Please help :( 1 step forward and 10 steps back

Some of you might remember me posting about having Rio in somerset and having a break through with him and other dogs, he was nice and friendly with them, anxious to meet them.

Adam and I have now moved down to Gosport in Hampshire. In the house Rio is the perfect dog, loveable, playful, well behaved. We've just returned from a walk and I could cry I'm so upset with him. When outside he is another dog, doesn't listen etc which is fine to a point. But we've reverted back to not liking dogs again apprently, he came face to face with a corgi, they were nose to nose and Rio just flipped and try to go for him, I pulled him in time and we said sorry to the owner. He was so vicious and snarly, nothing distracted him, I gave a quick belly tap which is what normally stops him but he was just utterly fixated. I did the pull up on the collar thing and pulled him away on 4 seperate occasions tonight. Now we're home he's back to being the perfect dog again.

I'm scared if he gets hold of another dog, he'll have to be put down.
I hate that people look at him like evil when I know he's such a good boy when not around dogs.
He gets so distressed with his muzzle on which just makes things worse.

Does anyone else have these issues with their dog? If yours isn't dog friendly how do you deal with it?
I've tried every type of distraction on walks as well and it just doesn't work.

Thanks :'(

It can be so frustrating Kerry. This is going to sounds flippin obvious but it's going to have to be intense watch me training. High value treats every time he stops, sits down & watches you. When this is going good, manage other dog interactions by looking ahead and watching for potential confrontations and avoiding. If he becomes fixated from afar then it's the "watch me" command untill the distraction has passed.

This is what I do with Flo when she gets that look only we use her fave toy.

i too use the watch command with sash,since she was attacked a few years ago she is very nervous and scared around other dogs so to be on the safe side if other dogs are around she is straight back on the lead

Sounds like Rio has a little dog aggression, the watch me command is a good idea, it does take time, you just need to find that high value distraction such as a treat with a high meat content and continue this until the distraction has passed. Patience and consistency is the key

I use this command when a dog walks past purely because he pulls towards all other dogs on the lead and its worked a treat.

I'll try and find a treat he may respond to, but he becomes frenzied and just will not listen to any command

Do you all just avoid dogs? Like crossing the road/ not going to dog parks etc. it's such a shame as the harbours near us which are popular dog spots are limited to him

Don't avoid dogs...just be more cautious when they're around but remember dogs pick up on lead tension so you need to relax as well. practice the command at home and in the garden as well. Practice the command even when its just people/cyclists going by.

For treat ideas: small blocks of cheese, Frolic, mini sausages, bakers etc...something you wouldn't give at home and will only associate with this command. Even a new toy might work, a new ball etc.

I don't avoid all dogs but I know when Flo gets that fixation look. The thing I look out for is potential conflict, for instance, I know that a lot of Staffs don't particularly like other Staffs so I control that interaction.

Something you could try is socialisation in controlled environments like a dog walking group. Keep Rio leaded and ask others in the group to walk their leaded dog alongside with the humans between. Each time he gets a little anxious stop him with distraction. It's really all about association with positive interactions. The more relaxed he is and doesn't pay attention the more he is rewarded.

The other thing is, are you tense when walking him because of the bad experiences ?... If so he will feel that through the lead so you need to try to relax. That was the biggest lesson I learnt with my Flo. There's no quick fix but you will get there

Unfortunately i have to cross the road mia had bad owners in the past ahe had 3 homes before mine

I keep the lead relaxed as i've seen on here and other websites that it can make them tense. We are doing heel training at the moment so he is kept on a short lead and it only tenses if he pulls or i give correction.

It's weird because he snaps into frenzy mode and out of it so quickly, as if nothing just happened. Still no luck getting a response when he's fixated but am hoping the heel training will help.

I'm reading a lot about how owners need to make themselves known as the pack leader to our staffies, what do you all think on that?

my uncle is a dog behaviourist a very well known one and his website is really good to check out, he also travels the country doing one to ones, you could always give him a call.

Caninecoaching.co.uk

Hey Kerry

Don't give up it does get better with consitency and exposure. Axl was very dog aggressive for no reason at all, I went through a long stage of avoiding dogs at all costs which did no good whatsoever so fairly recently I decided to expose him as much as possible so I can correct his behaviour. He started getting dog aggressive at 2 years old and now he's 3 and a half and still flips his lid sometimes so it's a long old road but things do get better.

