How do I desensitize her to other dogs/people?

[chrystel]

urfff.. I wish I could help..

I did reactive dog classes with Oxy. It helped BIG TIME but Oxy is still reactive to dogs . I now know how to manage it, thanks to the classes.

work at distance is the best.

Also, have you try daycare? when i put Ox at daycare on Saturday, he plays with dogs over there ( i still wonder how this even happens...), then coming back I stop by place and he does NOT react. Same on Sunday.. By Tuesday, he is back to being reactive... but it helps a LOT when I can put him there on a regular basis..

The place that accepts him is just very far from my home (1 hour drive) so to drop him off and pick him up takes up about 4 hours in my day.. ugh...

He is Oxy at daycare... (he is usually a MONSTER if I am with him around an other dog..)
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...59186095_n.jpg

and this picture; he is actually smelling a dog's butt.. which NEVER happens! (he is on the left)
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...90899180_n.jpg

[Tuff Love]

Originally Posted by LILYLARUE

Do a search for "feisty fidos" and you may find one in your area. That term is used by Pia Silvani, who has a trainer program and several training videos on the subject. Dogwise has all of her videos if you want to try on your own. She is excellent at teaching in the videos. I highly recommend them and have used them on our rescues. She also has instructors running courses through St. Huberts Animal Center, the one I would have suggested in NJ. That runs 8 consecutive weeks but still based on her training course. You could give it a whirl. If anything, the videos will give you some insight and some methods that you can work with. I think she may have even worked with Patricia McConnell in the process of the videos. They are close friends and often co-author or co-produce training courses and videos.

Of course, these videos are based on those who know all the basics and terminology, but should still be very informational to those with limited training experience.

Thanks for the tip! I checked the Fiesty Fidos but unfortunately all those locations are about an hour- an hour and a half away. I did lookup the training dvd you mentioned with Pia Silvani. Does it thoroughly address reactive dogs? The dvd is kinda on the expensive side. I wonder if I can find anything with her or other trainers on youtube... I've looked up youtube training for other things but they always use example dogs that are ALREADY trained! How is that helpful to the viewer, you know? I want to see how they handle reactive dogs, not little angels.

[Tuff Love]

Originally Posted by chrystel

urfff.. I wish I could help..

I did reactive dog classes with Oxy. It helped BIG TIME but Oxy is still reactive to dogs . I now know how to manage it, thanks to the classes.

work at distance is the best.

Also, have you try daycare? when i put Ox at daycare on Saturday, he plays with dogs over there ( i still wonder how this even happens...), then coming back I stop by place and he does NOT react. Same on Sunday.. By Tuesday, he is back to being reactive... but it helps a LOT when I can put him there on a regular basis..

The place that accepts him is just very far from my home (1 hour drive) so to drop him off and pick him up takes up about 4 hours in my day.. ugh...

He is Oxy at daycare... (he is usually a MONSTER if I am with him around an other dog..)
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...59186095_n.jpg

and this picture; he is actually smelling a dog's butt.. which NEVER happens! (he is on the left)
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...90899180_n.jpg

Aha, yes I've seen Snatch and Oxy's daycare pictures from the past and it looks like they have a blast there. Strange that Oxy is fine there but slowly becomes reactive again.
Thora has never been in a many-dog situation, but she does really well with her 2 doggy buddies. I don't understand why she's ok with them but not others.
There's a doggy daycare right up the street from my work, but I've been told they only take "well-behaved" dogs and do an evaluation before your dog is even accepted. Lol, I doubt Thora would fare well. We have a lead out front now for her to run on, and when a neighbor walks their dog down the street (keep in mind the street is about 200 ft from where she is), she literally runs to the end of her lead until she can't go any further and stands up on her hind legs like a person, staring, huffing, and squealing like a tied pig at the dog in the street

[Tuff Love]

Side note.... I think I need to up the ante with my choice of rewards. Thora's attention can't be held with the current dry treats I'm using. Can anyone suggest something that won't be a huge mess that I can carry with me to use as a higher value reward that won't wreak havoc on her tummy? She has a very sensitive stomach so something greasy (like cooked sausage) would send her in a tailspin of diarrhea I'm sure.

[Stub]

Freeze dried liver works wonders. But I'm not sure how it would work for her. Liver is rich, and even small amounts of (raw) liver can give Gus runny stools. But I use the freeze dried for training treats and it doesn't seem to affect him the same way.

[LILYLARUE]

Originally Posted by Tuff Love

Side note.... I think I need to up the ante with my choice of rewards. Thora's attention can't be held with the current dry treats I'm using. Can anyone suggest something that won't be a huge mess that I can carry with me to use as a higher value reward that won't wreak havoc on her tummy? She has a very sensitive stomach so something greasy (like cooked sausage) would send her in a tailspin of diarrhea I'm sure.

