Could cry with relief...

As some of you may know from my posts, Dexter is intensely reactive on lead - especially when he sees another on lead dog. He goes beserk. When off lead, he's wonderful with dogs.

I taught him the 'watch me' command a while back and we have been practising it a lot; in the house, while walking, at the park. However, I was starting to fear that it would never actually work, as he goes into like a 'red mist' when another on lead dog is nearby.

Today we went out for an early morning walk. At exactly the same second, we saw a man and a small on lead dog walking towards us. For once I managed to get the timing right and instantly guided Dex into a u turn then told him 'watch me' - and he immediately sat!

As the other dog got nearer, Dex tried to engage it in eye contact but I repeated the command and bless him, he locked eyes with me and sat there, accepting treats and watching me while the other dog walked right past us!!!

I know this is a very basic thing - but for us this is HUGE!

I could cry with relief, this is the best he's ever been around an on lead dog while out walking

Anyway, just wanted to share this and hope it may provide a little bit of encouragement for anyone else out there whose dog is also reactive.

that's great news hun and following Dex's progress over the past few months and knowing what a struggle it has been with recall etc and the problems on lead, this isn't something small and insignificant! its clear to see that this is a massive step forward for him, and has no doubt given you a lot more confidence in his abilities.

a big well done to you and to Dex!!

That's brilliant! Well done to you and Dexter.

Isn't it lovely when your hard work pays off

It's not a basic thing at all, Watch Me is REALLY hard when the other dog finds the approaching dog/person etc so stimulating. It's a tough behaviour to get solid and requires a lot of work so don't belittle your achievement It's taken me a good year to get Cain's full focus around other dogs at training, socialisation and agility class, but even now he still finds it too hard if it's a brand new dog who appears on a walk and is very close.

Well done you and Dexter, all your constant hard work is paying off

Well done!

You must be overjoyed All your hard work has paid off, and what a star Dexter is.

Brilliant, that is so good.

Thanks for sharing it.

rune

Thats great , I know from having a similar situation with Tom that this makes all the hard work worthwhile , when walks are always on high alert and the work pays off you want to shout and tell the world when it goes well , Well done you and Dexter !

Onwards and upwards, Dexter!! What a lovely early Christmas present for your mum