The trainer makes a difference (or a gold star for Chance)

[DJ & Chance]

I worked with a wonderful dog trainer this weekend, who helped me to control Chance's "leash reactive" behavior very, very quickly.  Chance had begun to bark and lunge at about everything in sight on our walks, which were thus becoming more and more unpleasant.  I had tried to stop the behavior and only made it worse, as it turns out, by communicating my tension and frustration through the leash. Information that I had read on the internet was not helpful and indeed often created the impression that leash reactive behavior is very challenging to eliminate.

Our first session lasted an hour and consisted in taking a walk to and through a park with many dogs and people.  Some dogs were off leash.  The trainer walked with a German Shepard he was working with, and who had bitten him quite badly on their first encounter.  By the time we got to the park, he had taught me how to hold the leash without tension, how to keep Chance slightly behind me as we walked without pulling on the leash,  and how to quickly get him from a tail curled up alert state to a relaxed tail down state. 

I was totally amazed that Chance did not bark and lunge at other dogs even once as we walked through the park.  The difference for me was huge:  the walk was pleasant and relaxing. On the way back from the park, behind some buildings, the trainer did a bit of off leash work with both dogs.  Well, almost off leash for Chance--just to be safe the trainer clipped the leash to his back pocket but Chance follow him like a pro.

A gold star for Chance and his trainer!

[Bonnie and Kona]

DJ, This is such exciting news. Please tell us in more detail what the trainer told you to do. I am fascinated and so happy for you to have had such a good experience. Happy training days ahead! 

[DJ & Chance]

Bonnie,

 

It was interesting.  Chance has been through basic obedience, but what we learned there wasn't working with his leash reactive behavior. This trainer focused almost exclusively on nonverbal communication with your dog and quiet control (no treats and not a lot of verbal communication).  He used quick leash corrections, which some people object to, and also and importantly techniques to keep the dog calm and to distract or attract his attention.

 

So, for example, when Chance insisted on walking ahead of me, and a few quick corrections didn’t work to resolve the problem, I learned to let the leash go slack and walk backwards.  Chance invariably turned and followed me in the new direction, and when he was focused and calm, we would begin walking forward again. 

 

When Chance is in a high alert stance, I learned to reach down and give him a gentle tap on his side just behind his front legs, and his tail immediately drops into a relaxed position.

 

If I need to get his attention, I learned to move quickly in front of him and clap my hands.  He always stops and looks at me.

 

Mostly, though, it was about me—for example, remaining absolutely calm when approaching strange dogs.  I learned to do that by focusing on Chance, rather than the strange dog, and managing his reaction.

 

I think different dogs may “take” to different training methods.  This is working, thus far, for Chance, who is clearly a dominant dog.  Today we walked past a cat and Chance didn’t even seem to care.  Last week, he would have been charging, growling, and barking.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Thank you so much for clarifying some of what you are doing. Owen, our DD's doodle who also lives with us, is 2 1/2 and has always been much more dominant than Kona who is 6. Since we moved to Hawaii July 4, Owen is acting more and more dominant with other dogs at the beach. He even peed on a small dog before we could stop him! EEEK! We are changing our techniques with him, and I'm glad to hear what is working for you. We have him on a short leash at all times now even in the ocean so we can grab it when a dog comes down the beach. If it is a big dog on a leash or a little one that is loose, we take him out into the water. We don't want to give him the opportunity to misbehave. I'm not sure if this is the best idea since he doesn't get a correction. Any tips you have I would love to hear! 

[DJ & Chance]

Bonnie, what you are doing with Owen is basically what I was doing with Chance--removing him from situations where he might get aggressive.  But that put Chance in control of our walks, and he was finding more and more things to growl at and lunge towards other than dogs and cats.  And that was the situation that I knew needed to be changed.

I needed someone knowledgeable to observe my interactions with Chance in these situations.  Chance's new trainer believes that my actions (for instance, pulling him back sharply with the leash, abruptly wheeling him around to go in another direction, etc. were actually adding to Chance's sense that the situation was dangerous and needed his attention.  

[BG and Gavin]

This philosophy seems to line up with the Brad Pattison training that I did with Gavin. Glad you found it so helpful!

[Cathy, Fozzie & Shaggy]

Please tell us more! Shaggy isn't jumping at or barking at people but lose leash walking is still hit or miss:-/

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

What wonderful news....a good trainer makes such a huge difference.  My guess is now that you know that you both can walk like this, everything will be different.  Thanks for sharing.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Hooray!  Chance is one of my favorites and it is wonderful to know he is learning to have gold star behavior.

[Pat and Traveler]

Wonderful news!  I really need to work on Trav's location when we're walking, and this has inspired me!  I recall when he used to simply lie down when he saw another dog approaching.  He was completely focused on the dog and remained lying down even when I pretty much dragged him.  I finally learned to just touch his butt with my foot and he would leap up and look at me.  This must be a similar effect to what happens when you touch Chance on his side.  

[DJ & Chance]

Good luck!