barking at other dogs - advice needed!

[futuramafan]

Hi

I adopted Molly just over three months ago. She is a lovely dog at home and we adore her but when she goes out she goes crazy at any other dog that is even within 50 feet of her. This has got worse since we adopted her and it is now at the point where my boys can't walk her as she could easily pull them over. She goes to training classes and seems ok with the wide variety of dogs she meets there. The trainer advised squirting her with water when she starts barking etc but this seems to have less and less impact.

Any ideas???

Thanks

Jane (new member!)

[fatpidge]

Try sitting her down and get her to focus on you with her favourite treat/toy in your hand. Easier said than done but give it a go. I have the same problem with 2 of mine. They are a nightmare on leads. I'm now on the see another dog and walk all different directions so they have to focus on me to see which way I'm going next. I look like a crazy woman but who cares. Lol Good luck.

[Nettie]

You are not alone. How old are your boys?

I think you will find this thread really useful.

www.greyhoundgap.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=New&action=display&thread=69319

[Ted]

None of my four are aggressive hounds to any human nor dog no matter what size they are. The two boys Merlin and Mickey Finn are just Great, Menta lets everybody know we have arrived and will bark as a alert to me that someone human or dog are approaching us, she also will run towards them barking until about 30 yards from them then turns around and runs back to me. Kelly will greet all humans and dogs friendly but if the other dog/s become too much in her face or start snarling at her she really tells them off to stop that or go away. If Menta appears to be having trouble from the other dog or its handler then Merlin will go across to back Menta up. I have seen some owners pick up their little snarling dog and wonder why they might get bitten. Most have commonsense except they don't seem to want to get their dog/s trained to be social-able to other dogs. All four of mine have carried out the bronze award for behaviour where the first and last 5 minutes of each of the 6 training sessions they are let off the lead to learn to be sociable to other dogs of all breeds and sizes.

[futuramafan]

Thanks everyone - today she was really good in dog training and didn't even react badly when a young terrier snapped at her during socialisation. I have looked at the link above and that looks really helpful.

To answer your question Nettie, my boys are 11 (but built more like a 14-15 year old and very strong thanks to rugby!) and my other one is 9. I don't let the 9 year old hold the lead alone as I know he isn't strong enough to hold her.

[emmajane]

Just a few questions before we can help you more...
What reason does your trainer give for her reacting badly out on walks but ok in class?
Why does your trainer say you should squirt water at her?
Does she ever interact with dogs off the lead or does she only get walked on lead?
What sort of dog is she and how old?
Is she spayed?
Do you have any background on her from before she came to live with you? (I'm assuming she's not a Gap dog)

Sorry for all the questions, but the more we know the better we might be able to advise.

Emma

PS - did I miss the photos?

[futuramafan]

Hi Emma

thanks for your reply. Molly is 3 and a half and is spayed. The trainer (and the RGT branch I got her from) suggested that water would stop her reacting and that after a short time it wouldn't be needed. However we have given up with this as the RGT have supplied a behaviourist who thinks it is a bad idea.

I am hoping that support from the behaviourist will really help turn things around for her as she is a total sweetie at home.

[julies]

Hi Jane

They usually bark at other dogs as they're frightened of them .. the other dog goes away so the behaviour has worked and they use it again and again ...I hate squirting water at dogs - you have to be very quick and accurate and I prefer to do positive training .. (unless it's at dogs approaching mine, off lead and guarranteed to terrify mine when I will ask the owner to recall the dog and if they can't/don't the dog gets a squirt of water in its face to scare it away- but its a last resort).

Like we've said on other threads - find local RGT or GRWE walks and go on them .. find a quiet real dog and do lots of parralell walking and don't ask Molly to go up to the other dog or vice versa until she is totally relaxed about the other dog which can take weeks or months or longer- take it at her pace and check out TTouch which gives you both tools to increase your confidence around other breeds

If you can find a nice training club that trains outside and will let you go, watch from whatever distance Molly can cope with without reacting (and that means she's not worried at all ... barking and lunging is quite an escalation of fear) then I'd take her, stay for maybe 10 mins at first, take lots of high value treats, stay well away in her comfort zone so it's a good experience that should also help - I wouldn't ask her to get closer or join in until she is happy watching from quite close and agin that could take a while ... oh and leave before they do recall

Good luck with her, hope the behaviourist can help.

Julie