Adrienne Farricelli

So in most cases, leash reactivity in dogs doesn't just happen on a whim. Rather, the behavior of barking and lunging has some specific underlying function that fuels and maintains the behavior alive. It can be said that in general, dog leash-reactivity behaviors can be classified into two main categories: escape and access. -Escape Escape, as implied, involves dogs attempting to escape from some stimulus or circumstance that they perceive as unpleasant or aversive. When dogs are on a leash, they become more vulnerable as their choice to flee is removed and often this puts them into the situation to choose "fight" versus flight. These dogs are therefore trying to put distance between themselves and the trigger, but since they are prevented from fleeing, they are forced to put up a threatening display in hopes of scaring the trigger away. For sake of an example, imaging a person being terrified of mice. A mouse makes its way in the home and is approaching the person. The person cornered, will stomp her feet in hopes of scaring the rodent away. The mouse perceives the threat and rushes back to its original hiding spot, a crack of a wall. Since this behavior "works," this person will repeat this behavior in the future should a similar circumstance happen again. Among dogs, we see rehearsal of this behavior quite often in the case of dogs barking at the mailman. Bark, after bark, the dog soon realizes that the mailman eventually leaves and therefore his barking ultimately "works." Of course, this is from the dog's perspective, us humans know for a fact that the mailman isn't really escaping from the dog but just going on with his postal duties! Cases of leash reactivity where the dog feels threatened, require changing the dog's emotional response so that manifesting all the associated stress/anxiety/fear-related behavioral manifestations becomes redundant. -Access Access, as the name implies, access-driven behaviors involves dogs trying to access some stimulus that they find appealing. At a first glance, it may seem odd for a dog to bark, growl and lunge when they want to reach something appealing, but in reality those angry vocalizations are triggered by frustration. These are typically dogs who are social butterflies and have a history of playing well with other dogs at the off leash dog park, but put them on leash and they will throw the canine equivalent of a "temper tantrum" when they can't go to greet and meet dogs on walks. This type of leash-reactivity is quite different than the one elicited by fear and therefore requires a slightly different approach. Rather than changing the dog's emotions, we give them something else to do. In other words, If you think your dog is barking out of frustration because he can't go meet people or other dogs, check out the guide on barrier frustration in dogs: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/barrier-frustration/ So here is the "meaty section." An example of behavior modification for dogs who overreact and their behavior stems from an underlying state of stress/anxiety/fear. It goes without saying that, to stop a dog from being reactive on leash, you'll need to take a multi-pronged approach, tackling the issue from a variety of angles. This because, behind the lunging and barking, there are underlying emotions at play. It's no more a simple matter of just training, but behavior modification is involved. As mentioned,, barking and lunging are simply the external manifestations of an internal turmoil, and therefore it's important getting to the root cause of the behavior, which is the underlying emotional response towards evoking triggers and situations. Following is an example of steps to ameliorate the situation. -Ensure health It's always good at a first step, ensuring the dog is feeling well and healthy. There are certain medical conditions that can lower a dog's threshold for reactivity making them more likely to react showing signs of excess arousal, fear or aggression. A through vet visit can help rule these things out. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/medical-causes-aggressive-behavior-dogs/ -Prevent Rehearsal of Problematic Behavior Just like actors get better and better in their recitals the more they practice, the more your dog's lunging and barking behaviors establish and become more and more habit-forming, the more he gets to repeat them. As the saying goes, "practice makes perfect." It therefore goes without saying, that a fundamental part of the rehabilitation process will entail preventing your dog from engaging in barking and lunging behavior. Here's the thing: even if your dog gets to lunge and bark occasionally as he doesn't always encounter his triggers on walks, those occasional rehearsals maintain the behavior alive, because escaping from fearful or stress-inducing situations is an adaptive behavior that will persist because it's associated with survival. Preventing rehearsal can therefore mean no more walks until your dog is better equipped with coping skills and has demonstrated the ability to tolerate very low intensity exposures towards triggers. Taking your dog off the reactivity fog will allow both of you to get some relief and destress. No worries, this is not a permanent solution and there are many ways to keep your dog active, and happy in the meanwhile through brain games, food puzzles, clicker training, foraging opportunities, fun games in the yard (fetch, treasure hunts, use of herding balls for dogs), sniffing adventures, canine sports, possibly hikes in rural areas (where you are absolutely sure there are no dogs). - Familiarize With Desensitization and Counterconditioning These are two very powerful behavior modification techniques that are also used in humans to treat fears and phobias. Desensitization is simply the process where you expose your dog to his triggers in a systematic manner so that they don't evoke his lunging and barking behavior. This often means presenting them at a distance if the trigger is visual or playing recordings at a low volume if the trigger is auditory. More about this is covered here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ Counterconditioning is instead the process of creating positive associations with the trigger. The goal is eliciting what is known as a conditioned emotional response, where the dog goes from dreading the trigger to looking forward to it because it leads to wonderful things. The most common implementation of this is through the use of food. Basically, every time the trigger is seen, the dog is fed something high in value. More about this is covered here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ When desensitization is combined with counterconditioning you therefore get the best of both worlds: low level, more tolerable exposures to the trigger and wonderful associations with food (remember to go very high value outdoors, I like to use baked liver strips, low sodium-organic beef hot dogs, chicken breast-the white meat only, no skin or bones-check with your vet if your dog has allergies/dietary intolerances/ a sensitive GI system). - Become a Pro In Reading Your Dog In order to implement behavior modification correctly, it's important to familiarize yourself with your dog's body language. Recognize when he is in an emotional baseline level and when he's starting to rev up. If you have recordings of your dog's reactive behavior, watch them in slow motion and watch carefully the precursor signs. There may have been a quick lip lick, wrinkling of the skin on the forehead or he may stopped panting focusing on something in the distance. You mentioned whining, but what happens right prior to the whining or turning the head? A good behavior modification plan will have your dog orienting towards the trigger, but without causing him to react. You therefore need to pay extra attention that your dog doesn't go over threshold. Here is how to know when a dog is over or under threshold (hint, when your dog spits treats, he very over) https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ -Train Replacement Behaviors The goal is to gradually train an alternate behavior for your dog to engage in and obtain a fluid response so that it can be then eventually prompted in face of the trigger. This training should be started in the comfort of the home away from distractions. With cases of reactivity, I have found more success in using dynamic behaviors (like attention heeling) rather than static behaviors (like sits, downs and stays) because I find that dogs struggle more staying still when they are concerned about their surroundings. One of my favorite replacement behaviors is to train is attention heeling (where the dog looks at me while walking past distractions). If your dogs pull, you'll want to work on this any way so there's a double whammy of benefits (tackling the pulling, giving the dog an alternate behavior to engage in rather than barking and pulling). Here is the guide: You should start training in the hallway possibly using kibble, then move to then garage and then fenced yard using high-value treats (since there are more distractions),as long as you are sure there are no triggers. I would also recommend again working on conditioning your dog to respond to a smacking sound. Train this by making the sound and then tossing your dog immediately a treat. Smacking sound/treat, smacking sound/treat. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ Practice in low distraction areas, gradually adding in distractions (not the actual trigger though). You want your dog to immediately orient towards you for his treat. -Train The Emergency U-Turn The emergency U-turn is an important skill to train considering that one day, you may find yourself stuck in a sticky situation where your dog's trigger is walking your way. The emergency U-turn teaches your dog to turn on cue. If you practice often enough, your dog should quickly do an about-turn with you saving you from a potentially challenging situation. Here is a guide: how to train the emergency U-turn: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/ - Keep Your Dog Under Better Control As mentioned, just a plain buckle collar attached to a leash in general will give you poor control of your dog. This can also personally cause us humans stress and anxiety when going on walks because we're concerned about falling, or our dogs dragging you too close to the trigger or tugging strong enough that the leash slips through our hands. Our dogs may sense this stress, and this can travel down the leash to the point where both you and your dog are feeding on each others' emotions. By having a better sense of control, we can feel more confident. We can gain some of that using a front-attachment harness where the leash attaches to the front ring of the harness. For cases where I am particularly concerned about safety, or there's a struggle in walking the dog, I may even invest in a head halter. Prong collars, choke collars or shock collars are a big no-no as these do the total opposite of what we are trying to achieve (create positive associations) since they cause discomfort/pain. - Start With Easy Systematic Exposures Once you have learned how to read your dog's body language, the basics of desensitization and counterconditioning, how to keep a dog under threshold, acclimatized your dog to wearing a harness (or muzzle training if necessary for safety) and practiced a replacement behavior, it is time to start working with systematic exposures. These are again low-intensity exposures where you can control the intensity of the trigger through set-ups (like volunteers walking back and forth with a dog at a subthreshold distance). You won't ask for trained replacement behaviors yet, because it's not easy for a dog to perform operant behaviors when they are concerned about a potential trigger (think about trying to focus when a big spider is about to crawl on your arm!), and on top of that, you want your dog to focus on the trigger so that you can pair it with good things. There are several games and exercises that use desensitization and counterconditioning that come handy when working with reactive dogs. These exercises/games are rather easy for the dog to perform since they don't involve much thinking but just looking at triggers and forming positive associations with them. A great game to play to create positive associations with a trigger is the Look at That Exercise. In this exercise, you just feed treats when your dog sees the trigger, aiming for a positive conditioned emotional response. If I have a dog who isn't very territorial, I can even start this exercise indoors, by looking at the trigger from a window at a distance. Skipping the leash may help initially. Here is the guide on that: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ If you want to make things crystal clear, you can use the Open Bar/Close Bar method, taking advantage of visual obstructions. For example, if a dog is reactive towards other dogs, one can have a helper walk a dog parallel to parked cars. Feed treats when your dog sees the other dog, stop feeding treats when he no longer sees him (as the cars block the view). Here is the guide on this: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/ Another helpful game that aims to provide positive associations is a "Treasure Hunt game" with a twist. Upon noticing the trigger at a distance, toss a handful of treats and and say "go get em!" in a happy tone as you point towards the treats. A Treat Toss game instead consists of the dog noticing the trigger at a distance, I then make the smacking sound tossing the treat a little ahead on the road for the dog to catch. I have found some dogs respond better to tossed treats rather than hand-feeding as it stimulates their prey drive and allows them to release some energy too. For dogs worried about dogs and turning around repeatedly when worried about other dogs, I created a form of LAT on the go, you'll find a video in the case study section: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/case-studies/03-homer-homers-reactivity/ Tip: If your dog has been exhibiting reactive behavior always on walks around the neighborhood, it may be worthy to start working on the issue in a new place so to establish new routines/habits. - Progress to Actual Training Once your dog has shown signs of associating the trigger with tasty treats and he is in a calmer state, you can start asking for the replacement behaviors. Right upon passing by the trigger, make your smacking sound, hold the treat at eye level and ask your dog to do some steps of attention heeling, looking at you as you feed him treats every step. Once past the trigger, no more treats. Make it clear that the trigger is what starts all the fun! -Have a Plan for Setbacks If at any time, your dog becomes reactive, take that as a sign that you have progressed too fast or the trigger was at a too intense level. If caught very early, if possible, interrupt the behavior at the earliest sign by making your smacking sound or tossing treats telling your dog to "get them" increasing distance from the trigger. If the trigger is approaching head-on, prompt the emergency turn immediately, Always end the session on a positive note, feeding treats as your dog sees the trigger from a distance that doesn't evoke a reaction, and call it a day. Once home, make a mental note of presenting the trigger at less intense levels. It could be the trigger was presented too close or for too long or was too animated. Each of these elements should be presented one at a time, as too many elements presented at once can easily push a dog at the edge. It could also be that your dog has endured other stressful events at home (hence the importance of reducing stress at home too) and due to trigger stacking his threshold for feeling reactive has temporarily lowered. Maybe he is not feeling well, or the exposure was just too much incorporated various elements at once. - Consider Calming Aids For cases of reactivity that aren't too responsive, you may need to add some calming aids. Examples include calming supplements, DAP collars, calming sprays etc. These options can be discussed with a vet. In certain cases, where the dog is a bite-risk or the reactivity occurs across various contexts, or when the triggers are difficult to manage and there is no improvement, the use of medications prescribed by the vet may be recommended along with behavior medication. - Consider Professional Help It goes without saying that ideally, reactivity in dogs should be tackled with the in-person help of a professional for safety and the correct implementation of behavior modification. It is important to seek help by professional committed to force-free training and behavior modification. Professionals to seek out include dog trainers specializing in reactivity, board-certified veterinary behaviorist and Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists. -Importance of Improving the Dog's Emotional Wellbeing On top of working around the reactivity, it's important to not forget to also tackle the dog's overall emotional wellbeing. Improvements can be made by decreasing the overall stress in the dog's life, promoting relaxation (relax on a mat), increasing the dog's confidence and helping the dog develop coping skills. Particularly beneficial may be adding enrichment under the form of brain games and food puzzles, promoting positive experiences, shaping, clicker training, impulse control training, letting the dog explore the world at his own pace, building frustration tolerance, splitting exercises in easy steps, teaching the dog to relax. Any noise phobias should be tackled as well: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-noises/ I hope this helps reduce the overreactive state of both your dogs! Please keep us posted and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions. Happy training! Best, Adrienne Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques (no shock, prongs, or physical corrections) for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.

