Controlling excitement upon meeting another dog

[BG and Gavin]

I still can't seem to get a good handle on controlling Gavin's excitement when meeting another dog on a walk and sometimes he is way over to top in his reaction.  Tonight he was walking along with perfect manners and then we saw his friend Nuka the husky.  Her excitement matched his and it took every bit of my strength to prevent him from getting away from me.  After I got a good hold of him, I put him in a sit (physically because he was not listening and lunging forward) and I had to enforce the sit by holding him there and replacing him when he got up.  I even got hold of his head to re-direct his attention toward my face.  After about 20 seconds he settled a bit and laid down.  I had to still watch him though as once he is down he will try doing the commando crawl to get closer to the other dog.  Nuka's mom helped me by keeping distance.  We talked for a few minutes until I felt he was relaxed and more in my control and then I pased by them without allowing the dogs contact but he gave it one last try as he we passed.  I praised him as he moved foward and kept attention on  me, but then he spotted a cat and nearly pulled away again, so I went into the same routine I just did.  When he is in this state treats mean nothing to him.  We go back to training in December but I want to work on this now.  Any feedback on what to do in these situations from a training stand point.  How can I practice this as it is sorta of an all or nothing situation?  Is it silly of me to physically direct Gavin's face toward mine to get his attention?  Any feedback on how I handled this would be welcomed.

[BG and Gavin]

Yeah, I totally have nothing against the prong collar, only that the goal is TDI certificaiton and I know you can't use one for that.

[Adina P]

I would recommend a goal beyond TDI certification--then you will be a shoe-in for TDI certification =)  I keep having kids, it seems, so I can't seem to get to my goal of exemplary on and off leash obedience, but I will eventually. 

[BG and Gavin]

Yes, compared to your hectic life, I really have no excuses not to! 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

It's been a crazy few days, and I just saw your post.  You know that I can certainly relate to the reactiveness with other dogs.  This is still something that we are working on with Murphy when he meets certain dogs.  If the other dog is excited, barking and pulling....that sets Murph off.  I don't know if it will help, but here's what we've learned and what we're doing...

-Murphy's reactiveness comes from meeting dogs when he's leashed and on a walk.  He is not reactive at all when I take him into Daycare or when there are lots of dogs, probably because he can't fixate.

-Proximity is important.  Murph will begin to react when the dog is coming towards us and gets to be about 15 ft away.  Prior to that point, he's deciding whether or not he's going to react....I know this because his ears go back and forth a number of times.  The minute he decides that he needs to react his whole body changes...head moves forward and body gets tense.  There are some dogs that he does not react to...usually ones that are calm and under the control of their owners.  This whole change happens in a matter of seconds. 

-It is helpful if Murph is on my right side...and I walk to the right of the sidewalk or path.  That way he is not in direct contact with the other dog...I'm between them.

-At the FIRST sign of a reaction (tense body and ears/head forward) I correct...verbal and collar correction.

-Sometimes that's enough and we keep walking....after we've passed the dog with no actual reaction (pulling or lunging) he gets a treat.  I make sure they're great treats (cheese, hot dogs) and I let him smell them in my hand as we begin the walk.

-If he begins a reaction (lunging, pulling and sometimes barking) and the first correction does not work, I step to the side so that I am stepping right into his space, give a quick upward collar correction.  My position and the upward correction cause him to sit.  Usually at that point the other dog has passed.  I then put him in a down/stay, and he has to remain in that position until I'm sure he's calm...usually about five minutes.  Then we begin to walk again.  Obviously no treats when he's reacted like this.  This step is very important for him.  If we continue to walk before he's calm, his reactiveness seems to carry forward to everything we encounter for the rest of the walk.

-All of our walks are pretty disciplined and Murph is not allowed to put his head to the ground...I don't need him to be in a formal heel, but I do need him to be right by my side.  I never allow him to be ahead of me (not even slightly).  He needs "queues" to know that we're on a "working" walk, so for him that means the Gentle Leader and often his back pack.

-For a long time I would get nervous as I saw other dogs coming toward us and I would position my hand all the way at the end of the leash for greater control.  This was a signal to him...and not a good one.  I don't do that any longer and I try very hard not to give any indication that I'm expecting anything other than that he will walk right past the dog calmly.  At this point I cannot talk to any of the other dog owners we pass.  That makes things worse.  I give a little wave and hope they realize I'm training and not trying to be rude.

This is our challenge with Murph.  We take him on walks where we can be sure to meet other dogs daily to practice.  Some days are great, other days are not. 

I think you handled things well, although I would not physically put him in the sit and redirect his face.  With Murph it's only effective if he does it on his own.  I know what you mean about their "state".  It's so important with Murph that I correct him BEFORE he gets on the "crazy train", because once he's there it's hard to get him back.  At that point he's not responding to treats and in many cases corrections.  At that point I have to physically take over his space which backs him up.  Good luck.  For me this is the absolute most challenging piece of Murphy's training....the rest is cake.

 

[BG and Gavin]

Thanks for the detailed response Jane.  Life is a party to Gav and he thinks that all dogs are put on earth to play with him.  I am super happy that he gets along with and loves all dogs, however I want it to be on my terms.  We went to PetSmart today and unbelievably there was not a single dog there!  We did get in some practice with sitting to be pet and ignoring people and smelly products.  He was a total dream.  Entered the store calmly (I didn't even have to wait) and was super calm the whole time.  I wonder, if when I use the prong collar (which has been rarely in recent months) it signals to him that its time to work (just like the GL does for Murph).  I will try and be more conscious of the early signals and time corrections appropriately.  I don't think I give off a nervous signal when I see another dog (I don't feel nervous) because I am not afraid of a bad outcome (confrontation) but I was very concious today of my body language, confidence and control when going into the pet store today.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Gavin certainly is reacting from a whole different place than Murph.  Gav wants to play, while Murph is trying to be dominant, but they're both in an over excited state of mind in these situations.  It sounds like you had a really good experience at PetSmart.  I also think the prong collar may be a signal to him that it's time to "work" and it enables you to give a meaningful correction when needed so he is clear that he made a "wrong choice".  Keep us posted...

[BG and Gavin]

Okay, so I went to the pet stores 4 times in the last few days including a return trip to PetSmart.  We met several people and 4 different dogs.  We also did some work in front of the cat adoption centre.  So Gavin showed some excitement, but was easily managed in each and every situation.  So now I think that Gavin's over the top excitement may be limited to the outdoors!  Either that or because we did a training class at PetSmart over a year and a half ago, he is "proofed" there somewhat.  He was super polite meeting all adults and children (over a dozen in total) and three different people remarked about how calm he was.  The TDI test is indoors, so maybe I will be okay after all! lol  I will have to find places and times this week where we are likely to run into alot of dogs outdoors.  I swear he just keeps showing me that his learning is so situaitonal!  No wonder I drink! lol

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

When Webber and I were trying to conquer this I would step in front of him, blocking his view of the other dog while giving him a verbal correction to sit.  I was most worried about this skill for theTDI testing.  However, the day we tested, he did everything he was supposed to.  I swear, they know when they are working and need to behave!  He also had "good" days and not so good days.  I think they know the skill right away.  Whether Webber would do right or not was somewhat of a mystery to me!!  We practiced in class, endlessly, with other dogs, outside.  So I knew he could do it.  You will do just fine.

[BG and Gavin]

Good to know Linda.  Thanks for the advice.

[Bonnie and Kona]

;o)