My Heart Is Breaking To Think This

[FindingMyself88]

@Justmehere Thank you, I think she is pretty cute too ;)

Okay, I definitely plan on touring the 2 facilities I am looking at and talking to them in detail about her training and dog issues before bringing her for a stay. In fact, the first day or two I take her, I will probably stay for the first hour or so to make sure she adjusts before leaving for therapy. I think this in combination with her training sessions will help. I talked to our trainer today and she agreed and said basically what you said on asking their training techniques. We also discussed her bringing one of her calm and friendly dogs to our session and begin it with her dog and Bristol playing in the room and then try putting the leash back on and walking them.

You are doing this on leash I assume? Is the leash tight or loose? Neither is bad, it just changes which way to go. I would say that generally though, this is the most common way to desensitize a dog to other dogs at first.

Yes, it has been on leash, starting at a distance of about 15 feet. Funny that you ask. I tend to tense up on the leash, and so my trainer has me working on loosening the leash once she sits down. I try to use other methods of stopping her from lunging, such as getting in front of her and if needed putting my arm around her chest.

Today a neighbor that I know let his yorkie out while I had Mrs. Bristol out going potty. Him knowing she isn't aggressive, continued to let his dog walk around. I took Bristol as far as 40ft until I could get a decent sit and down from her and fed her treats like crazy. I only got her to look at me once, but it was an improvement. She would occasionally break the down and lunge, but I would redirect her and start over.

I honestly think being unable to socialize her has made the issue worse. When I first got her and took her out to my friend's house who had another boxer, she was not this bad. Really at all. We let them meet, took them inside and let them play then we left and she was fine. It is just hard because I don't have a whole lot of friends period here, and the ones I do either don't have dogs or live like an hour away. No one at the park wants to let their dog meet a dog who is crazily lunging on the leash and barking :/. So hopefully we can find a good doggy day care to let her to go twice a week on therapy days and it will help calm her down some!

 

[Justmehere]

Yeah, I think some good quality socialization time would be key. Dogs without any socialization time tend to get extra excited when they see another dog.

It is common to desensitize a dog by lots and lots of repeated exposure to dogs at a far distance. You really have to get so far away though that it only takes a quick word, maybe a gentle tug on the leash, to get her attention back on you. Only when she is really good at that, then do you move closer. I really like that you did what you did with the neighbor dog - that is spot on. Next time, I would actually try further away. Don't see it as a set back, but as a quicker path to moving forward. It's all about changing her associations and feedback loops in her brain. You want it to be so that she sees the other dog and associates it with looking at you, getting a treat, and otherwise being boring. One dog I worked with, we took her to the dog park and sat about 150 feet away. For a long time. Then got closer. Then got closer. That dog went from being all kinds of worked up about other dogs to being flat out pretty bored about them.

There are times and places for tight leases, but I think that is further down the road.

You know about horses, and how they move away from pressure? Dogs are the exact opposite. They move towards pressure. When a leash is tight, the dog will naturally pull more and rev up in energy. When dogs meet, it's best to do it on loose leashes, if there is any leash at all (and loose leashes are good for safety reasons to pull a dog back if it gets aggressive or overly anxious and dominated.)

There are times when early on in training service dogs, they encounter a new dog, and we (the human trainers) were trained to make the leash go instantly really loose to the point that the dog feels no pressure or pull front he lease and to keep the leash loose and follow the dog when they encounter a new dog. Then the pups get happy no stress meetings at an early age. This works with older dogs too. .

I spent about a month helping foster one dog with many dog to dog behavioral issues and the dog behaviorist I was working with told me the same thing about leashes and pressure. She even emphasized that a happy dog meeting can quickly become very excited or even aggressive if the owners quickly pull back on the leashes. I have seen this in action myself.

I think her behavior with the other dog at your friend's house is very promising. I think she would actually stop the behaviors at het dog park pretty quick if there was no leash or if she had the leash dragging behind her. But, because dog parks can be so tricky, I really recommend the daycare idea over a dog park, especially at first.

In my town there are lots of dogs. Sometimes owners don't leash or control their dogs well. I have had an aggressive dog come up growling, hair on end. Everything in me wanted to grab my dog and pull her with me. Instead, I dropped her leash and hopped a low fence. The owner ran after her dog, and I said in the most happy voice, I have trained dogs, just be calm and happy and don't pull back fast. The dogs were fine with wagging tails in less than a minute while I was shaking for quite a awhile!

What you are doing with the trainer is right, just maybe back it up and really keep that leash/pressure idea in mind. I think you are doing great work and it’s very promising that Bristol will get there!