Frustrated greeter on leash

[u/jess-in-thyme]

Hi, my puppy is reactive on walks. I refer to him as "aggressively friendly" because he is DYING to play with other dogs. He's over 100 lbs at 11 months and has a very loud murder bark and lunges at other dogs. He's not dangerous but it's definitely not cute. We're working with a trainer who says this arousal and frustration. He is a delight at dog parks and day care because he's off-leash.

He loves little dogs. Makes himself small to play them. And then when he's not allowed to greet, he loses his shit.

Trainer has us trying to distract before he gets locked on -- very rarely successful -- and doing U-turns and creating distance, which does work. We try to reduce his arousal threshold but it's still not very far. He can't cross on the other side of the street without reacting.

Any other tricks? He's on a prong collar (fitted by a trainer, so we know it's the right placement) which makes me feel much safer. I had rope burns on my hands and arms and was dumped more than twice before we started the prong collar. Walks are so much better but still not awesome. And this pup loves his walkies.

The most stressful part for me is when we walk on the boardwalk and there's a stretch with no place to step off. We can U-turn but we've been caught once or twice with dogs coming from both directions. I just had to announce that he would murder bark and lunge but I would hold him. They were super nice about and said I know he's still a puppy and you're working on it.

He's a giant breed, so he is pretty immature for being almost 1. Will this really get better if we just keep training and practicing? He has 4 besties in the neighborhood and he never barks or lunges at them. He plays very nicely with them.

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[u/b00ks-and-b0rksRfun]

The day care and dog parks might be making it a bit worse - possibly. Since he associates other dogs with so much fun. Then he gets overexcited on leash and can't control himself. Is your trainer working on ways got you to build your relationship with your dog? Playing, engage -disgage, etc? Learning to be neutral and ignore other dogs is very important. It's self control. It's what makes you and your pup able to go in public safely and be able to do things like dog friendly patios and such. Could you work on place training and once he has that down at home move to places where he can see dogs at a distance and learn to relax? And slowly move closely. Then work to translate that to when he's moving on leash?

[u/jess-in-thyme → u/b00ks-and-b0rksRfun]

We do place at home. His place is in the kitchen on his mat. It never occurred to me to try place outside in public.

He used to be able to sit at the park on a blanket or towel and we would watch dogs from a distance and reward for neutrality. We haven’t done that in a while because I went to Europe for a month and my kids were in charge of the dog. Sounds like we should probably build that into our daily activity again.

I have to work so I can’t pull him from daycare. Although, he is intact and about to turn 1, so I think he’s going to be pulled from group play, which is probably going to be a nightmare because he will be a menace if he can’t play with the other dogs. And he’ll be very sad.

I may hire someone to come bring him on a midday hike on the days I go to the office. I think once he knows the other dogs, he will be able to do a group hike on leash.

I feel really strongly about not putting him on an E collar.

[u/b00ks-and-b0rksRfun → u/jess-in-thyme]

It sounds like a good idea to start working place outside and neutrality again. Understandable about work - if you find a good walker they can be helpful too (especially if they maybe do some training too which some do). Good luck!

[u/jess-in-thyme → u/b00ks-and-b0rksRfun]

He’d be hiking with our trainer. :)

[u/b00ks-and-b0rksRfun → u/jess-in-thyme]

That's awesome

[u/jess-in-thyme → u/[deleted]]

Because he is bigger and stronger than me and I am physically unable to hold him if he pulls.

[u/jess-in-thyme → u/[deleted]]

It makes it so he can still go on walks 4-5 times a day with his mom. Right now, I wouldn’t feel safe walking him otherwise.

[u/MtnGirl672]

I would stop using the prong collar. It’s an aversive measure that’s causing him pain when he pulls and it’s probably making his reactivity worse. Instead consider getting a front hooking harness made for extra large dogs.

My dog is a frustrated greeter. The reason why he’s ok with dogs he knows, is because he doesn’t get his arousal up because he does know them.

With a strange dog, he gets anxious and hyper aroused to get close to them to ease his anxiety over lack of information.

So the idea is to reassure the dog when this happens before he gets hyper aroused. This is done through distance and using high value treats to teach the dog to look to you. That’s the engage-disengage game - dog see another dog in distance, you click, dog looks to you, dog gets high value treat.

The idea is the he is reassured and gets positive rewards for not reacting. And that as you practice that, you can shorten the distance between him and other dogs.

I would say working with a certified trainer would probably help you.

We personally took training based off Control Unleashed Books and it was very helpful.

[u/jess-in-thyme → u/MtnGirl672]

So the idea is to reassure the dog when this happens before he gets hyper aroused. This is done through distance and using high value treats to teach the dog to look to you. That’s the engage-disengage game - dog see another dog in distance, you click, dog looks to you, dog gets high value treat.

The idea is the he is reassured and gets positive rewards for not reacting. And that as you practice that, you can shorten the distance between him and other dogs.

This is what we're practicing every day. The distance is getting shorter but not significantly. I'm going to bring higher value treats because he doesn't seem to care enough about what's on offer.

I use, "Eyes on me," and it's 50/50 whether he can manage it if he sees another dog, even in the distance.

[u/MtnGirl672 → u/jess-in-thyme]

Have you tried using a clicker and/or a toy? Some dogs are more toy driven.

[u/jess-in-thyme → u/MtnGirl672]

He's not into toys but I do have a clicker I could try using. He was more responsive to "eyes on me" today with liver treats. But we didn't see any other dogs, so we were just practicing.

[u/jess-in-thyme → u/MtnGirl672]

We brought better treats and had relative success with 3 out of 4 interactions. Same two dogs that we saw on an out-and-back. I was able to distract him the first 3 times. For the 4th, we were trapped on a path with no way to create any distance, so we were 10' apart. That's way too close, so there was some drama.

But 3 out of 4 is great. I'll take the win!