Hi Elizabeth, welcome to the forums! When it comes to walking two dogs together, I have a saying: "Walking two dogs together often means double the trouble, walking two reactive dogs together means quadruple the trouble." If your dogs are overreacting to seeing other dogs, to tackle this issue you'll therefore need to take a break from tandem walks, and start walking each dog individually. The reasons why I don't recommend in general walking two dogs at once are several. When we walk two dogs together the following is likely to happen: -Dogs Will Feed Off Each Others' Emotions In other words, if one dog alerts to something, the other will become emotionally charged as well, and soon you'll have two dogs overreacting by pulling and maybe also barking and lunging. Here's the thing: dogs living together become very in tune with each other. All it takes sometimes is just one dog twitching the ears in one direction or tensing up and looking at something specific, that the other dog alerts to that and automatically tenses up as well. After all, we see this happen as well in humans. Last time, I saw a family of ducks and watched them swim in a pond and all other people who walked by oriented to where I was looking and stopped to admire them as well. In another scenario, when I was on vacation as was walking on the boardwalk, I saw several people looking in one direction and walking towards the edge with an alarmed look in their face. I automatically looked there as well, and there was a senior having difficulty swimming in the water and another person had jumped in to help her. It's therefore natural for dogs, just as in people, to alert each other about happenings in their environment. -Dogs Getting into Teamwork Modality When two or more dogs are bonded, they also engage in "unison." In other words, it's almost as if they adhere to the "United we stand" modality. I was reflecting on this the other day, when I met two stray dogs I knew well who normally would greet me, but this time they both unexpectedly barked at me. The reason for this is that, there was a third dog who barked at me first and alerted them, and the other dogs backed him up. After a while, they recognized I was no threat and were back to their normal selves, although this third dog kept his distance and acted wary, and the two other dogs didn't approach to be pet as they usually did. We see this often in dogs who bark at triggers. There is often one dog who is more on the alert and the other dog joins in, despite the fact he had no interest in the past in reacting towards triggers. -It's Difficult to Train Each Dog When it comes to training dogs to walk nicely on leash without overreacting to stimuli, they need lots of individual attention, and this is even more true with dogs who are on the reactive side. With a reactive dog, you'll need to not only train the dog to engage in calmer, non-reactive behaviors, but you'll also need to change his emotional state. This entails keeping an eye on body language so to ensure the dog doesn't go over threshold, implementing behavior modification and training important cues that helps the dog learn coping skills and the ability to make good decisions. On top of this, to train a dog, you'll likely be juggling a variety of items such as the leash, treats, and possibly, a clicker. -Leashes Can Get Tangled When walking two dogs, there are always risks for the leashes to tangle. This is even more probable with walking two dogs who are excitable and reactive towards other dogs/people etc. While there is a solution to this (a lead splitter, also known as a coupler), it too has some disadvantages. The main one is that, having two dogs, placed so closely together, may put them into a more competitive state, which may lead to more pulling. On top of this, it doesn't help that the splitter puts the dogs often in a front position which can cause them to act a bit like sled dogs, where they may team up and forget all about you. -Difficulty Gaining Control When it comes to walking two dogs together, safety may also be a concern. If the two dogs become reactive, they can drag you to the ground causing a fall or they may get too close to other dogs or people putting them in danger. Also, should an off-leash dog approach and cause a fight, or something unexpected happens, dealing with dogs tied up so close to each other without many options to give space can spell disaster leading to a redirected bite (which we can be the victims). So my biggest piece of advice is to walk two dogs separately. I know this is inconvenient in many ways, but it paves the path towards better walks with the dogs being less emotionally charged. This, at least not until they have proven themselves to have their emotions better under control and being responsive to cues and capable of walking on a loose leash. Even having a helper walk the other dog is better than walking the dogs together. This way, there's one handler per dog, and each dog can get the attention he or she deserves. This may not work as well as if each dog was walked individually, but it can lower a bit more their emotional arousal. However, the best results are attained by working on each dog individually. Interestingly, you may discover that one dog may be less reactive on solo walks than in company of the other dog. This dog may therefore need less training, compared to the other one. What type of training should each dog receive if they are overreacting upon seeing other dogs? I will post details in the next post.

Cheryl, thank you for all the kind words. Shiloh was very lucky to have you and you did such a wonderful job with him. I hope all the good memories will help you through this difficult time. My heart goes out to you. Feel free to post anytime you feel like it, we're always here for support. Best, Adrienne

Hi Dorothy, Welcome to the forums, congrats on your new puppy! How old is your older dog? and what breed/breeds? What breed/breeds is your new puppy? and how old is he? Is your older dog reactive towards other dogs (like barks when he sees other dogs on walks? from a fence or window?) What does his social life look like, if he/she has any (does he have play mates, gets along with other dogs? is happy to see other dogs?) This guide should help you out with some basics: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/introduce-dog-new-dog/ If you have a helper, you can do some foundation work on creating positive associations. Have a helper feed your puppy treats through the crate bars as he/she watches your older dog being walked at a distance and feed treats to your older dog as he/she walks by as well and looks at the puppy. Look up the open bar/closed bar method. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/ it's what this exercise is based. Make sure both dogs are at a distance so that they're both under threshold. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ If you keep the puppy on leash (rather than crated, if your puppy is used to wearing it), while a helper keeps your older dog on leash, doing the above exercise at a distance, this may sometimes reduce the barking, as being crated may cause your puppy to feel more vulnerable or the barrier may cause some frustration. Removing tags from the collars or taping them to the collar can reduce some reactivity (many dogs react to the sound of tags). Even better, the exercise is done outdoors, where there is more space, with one person per dog, on neutral grounds, feeding treats as they look at each other. Here is an exercise that may get them in a better mood as it creates positive associations when implemented correctly: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/case-studies/03-homer-homers-reactivity/ It's important to work at the dogs' pace, never putting them in situations they are not ready for (too close for comfort) which can cause them to go over threshold. With older dogs and a puppy, things get tricky because the puppy wants to play and older dogs often feel overwhelmed, this creates negative associations, so puppies should not be put into the position of pestering the older dog, and older dogs shouldn't be put into situations where they feel the need to protect themselves and ask for space. Older dogs need to have easy access to a place to retreat to where the puppy can't go. A baby gate/pet fence for separation can allow them their own space. I like to place a second barrier if I am not too sure how well they do, so that they can see each other, but not meet face-to-face. Another exercise you can do in this setting if you have a door, is my open/door closed/door method. I have used food bins as a second barrier here to prevent getting too close, and treats are fed when the door is open, and no more treats are fed when the door is closed. This emphasizes that the sight of each other makes treats happen. For good timing, you may need a helper feeding one dog, while you feed the other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLPsAIDL7bs Caution is always needed to prevent the dogs from getting too riled up/frustrated. If you notice barking/frustration, in many cases, distance needs to be increased. On the side, start training your puppy sits, leaves its and going to mat which you'll find in the obedience 101 section and video archive.

What a great surprise! Glad to hear things went smoothly and that he was able to sleep in his crate and got up only once and then was quick to go back to sleep. That's nice that the shelter has organized for you a 1:1 behavior training evaluation. With kids in the home, it's important to have some hands-on demos on how to work on the issue. Usually this entails some desensitization and counterconditioning (like starting with tossing treats as you walk by the food bowl at a distance, trading with higher value foods, training leave it and drop it, preventing the dog from going over threshold, management. etc. Hopefully they use force-free behavior modification methods as most resource guarding stems from stress and fear of losing access to perceived resources.

