Libby is doing great off lead, she reacts big time to everything on lead, so walking her is still a nightmare, barking at people, dogs etc, but ignores people off lead, watches them, gives them space, but rarely reacts.
I have tried all manner of high value treats to do watch commands etc, but she doesnt see the threat, car chasing is the same, she is so hyped up she doesnt/cant get the mind set to listen.
i have tried, treats, toys all manner of things, and she reacts still,so we are still turning and going away from the source.
any ideas how to stop the lead issues.....as i say off lead she is an amazing pup on the field in her pplace of safety and her ball.
xx

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Sarah xxx

I just read this yesterday and wonder if it would work for your Libby? It works on the principle that you approach the trigger (but not close enough to get over treshold) and when the dog shows signs of calm behaviour, the reward is to be allowed to move away again.

BAT | Ahimsa Dog Training, Seattle | Dog and Puppy Tips from Seattle |

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It's not easy for a monkey to think like a dog

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Aw thank you Arwent, your a star, she is doing so well, just not on lead, so if her field is wet through she isnt calm enough to walk anywhere so i have to play and stimulate her indoors, she doesnt mind this, but i feel guilty
Will check this out right now
xx

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Sarah xxx

Had a look arwent, sounds like a good plan, im going to have a little go this afternoon, see how we get on.
If this works in time, I will love ya forever
xx

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Sarah xxx

BAT is amazing if carried out correctly and perfectly suited to this sort of leash reactivity. There is a Yahoo group called functional rewards for people using or interested in BAT. I highly recommend that you join that - the support is brilliant.
I have been using BAT with suitable clients since it was developed from CAT (another therapy) and much much much prefer BAT and the results have been excellent. Its being tweeked and improved all the time and there are DVDs of BAT seminars now available.

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Anne, owned by Rufus & Tripod

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"I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts." - John Steinbeck

"If you don't want your dog to bite you, don't be an a**hole to him." ~ Dr. Ian Dunbar

Haha, hope it works for you! Might be easiest to start with a trigger that stays in one place, so you only have to worry about your pupsicle and not about a trigger that suddenly starts moving around.. good luck with it! (I love reading about Libby and how far she's come already)

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It's not easy for a monkey to think like a dog

My cat Tijgje shows off his tricks

Thanks you to
I have had numerous talks, and apparently she has Inhereted fear, and not learned behaviour, and from what i can gather, is that because i socialised her lots, took her all manner of places etc, I may have actually made a boo boo, because this can cause the pup to become fear aggressive and not just fearful...whoops. But hey its my mistake, and i will put thiings right cross me fingers.
she has walked past a carrier bag blowing in the wind, which is a bonus, she also did a wee and poop last night in the garden without coming in in between, she usually shoots out, does a pee, then flies back in, then ten minutes later she needs a poop lol, so thats progress, baby steps hey.
Off lead with her ball, she will watch people go past without reacting, although she wont let anyone near her, but i will ask them to throw her ball, which she will chase, occassionally she will drop it by the scary human, but she is not in reaching distance.
On a bad note, kev cooked bacon and the smoke alarm went off, she flew to me and peed herself in the house, but it was an accident.
she is doing really well believe it or not lol and has my two boys and 3 doggy friends now
xx

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Sarah xxx

I don't know who told you this but its not really very accurate at all. ALL and I do mean ALL behaviour is a mix of genetics and environment - you can't separate that out.

What your dog is showing in leash reactivity is not actually aggression at all - aggression is correctly defined as behaviour used to cause harm. What your dog shows is ritualised aggression which is an important communication tool. Its about distance increasing signalling.

The responses you are seeing in your dog are escalated anxiety signals. These are shown when more subtle (to us) distance increasing signalling is missed, misinterpretted and ignored so the subtle stuff no longer works and the signalling has become escalated to more obvious signalling.

Your dog may have a genetic predisposition to reactivity, shyness, arousal but that means that MORE socialisation is required, not less. Socialisation is not just about exposing the puppy to lots of happenings its about making sure that the dog develops a positive attitude to goings on and this must be done carefully.

Your examples illustrate a dog with lots of generalised fears and reactivity - you really need help on this one. How old is she and what sort of dog?

Check out fearfuldogs.com too as this is an excellent resource for dogs like this. Your description of this also reminds me of lots of stuff written by Deborah Flick and her fearful poodle Sadie too.

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Anne, owned by Rufus & Tripod

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"I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts." - John Steinbeck

"If you don't want your dog to bite you, don't be an a**hole to him." ~ Dr. Ian Dunbar

Hi

Thanks for the Yahoo link, didn't know this existed.

I have used this several times now, with fearful dogs, with great results. This idea was taught to me by a guy called Andy Cook, who is now CE of Canine Partners, but was my boss at the time. It didn't have a lable then!

I don't' think the dogs were quite as bad as Libby, but the results were amazingly quick.

Best of luck and keep posting about her, it is fascinating to hear about the process and change.

Kate

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Just because I can't talk, doesn't mean you can't understand me

sorry for the delay, just got back in.
Tripod libby is now 9 months old and a working sheep dog BC.
I had her from a farm and her mum was very nervy but not aggressive.
At first she was nervy of loud noises, the boys barking, she is reactive to tone of voice etc.
Let me see, so any loud noise she hides, bags blowing in the wind, dogs people, the smoke alarm, if one of the boys has a pigs ear and cracks it loudly, the rattle of the food dishes. i cant remember what else.
from 8 weeks i took her to the shops, hairdressers, training with the boys, in the car, to kevs office, everywhere you can take a dog and places you cant lol.
Training wise she copied Dalton on a few things, command wise, she is amazing TBH very quick, learns things in a heart beat.
she car chases too alot.
so far she is ok with bags now, but if something unforseen startles her its a biggy, like if a dog comes to a gate, that i didnt realise was there etc.
I got her toy trinaed so her ball is her dummy, and so far she seees the field as safety, she goes off lead her recall is superb, but partly due to her nerves.
we train on the field etc, and so far have edged closer to people etc, and dogs, now she doesnt react to people or dogs, just gives them a wide berth of a few feet.
On lead she hates everyone and all dogs
xx

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Sarah xxx