

 

Is he leash reactive because he is fearful or excited?

If it's from excitement, I can tell you from my experience that yes it's possible to fix. I haven't had dealt with it with my GSD but I rescued our Lagorai Shepherd from a shepherd when he was already 2 years old. Had never even seen a leash in is life, and roamed a huge valley a long a popular trekking path meeting whoever and whatever he wanted all day long.

Took about a full year of training at thresholds he could handle and closing the gap in his own time. Lot's of just going out to more urban area's and sitting on a bench and watching dogs go by to engage and disengage from a distance. Constant loose leash walking training and always ready for dog encounters and training. Was exhausting at the time but worth it for now. I believe after about 3 years old he generally matured and that helped a lot. We still get an excited whimper when a new dog is very close on leash but nothing that will break his heel.

 

Beautiful pup! Looks a lot like our boy Cousteau.

We've experienced both sides of this issue, as embodied in two specific dogs. Our last GSD, Alex, was reactive throughout all his 13 1/2 years—not ever quite reliable around children and certain other dogs, though the main issue with the latter was actually with neighborhood dogs he knew well (suggesting, we thought, a territorial or dominance component). He was only ever leash-trained; we didn't have an Invisible Fence at the time or any sort of e-collar, so Alex essentially never walked off leash. It was all he knew.

The good news is that over time he DID get better, in some ways a lot better...we worked and worked on it, and I think he sort of grew through it as he aged, too. By four or five he was much more manageable, and we could read his body language and emotional state well enough to steer clear of conflicts. Usually.

The best technique for us was a "switch" of some kind, essentially a planned distraction at the moment when you see from his body language that he's reaching his threshold and is about to act. (I'll bet you're frightfully good at reading this...) We would always walk with a tennis ball in reserve, or a treat, or something else that was just interesting enough to short-circuit his reactivity. It did not work every time by a long shot, and we never really felt 100% at ease in potentially sketchy encounters, but it did work often enough that we saw progress and could enjoy walks with him. There were still times when we would just pull off the trail or road and put him in a Down until the "stimulus" passed. This was just how it had to be.

Some of the commenters mentioned the idea that leash reactivity is to some degree hard-wired. When Alex passed we took a break between dogs, grieving mostly, and then went looking for a breeder who focused on temperament. We found a great one (Steinigbergen in Pierce, Colorado) and wound up with a very even-tempered, sweet dog who truly shows no aggression toward any other being. That doesn't help you with your current challenges, I realize, but I want to say that although he's a sweetheart, even Cousteau has his own type of reactivity. He will rush a strange dog to invite play, but he isn't that smart (at 3) at reading other dogs' refusal to play. That can be dangerous too. So while I think a sweet-tempered dog makes things easier, it's not because they aren't reactive at all.

With regard to our two dogs, a key difference that I need to point out—because perhaps it's helpful to you in considering training options—is that we do now have an Invisible Fence and we trained Cousteau with an e-collar, which 90% of the time we use on vibrate mode, as a "Hey, remember me?" nudge. He's a smarty, like most GSDs, and we rarely need to use the shock setting. I know there are passionate debates about these devices, but for purposes of your situation I will only say that with regard to leash behavior, I find them to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, I believe that Cousteau's greater freedom to move about his world off leash makes him a calmer and more confident dog, which helps him stay calm around other dogs. Perhaps his predecessor, Alex, would have done better given a similar setup; we'll never know. On the other side, though, Cousteau is not very used to walking on leash (our bad...), which means that when he HAS to walk on leash he sometimes looks like a beginner (by which I mean, we look like beginners). Now that we want to get him trained and certified as a therapy dog, this is an issue. We are back to basics on leash training, somewhat, but that's ok. We will get there.

Anyway, I do think it would be worth it for you to weigh the pros and cons of e-collars if you haven't already ruled them out (a decision I can certainly respect, even if we made a different one in moving from Alex to Cousteau). They might help you manage this, if properly used, and if you and your dog are properly trained. There is certainly plenty to read about this option on this forum and elsewhere, and a lot of it gets heated. But it can't hurt to look into it and draw your own conclusions. No training method is perfect for every dog—or every owner—and though we feel that the collars are good for our specific dog on balance, we see flaws in them too. I only mention the idea in case it's an avenue you haven't pursued. They can get results in situations that prove intractable to other training methods. A neighbor of ours with an extremely leash-reactive dog had very, very quick results with an e-collar. It's a joy to see them walking in the neighborhood now. Her dog Sadie isn't perfect, but she is so, so much better! Instead of walking her only at 5 AM to minimize the chance of encounters with other dogs, our neighbor can now walk her anytime she wants to. That alone is an achievement for them both.

Best of luck with this—and sincerest sympathy for the stress this causes. I've been there. It's no fun. But don't give up on your pup, or on the prospect of low-key, companionable walks together. I'm pulling for you both.

 

If you experience is leash reactivity, Is it something you can “fix” or is it just something you learn to manage? I have a 15month old German shepherd and we do have good days with his reactivity but the bad days just sink me right back to the bottom. I will love my pup regardless but I’d love to know, did anyone actually make it to the light at the end of the reactivity tunnel, or did you just learn how to master the art of avoidance?