Hi there, Welcome to the forums! It is great that you are thinking ahead, it's always good to be prepared in advance when it comes to getting a new puppy. Please see my observations under what you have shared. We are getting a 4-month old poodle mix puppy from the humane society later this week. It will be neutered the day before we can take it home. What are the best ways to ensure a happy transition to our home when it may be scared, in a little pain, and not able to exercise a lot the first week? I also want to start on training, but don't know if we need to wait until it's more comfortable. We are planning on crate training it, and working on house training as needed. The veterinarian doing the surgery should hopefully provide some discharge papers with instructions. Follow these carefully. Hopefully, your puppy will also be sent home with some pain meds to get through the initial days. In general, most shelters will hold puppies 24 hours post surgery and the vet should do a surgical recheck. You will have to keep him quiet, which is not easy as puppies are high energy. You'll also need to watch that he doesn't lick/bother his incision. Fortunately, there are several ways you can keep him busy. Here are some general tips. -Leash Walks to Potty When you need to take your puppy outside to potty, keep him on a leash. This will prevent him from romping around and jumping and possibly get his incision dirty. The leash will also keep him focused on going potty, preventing from getting distracted. Make it a habit to always head to the potty area first. This is a good time to also introduce a go potty cue as explained here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/potty-on-command/ When he goes potty, make sure to praise and reward him and let him sniff around and explore a bit. -Let Him Wear the "Cone of Shame" If your vet has provided an Elizabethan collar, let him wear it, especially when you can't monitor him, this will prevent your puppy from thinking about licking and bothering his stitches. Dogs are naturally drawn to the area as their instincts tell them to lick their wounds. However, rather than helping the incision heal, licking of the area can lead to problems. For example, excessive licking can cause the stitches to open up which could mean having to sedate him again to re-suture, something you don't want to put him through or pay for. Not to mention, the incision area may get infected considering that dog saliva contains a host of bacteria. -Provide Food Puzzles Rather than letting your puppy eat his meal in one fast setting, skip the food bowl and let your puppy work on food puzzles. Food puzzles are toys that release food, but require some effort to do so. There are a vast array of choices lately. The most popular are Kongs, but there are other fun options such as Kong Wobblers, Snuffle Mats, and Licki-mats. You can make a Kong considerably last longer by freezing it contents (for example, you can wet the kibble and place it in the Kong). -Offer Long-Lasting Chews There are many long-lasting chews on the market nowadays. With young puppies, you'll need to find some that are age-appropriate since adult chews may be too hard for them or hard to digest. Check with the vet on what type of long-lasting chews you can offer your puppy. -Offer Brain Games There are many fun brain games that can keep your puppy busy. without engaging him in too active play. For example, you can organize fun treasure hunts: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-treasure-hunt/ You can play the shell game: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/college/the-shell-game/ You can hide treats under balls placed in a muffin tin: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-muffin-game/ You can have your puppy unroll towels/rugs with treats hidden within the rolls https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/college/the-magic-carpet/ These games will keep your puppy mentally stimulated and busy so that he'll feel less propense to run and jump around. The best part is that you can use your dog's kibble for these games so to keep calorie counts low. -Start Some Training Training your puppy can also be a great way to keep him busy. You can start with an easy cue such as a sit. Other cues you can work on are leave it, drop it, heel and hand target. These are covered in the obedience 10 section: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/ Make sure to keep the sessions short and fun. Puppies have short attention spans so they can get easily distracted or feel frustrated easily. -Clicker Train Some Tricks You can also introduce a clicker and clicker train your puppy to learn some cool tricks. Here is the guide on clicker training: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/clicker-training/ For example, you can get a tap light and teach your puppy to turn it on: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-your-dog-to-turn-on-a-light/ or you can have fun with the "hot cone" game: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/hot-and-cold/ Of course, start with the more stationary games during the first days, and move on to less stationary ones as he nears the end of the his exercise restriction. It's always best to check with the vet about what types of games he/she recommends. -Do Handling Exercises All puppies benefit from learning to tolerate human touch. You can turn this into a fun game by feeding treats every time your puppy is touched. Puppies also need to get used to being brushed, and having their paws and ears handled. As always, keep it short, rewarding and extra fun. Here are some handling exercises: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch -Encourage Naps One good news is that, despite being hyper, puppies need a lot of sleep. This sleep is needed for proper growth and for good memory consolidation for all the things he's learning. Many puppies struggle finding their "off buttons," so you'll need to intervene to ensure he gets enough naps throughout the day. You also want to do this because puppies may get particularly hyper and cranky when tired. So schedule naptime by placing your puppy in his pen or crate in a quiet area where you can monitor him and with something to chew. You may want to also work on creating positive associations with the crate/pen area: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/ -Ask Your Vet For a Chill Pill If your puppy is very, very active and you are really struggling to keep him quiet, you can always as a last resort, ask your vet to give you something to sedate him. This is often not necessary, but it's good to know that you have this option. The good thing is that all of the exercises and brain games involve kibble/treats, so by doing these you are also creating positive associations with being around you and the home which is a win-win. The shelter has also told us it had some food resource guarding habits, so I want to work on those as well ASAP. Please use extra caution and keep whatever he guards away when your children are around or don't keep the children around when he has whatever he guards. Children are often a big trigger for dog who guard stuff because dogs often feel overwhelmed by them and may misinterpret their behaviors. These dogs need to learn to trust and shouldn't be put into situations that trigger them to guard. Consider that dogs who guard certain things may guard anything that is similar. For example, if he guards food, he may guard anything a child may drop from a table, crumbs, food wrapper etc, if he guards toys, he may guard sticks or shoes or anything he perceives as a toy. Strict management is imperative to prevent him from getting stressed and in need to protect. I hope the shelter has evaluated him carefully by a behavior specialist before sending him to a home with several children. I would inquire more about this, what he guards, the severity of the issue, who does he guard against ( other dogs, littermates, people?) to ensure he's a good match. Here are some exercises for resource guarding, but these are really meant to prevent: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/the-importance-of-preventing-resource-guarding-in-puppies/, since he's already guarding, you may need to take smaller steps to teach him to trust and ensure safety. This may require the intervention of a dog behavior professional. Please don't hesitate to consult with one as needed. Never remove toys or other things he guards without swapping them for something better: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/overprotective-of-toys/ What would you recommend for the first few days? Should we have the crate in our bedroom the first few nights, even if we intend to move it to the kitchen or living room for night sleeping fairly soon? In the daytime I plan on having him in the kitchen in a small pen with a crate while I'm working at the table so I can keep an eye on him and take him potty pretty often. Yes, the crate is best to be in the bedroom as he needs to feel safe and you also need to be within earshot in case he needs to be taken out. You can then gradually move the crate farther and farther, although most dogs don't like to be away from their families so the process is not without struggles in one way or another. And how would you recommend our kids (10, 13, 15) start bonding with the puppy without making him too anxious or excited as he's healing? Any tips for how to help it feel less anxious and knowing what to prioritize for training the first week would be appreciated. Thanks He should be prevented from playing/engaging with children the first few days so to allow him to recover and not get too active (children tend to rev puppies up.) Too much excitement and commotion may also scare him. Your children are of a good age to take directions, so they should be instructed on not overwhelming the puppy by talking too loud, moving too fast etc. And care should be taken to not expose him to intense situations where he may feel like guarding. I hope this helps, Congrats on getting a new puppy, keep us posted on how thing go. Best, Adrienne Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques (no shock, prongs, or physical corrections) for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.

Sounds like a plan! Make sure everybody is on the same page for consistency. Keep us posted on how things go. Happy Training!

You can also start very easy, by taking advantage of her willingness to come inside after she goes potty by "capturing" the behavior. In other words, watch her from a window, and as soon as you catch the earliest sign of her heading your way to come back inside call her and once she reaches inside, toss several kibble/treats on the floor for a fun game of "find it." Take advantage of her meals to call her and also when you have a new toy, hide it behind your back, call her and surprise her with it. You want her to perceive the recall as music to her ears. If she has a history of not coming when called with your regular cue, or if you have used it in the past for unpleasant things (like calling her when it's time to leave a place she loves or a nail trim) you may be better off introducing a fresh new cue so that is assumes a positive and strong history. For example, instead of just calling Ruby! you can change it to "Ruby.... Come!" Ruby grabs her attention, and the Come is said in a high-pitched, excited tone denoting great surprises. You can also try using a silent whistle and conditioning her to respond to it. This is done by whistle, treat, whistle, treat, whistle treat, indoors. Then you can progress to practice outdoors like when she's already showing an intent to come back inside or on a long line. Here's a demo on whistle recalls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BiE6VXwBzM While quite effective, when I use whistle training, I always wear the whistle on a lanyard around my neck and gift my clients with one too. Its important though still use voice recalls every now and then to maintain those in case one day we lose our whistle. Make sure that you make being inside also rewarding. Organize treasure hunts, play games, use food puzzles. Train your dog using rewards so to pave the path for a deeper bond. Build a digging pit, filled with edibles and toys buried under sand or a bunch of balls. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-ball-pit-game/ Compete with what draws her away. In this video, I am playing the magnet game with a hound. I was using my silent whistle at first to get him to rush towards me, but after a while you can see he was anticipating me and just focusing back on me which I promptly rewarded. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW7GMKczo_I I hope this helps, keep us posted on how things go. Happy training!

Awww, that's adorable! Great job Lupetto! (Little wolf in Italian). We raised our Rotties with our chickens since they were chicks and they became family-like. It's so interesting watching two different species interact. Your hen looks very comfortable around his protector! Lupo's very lucky to have the luxury of living on a farm and having a "job."

Thank you for the extra details, they are very helpful! 1. She is not spayed. We are actually breeding her. I asked this just because raging hormones in intact dogs are one of the most common reasons why dogs escape and roam around. If she is nearing her estrus cycle that can make her more compelled and determined to escape. 2. She is not technically "jumping" the fence, she is climbing out. We watched her try, so we know how she's doing it. It is made out of wood - about 3-4 ft tall and has very small gaps between each board. So, she is using those gaps to climb out. We will actually be making the fence taller today. In these cases an extension can help. This extension doesn't have to necessarily increase the fences' height, just adding it in a way that it tilts inward at about a 45-degree angle can help so that there is no way to climb. Here is an example: https://www.amazon.com/Dog-Proofer-Fence-Extension-System/dp/B082YG2DMS If your fence has ''toe holds'' investing in a smooth, flat surface such as plywood or vertical boards make it harder to climb and jump over. Coyote rollers which are made of aluminum rods with a slick surface also prevent gaining traction and making it difficult for dogs to climb and jump over. 3. Climbing the fence is a newer behavior, but her not coming when she is free is not new...she has always done that. In the house, she responds immediately to the "come" command, but when she is free outside, it is impossible. If she listens well in the house, then she has the basics down, the next step is to gradually increase the level of distractions and increasing the reinforcement value (use higher value treats for outdoor training). 4. We only have a small fenced-in space. She lets us know when she needs to go to the bathroom, and we let her out alone. Before she started escaping, she would go out to the bathroom and spend maybe 5-10 minutes sniffing around. Then she would come right to the door and ask to come in. OK, my concern was her spending too much time alone in the yard which can trigger boredom and a strong reinforcement history of engaging in certain behaviors (digging, barking at triggers, chasing critters.). It's reassuring knowing that she is interested in coming back inside after being sent outside to potty. That tells us that she values time in the home and around you. 5. When she escapes, we have been taking treats out and calling to her. If we walk towards her or follow her, it gets worse. But we are near a main road, so we also don't want to just wait around for her to come back. Our worry isn't so much about how she escapes, that's an easy fix. Our concern is about how to get her to come if/when she does. Not only when she escapes. But we just cannot let her free outside without a leash. We take my brother's dog and Ruby to the park. My brother's dog stays close. We throw her a frisbee and she fetches and plays. Ruby wants so badly to be free with her. We tried it, but as soon as she realizes that it's time to go home or to get back on the leash, she starts the "game" of running from us. OK, so this is something important to work on and it requires a multi-faceted approach. Recalls are something that we must work on for life, it's a relationship building foundation that needs to be maintained and polished and worked around a variety of distractions, adding them in very gradually. Until she has proven to be more trustworthy, she'll need to be either on leash, on a long line and/or confined in escape-proofed areas. So here are some general tips: -Practice, practice, practice recalls, starting in the house, and then in the yard, and then in outdoor areas using a long line, here is the general guide: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/recall/ -Don't let her depend on the sight of the treats. In other words, gradually start fading showing the treats. If you always must show the treats, you'll be stuck with a dog who only comes when he or she visibly sees the treats as explained here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dog-listens-treats/ Therefore, start making the treat less and less visible and then start keeping the treats in your pocket, so that when she comes towards you, you surprise her feeding her several treats in a row to leave a strong positive impression on her. -Swap roles. Rather than moving her way or trying to chase her, entice her to chase you. Run away, act silly, pretend you have just found something amazing, once she reaches you, praise and feed her several treats in a row. -Play the hide and seek game. This game encourages her to look for you: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/hide-and-seek/ Make it extra rewarding. -Reward voluntary "check-ins." Walk around the yard and feed her a treat/kibble every time she approaches you on her own. -Never punish your dog for coming to you, no matter how frustrated you are about something. -Always make a big deal with treats and praise when your dog obeys the recall command. -Make yourself more interesting than anything else around by acting energetic and silly! -Never call your dog to you immediately followed by something perceived as unpleasant such as clipping nails or leaving the dog park. -Work on creating positive associations with having the leash clipped on. For example, call her, clip the leash and feed several treats in a row, then remove the leash and no more treats. Practice in a variety of contexts. You want clipping the leash to become super rewarding, to the point of eliciting a positive conditioned emotional response: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ -Avoid calling your dog when you are unsure if she will listen. For instance, avoid calling her when she's sniffing, or at the dog park, do not call her while she’s playing if her recall isn’t too reliable and you haven’t trained much in that scenario. -Every now and then at the park (if fenced), call your dog, let her play with a tug toy or give some treats, then let her back to play. -When you need to leave, once she is responsive to being called, and allows you to you clip the leash (after lots of practice), feed high value treats as you are walking so to leave a positive impression rather than a negative one (leaving the park with all the fun ending) and let her find in the car (parked near) a high-value edible to chew on (e.g. bully stick). Make this a new routine. -Remember to add distractions gradually; you can’t go from teaching a dog to come in your hallway and then move to the dog park the next day. More troubleshooting can be found here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/why-does-my-dog-not-respond-to-his-name/

Hi there! I am glad to hear that Ruby has been amazing and has learned so much! About her escaping, I need a little more info: Has Ruby been spayed? Is she jumping over your backyard fence? How tall is it and what material? Does it have any gaps? Is this a new behavior? when did it start? Is she kept out in the yard unsupervised? If so, for how long usually? What have you been doing so far to ger her to come back?

