Looking for some comforting words!

[Lana R]

I have a doodle puppy who is a dream! My retired parents decided to get a doodle puppy at the same time (Tracer, 6 months old now), who is not as 'easy' as mine. We live extremely close, so our pups are best friends. Tracer is turning out to be WAY bigger than my parents expected. He is already at about 55 lbs which is his sire's adult weight, so this makes him hard to handle in regards to his 'issues.' Tracer is the biggest love bug in the world, and we absolutely adore him....BUT....my parents' neighbor HATES him....and I hold no ill will towards her, because Tracer is a BARKER. We have our behavioralist come over (3 times now), and also completed her puppy class, where Tracer completed the STAR Puppy test. He is incredibly intelligent. Here is the rub- Tracer has a fear mechanism (so named by the behavioralist), where some dogs may cower and run away, Tracer goes off the deep end and barks like mad, and if on a leash, he lunges. He has shown absolutely zero aggression, but to an outsider I'm sure this 55 lb dog (puppy) could appear terrifying! Our behavioralist said that you have to turn these situations into positive experiences, so my dad is to walk him, and treat him every time he is about to start barking/lunging. It has helped some, but it seems that he has regressed some now, and is not finding the high value treats (chicken, cheese) interesting enough to take his attention away from the evil bikes, walkers, or cars that he sees drive past the fenced in backyard. My parents are extremely committed to helping Tracer (only wish I could train my puppy, work all day, and still have time for him!), but have already spent countless dollars on this behavioralist and his training (we start another class in January). Does anyone have a dog with similar reactions, were you able to overcome this? We absolutely HATE the idea of bark collars, but the neighbor is calling the police about the barking the next time it happens (I should mention he never barks longer than 5 minutes straight and my parents immediately go and try to distract him once he's started) ... any experiences with one? Any training tips other than what we've been working on? Thank you for your time'

[Lana R]

This is a great idea. Seriously, thank you for writing back.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I have a fear reactive dog who is actually even a more severe case than what you're describing.  Basically what I have learned is that you can't allow the dog to get into that "crazy reactive mode"....that reinforces the behavior because they are actually having a chance to practice it.  Initially treats work really well, but after awhile some of them decide that the self reinforcement that they get from the behavior itself is even better than the treat.  I really think your parents are going to have to always prevent the behavior, even if that means that Tracer is on a long line every time he is out in the yard.  The second he starts to react you would bring him inside.  I would treat the instant his behavior seems to calm...usually that's not going to be until he gets inside.  My guy is reactive on walks too....barking and lunging with some dogs and strangers.  He has been trained to the point where I now know that he will not actually bite or attack another dog, but he will probably never be totally cured from reacting to some dogs.  As a result, I do not walk him in our neighborhood where I know there would be some people who would have a real issue if they say the way he reacts.  I put him in a car twice a day and we go to parks and places where I can be pretty sure he will not meet other dogs.  It is difficult, but it's the only way that I can prevent him from reacting.  You have to be very careful with the bark collars when the dog is reacting out of fear.....it can totally backfire.  What you want to show is that YOU have control of the situation and there is no reason for the dog to be fearful....causing pain or discomfort can send the opposite message.  I truly understand how difficult this can be.  By changing the way I manage our guy we can control his reactions the vast majority of the time.

[Lana R]

Thank you for sharing. Unfortunately he seems to be getting worse. I really appreciate you sharing! Thank you.

[Laura and Angus]

So it sounds like you have started some training, but maybe need to get a little more specific in what you are training. As you've identified the things Tracer is afraid of (i.e. bikes, walkers, cars), he needs more time to be desensitized to these things when he's not in such a stressed out state. You shouldn't be giving treats to a dog who is already stressed and if you're treating RIGHT before a reaction then he may already be in hyper-vigilant mode and you may be inadvertently reinforcing that. Yikes!

What our trainer taught us is to have our pup far enough away from the stimuli, so that they are aware of it, but are still calm. That's when you give yummy treats. For us, this was often across the street from things. For Tracer, that may just be outside your door far far away from the things..who knows. You're going to have to set up planned situations for the stimuli to be nearby. Start with the easiest thing because you need to be able to give treats (high value treats) for calm behavior. 

You should do each thing one at a time - working with bikes or people or cars where you regularly set up situations where Tracer can see the things, but is calm. You're going to have to watch Tracer to figure out what is too stressful and what he can tolerate with each thing. If it were me, I'd probably start with walkers - it's easy to set up a situation where someone is walking nearby, but not right next to Tracer and then slowly, slowly having the person walking closer. We always started with having our dog walking back and forth parallel to the other person walking back and forth and repeating this until our dog was calm the entire time. I would strongly recommend working with a trainer to better understand how to use this method, but it's clear that you need to work to desensitize Tracer AND socialize him to some of these new things in a non-threatening way.

[Deborah Brown]

It looks like you have some excellent advice here.  I also have a dog who is fear aggressive.  His behavior was much like what you describe.  The good news is that he has become a model of good doggie behavior.  He has his moments but for the most part lives a happy life.  I just want you to know it is not hopeless!

What your behaviorist has recommended it called counter conditioning.  When your dad and his doodle encounter something that is a trigger, the food treats are suppose to help him associate something good with the scary thing.  It doesn't matter if the dog still reacts.  The point is to create the positive association.  However, if the dog is ignoring the treats and reacting then they are probably too close.  If the dog reacts at half a block, stay a block away.  If he can't handle a half hour walk, cut back to 15 minutes.  Also, make sure the dog has time to decompress.  It takes awhile for the adrenaline rush to dissipate after an encounter.  

Pups have many fearful periods and it may seem like he is regressing but just stick with the plan and give him time to grow up.