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Leash Reactivity
I was curious if anyone has some good techniques they have used for leash reactivity with dogs? It is not leash Reactivity in an aggressive way but more excitement with lunging and barking. The triggers are seeing other dogs, and loud trucks like garbage trucks.
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6 Replies
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Great question, @Cory ! This is such a common problem. What have you tried, so far?
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I have used the technique of telling them to leave it and to focus on me. As I am walking this dog and not the owner I don’t let them interact with other dogs. So I say leave it and just gently stand still with the dog until they refocus on me and then treat and continue walking. If I am in an area though with tons of distractions I say leave it and continue walking until we are out of the area of all the distractions and then treat, praise and reward. If they were my dog or I was training. I would probably work first on the focus and leave it like I have been then once they have that down I would focus on training proper greetings with other dogs where they sit and stay and then reward by allowing the other dog to approach to say hello. As far as loud trucks I would work on desilensitarion worth them and just work on getting them to focus on me and remain calm when they do hear a truck that may trigger them and reward and praise as they are able to remain calm and focus on me. Your thoughts?
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Hi @Cory , I have a couple suggestions, some of which you may already be doing. ????
- Early on, try to select walking locations that aren’t overwhelming in the distraction department and/or where it’s more likely you can create more distance between the dog and the distraction.
- Carry fresh proteins, e.g., the doggie version of crack, so you can compete more effectively with the distractions.
- Teach a FIND IT game (first, without distractions nearby) so the dog learns those words mean you’ll be tossing treats on the ground. Once learned, you can begin to use this just after the dog spots the exciting distraction, but before the bark/lunge. You’ll say FIND IT and then toss treats away from where distraction is.
- When the dog is easily redirected in this way and enjoying the new game (rather than hyper-focusing on the distraction), then it’ll be much easier to begin folding in cues likes LEAVE IT before rewarding.
Sometimes, in the face of a huge distraction (and a not-yet sufficient amount of training), we might ask for a skill that’s very, very difficult for the dog to respond to successfully, which leads to a delayed treat or even a missed opportunity for a treat. If that happens, the dog may become frustrated and you may not achieve the success you hope for. If that’s the current situation, some classical counter-conditioning (distraction = yummy treat) can change the dog’s emotional response to the trigger AND also increase their focus on you.
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Thanks I have been using some of it. I use the find it game but not in this context. I will definitely give it a try it sounds like a good idea
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Keep us posted on your progress, @Cory !
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@Cory – Yes to everything Virginia suggested! I’ll just add that shifting your main objective to how the dog FEELS vs how they ACT will help you catch those moments where they are uncomfortable or frustrated much sooner.
Tune into the subtle signs of stress in the dog’s body language and aim to always be working below threshhold (where the outburst happens)… distance from the triggers is your best friend with these dogs. By practicing in non-triggering areas and controlling the trigger (to some degree) you can get better behavior, but the key in all of this is how the dog is feeling.
Shifting your eyes to that aspect can allow the dog agency to look around (a stressed dog needs to do that) and then you can classically condition seeing the trigger = high value food. The dog will naturally start to see a trigger then look back at you… “Hey! I saw one! Got treats!?” -it’s a lot of fun.
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