New thing: Reactive behavior on walks (title changed after Karen said it isn't aggressive behavior)

[Heather & Brinkley]

Hi Everyone,

It's been a little bit since I've been on. It's been a busy holiday season and my father had heart surgery so I have not been online but I need your help. As most of you know, Brinkley and I moved in with my parents for two years while my husband is in school in MA. During this major change, I've noticed a behavioral change in Brinkley that I don't like. As we go on walks, he becomes almost manic in his pulling and barking and growling if another dog walks by. I correct him, make him sit and treat him when he listens on the first try but it is getting worse, not better. This behavioral change also coincides with him now having a fence that he can see through. We did not have a fenced in yard in our old house. My parents yard is fenced and the backyard backs up to the neighborhood walking path, where many people and dogs alike walk by all day long. If he's outside, he barks like crazy. I immediately correct him and bring him inside but it isn't stopping the behavior. He's not aggressive in any other way. He goes to doggie daycare without a problem and he has play dates all the time... But a year ago, he'd approach any dog with joy. It was bad before but I've seen even more of a heightened reaction the last couple of weeks after a neighborhood dog attacked Brinkley while we were on a walk. This dog and Brinkley haven't liked each other previously and then this happened and I got stuck on the leash. Well, the dog escaped his yard and as we came around the corner, the dog charged Brinkley-- not once but twice (when the owner came out, and got his dog, the dog escaped from his owners grasp and it started a second time.) Like I said, the problem was already there so this didn't cause it but it certainly hasn't helped.

Brinkley has been well socialized since he was a pup.

My husband is home for holiday break and he experienced a Brinkley outburst for he first time this morning and was very worried. It was interesting to me that Brinkley did it even with my husband because originally I thought maybe Brinkley was overcompensating as the Alpha dog in my husband's absence but alas, Brinkley did it with my husband on the other end of the leash.

Help- what do we do next? He's had three rounds of training in his three years of life. I plan to hire our trainer for private lessons so she can come to us and witness the behavior-- when it warms up.

Thanks in advance!!
Heather

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

As an aside, what a great picture of you, dh and Brinkley.

Part of Brinkley's behavior is maturation - doesn't make it acceptable, but it seems that many of us see a difference in our dogs once they reach full maturity.  Both Ned and Clancy will be aggressive - Ned when the pack is out walking and Clancy through open fences.  More training......  

[Heather & Brinkley]

Thank you on the pic! We took it for our Christmas cards. I realized I haven't posted new pics in awhile so I thought I'd show everyone my big doodle boy.

Thanks on advice too. I will keep doing what I'm doing! Ugh, where did my sweet buy go?! He's still sweet... Most of the time. Haha

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Rather than calling this "aggression", let's call it "dog reactiveness". That's really what it is, and "aggression" has such a negative connotation. Whether the behavior is stemming from fear, territorial issues, protectiveness, etc. doesn't really matter. It's very common, and many of us have struggled with our doodles who are reactive to other dogs. A lot of intense training is the solution, and of course, training has to be on-going anyway for the life of any dog, on a daily basis. There is no such thing as a dog who gets trained and then you're done and he stays trained, lol.

WithJD, this behavior is worst when he's on leash, but it also occurs to a lesser degree when he's in the fenced yard and another dog walks by. The quick fix for that is to "reclaim" the fence. You have to be outside when it happens, and then you calmly march over to where Brinkley is barking at the fence and claim that spot by placing your hands on the fence. That's all. He will try to go to another place along the fence, so you keep moving and repeating.

On walks, you have to see the other dog coming before Brinkley does. Practicing perfect leash walking with the dog's attention always focused on you is the goal here, but in the meantime, you have to be ready to get  Brinkley's attention on you before he sees the other dog. Once his ears go up and his breathing escalates, it's too late, he is not going to hear you or see anything other than the other dog, so you've got to be vigilant. JD and I have worked on this for years, and we're now at the point where it rarely happens any more, but there were times when I actually had to put my hand up at the side of his face like a blinder to keep him from looking at the dog on the other side of the street. Often I had to stop, shorten his leash, face him, and walk into him, literally, to get him to sit, look at me, and calm down.

Jane is the expert on this, so hopefully she will chime in here, and hopefully your trainer will have some good advice as well. But there are no quick fixes for this, it's going to take a lot of time and a lot of work. Good luck.

[Heather & Brinkley]

Thank you! This helps. I will keep working at it and I will really pay close attention to finding the dog before he does. It's good to hear that this is a bit more common than I thought. And banks on the "aggressive" vs. "dog reactiveness."

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Thank you, Karen, for the terminology correction.  Aggression is not the correct word for Ned and Clancy's behavior at all - it is reactive, it is 'protection,' it is territorial.  Thank you for the fence reminder for me too. I had forgotten this.

[Heather & Brinkley]

I had never heard of the fence tactic- I will try this!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Calla protects us from everything going by be it human or animal. I doubt claiming the fence will work but I will try it. She does not of course protect us from the mailman who treats the doodles. What works is calling her to me or calling her to come inside.
Of course Luca does this with the TV. When I catch him and hold him before he gets to the TV the hyperventilation when he sees the culprit, any kind of animal, is impressive. If I want to watch a show with animals I often resort to crating him but I've stopped watching certain kinds of shows.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You are lucky if Calla will come when called while she is in the middle of a dog reactive frenzy, but I'm thinking that in the case of that gorgeous property of yours, other dogs and their owners are not walking right past your fence. JD has great recall most of the time, but when he's in full "get away from my fence" mode, calling him has no effect at all, he just can't hear or focus on anything else; he needs to be physically reminded that it isn't his fence. I was skeptical of the reclaiming the fence tactic, too, but it worked amazingly well from the first time I tried it.

 

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Karen our Labradoodle started pulling, jumping and barking after months of walking wonderfully on a regular leash. On advice of a friend we got a Gentle Walker and oh what a difference instantly.  She went back to walking beautifully and no problems since.  I do believe when there is a big change in the family that dogs do react as do children. All the differences and adjustments must be overwhelming too them as well. Maybe with time and more training it will all work out for Brinkley and your family.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The Gentle Leader Harness is a tool but it doesn't really teach the dog anything. I've used one with JD for 7 years, and it does help with pulling, but when he reacts to another dog, all it does is allow me to have enough control that he can't actually get away from me and charge the other dog. Leashes, collars, electronic devices, etc. are all tools that can help stop a behavior in certain circumstances, but they don't really teach anything and can't take the place of training.  

It's true that changes in the family and the environment can affect dogs as they do children, and can result in behavioral changes, but you still have to address the behaviors. It would be a mistake to condone and allow a child to act out publicly because he was upset about a move, and it's just as big a mistake to allow a dog to get away with it. Regardless of the causes, certain behaviors are unacceptable, and going berserk every time the dog sees another dog is one of them. That kind of behavior escalates, and then it can be dangerous.

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

I totally agree with you Karen and I did not mean to say the Gentle Walker was a cure all, but it has helped us so much and we have continued with Libby's training and training and training!  

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree with this.  For a dog who is truly dog reactive there is no tool that will "cure" the problem.  Dogs like this become collar smart very quickly.