The opposite of 'dog aggressive'

[ferky1]

Miles is continuing to grow into a wonderful dog, he understands who his masters are and he has done really well with command training (sit, stay, down) and also trick training (wave, play dead, roll over). My problem is certainly not uncommon, but I don't know the first thing about combating it: Miles turns absolutely deaf to mine or anybody else's commands when there is another dog around.

It happens with people too, especially children, but when there is another dog within visual range (and sometimes he just needs to hear one) I lose all control over him. He has such a love for all dogs, and he has been so well socialized and spends so much of his time running, playing and wrestling with his doggy friends, that he absolutely will not be denied his right to run over to another dog to sniff, jump, wrestle, play, etc. Miles is not intimidated by size or demeanor, in his mind, a strange dog is a playmate he hasn't met yet.

Not only is this dangerous (he is small and doesn't yet know that not all dogs love each other), it also shows me how much further we have to go in his training. Just yesterday Miles and I were walking when we came upon a small (maltese, bichon?). Miles went beserk. He isn't yappy, but he was crying and whining and occasionally barking, and, of course, struggling against his leash, because he wanted to run over to this dog. I gave him his sit command, his stay command, everything under the sun and he simply would not listen. I gave good, hard tugs on the leash but he wasn't detered. At one point I got him to sit by squeezing his back-end and forcing him down, REALLY HARD (I felt very bad for doing it but it got his attention), I then gave him the 'stay' command which he obeyed for a full 3 seconds before he was back up whining and straining against the leash to go meet this new dog.

Please help me with some advice/reading/resources on how to better train Miles for these situations. I love that he is so friendly, but many times I would like to be able to walk past another dog or running adult or baby stroller without Miles needing to meet and greet. It is also disheartening to me because it shows how all of the great training we do away from distractions falls apart in the "real world." Help!

[Guest Anonymous]

I do not have a lot of advice, but I just wanted to say that you are not alone in this "problem". I have the exact (and I mean EXACT :wink: ) problem with my youngest Pit Bull...So I am really curious what people's replies will be!

And I hope you too are able to figure this "problem" out! Good luck. :D

[GIXXSTER]

Well, heres how I did it with my dog.

Does your dog know a down-stay command. if so when you see another dog or what ever hes trying to go get put him in that position tell him to "leave it" and make him stay there for a few min's. If he sees the dog first you put him in that position untill he calms down + a few mins. If he won't go into the down position step on the leash and make him go down (say DOWN in a louder voice then normal but not screeming). Continue untill he calms down. It can take a while for him to figure out that you won't let him go nuts like this but after a while if you or him see another dog all you have to do is tell him LEAVE IT......DOWN......STAY. If all gos well and with a lot of practiceing like this, in a short while all you'll need to say is LEAVE IT.

Hope this helps.

[Guest Anonymous]

ferky1 napisał(a):

It happens with people too, especially children, but when there is another dog within visual range (and sometimes he just needs to hear one) I lose all control over him. He has such a love for all dogs, and he has been so well socialized and spends so much of his time running, playing and wrestling with his doggy friends, that he absolutely will not be denied his right to run over to another dog to sniff, jump, wrestle, play, etc. Miles is not intimidated by size or demeanor, in his mind, a strange dog is a playmate he hasn't met yet.

First thing... if you're not already, keep him on a leash when you have him out, for his safety.

Not only is this dangerous (he is small and doesn't yet know that not all dogs love each other), it also shows me how much further we have to go in his training. Just yesterday Miles and I were walking when we came upon a small (maltese, bichon?). Miles went beserk. He isn't yappy, but he was crying and whining and occasionally barking, and, of course, struggling against his leash, because he wanted to run over to this dog. I gave him his sit command, his stay command, everything under the sun and he simply would not listen. I gave good, hard tugs on the leash but he wasn't detered. At one point I got him to sit by squeezing his back-end and forcing him down, REALLY HARD (I felt very bad for doing it but it got his attention), I then gave him the 'stay' command which he obeyed for a full 3 seconds before he was back up whining and straining against the leash to go meet this new dog.

