What about if you had a poorly socialised, fear aggressive dog, would there be anything wrong with giving him a squeaky toy to keep him distracted in the presence of other dogs? Would this amount to creating a dependence? If so, is that a bad thing? Does this just prevent the dog from addressing his issues or does it enable him to address them by osmosis?

I would never give ANY dog a squeaky toy, poorly socialised, aggressive or otherwise!


Spawn of the devil!

These too, have dangers.....................

Why not? And what are the dangers?

Seriously, squeaky toys are fine with dogs on their own but if I take classes I ban them as they trigger arousal in terriers and often in gundogs for obvious reasons.

Then the terriers start getting "spikey" with each other and the gundogs normally start whining and keening........ and it is MAYHEM!

I certainly would not be getting one out in a multiple dog situation where I did not know what the other dogs would do!

I prefer a quiet life ........................

Good point about multiple dog settings. In a 1-to-1 though it can be very useful to get a dog really interested.

My reason for posting this thread was because I currently have the care of a poorly socialised, Fear Aggressive terrier. His response to any other dog is to strain at the leash snarling, barking, snapping his teeth and spraying spit. Other dogs won't go anywhere near him, which is what he intends. However with a large squeaky (and it has to squeak to be sufficiently high value for him not to put down) ball in his mouth he can't do any of that, he simply, lunges, squeaks the ball a lot, and shakes his head. Other dogs don't find that threatening and ignore him. After a few minutes he realises he is being ignored and chills out completely. He walks side by side with other dogs happily squeaking his ball.

I have always believed in using toys and Ollie is a good example of how powerful they are. I see police dogs being trained and worked that are entirely motivated by toys. However my confidence in this was shaken somewhat by an apparently knowledgeable person who said I was building up problems with the terrier by creating a dependence on toys.

Many thanks for your input which helped enormously. After another successful multiple dog walk today with him, (with the squeaky ball in his mouth) I am confident he can be helped through this with the aid of the ball. I realise the "squeak" is a potential issue, but a plain old tennis ball would get put on the floor and his "shock and awe" panic response ensue.

I have a friend with rescue terriers with the same scenario. She gives him the ball to carry and he`s fine. It`s not a squeaky though. Maybe once he regards the ball as `his` you can shove the squeak out and see if he minds?

Thanks Claire that's enormously reassuring.

like leanne said it depends on how the dog can switch off from the toy or not.

i use a toy with asbo to stop his chasing habits, and he doesnt notice anything else, so its useful for walking past other dogs that may not be friendly.

he takes a while to "switch off" if i put it in my pocket, but he soon gets the message he only has it when i say so.

his ball on a rope has been the best thing ive ever bought.

I know what you mean! But for me, living in the countryside surrounded by wildlife, livestock, horses out hacking, irresponsible dog owners etc, etc, etc it is a huge bonus to have a dog that is constantly obsessing about his ball.