I can remember feeling exactly like you described above, I couldn't believe Axl was behaving like an enraged loopy loon, snarling and growling, barking up on his hind legs and all from nowhere but now he can walk past 5 out of 10 dogs and not do a thing. So we've made progress.

We don't put him in stressful situations that would end up with him losing it i.e we avoid dog parks and anywhere there are loads of off lead dogs as he does still get stressed. I don't let him meet and greet dogs yet as he's still unpredictable. We're taking baby steps. We do take him round our local fields where there are dogs but not too many and once he's comfortable we'll move on to a busier place BUT if I see loads of off lead dogs approaching I will avoid that situation by turning around and going a different way. Same if there's a narrow path and a dog approaching (on lead or off). There's no need to put them in situations you know they can't cope with.

Correction is always "watch me" and treat and then "ooh look at that lovely dog" in a sing song voice, followed by "watch me" again and a treat.

Some days are good, some are bad but be consistent and it will get better Keep us updated!

Also, wanted to add, we sometimes use a ball to distract him, we bounce it when a dog is approaching and he will concentrate on me and the ball once we're past the dog I'll let him have it for a little while as a reward. That works too

I know it's not nice for you but I'm glad that I'm not the only one in the situation :/ I was thinking of getting a clicker and see if that acts as a distraction and maybe try to assossictae that with high value treats?

I think what doesn't help 100% but is better than before is just walking as normal and not reacting to the dog myself, so he can see it's not a massive issue. He still reacts but recovers quicker.

And Kattie I appreciate the website, but we just don't have that money at the moment for 121 consultations :/

You say you have recently moved so it might be he's a bit more unsure of himself due to the move. Can't add to the suggestions if he got better before he will get there again:)

Clicker could work but you need to get the timing right make sure you do it before he fixates on the other dog, if you wait too long he won't take any notice. With a bit of practice you should be able to suss out at what point you should click

Debs has a good point, create the distraction as soon as you know there could be potential conflict, bounce the ball to keep his attention untill the other dog has walked on by. If you manage to do this before he gets worked up all the better.

Clicker with treats would be an excellent way forward with all trying and especially the watch me command when he starts to get jumpy.

Agree with all of the advice. The biggest things are getting his attention before he becomes frustrated, working on the watch me command at home, and not passing along your tension to him. If there is an older well socialized dog that you can walk with that may help as well.

Yeh you got to start the distraction well before a problem occurs the moment he spots another dog don't wait or its to late.

Others correct me if I am wrong here but with the look at me thing you are not trying to teach him not to look at other dogs but just to look at you on command thus replacing bad behaviour with something we like.

Cheers

As you use clicker already, Kerry, I'd also consider the 'look at that' method, which is brilliant for teaching your dog to look at another positively. Effectively, you click-treat every time Rio looks at another dog. He will then also look back to you for his treat. I use this with Chaos as he's more worried about not looking at the dog.

For me, one really important thing is to spend time training first and not get too close. Find places you can be the distance away that Rio starts to clock the other dog - the other side of the road, a way off in the park, whatever - and work at that distance first so you start to change his perception. Don't get any closer until that's good, then start to close the distance gradually, always working at that distance that he's just coping.

This is a great book for the problem. She uses 'watch me' or 'look at that', but also gives you ideas of things to work on when a loose dog gets too close or something like that:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feisty-Fido-Help-Leash-Reactive-Dog/dp/1891767070/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Good point about Rio maybe being less sure of himself since the move. It ends you in the same place but might at least explain the change.

Thank you all for your advice! I've yet to buy the clicker as our local pet shop didn't have one in stock so i may just order online, so that's still a road to explore yet.

2 things have happened in regards to other dogs recently. So we took him to Portsmouth on the ferry, i wasn't sold on taking him as i know he can get anxious, over all he was very very good and won the hearts of many people, the only times he went to go for other dogs is when we were sat outside pubs and he was laid down (thankfully nice and relaxed) and a dog came round the corner and suddenly in his space, can't blame him for that, he snapped out of it very quickly. But we found that his yellow grenade toy that he LOVES, is a lovely distraction too, until dogs get too close, but we can work with that.

We took him for a 5km run this morning and he just ignored all but 1 dog on the route, so high intensity stuff for him is a good distraction just finding ways that can help him slowly and with your guys help