Oh my, I wasn't expecting to read this. I had to read your post twice to let it sink in. When I saw your title I thought you went on vacation and had Shiloh boarded somewhere. This is so sad! What type of person could do something like this? Just going on a mass killing spree targeting peoples' pets like thar? I hope you and your neighbors find out who this person was and that something is done so that this doesn't happen again to others' pets. I am so sorry for your loss of sweet Shiloh. I will miss reading your posts about him and his silly antics. He was fortunate to have such a dedicated owner like you. It's so tough to lose them. I think our lives intertwine with them for many good reasons, like learning about love, life and its preciousness-and also its vulnerability- with the importance of savoring every moment. Sending you a huge, supportive hug at this tough time. RIP sweet, Shiloh

Thanks for the update and pictures, Lupo is growing so fast! Please see my observations in non-bold. In terms of being annoying when guests come over, it just so happens just after we were corresponding, I was taking Lupo on the leash out back for a little training exercise when the person Lupo liked to jump up on came over to meet my wife. Since I had him on the leash with the treat bag on my belt, Lupo and I walked over to join the conversation. While Lupo was clearly excited, I was able to get him to sit, and fed him a few treats. Eventually he just laid down while we continued our conversation. The same person has come over since (along with many others) and he is really well behaved. The main and consistent reaction from Lupo when someone comes up the driveway now is a low key warning bark. This lasts as long as it takes me to come outside to tell him everything is OK and introduce him to whoever it is. He calms right down and is friendly. I really think this is exactly the behavior I want to see? Yes, that super great! This way you have a nice compromise, he alerts you (which is very natural for the breed) and then you give him alternate behaviors to engage in and reinforce those which in the background also help create positive associations with the guests. Keep it up, as the guarding instincts become more and more pronounced as he matures. I really use the leash infrequently but I am trying to incorporate it into our daily routine just so he stays used to it. Its hard because there really is no need for the leash. Although he's a farm dog, wearing a leash and collar and learning some basic foundational training is important. All farm dogs benefit from walks around the building and trailers, rides on the farm truck and learning to be brushed, having their bodies handled, restrained, crated or kenneled. They benefit from this for when they need to see the vet, be groomed, or go to a pet sitter. We still need to do more work on the car thing though. Its all about spending time. My wife and I had to go away over night and a friend offered to watch Lupo. He was fine with the car ride - he just does not like getting put in the car. Yes, best to work on this sooner than later as they get bigger and heavier and also may become more difficult to train when they reach the adolescent/social maturity stage. Making it a fun and rewarding game can help a lot. The friend has an older lab with some health issues - as well as some hounds that are kept in a kennel. About 40 acres of their property is completely fenced (even for snakes!) so Lupo, as an outdoor dog, was completely in his element. Lupo was a little apprehensive at first with Missy the lab, but after some routine sniffing they got along great. At night Lupo found his spot under their kitchen table with Missy a few feet away in her bed. They were amazed to see a six month old - sixty pound puppy so well behaved. And it was good for Missy too - she showed a lot more activity and seemed quite happy to have a playmate. So hopefully we can arrange a few play dates as Lupo does not get out much. That's awesome! Great job Lupo in acting so well behaved, your hard work is shining through! Now for my question. Lupo is still a puppy and fairly large, and with me - very playful. We play fetch a couple of times a day - and if the treat bag is on my hip he will faithfully drop whatever we are playing with at my feet. If you want to bring the training a step forward, I suggest trying to fade the sight of the treat bag, just in case one day you'll need to ask him to drop something and you don't have the treat bag on you. You can fade it gradually, moving it a bit more and more out of sight away from your hip, and every now and then surprising him and rewarding him with a treat hidden in your pocket. As cold weather approaches, you can also start wearing the treat bag under your jacket, but in a way that you can still access it as needed. He loves tug o war. But he also loves for me to chase him. He also likes to play keep away - where he has a toy and wants me to chase him. While the game of keep away can be super fun, it can lead to problems along the road because it teaches dogs to run away from us. It's best if dogs learn to chase us, than us to chase them. This because if one day we need to get a hold of them, they may think it's a game and play hard to catch. The hide and seek game can be a fun alternative game that puts their brain to work: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/hide-and-seek/ He will also come running at me full speed, take a flying leap into the air and tag me on the shoulder with his nose. I can see where this could be quite intimidating - but its a behavior he only exhibits with me. Once he came running at me full bore, jumped and planted both paws on my chest. Luckily he was the one who went sprawling on the ground and hasn't tried that move since. When he does get a little too over active, I can either tell him to "settle" and after ha few seconds he will settle down or I can cross my arms and he will sit calmly at my feet. Sounds like the Maremma version of a Superman move! I can't imagine how painful it would be if he clashed against you. Reminds me of a dog who once ran into me at full force and the paralyzing pain on my knees I felt afterwards. Sounds like though he has learned he's getting a bit too big for this level of athleticism. When he does want to play he will tug at my shirt sleeves - which is a behavior I should probably be discouraging. I can do this by giving him a toy or a stick and he will dutifully carry that while we walk together. He's a puppy and wants to play, and every puppy I have ever had liked to rough house to some extent - there have not been that many and they have been years apart. Our playtime is fun - but I worry that I could be encouraging some bad behaviors that I will regret. Honestly this dog is so smart he is probably wasted on me - I don't ever see myself bringing him to his full potential. It sounds like you are doing a good job in redirecting him, however, we need to always think in terms of reinforcement. If he's tugging at your shirt sleeves and afterwards you play with him or give him attention, then you'll have reinforced the tugging behavior which means it will strengthen and repeat over time. If he tugs and you redirect by overring him a stick, you still risk reinforcing the tugging as well because in the dog's mind: "tug, gets me access to a stick." So if we want to extinguish tugging, we can take a multi-modal approach: -Prevent the behavior from being rehearsed- eg. we can keep our sleeves rolled up high or keep our arms crossed/out of reach. -Train an alternate behavior for asking for play. For example, we can ask for sit and then reward that with play. In general, I like to to introduce structure and some general rules when engaging with dogs in play. -Play takes place when the dog has a soft mouth or doesn't mouth us at all (this depends on what point the puppy is in learning bite inhibition) -We are in control on when play starts and when play ends -We use a specific cue to initiate play that is so unique, it cannot be replicated by others, even by mistake -Teach a cue that has your dog settle immediately. -Take breaks every now and then -Recognize early warning signs of your dog tiring from play or getting too amped up. How is Lupo doing with the chickens? Being still a puppy, it can be tempting to play with them and chase them, but we need to teach them they are not playmates.

Thanks so much, there is a lot of information to digest and i will probably have to read it a few times to let it sink in fully. You are very welcome! When we work with our dogs on behavior modification, it's a process we must go through as a team. The same therefore applies to us, we need to also take baby steps and not feel overwhelmed by the process. For instance, it's OK to focus at the moment on what needs worked on by priority and setting small goals each week. I have tried a lot of your exercises and Cali loves them, he is a genius when he wants to be and other times as stubborn as a mule. For example with the airplane game, before we even start he will sit and stare me in the eyes. In this case, he is likely attending to other cues and anticipating you. For instance, he may have learned that getting a cookie from a closet and then raising our arm up means "sit and look at me." In this case, we can try either: 1) Catching him unprepared by getting the cookie when he's in another room, placing it in our pocket while holding it with our hand, then as he's busy doing something else, calling him and as soon as he approaches (before he has a chance to sit) spread our arms. Or we can do something totally different than usual, such as maybe playing the game with us sitting on the couch or playing it in the yard. 2) We can try increasing difficulty and have a helper bounce a ball nearby so to distract the dog and work around that distraction. I do the lip smacking on the walk too and usually he is good to stop, sit and look. Other times he is just lost in his own world sniffing and ignoring, lol. When dogs are sniffing, a large amount of their brain is concentrating on deciphering the information attained. It's quite fascinating actually. They have a special organ known as the vomeronasal organ which is meant to detect pheromones from which the information is relayed to the brain. On top of this, dogs who are nervous around their surroundings often are very into sniffing because it allows them to gain knowledge about their surroundings, similar to reading the headlines of a newspaper. I had noise-phobic dogs calm down fairly quickly on walks when I cued them to go sniff. 'Go sniff" can be easily put on cue by approaching a grassy area, dangling the leash and pointing to a specific area. So it's important starting all training in very low distraction areas, and avoiding asking for cues when our dogs are distracted such as actively sniffing. We can certainly build up to that level-but the problem is, that right, now, if we ask for a behavior and the dog ignores us, we risk weakening our cue to the point of learned irrelevance. Where on the contrary, what powers up our cues is our dog's responsiveness, reinforced with a valuable reward. I have ordered a new harness to try and will start new training with it so that its a new feeling for him too and let you know how we get on. I also think that the rewards I am using are not high value enough for conditioning, i am only giving him his croquettes (dry food) as rewards so i will change that on our next walks and with the harness training too.Thanks again for all your time and responses 🙂 Yes, going higher value can certainly help when moving the training to more distracting places. Many dog owners notice quite a difference in their dogs' responsiveness. Kibble though still has it place such as when we work indoors and for dogs who love it and are comfortable in their surroundings. You are very welcome! Keep us posted on how things go, Happy training! Best, Adrienne