Yeah, dry treats aren't very enticing. Plus it can fill them up pretty quick, along with much unneeded calories.

You can use boiled chicken breast. It's somewhat dry - i use it for all my training. Hot dogs are also a good high currency treat, just chop it down into tiny pieces. I also use a sprinkle a tiny bit of parmesean cheese in the bag with the treats for two reasons: one, it adds to the smell, and two, soaks up any moisture.

You can also wet some kibble and use that, but it can be messy.

String cheese, if he can tolerate it. Mix it in with the hot dogs, or chicken, just for some variance in scents.

As for the videos: yes they can be pricey, BUT you are getting a top notch trainer giving you directions. It is far less than training sessions, and worth every cent.

[chrystel]

Originally Posted by Tuff Love

Aha, yes I've seen Snatch and Oxy's daycare pictures from the past and it looks like they have a blast there. Strange that Oxy is fine there but slowly becomes reactive again.
Thora has never been in a many-dog situation, but she does really well with her 2 doggy buddies. I don't understand why she's ok with them but not others.
There's a doggy daycare right up the street from my work, but I've been told they only take "well-behaved" dogs and do an evaluation before your dog is even accepted. Lol, I doubt Thora would fare well. We have a lead out front now for her to run on, and when a neighbor walks their dog down the street (keep in mind the street is about 200 ft from where she is), she literally runs to the end of her lead until she can't go any further and stands up on her hind legs like a person, staring, huffing, and squealing like a tied pig at the dog in the street

they did evaluation on Snatch and Oxford and magically said Oxford was Great!! (hmmmmmm ..... )
It's worth the shot

[Tuff Love]

I found a trainer on youtube that seems to have a decent approach (dave the dog trainer).

Thanks for the treat tips. Maybe I will try chopped hot dog with something else. I agree that liver might be too rich for Thora. We struggle to get solid poops on day to day basis (going to try pumpkin soon), so I have to be cautious about what I give her. She gets her pills in cheese and though she does eat it, cheese isn't enough of a stimulant for her- sometimes she'll ignore it entirely. She isn't crazy about any treat unless it has a really strong odor/taste. I'll give chicken a try too.

[SnowDove]

Daisy is taking an "impulse control" class right now, as she is a complete nutcase!

Last week, we focused mostly on treating your dog when it offers its attention (i.e. makes full eye contact with you). The key here is to NOT encourage the "look" in any fashion - impulse control is all about the dog learning to make the right choices without a prompt. We started adding distractions - a stranger or a strange dog walking into the room at a distance - and we waited as long as it would take to get a calming signal from the dog. It might be a sit or a down, it may be a look back at you, and then mark the behavior with a click or a "Yes!" and immediately treat. (I find that cut up hot dog and boiled chicken are both great for Daisy.)

This week the trainer talked about how, when you tell someone "Don't look, don't look...", they want to do it even more because it's now off limits! So last night, we started making distractions and clicking/rewarding the INSTANT the dog's head turned to look at the distraction. As you reward, you lure the head back toward you. By this, the dog learns that the reward is getting to look at the distraction. Also, by getting a treat before they have time to fully react, they learn that they can look at a distraction and then get rewarded for glancing back at you. It sounded completely insane to me at first, but the dogs in the class all got to where they eventually glanced at the distraction and then glanced back at their owners for a treat, so I'm thinking this could be a good thing!

We're also working a great deal with rewarding the dog for going to and staying on their mats in the presence of a visitor (as if they were at home and someone came over to the house).

I don't know if these will help you or not, but they seem to be working nicely for us!

Oh, one more - the "Find it!" cue. Daisy is bad about jumping up on me when she gets too excited, so we're teaching "Find it" by pointing to the ground, giving the cue, and dropping a small treat on the ground where we point. Eventually the dogs direct their attention to the floor immediately when you give the cue, and they will start sniffing around to find it. Sniffing is a calming signal between dogs, so this could be helpful when Thora meets another reactive dog in public.

Best of luck!

[AoscarT]

These are all great suggestions! My boy can be pretty reactive, too, especially while on leash. One tip I can offer is if you can teach the "touch" command to get his attention. You can either use a target stick or even just your hand will do. This way they really need to focus all of their attention on you to complete the task. This has really helped me at least control him a bit better, especially since you can do it while still moving past the distraction. I have also found that dry treats may fail, especially when another dog and/or person catches you off guard (i.e. turning a corner and they pop up, etc). I've heard of using squeeze tubes, or even if you have a larger syringe (like 20cc) handy you can snip off the end so it opens it up a bit, and try filling it with low-fat peanut butter. I still need to try it, but can let you all know how it works if you'd like!