Please help me with some advice/reading/resources on how to better train Miles for these situations. I love that he is so friendly, but many times I would like to be able to walk past another dog or running adult or baby stroller without Miles needing to meet and greet. It is also disheartening to me because it shows how all of the great training we do away from distractions falls apart in the "real world." Help!

First, for his own safety, keep him on-leash whenever you have him out (you may already be doing this, I didn't see anything about it, so sorry if you are :wink: ).

You might be surprised to hear (errm... read) that one way to control a dog like this is actually the same as a way to control a dog aggressive dog. You have to get him to focus on YOU, not what's going on around him. For this, you need to make paying attention to you more appealing than doing whatever else it is that he does, either by making NOT paying attention to you more UNpleasant (through corrections), or paying attention to you more pleasant (through REALLY good rewards).

If you wanted to use #1 (corrections for not paying attention), you would set him up to try and play with the other dogs, walking past them, etc, give him a command (most people use sit, down, or heel, keep in mind that if you use sit or down, everytime you see a dog you will have to stop and stay there until the dog is gone, which can make your walks considerably longer :roll: ) BEFORE he sees them, so he doesn't associate being corrected with them passing. Then when he breaks the command, you correct him, not for trying to "make friends", but for breaking his down, sit, heel, whatever you were using. Praise/treat when he does stay, and he'll learn that if he breaks his x command and goes to visit, he gets corrected, but that if he behaves, he'll get a treat, and he will become more attentive to you, waiting for the treat.

#2, you would start at a distance from the dogs, and work on his obedience and focus on you. As he begins to understand that he must focus on you even outside, you move closer to the distraction, a bit every couple days or so. Be careful to never get so close that he can't pay attention, as that will only undo the "good" work, you want to build successes upon each other. The point here is that he learns to keep his focus on you in ANY situation, and as you work closer and closer to them, he will understand that he must do so even when there are other dogs around if he wants the treat/praise. It's very helpful is he's toy or food driven, but if not, use his normal food ration and split it up for training sessions, make him work for that.

#3, one more way is to have "open bar" everytime a dog comes by.... the dog comes, and you whip out a favorite toy or some REALLY tasty treats that he doesn't get every day. He gets them while the dog is passing, then they get put away. Before long, he;ll learn that another dog coming = turn to mom/dad for the goods, and you'll be able to phase out the treats/toy.

These are only what has worked for me/my dogs, so no guarantees :wink:

[GIXXSTER]

ferky1 napisał(a):

At one point I got him to sit by squeezing his back-end and forcing him down, REALLY HARD (I felt very bad for doing it but it got his attention), I then gave him the 'stay' command which he obeyed for a full 3 seconds before he was back up whining and straining against the leash to go meet this new dog.

I felt bad when I used to do this but by steping on the leash you down have to been down and you don't loose you temper as fast. If he get right back up after you say stay keep your foot on the leash untill you feel that he is not pulling to get up, then lift your foot just a little but be ready if he trys to get up to step on the leash again.

ferky1 napisał(a):

It is also disheartening to me because it shows how all of the great training we do away from distractions falls apart in the "real world." Help!

I've been though this.

You may startout with basic commands like NO, SIT, DOWN, STAY, LEAVE IT. work on these in the house for a week or so so he knows then, then work on them for a few weeks in the back yard, then work on them in the front yard. When he has them down in the front yard work on them while walking him around the block or just up and down the street (where no one else is). Once hes got this down go to a park (NOT A DOG PARK) but a park that not to many people go to and work on the commands there for a few weeks.

After every few weeks of working with him in. do a few more weeks in a more populated area and so on and so on. Its not your falt by no means. From what I understand what you wrote above is that you trained him to be good at home but you haven't trained him to be good out side of home.