So here is the "meaty section." An example of behavior modification for dogs who are leash reactive and their behavior stems from an underlying state of stress/anxiety/fear. It goes without saying that, to stop a dog from being reactive on leash, you'll need to take a multi-pronged approach, tackling the issue from a variety of angles. This because, behind the lunging and barking, there are underlying emotions at play. It's no more a simple matter of just training, but behavior modification is involved. As mentioned,, barking and lunging are simply the external manifestations of an internal turmoil, and therefore it's important getting to the root cause of the behavior, which is the underlying emotional response towards evoking triggers and situations. Following is an example of steps to ameliorate the situation. -Ensure health It's always good at a first step, ensuring the dog is feeling well and healthy. There are certain medical conditions that can lower a dog's threshold for reactivity making them more likely to react showing signs of excess arousal, fear or aggression. A through vet visit can help rule these things out. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/medical-causes-aggressive-behavior-dogs/ -Prevent Rehearsal of Problematic Behavior Just like actors get better and better in their recitals the more they practice, the more your dog's lunging and barking behaviors establish and become more and more habit-forming, the more he gets to repeat them. As the saying goes, "practice makes perfect." It therefore goes without saying, that a fundamental part of the rehabilitation process will entail preventing your dog from engaging in barking and lunging behavior. Here's the thing: even if your dog gets to lunge and bark occasionally as he doesn't always encounter his triggers on walks, those occasional rehearsals maintain the behavior alive, because escaping from fearful or stress-inducing situations is an adaptive behavior that will persist because it's associated with survival. Preventing rehearsal can therefore mean no more walks until your dog is better equipped with coping skills and has demonstrated the ability to tolerate very low intensity exposures towards triggers. Taking your dog off the reactivity fog will allow both of you to get some relief and destress. No worries, this is not a permanent solution and there are many ways to keep your dog active, and happy in the meanwhile through brain games, food puzzles, clicker training, foraging opportunities, fun games in the yard (fetch, treasure hunts, use of herding balls for dogs), sniffing adventures, canine sports, possibly hikes in rural areas (where you are absolutely sure there are no dogs). - Familiarize With Desensitization and Counterconditioning These are two very powerful behavior modification techniques that are also used in humans to treat fears and phobias. Desensitization is simply the process where you expose your dog to his triggers in a systematic manner so that they don't evoke his lunging and barking behavior. This often means presenting them at a distance if the trigger is visual or playing recordings at a low volume if the trigger is auditory. More about this is covered here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ Counterconditioning is instead the process of creating positive associations with the trigger. The goal is eliciting what is known as a conditioned emotional response, where the dog goes from dreading the trigger to looking forward to it because it leads to wonderful things. The most common implementation of this is through the use of food. Basically, every time the trigger is seen, the dog is fed something high in value. More about this is covered here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ When desensitization is combined with counterconditioning you therefore get the best of both worlds: low level, more tolerable exposures to the trigger and wonderful associations with food (remember to go very high value outdoors, I like to use baked liver strips, low sodium-organic beef hot dogs, chicken breast-the white meat only, no skin or bones-check with your vet if your dog has allergies/dietary intolerances/ a sensitive GI system). - Become a Pro In Reading Your Dog In order to implement behavior modification correctly, it's important to familiarize yourself with your dog's body language. Recognize when he is in an emotional baseline level and when he's starting to rev up. If you have recordings of your dog's reactive behavior, watch them in slow motion and watch carefully the precursor signs. There may have been a quick lip lick, wrinkling of the skin on the forehead or he may stopped panting focusing on something in the distance. You mentioned whining, but what happens right prior to the whining or turning the head? A good behavior modification plan will have your dog orienting towards the trigger, but without causing him to react. You therefore need to pay extra attention that your dog doesn't go over threshold. Here is how to know when a dog is over or under threshold (hint, when your dog spits treats, he very over) https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ -Train Replacement Behaviors The goal is to gradually train an alternate behavior for your dog to engage in and obtain a fluid response so that it can be then eventually prompted in face of the trigger. This training should be started in the comfort of the home away from distractions. With cases of reactivity, I have found more success in using dynamic behaviors than static behaviors (like sits, downs and stays) because I find that dogs struggle more staying still when they are concerned about their surroundings. One of my favorite replacement behaviors is to train is attention heeling (where the dog looks at me while walking past distractions). Since your dog pulls, you'll want to work on this any way so there's a double whammy of benefits (tackling the pulling, giving the dog an alternate behavior to engage in rather than barking and pulling). As mentioned, you should training this starting in the hallway using kibble, then move to then garage and then fenced yard using high-value treats (since there are more distractions),as long as you are sure there are no triggers. I would also recommend again working on conditioning your dog to respond to a smacking sound. Train this by making the sound and then tossing your dog immediately a treat. Smacking sound/treat, smacking sound/treat. Practice in low distraction areas, gradually adding in distractions (not the actual trigger though). You want your dog to immediately orient towards you for his treat. -Train The Emergency U-Turn The emergency U-turn is an important skill to train considering that one day, you may find yourself stuck in a sticky situation where your dog's trigger is walking your way. The emergency U-turn teaches your dog to turn on cue. If you practice often enough, your dog should quickly do an about-turn with you saving you from a potentially challenging situation. Here is a guide: how to train the emergency U-turn: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/ - Keep Your Dog Under Better Control As mentioned, just a plain buckle collar attached to a leash in general will give you poor control of your dog. This can also personally cause us humans stress and anxiety when going on walks because we're concerned about falling, or our dogs dragging you too close to the trigger or tugging strong enough that the leash slips through our hands. Our dogs may sense this stress, and this can travel down the leash to the point where both you and your dog are feeding on each others' emotions. By having a better sense of control, we can feel more confident. We can gain some of that using a front-attachment harness where the leash attaches to the front ring of the harness. For cases where I am particularly concerned about safety, or there's a struggle in walking the dog, I may even invest in a head halter. Prong collars, choke collars or shock collars are a big no-no as these do the total opposite of what we are trying to achieve (create positive associations) since they cause discomfort/pain. - Start With Easy Systematic Exposures Once you have learned how to read your dog's body language, the basics of desensitization and counterconditioning, how to keep a dog under threshold, acclimatized your dog to wearing a harness (or muzzle training if necessary for safety) and practiced a replacement behavior, it is time to start working with systematic exposures. These are again low-intensity exposures where you can control the intensity of the trigger through set-ups (like volunteers walking back and forth with a dog at a subthreshold distance). You won't ask for trained replacement behaviors yet, because it's not easy for a dog to perform operant behaviors when they are concerned about a potential trigger (think about trying to focus when a big spider is about to crawl on your arm!), and on top of that, you want your dog to focus on the trigger so that you can pair it with good things. There are several games and exercises that use desensitization and counterconditioning that come handy when working with reactive dogs. These exercises/games are rather easy for the dog to perform since they don't involve much thinking but just looking at triggers and forming positive associations with them. A great game to play to create positive associations with a trigger is the Look at That Exercise. In this exercise, you just feed treats when your dog sees the trigger, aiming for a positive conditioned emotional response. If I have a dog who isn't very territorial, I can even start this exercise indoors, by looking at the trigger from a window at a distance. Skipping the leash may help initially. Here is the guide on that: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ If you want to make things crystal clear, you can use the Open Bar/Close Bar method, taking advantage of visual obstructions. For example, if a dog is reactive towards other dogs, one can have a helper walk a dog parallel to parked cars. Feed treats when your dog sees the other dog, stop feeding treats when he no longer sees him (as the cars block the view). Here is the guide on this: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/ Another helpful game that aims to provide positive associations is a "Treasure Hunt game" with a twist. Upon noticing the trigger at a distance, toss a handful of treats and and say "go get em!" in a happy tone as you point towards the treats. A Treat Toss game instead consists of the dog noticing the trigger at a distance, I then make the smacking sound tossing the treat a little ahead on the road for the dog to catch. I have found some dogs respond better to tossed treats rather than hand-feeding as it stimulates their prey drive and allows them to release some energy too. For dogs worried about dogs and turning around repeatedly when worried about other dogs, I created a form of LAT on the go, you'll find a video in the case study section: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/case-studies/03-homer-homers-reactivity/ Tip: If your dog has been exhibiting reactive behavior always on walks around the neighborhood, it may be worthy to start working on the issue in a new place so to establish new routines/habits. - Progress to Actual Training Once your dog has shown signs of associating the trigger with tasty treats and he is in a calmer state, you can start asking for the replacement behaviors. Right upon passing by the trigger, make your smacking sound, hold the treat at eye level and ask your dog to do some steps of attention heeling, looking at you as you feed him treats every step. Once past the trigger, no more treats. Make it clear that the trigger is what starts all the fun! -Have a Plan for Setbacks If at any time, your dog becomes reactive, take that as a sign that you have progressed too fast or the trigger was at a too intense level. If caught very early, if possible, interrupt the behavior at the earliest sign by making your smacking sound or tossing treats telling your dog to "get them" increasing distance from the trigger. If the trigger is approaching head-on, prompt the emergency turn immediately, Always end the session on a positive note, feeding treats as your dog sees the trigger from a distance that doesn't evoke a reaction, and call it a day. Once home, make a mental note of presenting the trigger at less intense levels. It could be the trigger was presented too close or for too long or was too animated. Each of these elements should be presented one at a time, as too many elements presented at once can easily push a dog at the edge. It could also be that your dog has endured other stressful events at home (hence the importance of reducing stress at home too) and due to trigger stacking his threshold for feeling reactive has temporarily lowered. Maybe he is not feeling well, or the exposure was just too much incorporated various elements at once. - Consider Calming Aids For cases of reactivity that aren't too responsive, you may need to add some calming aids. Examples include calming supplements, DAP collars, calming sprays etc. These options can be discussed with a vet. In certain cases, where the dog is a bite-risk or the reactivity occurs across various contexts, or when the triggers are difficult to manage and there is no improvement, the use of medications prescribed by the vet may be recommended along with behavior medication. - Consider Professional Help It goes without saying that ideally, reactivity in dogs should be tackled with the in-person help of a professional for safety and the correct implementation of behavior modification. It is important to seek help by professional committed to force-free training and behavior modification. Professionals to seek out include dog trainers specializing in reactivity, board-certified veterinary behaviorist and Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists. -Importance of Improving the Dog's Emotional Wellbeing On top of working around the reactivity, it's important to not forget to also tackle the dog's overall emotional wellbeing. Improvements can be made by decreasing the overall stress in the dog's life, promoting relaxation (relax on a mat), increasing the dog's confidence and helping the dog develop coping skills. Particularly beneficial may be adding enrichment under the form of brain games and food puzzles, promoting positive experiences, shaping, clicker training, impulse control training, letting the dog explore the world at his own pace, building frustration tolerance, splitting exercises in easy steps, teaching the dog to relax. Noise phobias should be tackled as well: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-noises/ I hope this helps! Please keep us posted and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions. Happy training! Best, Adrienne Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques (no shock, prongs, or physical corrections) for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.

So in most cases, leash reactivity in dogs doesn't just happen on a whim. Rather, the behavior of barking and lunging has some specific underlying function that fuels and maintains the behavior alive. It can be said that in general, dog leash-reactivity behaviors can be classified into two main categories: escape and access. -Escape Escape, as implied, involves dogs attempting to escape from some stimulus or circumstance that they perceive as unpleasant or aversive. When dogs are on a leash, they become more vulnerable as their choice to flee is removed and often this puts them into the situation to choose "fight" versus flight. These dogs are therefore trying to put distance between themselves and the trigger, but since they are prevented from fleeing, they are forced to put up a threatening display in hopes of scaring the trigger away. For sake of an example, imaging a person being terrified of mice. A mouse makes its way in the home and is approaching the person. The person cornered, will stomp her feet in hopes of scaring the rodent away. The mouse perceives the threat and rushes back to its original hiding spot, a crack of a wall. Since this behavior "works," this person will repeat this behavior in the future should a similar circumstance happen again. Among dogs, we see rehearsal of this behavior quite often in the case of dogs barking at the mailman. Bark, after bark, the dog soon realizes that the mailman eventually leaves and therefore his barking ultimately "works." Of course, this is from the dog's perspective, us humans know for a fact that the mailman isn't really escaping from the dog but just going on with his postal duties! Cases of leash reactivity where the dog feels threatened, require changing the dog's emotional response so that manifesting all the associated stress/anxiety/fear-related behavioral manifestations becomes redundant. -Access Access, as the name implies, access-driven behaviors involves dogs trying to access some stimulus that they find appealing. At a first glance, it may seem odd for a dog to bark, growl and lunge when they want to reach something appealing, but in reality those angry vocalizations are triggered by frustration. These are typically dogs who are social butterflies and have a history of playing well with other dogs at the off leash dog park, but put them on leash and they will throw the canine equivalent of a "temper tantrum" when they can't go to greet and meet dogs on walks. This type of leash-reactivity is quite different than the one elicited by fear and therefore requires a slightly different approach. Rather than changing the dog's emotions, we give them something else to do. In other words, If you think your dog is barking out of frustration because he can't go meet people or other dogs, check out the guide on barrier frustration in dogs: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/barrier-frustration/ However, you mentioned: "I believe he just wants to say hello. He used to be more social, now he is hesitant to go and say hello (but i believe he wants to) and then he might freeze while the other dog sniffs and bounces around him, or he says a quick hello and suddenly does a play bow and runs away (once) and this is when he is on the lead, it is hard to know if it is really 'play' because it looks like a mix of 'play' and 'flee'" It sounds like Cali may have mixed feelings. He is reaching an age where play and interacting with other dogs may no longer be at the very top of their priorities, and when they try to play and flee, I call it the "approach/'avoidance dance." In other words, they are interested and approach, but when they approach they may come to realize they're not really that comfortable. However, it could also be a play tactic, where the dog play bows and then tries to engage the other dog in chasing him. So hard to say without seeing the behavior. However, the fact that you mention he is less social than before and he is hesitant to say hi, seem to point more towards mixed feelings.

