Stuart's Reactivity

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

    Most of you know of Stuart - our Goldendoodle, rescued from a puppy mill at 7 weeks, we got him from Adopt A Golden out of Atlanta at 8 wks.  He is the biggest love bug ever at 70 lbs and 2.5 yrs.  He is a shedder BIG time, a brother to Rooney and has severe allergies that require us to carry an Epi pen at all times.   Stuart walks best on his Easy Walk harness and has taken training classes (non lately I admit due to our travel schedule).  He was screened to attend doggie day care and has gone to 4 or 5 different ones - all without any problems.  He loves the dog park and gets along with other dogs wonderfully!  He loves all people, young, old, wheelchairs, nothing bothers hime.   Little kids adore him and he allows them to hang all over him - but Stuart has become more and more reactive on leash to other dogs on leash.  It started back 1.5 yrs ago when on a dark night, I was confronted by a man who was acting aggressive to me - Stuart placed himself in front of me and was barking like mad, it has pretty much been down hill from that point.  Was it a trigger?  

   Today was a GOOD day on our walk - we had treats at the ready and when we saw another dog approaching we would start the "Good boy Stuart - Leave it" talk while distracting with a treat.  A few times when he still was on "high alert" we put him in a "sit" to help with keeping his attention and I'm not proud - we will cross the street to help give Stuart "space".  We actually got in a good 3 mile walk, passed 8-10 dogs without a melt down!  Wow - I was so excited thinking we were making progress with my strategy of positive re-enforcement and treating.  THEN dh tells me he "flipped" Stuart twice yesterday in the park behind our condo when I wasn't there.  He told me Stuart lost it when he saw another dog (when I say lost it I mean 70lbs of jumping, twisting, lunging, barking, growling - CRAZY).  Now I don't know what to think.  Is this a bad thing?  He certainly was acting better today but . . . .     The boys used to be such a joy to walk and now not so much.  I've had a spinal fusion in my neck and a lunging dog causes me pain that lasts for days.  I love Stuart with all my heart and want what is best - I know Jane F is the expert here - what should we be doing?

[Adrianne Matzkin]

I would have him tested for Lyme's and a thyroid panel just to verify it is a behavioral issue and not a medical issue. A friends doodle was tested for Lyme's but the vets office never told her they were positive - she assumed since they didn't call they were negative. Then he started being reactive to everything so she had the vet run the thyroid panel which turned out he barely had any which is when they told her about the Lyme's. After treating the Lyme's and now on thyroid meds this guy's attitude has totally turned around. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Just be prepared for a really large bill....I had Murph checked and while I can't remember the exact amount for the full thyroid panel, I do remember being totally shocked by the cost.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

I use the gentle leader on both my doodles, when young they pulled like crazy.  My Oliver is a VERY happy, go lucky kind of guy.  He is 75 lbs. and kind of prey driven, he also LOVES everyone he sees and wants to say "hello" to every living creature.  He is great in the dog park, loves to play and very friendly.  When Ollie and I walks past the one house that has a fenced in yard, there is this medium size, black mix breed dog that charges the fence.  When we pass, Ollie will jump up on his hind legs as if to say lets play but then he gets the energy of the other dog which is quite vicious, I give Ollie a gentle tug and just ignore the dog.  I say not a word, I keep myself calm and simply ignore the other dog, we have passed this house a few times now and Ollie looks at the other dog enough to day "hey dude calm down we mean no harm" and just ignores the dog.  My Sasha could care less and when we walk past she does not even acknowledge the dog - LOL.  I think it has to just do with the personality of you doodle.  I would continue to work on it and maybe get some professional help.  I have found that when I remain calm and relaxed so do my doodles.   Is there any way you can drain some energy BEFORE you go on the walk so he is not so alert??  Maybe a good 1/2 hour of fetch ???  My doodles seem much calmer when I take them out after they have been playing and running around in the back yard.

[Heather & Brinkley]

Brinkley is dog reactive also.  It's getting much better but it's been a work in progress ever since I wrote for help on here maybe a year or so ago.  Everyone has given you great tips-- we use the treating method as we pass by and we are getting much better.  It still happens but baby steps.  Good luck!!

[BG and Gavin]

Our last trainer would suggest that when you are about to meet another dog, make an unexpected move - speed up, turn around, move quickly sideways, spin in circles, anything - this takes your dog's focus off of who you are meeting and back on to you ("Where is this crazy lady going and what does she want me to do?  When ever I see another dog, I better check with her to see what move she is going to make next!").  Gavin was not reactive, but certainly wanted to pull me over to say hi to other dogs we met and I generally broke out into a little jog and powered past.  This was a good strategy for us and even worked when we met a loose dog.

[Adina P]

That is reminiscent of my training.  But it is connected to the heel command. When first learning heel, you walk in straight lines to teach a strong understanding of what heel means.  Then you introduce pivots, turns, etc.  Then in training you strategically place distractions so that you can approach something (or have it be on the dog's left) and then turn when the dog is distracted...ALL while heeling. 

[Bonnie and Kona]

I think I can look like a crazy-lady pretty happily if it will stop Owen from reacting! Thanks for the suggestion. 

[Stella]

Try reading 'Behavioural Adjustment Training' by Grisha Stewart, and getting the book and /or DVD 'Calming Signals' by Turid Rugaas. My Chase is reactive, and reading these books and watching the DVD really helped me understand his behaviour. Another excellent resource is the book 'Control Unleashed' by Leslie McDevitt. We have had the best results with going with the Classical Conditioning approach - every time we see another dog or a strange person approaching us, I feed him treats, really good treats, a lot of them! We feed him no matter what behaviour he is exhibiting, I was worried we were rewarding his bad behaviour, but what happens is they begin to associate food (good things) with whatever it is that concerns them. As soon as the person/ dog passes, stop feeding. Don't ask for a watch me, imagine if you were terrified of something, and that something was coming toward you and you were being told you couldn't look at it to see where it was - not nice! We were lucky enough to go to classes based on the Control Unleashed book, these classes were run especially for reactive dogs and we worked through the exercise in the book, including the 'Look at That' game, where the dog is actually rewarded for looking at the thing that bothers them. It takes a long time to see progress with a reactive dog, but it is worth the effort, we are now able to take Chase to, and compete in, agility competitions; and he has three dogs from agility that I trust him to play off leash with. Good luck with Stewart, I have been there and know what you are going through.