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IndieTheDog
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IndieTheDog is offline  
Location: USA
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 1
Female 
 
12-09-2017, 06:30 AM

Reactive dog, need tips!

Hi there, I unfortunately have a reactive dog. Whenever she comes into close range of another dog, big or small, she begins lunging and barking. She has not "attacked" another dog, but she always snaps multiple times at them while barking. The strange thing is, after the initial 30 seconds of barking and snapping, she gets along just fine. Whether running around the dog park, playing fetch with multiple other dogs, or just interacting with each other. She's even submissive to the other dogs; rolling over for them playfully and licking the mouth of the other dog. And after meeting the dog, she will remember them and get excited but not aggressive the next time she sees them.

I have 5 other dogs of different sizes who she peacefully co-exists with. Keep in mind, this is a medium sized 30lb dog so she's fairly easy to control. Also important, she is just a puppy at about a year old. However, she gets so extremely fixated on the other dog upon first seeing it. Not even an entire roast chicken could remove her focus from it. I have tried the "turning around and walking away" trick, and she does it just fine; but it still does not fix the problem at hand. I was planning on having her trained as a service dog but she has everything down except the dog reactivity. Perfectly obedient, could hold a down/stay for an hour while I'm out of sight, still working on alerts but she's getting there. Just to add; if she sees other dogs in stores, she has some self-restraint. Unless they react or start barking at her, and she can see them, she may bark back if I don't stop her. As long as the other dog is well behaved, she couldn't care less.

She has no problem with loud sounds or unfamiliar things. She wouldn't dare move for a cat, bike, car etc. This is her ONLY problem and I really don't want her to wash out as she does everything else perfectly. She was slowly doing a bit better, and then a large mastiff rushed out of a house and tried to maul her. She was not psychically hurt, but I do hope it didn't take too huge of an affect on her. She usually walks on a prong collar, which I know a lot of people don't like; it is just something worth noting. She can walk fine on a flat collar, head halter, or harness but it is my preferred tool. She is a Dutch Shepherd mix.

I can not afford a trainer for her reactivity considering they all ask $500-$1500 just to work with her in a few classes. If you've read this far, to sum it up I'm looking for tips & tricks from anyone who has dealt with this before? Anything helps. I'm really about to break here as I've tried everything I can think of. Sorry my post is so long, if I posted in the wrong spot or this is not allowed please feel free to delete.
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