So based on the below details, I feel that your dog has been/is rehearsing a lot of stress behaviors, and these are keeping on sending him over the edge, causing him to be frequently over threshold. He has been rehearsing this behavior for at least 2 years. He has 1 to 2 reactive episodes during the three walks a day (although not every one) He is reactive towards a variety of triggers and sometimes no trigger may be seen His reactivity remains sustained and generalizes to other stimuli He is jumpy to certain noises He is showing some reactive behaviors even inside the home/yard Here's the thing: in people and dogs, there is a phenomenon known as 'trigger stacking' where when one trigger happens after another, it puts the dog or person more and more on edge, sort of like the game "Tetris" or the more modern game "Candy Crush saga." At some point, one can only handle so much, so at one point, they may then "explode" with a reaction. It sounds like the leash may be aggravating things and this is not unusual because it takes away a dog's possibility to get closer or get farther from things they would like to approach or get away from. However, leashes are needed in modern society, and that leaves our dogs with not many options than learning to better cope with their emotions. What complicates things though in your situation is not knowing exactly what and when the triggers will cause Cali to react. We are therefore lacking that predictability that gives us more control over the situation. In these cases, a stress reduction program and then working around the triggers that are known so far can be a starting approach. I will provide more general details on how a behavior modification program may look like for a case like yours in the post below, although a disclaimer is needed as every case is different and therefore will need an individualized approach.

Hi there, thank you for all the details, the more the better! So let's start with the harness. Harnesses are better than collars as the force is distributed over a larger area, whereas in collars it's more localized. On top of that, harnesses prevent the choking effect which may increase a dog's anxiety on walks. Not to mention, potential negative associations with whatever they are barking at, which can have an aggravating effect. It can go something like this: "When I see a skateboard, I feel anxious, and bark and try to send it away (lunging), and then my collar strangles me-skateboards are therefore bad!" This can lead to a vicious cycle. Where the leash is attached a harness can make quite a difference. When we attach the leash to the back ring, there is an increased effect in the pulling. This can encourage untrained dogs to throw their full body weight into pulling on the lead. If you watch huskies pulling sleds, indeed, you'll see how they wear harnesses hooked at the back so to allow more pulling power. When we attach the leash to the front, when the dog pulls, the dog will pivot around, but this time towards us. This gives us the advantage of reinforcing the dog with food. I personally prefer to attach the leash to the front ring and also the dog's collar. I do this as an extra layer of safety in case of equipment failure. The collar is worn any way as it carries the dog's tags, so why not put it to good use too? The model you have posted has a video and if you watch it, you can see midway that the person places the leash to the front ring, so the good news is that it's purposely designed for that. It's important to point out though, the the harness itself, won't stop the dog from pulling. It will reduce the pulling force as it's designed to distribute force over a larger area, but an untrained dog (especially is overly excited/anxious) will still want to pull. I highly recommend working on training a good heel from the day the harness is first placed. If an untrained dog starts wearing a harness, he may learn to pull with it while we want the dog to associated it with good leash manners, sort of how a good service dogs associates his mobility harness or vest with "going to work. " However, good training can begin even "before" that harness is placed on the dog. I like to train dogs to heel in a quiet hallway with the dog *naked* meaning wearing no collar or leash. We can train them to make eye contact using our smacking sound and walking next to us as we carry a treat at eye level. As our dogs get good at this, we can the gradually progress practicing in other areas of the house, like a garage, fenced yard, before going on actual walks. Here is a guide on how to train the smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ And here is the guide for heeling and attention heeling: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/ However, this is only a piece of the puzzle. Cali is showing high levels of emotional arousal, possibly mixed with anxiety, and therefore to tackle the barking and lunging at triggers, that emotional response needs to be changed. Going to the root cause is needed to make progress. When dogs bark and lunge, it's an external manifestation of in internal turmoil, so behavior modification will be required for that. I will discuss about this in the next post.

Hi there, Welcome the forums! To better understand your situation, I have a few questions. How long have you had Cali? You mention Cali is 4 years old, has he always been reactive this way or is this a rather new behavior? When you state he is good 90 percent of the time, do you mean on a particular walk (like he does well 90 percent of the walk)? Or across a specific span of time (like he's OK for like a month and then one day out of the blue starts reacting? ) How often would you say these episodes happen in a week if he is walked daily? So he is reacting to a particular trigger and then right afterward he starts acting reactive as well to other things that move? What is the original trigger in most cases? Have you noticed any common denominator when it comes to his triggers causing him to bark and lunge? Like, for instance, he reacts to them when they are too close? Or on days when he has been around kids more? Or these triggers just pop up unexpectedly out the blue, like behind a corner? Is he very friendly with other dogs? Do you take him to dog parks? Does he play well with dogs off leash? Would you say he's a social butterfly? Sometime dogs who bark and lunge at other dogs on walks are actually friendly social butterflies who are frustrated because they can't say hello due to the leash holding them back. How long does it take him to return to baseline/calmer behavior after he reacts to a trigger? You mention noticing signs of anxiety and fear once you get him to sit and lie down. Do these signs also show when he can't meet a dog or only with the other triggers (skateboards, scooters)? When you mention pack walks, do you mean him walking with other dogs? If so, is he on leash or off leash? Any noise phobias? Exposure in the home to things that stress him out? Recent changes in his life? Medical issues? It's good to hear that Cali is food driven, although we need to consider that a dog's ability to take food considerably lowers when they're feeling under pressure and exhibiting reactivity. If he's choking himself when pulling, I would suggest using a front-attachment harness (harness with a leash that attaches to a front ring), or even possibly a head halter, although the ultimate goal should be preventing him from getting so close to his triggers to cause such strong, over threshold reactions. Thanks!

