[andreaB]

My boy is 17 months old intact. He has strong reaction to dominant dogs, barking and charging at them. He is fine with more submissive dogs.I'm working with trainer on this issue plus obedience. So far we use choke collar for correction but over the week of training it seems I'm not able to make it affective.Trainer thinks I'm not strong enough to do it right when my dog goes for other dog.He it much better with my husband or trainer. So all this made me think if prong can help me. I use it just for regular walks but still not sure about this situation. This is hard to explain in writing as english is my second language so please if you have questions I will try to make it clearer. Thank you

 

[Shade]

It depends on the dog, a prong correction helps check Delgado and I can get through to him even in drive. For some dogs, the correction just ramps them up and makes the behaviour worse.

 

[martemchik]

If your trainer suggests it, I don't see an issue. I'm surprised you haven't put one on already as it seems like you have problems controlling him anyways.

I train with a prong, I find the corrections much more effective and accurate. With a choke...I have a hard time getting through to my dog because it doesn't affect his as much. When he's in drive...it has almost ZERO effect. I show with a choke (prong not allowed) and I generally walk him with a choke...but I have the strength to hold him in case he wants to go to meet one of his friends. My girlfriend will always walk him with a prong because it helps her control him when he gets into drive or really wants to visit a friend.

 

[andreaB]

Trainer sad he is really hard dog. It usually looks like this: we train about 20 feet from other dog heeling, sits, down ..... than in matter of second he gives really quick evil eye to other dog and goes for him. Well but sometimes the other dogs do the same. You think it is somethink I should try or keep working with choke?

 

[Shade]

If the choke isn't getting the correction done then try the prong. Watch his thresholds and stay within them while training, push them slightly but not enough to make him fail often

 

[andreaB]

If your trainer suggests it, I don't see an issue. I'm surprised you haven't put one on already as it seems like you have problems controlling him anyways.

I train with a prong, I find the corrections much more effective and accurate. With a choke...I have a hard time getting through to my dog because it doesn't affect his as much. When he's in drive...it has almost ZERO effect. I show with a choke (prong not allowed) and I generally walk him with a choke...but I have the strength to hold him in case he wants to go to meet one of his friends. My girlfriend will always walk him with a prong because it helps her control him when he gets into drive or really wants to visit a friend.

I use it for regular walks. This situation is kind a new to me we don't see many dominant dogs in everyday live, but now we do this obedience training with other less melow dogs I see it's problem. Trainer did not suggested prpng yet we talked last night about me not being able to react quick enough and it made me think about the prong. I will talk to trainer this afteroon about it.

 

[martemchik]

I think you need to get dominant and submissive out of your vocabulary. 20 feet away...this is dog aggression. If a 2 second stare is all it takes, your dog would react to MOST herding breeds and larger dogs. They look at each other...it doesn't mean dominance or submission until they finally meet and then you can see who wants to work what out.

Like...my dog isn't super dominant...but he will stare/watch other dogs. This would most likely cause your dog to react. Many watch/guard dogs are like this so its a bigger issue than just dominance like you keep stating.

Get a prong so you can control him. It will give you more confidence that you can control him and he'll likely react less. If he's better with your husband and trainer it probably means that he's sensing less stress/anxiety from the other end of the leash so he doesn't feel the need to react. YOU are probably anticipating his reaction which actually causes many dogs to react. You just need to stay calmer, and a prong might help you do that once you see the increased control you'll have over him.

I also don't want to make judgments without seeing your dog...but more than likely if your husband and trainer have success correcting him with a choke...he's not as hard as you think.

 

[andreaB]

I think you need to get dominant and submissive out of your vocabulary. 20 feet away...this is dog aggression. If a 2 second stare is all it takes, your dog would react to MOST herding breeds and larger dogs. They look at each other...it doesn't mean dominance or submission until they finally meet and then you can see who wants to work what out.

This is how the trainer explain it to me. My dog is fine with most of the dogs but not with all and not all the time.He can meet some dogs calmly peacefully and friendly. So that how trainer explained why my dog reacts to some other dogs.
Thank you for advice will continue work on it.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

If you're going to use a corrective collar, I'd go with a prong over a choke any day.

 

[Liesje]

I would definitely use the prong in this scenario.

However I think you also need to separate the two things. If you are working on obedience, you should be working well under the dog's threshold for reacting to other dogs until he really knows the skills you are teaching and is ready for that. It's not really fair to put him 20 feet from another dog and try to train obedience when you already know he's not cool with that. For the time being, I would work obedience separately. Then put the prong on the dog and go for a walk. Redirect him *before* he gives a hard stare to the other dog and starts to react, but if you're too late use the prong and give a correction, not just nagging. IMO 17 months is old enough to start showing him what is acceptable and what is not.