[Nancy B]

I would suggest that you take Miles to group obedience classes. Yes, you may already know how to train him quite well but, the real benefit of the classes for Miles will be learning how to be "obedient" with the distraction of other dogs around. I would further suggest that you enter at a very low level. Give Miles a break with regard to that. He may know all the commands that will be covered in that particular class session but, he'll be learning to perform while "ignoring" the other dogs.

See if you can find an instructor who has experience dealing with this sort of thing. Do let them know up front just what Mile's issue is so that they can better help you.

[StarFox]

I agree with Nancy B 100%. A training class would probably do wonders. Do you have a local petsmart where they give training classes? There are so many dogs, people, other animals, and noises that the dog realy learns to focus only on you. Zebra had the same problem but taking him to training class worked wonders on him.

[Annushka]

I also wanted to say the same, but Nancy B and StarFox raced me. :wink:
Asting had this problem, but after 2 months of agility & obedience he became tired of dogs! Now he's just OK.

[mouseatthebusstop]

this topic has surprized me, you would not think it would be a problem

[Guest Anonymous]

I think it's great that you see it as a problem. We encounter too many people who let their dogs run up and jump all over Oscar - then they say 'he's just friendly'

Oscar loves other dogs, but he gets defensive when other dogs are too hyper and just run up and jump on him ..... it's poor doggy behavior.

[midori115]

that was me .... :(

[abker17]

I think it's great that you see it as a problem. We encounter too many people who let their dogs run up and jump all over Oscar - then they say 'he's just friendly'

Oscar loves other dogs, but he gets defensive when other dogs are too hyper and just run up and jump on him ..... it's poor doggy behavior.

I couldn't agree more! I HATE when people just let thier dogs walk up to other dogs without asking the owner first. :-? :x When this happens with me, and Abby lets out a growl, then I look like the bad guy, when really people need to relise that not every dog LIKES other dogs!!! It's sooo frustrating! :x :x :x

Okay there's my little rant for today. :D



Anyways, I hope u get u're problem worked out, best of luck to u! :D

[Nancy B]

Most folks who compete in performance events with their dogs consider this to be a BIG problem. The agility training center I teach at give a copy of Suzanne Clothier's "He just wants to say hi" article out to each and every new student. If you have never read this article, I would highly recommend it. You can read it online at http://www.flyingdogpress.com/sayhi.html

[ellieangel]

Excellent article Nancy :)

[Guest Anonymous]

Jasper has the same problem though he may be a bit better now that he is older. We have done obedience and agility work and as long as there are dogs around he knows we work ok but a new dog means a very distracted Keeshond for me. It has been a very long difficult road, I hate to tell you. I think certain breeds are worse for this than others and Shih Tzus and Keeshonden are amoung the offenders.

We were not able to go to regular formal classes as no times worked for me and my new (human) baby at the time. I think they would have been a big help. NOw he is very close to being able to get his obedience title (CD) and we have gone to a few practice matches (He scored 181/182). Distraction is still his main weakness. He is better inside the ring than outside. He drives me nuts trying to sniff every dog he sees..the crazy thingis once he gets the sniff in he loses interest and wants to sniff the next one right away! Does he have ADD? I mean to go through all the trouble to get to the one and then it's like...whatever..where's the next one? It is nice to have a friendly dog but the dog on the other end of the sniffing may not feel the same way and this is why I have never let him just "say HI" when he feels like it. His outgoing nature seems to put some dogs off but he seems to have toned down his enthusiasm lately.

I have done the leave it/ watch me/ click- treat/ correct and let me tell you I would have hoped he would be better by now. He is a highly distractable dog who thinks everything is HIS business...Yours may have this same attitude and though they are a pleasure to be around be prepared for a long road ahead of you. Don't let up..we all need basic manners and GOOD LUCK. (If you find a magic bullet...for the love of DOG- let me know!) :lol:



Brenda and Jasper.."what's that over there..no there...oooo now THAT looks interesting...oh, did you hear that?...what's that smell?...let's go...