I

In you experience is leash reactivity something you can “fix” or is it just something you learn to manage? I have a 15month old German shepherd and we do have good days with his reactivity but the bad days just sink me right back to the bottom. I will love my pup regardless but I’d love to know, did anyone actually make it to the light at the end of the reactivity tunnel, or did you just learn how to master the art of avoidance?

I am currently the proud dog person of my first GSD. He is the most challenging, but the most rewarding dog I've ever owned. You will hear a lot of opinions on how to train.. ..I'll tell you, anything I've ever done with a previous dog I've owned ( boxer, English mastiff, mutt) doesnt work. Shepherds need clear boundaries and they need to know you are in charge and you have their back. That doesn't necessarily mean you are" alpha", just that they respect and trust you to make the decisions. That being said...the art of" avoidance" that many trainers preach, is unrealistic. You can't avoid every trigger for your pup everytime you take him somewhere. It's a matter of training your dog to realize, he doesn't have to take charge and react to a situation. He should rely on you to handle things. That realization is a combination of praise when he is doing the right thing....but also firm correction when he is misbehaving. That is a slippery slope for some people....correcting their dog.. . but I think of it this way.....if your child went to school and kicked the principal in the face, would you correct him, or distract him with ice cream...lol. Seems silly, but so relavent. There are a few trainers I follow that teach balanced training...they have really helped me and I'm willing to share if you are interested.

 

The trainer went to has very stable dogs to work with and he certainly didn't solve his own GSD's reactivity in a few weeks.
I'm looking forward to go to that other trainer who suggested some counterconditioning. I'm curious to see how it goes. I don't hope for any magic trick here either, but nice to try stuff...

 

@Chloé&Buck A trainer friend of mine has a border collie that really doesn’t like other dogs, but you would never know it seeing him operate in the midst of other SAR dogs. He’s so reliable now that she uses him in evaluating/training reactive dogs, so I agree with the above comment about random dogs and their bad behaviors. Ya want a solid dog that doesn’t elicit anything from your dog directly.

A lot of folks cringe at corrections (compulsion training) but if they’re done well and teach the dog to avoid corrections vs pure escape training, they’re actually more humane than a million lukewarm leash pops. You might lookup CST training and see if anything might be different from prior work. Just a thought.

 

@Rionel I know stable dogs help a lot, I don't disagree with anything David said, it's just the 3 weeks timeline that sounds a bit optimistic to me.
But if we start discussing what to call "solved" it's a slippery slope and I'm afraid it's going to end up exactly as in the recent topic about so-called 100% obedience lol
So let's just say, though my dog could walk without completely loosing his **** after a few weeks, that didn't look solved at all
What does CST stand for? I struggle with acronyms, all I could find was "cranio sacral treatmetnt", which is definitely no what you meant

 

Also, "fear reactive" may mean different things, right? Sabis reacts from being restricted (where she would run away if offleash).
Buck would do the exact contrary he'd charge the target full force (I'd much rather have him run away lol), and still... that's not from being confident. In a way, he's also "fearish" reactive, it's just that when he doesn't trust something, instead of running away he charges it. Curious what you guys think about that. Are these labels really accurate?

 

Sabi feared nothing. Lol. Stupid witch tried to take on a black bear, when she was 12! She was also the steadiest dog I have ever met.
Shadow was the victim of several nasty attacks when she was very young. She dislikes dogs for the most part and somewhere around age three she decided that she was going to get them before they got her. She was five or so when she finally started enjoying walks and almost six before she started asking to go. She was afraid of everything.
So, rigid routine, careful planning and diligent avoidance coupled with strict obedience and an understanding of her language have gotten us to the point where she enjoys walks and appears calm mostly. I have only rare occasions where it's an issue and then we fall back on obedience. Given a choice, if confronted or approached she would bolt. She can't so she charges.
Her fear is never going to go away or be fixed. I have built her up as far as she and I are able to go. A trainer might get her further, but I doubt it would matter at this point. We hike, we walk everywhere, she can walk through home depot with me or into the beer store. We have travelled across Canada. By David's definition the problem is fixed.

 

Sorry, I mixed up the names!

 

I think dogs go through a lot of emotions and phases throughout. Also, generalization takes time.

As an example, Valor is far more excited by a dog at distance in an open area than by another dog on a busy street. He will show interest in that dog in a park where he will ignore it on a busy street. He will ignore several dogs sniffing him in a dog park while holding a down stay, but only after the initial excitement of getting to the park has waned.


Many shades of grey and motivation.

 

I think dogs go through a lot of emotions and phases throughout. Also, generalization takes time.

Given my level of experience (next to none). It took me time to understand my dog needed time. I was impatient and frustrated in the first couple of years. Looking back i feel so bad for not understanding what i do now. Didn't understand why my efforts weren't helping. I made so many mistakes 😩

Backing off and letting him mature taking pressure off both of us was useful for us. I was fortunate to be able to give him what he needed without putting him in situations where we had to deal with things that we weren't capable of successfully handling.

Giving time for the dog to generalize took me time to understand. How a dog generalizes was hard (for me grasp) without seeing it first hand.

I feel most fortunate for his forgiveness and feel very bonded to him. Love this dog.