You're very welcome! Keep us posted, Best, Adrienne

Hi Penelope! You are very welcome! Please see my observations/tips in non-bold. I definitely use a different tone with her when she is doing something she shouldn't be doing. Are we supposed to always use a happy tone with them even when they are doing something wrong for the hundredth time ? I did realize after your last email that I use more words than necessary when making a command so I have corrected that and she responds better. If a dog is doing something wrong for the hundredth time, that likely means we are repeating our cues over and over and they have lost their meaning. I will list a few things that may cause a dog to not listen despite us telling them over and over. -Too Much Distraction One of the most common reasons for dogs not listening is a too distracting environment. We need to remember that dogs are blessed with significantly stronger senses than us, and therefore they are more tuned in to their environment compared to us. On top of this, when they are focused on a task, they may be unable to focus on something else. If you therefore catch your dog digging and chewing in the act, he may too focused on the task to be able to orient toward you. -Lack of Training Training a dog to perform a behavior fluently takes a lot of practice. It requires several reps to allow muscle memory to set in and you'll then need to train the behavior in a variety of contexts and situations. The process of making a behavior more and more reliable is known as "proofing" and the process of creating a responsive state in a variety of locations and situations is known as "generalization." If a dog is therefore not sitting when you have guests over in the yard, despite having just trained him to sit just a week ago in your living room, it may be too early for your dog to perform the behavior in that setting. -Too Concentrated on Sniffing Did you know? When a dog is sniffing, a great portion of his brain is utilized for the task, and this can make it difficult for him to focus on something else. It is therefore best not to call a dog or cue him to perform a behavior when he's actively sniffing, unless you have a strong history of training under that setting using super-duper high value treats. -Repeating Your Cues It's a common mistake repeating cues over and over when a dog doesn't listen. This can lead to a phenomenon known as learned irrelevance, where your cue loses more and more power the more it is repeated without a response. Soon, our cue becomes as irrelevant as the birds chirping in the trees. -No History of Reinforcement Contrary to what we may have heard, dogs don't typically obey to our cues just to please us. Rather, we need to motivate them to perform the behavior using reinforcement (rewards) so that it strengthens and repeats. One of the best incentives is food, often under the form of tasty treats. If you fail to provide any type of reinforcement, it will be unlikely that your dog will be interested in performing the behavior, let alone be involved in any training. -Too Low Value Treats When you train in a distracting environment where there is something your dog is really focused on, you also need to up the value of your treats so to compete with the distractions and win your dog's attention. For example, if you use kibble to train outdoors, your dog may be disinterested as she finds more rewarding things to do such as go sniff and try to meet other dogs. -Too Much Energy/Excitement If your dog is young and overly excited or very energetic, it will be difficult to grab her attention at certain times. Don't take it personally. Imagine a toddler who is overly excited by seeing all the rides and cartoon characters walking down the road at Disney World. It will be difficult asking them to ignore all the great stuff and pay attention to us. -Enjoying the attention You sometimes stumble on dogs who are super attention-seekers who enjoy any sort of attention, even the attention of the negative type (like a toddler who cries when mom is on the phone and even her scolding him qualifies as attention). These readily learn that when they behave, they get no attention, but when they misbehave, they get plenty, so you'll see them misbehave more and more just for the extra attention. These though are often dogs left alone for a good part of the day who deeply crave social engagement. -Lack of Consistency If you tell your dog to "leave it" when she tries to dig nearby your roses, but then you ignore her when he's digging there when there are guests over and you're busy talking, your dog will learn that he/she can dig when you are distracted. Dogs struggle with inconsistencies, they understand rules as in black and white and don't understand shades of grey. From the dog's perspective these rules are inconsistent and confusing, so it's not surprising if they keep on trying. -Cranky From Being Tired Puppies and young dogs need a lot of sleep to continue growing and to consolidate what they have learned during the day. If your dog is tired because she hasn't napped enough or you have been training her for too long, she may turn cranky and misbehave. A puppy that is cranky when tired, is one of the primary reasons for acting out and displaying a "temper tantrum." -Sensing Our Frustration If we often get upset when our dogs don't obey, our dogs will sense that. Dogs are masters in reading our emotions, and therefore, when they sense our negative emotions, this can put a dent in their responsiveness. They are not purposely though trying to be defiant. They are just reacting to our tone. For example, if we call our dog in a frustrated tone, she may come to us at a very slow pace. Walking slowly is a calming signal, our dogs are hoping to calm us down because they find us intimidating. At other times, if they sense our anger, they may engage in what is known as "the fool around stress response" barking, doing a play bow, nipping playfully or pleading to be chased. -Basic Needs Not Being Met Dogs, in order to feel comfortable and thrive, need a nourishing environment. Learning can only happen when a dog feels safe, happy and all their basic needs such as food, water, physical exercise, socialization and mental stimulation, have been met. There isn't anything around that cabinet - I've checked several times. Another thing she does is go into the kitchen and dig at the trim underneath the cabinets. She lies on her side and just scrapes away. Over and over and over. There is no spilled food or any reason she should be doing this. And she has chewed off the weather stripping from the bottom of my entry doors. Just wouldn't leave it alone until there wasn't anything left to rip off. I have blocked things off from her or removed them if I could until she gets older. I'll have to figure something out with that cabinet. If that cabinet is attracting Molly like a magnet and she is also interested in digging at the trim and chewing off weather stripping, it sounds like a bored adolescent dog desperately looking for more mental stimulation. You can read more about what happens during doggy adolescence here and what to expect:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/ We have been practicing the leave it - take drill. She is very good about leaving it during our practice, but anywhere else she usually ignores me. But we'll keep working at it. Here is a multi-faceted approach you can try so to up the chances for success, it may repeat some of the earlier discussed strategies but may go more in depth on some. -Stop Repeating Cues As mentioned, if you keep on repeating your cues over and over and with no response, you risk them becoming irrelevant and losing power. Once they have lost their power and ultimate meaning, it may be best to start training a fresh, new cue from scratch (just substitute the word, so instead of saying "Molly come!" as a recall, you can say "Molly over, here!" and taking steps to make the response to this cue very fluent and not repeating it over and over. If you need to repeat a cue more than once, you'll need to troubleshoot why it's happening (too value treat? too strong need to chew not being satiated in other ways?) -Block Access to Problematic areas In other words, do anything that makes accessing the cabinet area difficult. You can place bulky boxes in front, erect a temporary baby gate or put several chairs in front. This at least until you have fluently trained your dog an alternate, replacement behavior. For persistent cases, some dog owners spray a product known as Bitter Yuck or Bitter Apple on the furniture to discourage any chewing. Some dogs though seem to care less and still manage to chew. -Train an alternate replacement behavior The dog should be trained an alternate behavior to engage in. This alternate behavior should ideally be incompatible with digging/chewing the cabinet. For example, a dog can't dig or chew if she's asked go to lie down on a mat or if she's asked to "leave it" and will move towards you for a treat. Ideally, these replacement behaviors should be asked at the earliest sign that the dog is about to engage in the problematic behavior. This means that you would say "leave it" or " go to your mat" https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/the moment you see her approach the cabinet area. After some time, you can practice leave its with you from a certain distance and gradually build more and more distance and then progress to remotely monitoring your dog from another room and practice saying leaves its from there. This informs the dog that the area should be still be left alone even when we are out of sight (although there is no guarantee the area will be left alone when we aren't around for some time without remotely monitoring). If you ask for the replacement behavior too late when your dog is already digging and chewing, you risk her not paying attention to you and risk creating a behavior chain of your dog purposely going to dig/chew so that you then redirect her by saying "leave it" or sending her to her mat and get a treat/durable safe chew. -Use High Value Treats Because dogs love to chew and dig, and these are naturally reinforcing behaviors on their own, it's important to use high-value treats to reinforce the replacement behavior. This creates a stronger, more reliable response. You can find many high-value treat rewards in pet stores. -Provide more mental stimulation If your dog keeps wanting to go towards the cabinet and it's drawing her like a magnet, you may want to provide your dog with more enrichment. If your dog loves to dig, provide her with a digging pit full of sand and bury her toys under. Your dog may also have fun with the magic carpet game https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/college/the-magic-carpet/ If your dog loves to chew, make sure she has plenty of chew toys that capture her attention. You may have to rotate toys to keep her interest alive. Hide some for a few days and offer them later. Chew toys that are filled with food like Kong Wobblers and Kongs stuffed with kibble mixed with some canned dog food and then frozen can provide entertainment for hours. I recommend these to owners all the time, as dogs need to be mentally stimulated to keep busy and happy. These legit options can help satiate their needs. And don't forget about more brain games! -Ensure she gets sleep As mentioned, growing dogs need lots of sleep to keep on doing their growing. You want that nice REM sleep where they're lying on their side and occasionally twitching. This is the restorative type of sleep that helps them recharge. -Provide exercise Many dog breeds were selectively bred to carry out a variety of tasks for a good part of the day. You have a mix of dogs who used to work a lot and are blessed with lots of stamina. This meant moving around a lot. It goes without saying, that age-appropriate walks and exercise (check with your vet on this as you need to wait for your puppy's growth plates to close before engaging in vigorous types of exercise and canine sports) is important. Her pen - she sleeps, eats, has her water there plus that is where she spends her time when I'm out of the house. 4 x 6 feet on tile and it's not isolated from the rest of the house. I took a dog play pen and attached the fence to the walls so she couldn't tip it over. And it has a door that I leave open unless she needs to be in there. She has lots of great chew toys and other toys plus some doggie puzzle toys. I know she is very intelligent - I just bought her another Kong toy that you can put treats in and chew on. She learned within seconds that if she drops it on the wood floor, the treats bounce out. She just keeps dropping it until nothing comes out, then leaves it. Sounds like she has a great place to retreat to! You may need to enforce the naps if she isn't voluntarily napping enough at structured times of the day. Provide a quiet, dark area, inducive to sleep and possibly stick to a routine. If you soak her kibble with some water and then place it in the Kong and freeze it, you will have a longer lasting food puzzle which can help keep her more busy. I've always found with my other dogs that they are eager to please and do what we request. Molly is typically just engrossed in what she wants to do. She is not penned up when I'm home and we spend a lot of time together. It seems if she isn't focused on anything, she responds to me better. But if she is focused on something, it is very difficult to get her attention, even if I go to her and gently touch her to get her to look at me. It's almost as if her brain is on overload. With modern dog training, we have strayed away from the belief that dogs must please us and should obey every our request just because we say so. This could have been the case when, in the old times, dogs were put to work by engaging in behaviors that were natural to them or back in time when dogs were coerced into performing certain behaviors using painful scare tactics (sort of how teachers in the past used to pull children's hair). For example, asking a beagle to go follow a hot trail where rabbits were frolicking moments earlier or asking a retriever to find a shot bird and bring it back to the hunter, could have been perceived as "dogs with a great eagerness to please" when in reality they were carrying out instinctive behaviors that have been deeply inculcated in them courtesy of centuries of selective breeding. From a human standpoint, this can be the equivalent of asking a cook to go bake e cake or asking a gardener to go plant some flower bulbs. These people are eagerly performing these behaviors because they are naturally passionate about the activity and therefore don't obey mechanically just to please us. In our modern worlds, dogs are kept more as companions so they aren't expected to go hunt or retrieve downed birds as in the past. This has created a major shift in their lives with our modern expectations. Dogs that were built to have loads of stamina, running around, herding and guarding livestock and putting their nose to use to find meals to put on our tables, are now for the most part left unemployed. This leads to a big behavior vacuum, causing dogs to often feel frustrated and with a surplus of energy they don't know how to get rid of. Gone are the large open spaces, the ability to walk and run freely and engage in the behaviors they were specifically built for. Modern dogs are expected to walk politely on a leash, bark as minimally as possible, tolerate being closed in a crate and bein respectful of our belongings. On top of this, we expect them to engage in behaviors that are total opposite of what they may have been bred for. For example, not lunging at birds, not pulling to search for rabbits, not digging through dirt to find prey, and not barking when they sense the presence of intruders. Modern dog training also strays away from the outdated "dominant dog" beliefs of the past. Contrary to what we used to think in the past, dogs who don't listen aren't being purposefully defiant because they are "dominant dogs" with a wish to challenge. Rather, in most cases, dogs are disobedient for a variety of more down-to-earth reasons, other than wanting to rule. "Believe it or not, there is no secret army of pets waiting to take over the world as this is not the planet of the apes!," points our board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Sabrina Poggiagliolmi. The belief that dogs are misbehaving because of being "dominant" has led to dog owners feeling compelled to establish themselves as higher ranking over the dog, through the use of a variety of punishment-based physical interventions. Use of such interventions have led to an escalation of aggressive displays from the dog, explains board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. John Ciribassi. A study by Herron et al., 2009, clearly demonstrated that the use of confrontational methods such as “stare downs”, yelling no, “alpha rolls” and “dominance downs” frequently evoked an aggressive response. This is because such corrections lead to the dog feeling highly threatened and stressed which leads to defensive aggression. Link to study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159108003717 Dogs Ultimately Do What They Find Reinforcing Ultimately, it can be said that dogs engage in behaviors that they find reinforcing. In simple words, dogs do what they do because it simply works for them and leads to pleasant outcomes. "When a dog does something that makes us happy, we shouldn’t jump to the assumption that a dog “only wants to please us” —they are doing things to make us happy because it also gets them a treat or a belly rub or a pleasant environment to be in," explains the Association of Professional Dog Trainers. Sticking to the belief that dogs must follow our instructions just to please us, risks leading to problems down the road because our dogs will struggle understanding what behaviors we like and would like us to see more of. I have gone through the links you recommended before and am working on those. I will check out the ones that are new. At least I'm not feeling so overwhelmed with her as she has finally stopped jumping on and biting me. She mouths me a lot but doesn't hurt me anymore. Thanks again for your help ! Penelope You are very welcome! I am glad to hear that Molly has stopped jumping and biting on you, that is great progress. Kudos to you for having worked on this so diligently to have attained such fast progress! Keep up the great work!

Hi Penelope, If this is happening every singly day, and she's so fixated with that, I would start by blocking off access to that area for the time being. Who knows, maybe there's some bug hiding under there? or maybe a piece of kibble got under there? I used to have a dog over for board and training who was fixated with an area of my couch, and several months later, upon moving the couch, I found a piece of dog cookie there. Rover was right! His almighty nose knew all about it. Maybe it's worthy looking under the cabinet and around the area and vacuuming under. On the side, I would work on training a fluent response to the leave it cue https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ and applying it to a variety of circumstances and generously reinforcing that. Once you get a good response, you can try unblocking the area for short intervals during the day under supervision and practicing the cue. Ideally, you want to give the cue at very first signs of her thinking about digging the area. When busy digging it may be too mind-engaging to pay attention to you and you risk creating a behavior chain (every time I dig, my owner says leave it and gives me a treat, I will dig the area more in hopes of hearing leave it and getting a treat). Once done practicing leave its, you can then block the area again when you are not around. After some time, you can practice leave its with you from a certain distance and gradually build more and more distance (you can strategically place a mirror to monitor the area) and then progress to remotely monitoring your dog from another room and practice saying leaves its from there. This informs the dog that the area should be still be left alone even when we are out of sight (although there is no guarantee the area will be left alone when we aren't around for some time without remotely monitoring). I would also suggest providing outlets for her digging behaviors. Like a sand pit or ball pit game if she's so into digging: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-ball-pit-game/ And providing her with a variety of legit things to chew and food puzzles and confidence building exercises to keep that mind busy such as training some cool tricks using clicker training: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/ About having her go to the pen, you mention "I think she knows she is trouble and won't get near her pen without the treat. " Do you think there are chances she may be perceiving your frustration? Dogs can be very in tune with our emotions. When we are frustrated (hard to stay chill when a dog is destroying our belongings!), we move in certain ways and use a different tone. Most dogs will be reluctant to go into a pen/crate if it's used as a timeout area and they associate it with punishment/frustration/social isolation. A toy may not compete well with the reinforcement she gains from digging the carpet area, and a treat can make it worthy, despite a general reluctance to want to go in the pen, but with time, she may feel that the treat is a "trap" that leads to being closed in the pen. Remedial work may therefore be needed to make the pen area desirable and reinforcing again. Having her spend time there with some long-lasting goodies in non-timeout contexts can help. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/ What other behaviors is she engaging in, in which she's so absorbed in the activity, she doesn't listen to you? More than discipline, dogs thrive on being told what we would like them to do instead.

