-
Off-Leash Dogs Rushing Up to Us – Can Anyone Give Me Advice?
Where I live there is no where to really walk the dogs and there is only one dog park in the whole city and most people don’t choose to go to the dog park because it’s unpredictable, however everyone goes down to regular park or school or the beach and lets the dogs runoff leash without having recall or respecting others.
I have been running into the problem where I’m walking a leash reactive dog And I WARN THE OWNERS “hey he doesn’t like to be approached “ or “please call your dog back” and all of them say the same thing to me “oh my dogs fine oh my dogs not mean”
- I have yelled at a few people to get there dog. I had someone say “my dogs submissive with every dog it’s fine”
- I try to inform the people that is just letting there dog run up to mine but no one seems to care.
- I have walked away but the dog just keeps following.
- I have asked people to not let there dog approach mine.
- I have left the walk early and turn around when ever I see loose dogs.
- I have gone later then the time I normally go to avoid the people not having concern.
Like I got my dog under control in the situation however, if he Gives off signals that he wants the dog to not be there he can snap. It hasn’t happened and he has gotten way better I am not trying to keep him away from dogs and the socialization he just doesn’t like being approached, but all the dogs off leash just come running at him. There is no more places to walk because every place, park, school, field, trail, dogs are always off leash even in the neighborhood they just let dogs walk off leash next to the street on the side walk.
I’m running out of options.can anyone help me on what to say to the people or how to get them to listen to me and respect me. Or can anyone give me advice on what to do with my dog to make him more comfortable.
-
9 Replies
-
I am having a shirt made I will wear on walks that says in huge letters – or as big as you can – “DOG IN TRAINING!” “Please do not approach” – I am using the brightest, boldest font available.
Put it in both sides of shirt. It won’t help with dogs off leash but at least an owner can read it as they approach you.
It may help?
-
That’s so smart. I never thought about that! Thank you so much. Have you worn it out and has it helped the owners pay more attention to the dog approaching @JCongdon
-
What’s funny is I ordered it and haven’t worn it yet. It was the best solution I could think of for myself because I have a reactive dog. I stumbled upon your question and thought “wow” let me share! I’ll let you know.
-
-
-
-
I’m so sorry that you and your dog are facing this challenge @britt – and I so wish that it weren’t such a familiar situation! I both with and love a dog-reactive dog plus it seems like 75% of my clients are working to help their reactive dogs…
You’re already using many of the tips that I suggest to my clients:
– walk at low traffic times of the day
– cultivate routes (and alternative routes) that are least likely to have other dogs
– be very clear in your communication with other dog owners, “STOP” using raised hand, palm forward signal “My dog CANNOT interact with other dogs”.
– leaving when you are likely to have an interactionTo that I’d add:
– tossing a handful of dog cookies at dogs moving toward you as you move away
– keep as calm as you can yourself
– remember that your dog isn’t giving you a hard time, they are having a hard timeI teach (and use myself of course) Evasive Maneuvers, which are well-known and rehearsed cues to smoothly change direction. If you and your dog learn and practice these in low distraction environments first, they can be used to get out of a situation with far less stress.
I like the idea of a shirt clearly stating your dog’s need for space like @jcongdon posted. Has it been helpful Jackie?
With so many pandemic puppies growing up out there, I’m guessing that there are a lot of other tips and tricks that people can offer to continue to fill up this toolbox for us!
–
-
@jenwalker thank you so much for your input . I am trying as much as I know to do I will Definitely start the change direction cue! How did you go about training that! What was the steps you did to teach it? He is good with dogs he just doesn’t like to be approached.
Would you mind if I take your shirt idea and do something similar. I am just trying to have as many options as I can think about to protect my dog and the other dogs
-
This reminds me of a post from a while ago on the forum that David made about tips to maintain your dog’s attention and help it avoid being distracted. Maybe you can find some extra tips in there. Check it out!
-
Definitely changing direction and working on attention in those tricky moments will help. When I lived in a neighborhood with chronically loose dogs, I never would walk withough a treat pouch stuffed with rotisserie chicken. I always had super high value reinforcers for my dog, but more importantly, there aren’t too many dogs who won’t pause for at least a moment when a fistful of chicken hits them in the snoot. It has bought us some time to get behind a barrier, at least.
-
The U-turn is the easiest to describe, though it does involve moving slightly toward the Trigger as you make your turn together.
· U-turn
- Walking forward with your dog by your side, speeding up slightly as you enter your turn
- Say verbal *cue just before turning your hips
- *”U-turn”, in a cheerful tone
- Offer hand signal** just after your verbal cue
- **Hand signal = an open, flat hand with palm facing, in your dog’s line of vision, for them to nose Target and follow around your U-turn together
- Mark/Reward as you come out of your turn, feeding treat as close to the seam of your pants as you can, stepping forward to keep moving
When I teach it in person, I generally have the team learn the hand signal first and then add a verbal cue quickly. If the dog is not attentive enough to their handler to notice the hand signal, we can load the cueing hand with a treat the first couple of times (Luring). That does mean we also go back and strengthen eye contact with games, reinforcing both requested and offered attention with pattern games.
Some dogs, especially herding dogs it seems, so enjoy the U-turn they will do it again and again joyfully engaged in moving with their people without any other reinforcement. Other dogs need to have random reinforcement, and upbeat verbal praise, to maintain this skill.
What other Evasive Maneuvers do folks teach to help people get their dogs out of situations smoothly?
-
-
Log in to reply.