 

[andreaB]

I would definitely use the prong in this scenario.

However I think you also need to separate the two things. If you are working on obedience, you should be working well under the dog's threshold for reacting to other dogs until he really knows the skills you are teaching and is ready for that. It's not really fair to put him 20 feet from another dog and try to train obedience when you already know he's not cool with that. For the time being, I would work obedience separately. Then put the prong on the dog and go for a walk. Redirect him *before* he gives a hard stare to the other dog and starts to react, but if you're too late use the prong and give a correction, not just nagging. IMO 17 months is old enough to start showing him what is acceptable and what is not.

He is fairly good in obedience without distraction and even with some calm dogs around. This should have been kind a step up. And we try to change distance, sometimes we can get couple feet from dog he has issue with and he still can work but sometimes is to much and he charge, or the other dog would.Are we maybe pushing him to close to fast? I know part of it is me not correction him right and getting upset about it. The others particular dogs will sometimes start barking to and It's feeds mine. Iit's not always my dog to start this. I though this would be challenge our training, and it turn up to be problem. Thanks again for all your advices.

 

[sheep]

A prong is better than a choke, it's safer and you don't need much force to issue a strong enough correction.

Thought it is important to note that if not used correctly, the prong can escalate the reactivity of the dog. It happened to mine before, as my dog has dog reactivity issues due to past negative experiences with dogs plus lack of socialization, and then only our old school trainer could issue corrections strong enough to stop the reactivity.
Also, you might want to socialize your dog with many other dogs so that he wouldn't start having a negative impression about other dogs. Plainly correcting and then not him not having any fun time with other dogs can make him have a negative feeling towards other dog as he grows up.

I still use the prong despite it not having worked too well with us, as it gives me control so that he wouldn't get worse. Somehow, I've noticed that after being neutered (a week ago), he seemed to be easier now, and with corrections I can indeed stop his reactivity better.
I don't force him to sit next to other dog and just comply as I know that it's not comfortable for him. I let him try to interact and gain confidence with other dogs if the other owner is ok with it. But I do correct when he reacts in an unnacceptable way.

 

[katdog5911]

A prong made all the difference in the world for me and Stella. I was able to go for a walk and have control of her....she is dog reactive. Didn't solve the problem entirely but at least I could manage her. I tried a choke a while back and I just didn't have the hang of it I guess....
Now I am training her using Lou Castle's e collar protocol for recall. A side result has been that she is not as reactive. I haven't had to put a prong on her for walks since we started this.

 

[cliffson1]

The reason your husband and trainer have better success is because he respects them more when they have the leash in their hands. This is probably due to your corrections not being timely or strong enough or both. The prong may help a bit, but it really starts with you. Ask the trainer if he feels the way I feel.

 

[Jax08]

It depends on the dog, a prong correction helps check Delgado and I can get through to him even in drive. For some dogs, the correction just ramps them up and makes the behaviour worse.

Makes it much worse with Jax. I used LAT with her on this.

 

[andreaB]

The reason your husband and trainer have better success is because he respects them more when they have the leash in their hands. This is probably due to your corrections not being timely or strong enough or both. The prong may help a bit, but it really starts with you. Ask the trainer if he feels the way I feel.

This is exactly right!! My biggest mistake was pulling a leash back when he tried to say hi to other dog and was pulling me ahead.looks like I created his leash reactivity. After 2 week of training with trainer there is great improvement of my dog but I still need more training how to handle leash and use proper correction. Sideeffect off using prong are really fast obedience and there is no need for strong correction just soft pop was needed couple times. I still struggle bit when he is in drive to correct him he does not feel a thing, but we are getting better every day.

 

[Lauri & The Gang]

He is fairly good in obedience without distraction and even with some calm dogs around. This should have been kind a step up. And we try to change distance, sometimes we can get couple feet from dog he has issue with and he still can work but sometimes is to much and he charge, or the other dog would.

I would say you need to work with dogs that will NOT react.

Every time another dog reacts to yours it is setting back your training.

Getting your dog to stay calm around calm dogs is the first step.

 

[katdog5911]

I would say you need to work with dogs that will NOT react.

Every time another dog reacts to yours it is setting back your training.

Getting your dog to stay calm around calm dogs is the first step.

This definitely. I took a break from a cross training group class and a beginners agility. Just too much going on with too many dogs. Started nose work, which is great for reactive dogs, and started a class geared towards reactive dogs. Stella enjoys these classes so much more now that she isn't constantly on the lookout for other dogs staring at her or getting too close! We have even made some new doggie friends!!!