Hi there, welcome to the forums, Porkchop is a super cute name! He is fortunate to be getting all the attention he likely lacked in his previous home. Two months is a relatively short time for a dog to adjust and settle into a new environment. During this time of transitioning and settling into a new home, dogs may often manifest signs of insecurity and hyper-attachment. These dogs thrive on an established routine and knowing what to expect. Aussies, as other herding dogs were selectively bred for carrying out several tasks such as keeping count of the herd, maintaining order and ensuring the safety of the flock at all times. These dogs were therefore bred for paying attention to every tiny detail. On top of watching livestock, they also had to watch for the most subtle nuances of voice, tone and bodily gestures of the herdsmen. The ideal herding dog is therefore expected to pay meticulous attention to their environments and their associated familiar patterns. They'll actively spring into action if something appears amiss. These dogs therefore require patient guidance and redirection to more appropriate responses, such as looking at us rather than barking, or attention heeling rather than lunging at cars. In regards to his behavior of jumping on a chair or bed behavior to seek attention, licking and trying to "give kisses," I would suggest taking a multi-faceted approach. Here are some general guidelines and tips. -Antecedent Control In antecedent control, we manage the dog's environment so that he doesn't get to rehearse the problematic behavior (licking/giving kisses). Here's the thing: licking is reinforcing in various ways. Dogs quickly learn that licking works great to garner human attention. Some dogs take licking to a higher level as it happens with overly appeasing dogs. These dogs use their licking in hopes of calming others down and to show their peaceful intents. The issue is, these dogs can get carried away and the behavior becomes so obnoxious it's annoying and it one gets upset by it and scolds the dog, this motivates these dogs to lick even more, in an attempt to calm us down, leading to a vicious cycle. The poster child of a overly appeasing licker who constantly licks people, is often a shy, insecure dog. In any case, in antecedent control steps are taken to prevent the dog from rehearsing the licking behavior. The more dogs rehearse behaviors, the more they gain reinforcement and therefore the more the behavior becomes habitual and ingrained. Antecedent control in this case could therefore entail anything that makes the behavior difficult or unlikely to occur. For example: Keeping chairs against tables so that they can no longer be used Placing bulky items on the couch if the dog jumps up there to lick people Not sitting down or bending close the dog's level if that evokes face-licking Keeping hands in the pockets to prevent hand licking Keeping a large pillow or other bulky item (I use my laptop) on the lap to prevent climbing in the lap. -Train An Alternate Behavior As you take steps to prevent your dog from engaging in licking and gaining reinforcement from licking, you want to work on the side on training an alternate behavior to engage in making that extra rewarding. Basically, you want to train your dog other ways to interact with you that don't involve licking. For example, you can train your dog to go to his mat (placed nearby you on the floor) where he will receive something to keep busy for some time (stuffed frozen Kong, bully stick). Here is the guide on training a dog to go to his mat: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ Once trained to a fluent level, you can make it a habit of letting him go to his mat for his long-lasting chew, at the scheduled times you sit down to relax. Making this a routine can turn this into a look-forwarded to event, where sitting down becomes the cue for relax time on the mat with something enticing to chew and keep busy. Another option is training to sit for attention. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/sit/ Start by hand feeding the treat, and once the sitting becomes fluent, praise and reward your dog for sitting by tossing a kibble or treat. You can repeat this several times with your dog yo-yoing back and forth (this also provides a mental and physical workout). After several reps, with you sitting down, if your dog loves attention and being pet, you can then ask for a final sit where you pet him, but stop petting him/giving any form of attention, if he becomes pushy and tries to lick. -Praise/acknowledge any independent, non-pushy behaviors. I like the picture above where Porkchop appears chill and relaxed by the window. I would deliver praise in a calm tone (and maybe even reward by placing a kibble in between his paws, if it doesn't arouse him much) when he's manifesting relaxed, calm behaviors as such. As owners, we often miss the good behaviors and focus on the undesirable ones. What happens when we do this, is that, dogs quickly learn that undesirable behaviors get our attention, when the desirable ones are ignored. It therefore helps to provide praise and attention contingent upon noticing any spontaneous calm and relaxed behaviors that we like. -Avoid Any Form of Attention Given Contingent Upon the Licking Behavior Even with the best antecedent control plan, the dog may still manage to lick. In this case, it's important to avoid giving the dog any form of attention, and this includes even attention of the negative type such as scolding the dog or pushing him away. To an attention-driven dog, any form of attention qualifies as reinforcing and therefore with attention of any kind, you risk fueling the behavior, when you want it to extinguish. In this case, you could therefore turn your head and look away or even turn sideways, and eventually get up and walk away if the behavior persists. Make sure to do this every single time, contingent upon the attention-seeking behavior. All family members should also follow this protocol. -Beware of Extinction Bursts When you start ignoring a behavior that was fueled by attention in the past, you should expect a phenomenon known as an extinction burst. Basically, what happens is that, since your dog was likely used to getting attention by licking in the past, the moment you start ignoring him, he'll try to escalate the behavior as if saying "Hey, look at me, I am licking you, look at me! Hello?" At some point, your dog may even throw in some new behaviors just to get a response from you (or other family members) such as barking or maybe even nipping. In these cases, it's important to stick to the plan and keep ignoring, otherwise you risk reinforcing persistence with the risk of being stuck with a dog who takes even longer to stop licking and maybe starts nipping too. However, you can make the process go smoother by preventing your dog from licking in the first place by asking him to engage in an alternate behavior. *A word of caution is needed: frustration from not getting an expected response can sometimes spill into aggression. If you notice any signs of aggression, skip this method. This can be indicative of a dog with a low frustration tolerance. Consult with a behavior professional for in-person assistance. -Avoid Behavior Chains A big mistake that often dog owners make is to inadvertently create behavior chains. Behavior chains are sequence of behaviors, where an unwanted behavior mistakenly partakes in the chain. For example, let's say you are training your dog to sit and then lie down and you praise and reward by giving a kibble. At some point though, your dog licks your hand, and you immediately redirect by asking your dog to sit and then praise/reward that. By doing this, your dog may come to think that the lick is part of the chain of behaviors that generate reinforcement (either under the form of attention or treats), so don't be surprised if at some point, you'll notice more episodes of licks before sitting! It's therefore important paying attention to what is happening and avoid reinforcing any licking with any form of attention considering that even giving the cue to sit is a form of attention, further amplified by the addition of a treat. -Provide Enrichment If your dog licks you a lot, you can keep his mind off licking by engaging him with food puzzles and foraging activities such as fun treasure hunts. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-treasure-hunt/ You may also find it helpful engaging your dog in fun brain games like getting tennis balls out of muffin tin with treats hiding under and the bottle game. Always supervise your dog during such games for inappropriate chewing on things. If you need to remove the bottle from your dog, or any balls, make sure to trade them for something valuable rather than removing them directly from the dog. As an extra caution, you can take advantage of a door and toss the valuable past that so you can close the door and safely retrieve the item. More about how to do this is covered in the third link below: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-muffin-game/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/the-bottle-game/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/overprotective-of-toys/ Enrichment helps keep the dog's mind busy, while also providing him with some activities that can help boost his confidence and promotes mental wellbeing. -Provide Physical Exercise Herding dogs were selectively bred to work on farms and are still known today for their hard work and stamina. These are resilient dogs purposely built for managing rough terrains, controlling stubborn herds of livestock for countless hours each day. Being on their feet all day and rapidly responding to circumstances that required their immediate attention took lots of energy! Indeed, it can be said that herders are always ready for action and are reluctant to rest as long as there is something to do. These dogs do not want to miss out on anything. Unlike us humans, working is their passion, not their misery. Licking can also be a way to manifest boredom and seeking engagement and interaction. It goes without saying that these dogs thrive with owner who lead an active lifestyle with the opportunity to engage their dogs in a variety of activities. Walks, hikes, play, training, canine sports, Treibball, herding trials, musical freestyle, are all activities these dogs love. Consult with your vet on guidelines on how much/what type of exercise you should provide considering your dog's age so to have an idea on when his growth plates close. -Tackle Anxiety Driven Behaviors Dogs who lick due to anxiety and a deep need to appease, should be provided with the reassurance of routines and benefit from learning to trust. One can help a dog gain trust through some basic steps https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/helping-fearful-rescue-dog/ and confidence building exercises can help too: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-build-confidence-insecure-dogs/ Another thing to consider is paying attention when Porkshop starts licking and wanting to get into your laps. This behavior can be anxiety driven. Pay attention if he's doing so in response to certain noises or seeing certain things. If you notice a pattern, you will have to work on desensitizing him and counterconditioning him to whatever frightens him. Here is a guide if the licking/getting into lap behavior is induced by a noise: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-noises/ As seen there are several approaches that can be used to reduce excessive licking behaviors. Tackling the underlying emotions and implementing management and training can go a long way. The behavior will likely not change overnight, however, by preventing rehearsal of the problematic behavior, preventing your dog from gaining reinforcement upon licking, training alternate behaviors that replace the licking, tackling underlying emotions, and providing enrichment and good physical exercise, the behavior should gradually decrease over time. I hope this helps and that I have covered several basis. Keep us posted on how things go and/or feel free to ask any questions. Happy training! Best, Adrienne Disclaimer: behavior modification/certain type of training come with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (tensing up, barking, growling, lunging, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques (no shock, prongs, or physical corrections) for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.

Indy likes to butt in if I'm petting other dogs. I have blocked her now and keep paying attention to the dog I was petting or I'll walk away from both dogs. She also wants attention from others first when they come to visit. This is not unusual in multi-dog households. By allowing her to butt in though she is learning pushy behaviors towards guests and other dogs, and fights may happen. If she gets attention from the person when she pushes in the middle her behavior will be reinforced by the attention, so it will strengthen and repeat, so we want to avoid her from rehearsing this. Not to mention, the risks for fights erupting when dogs are in such an aroused state. This can be tackled by creating rules and adding more structure into the interactions with you and people. For example, all dogs can be laying on their mats when you want to give attention/when visitors come, and then one can be called at a time, making them each wait for their turn to get attention. This can take time to train at a fluent level and therefore management should be used in the meanwhile (separate dogs for attention). Another option for the milder cases, is to train the dogs to each have their own space. For instance, one dog can be sitting on the left, and the other on the right for attention so there is no disorderly conduct. I think it's important to establish sitting for attention as an impulse control exercise and to reinforce calm behaviors. I personally, like to work on this by creating positive associations since these behaviors are competition-based so what I typically do is that, I have the dog who tends to push sit on one side, and watch me as I pet the other dog on the other side, and simultaneously feed treats to her to reinforce her calm, non-pushy behavior, and at the same time create positive associations with the dog getting attention versus holding hard feelings (yes, dogs can feel jealousy recent studies say). More about this is covered here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dogs-fighting-over-owner/ however, since you mention competition over treats as well, you would have to use extra caution and use muzzles for safety (basket muzzles allow you to insert treats) and do some foundational work on learning to take turns getting treats (waiting for the treat by sitting calmly), working along with a professional for safety and correct implementation. I hope I have tackled everything! Please let me know if you have any questions. Happy Training! Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques (no shock, prongs, or physical corrections) for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.

Jumps at Charlie with her head against his when he barks going down our driveway for a walk. I keep Indy closer to me on one side now and let Charlie walk out front. He quits barking once we reach the road. Indy jumps on Charlie when we walk down the driveway for a walk. Charlie barks for excitement until we get to the road. I don't recommend in general walking two dogs at once, at least not until they have proven themselves to have their emotions under control and being responsive to cues/walking on a loose leash. The reason for this, is that, when we walk two dogs together the following is likely to happen: 1) Dogs will feed off each others' emotions 2) It's difficult to give each dog the individual attention needed 3) It is difficult to train each dog 4) Leashes can get tangled (although there are solutions for this) 5) If an off-leash dog approaches, it is more difficult regaining control So I would suggest to walk the dogs separately. I know this is inconvenient in many ways, but it paves the path towards better walks with the dogs being less emotionally charged. Even having a helper walk the other dog is better than walking the dogs together, however, I would suggest working on Charlie's excited barking individually because it will also make your other dogs' aroused. Most likely, Indy jumps on him in an attempt to control his behavior, or as a result of her arousal also building up. So I would suggest working on Charlie on solo walks, trying to tone down his excitement. This should start as early into the walk as possible such as asking him to sit for having the leash on, then sitting in front of the door being opened, (open sesame) https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/college/open-sesame/ and by engaging him in some attention heeling exercises starting practicing in the home and then in the yard, and then in front of the house and then on walks. Here is the guide on attention heeling: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/ If he barks, take that as a sign that he is over threshold https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/, so as soon as you hear that, do a U-turn https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/and head back home and then try again, using higher value treats and practicing more until you obtain a calmer state. Calm behaviors make the walk progress, aroused behaviors make you go back home.