River is my 4 year old (soon to be 5) German Shepard mix female dog. We are pretty active in the dog world. We take agility classes, scent work and barn hunting classes and on occasion, we take obedience classes. And 80% of the time, she's great around other dogs but she has some trouble with dogs that give her direct eye contact or have a certain look. She will lung to the end of the leash and bark like she wants to kill something and she seems to do this quite randomly. She'll interact with a certain dog or ignore them completely for a few weeks then at the 5th encounter she lungs and barks. So she's not horrible but if I can work with her to where she doesn't do this anymore or a lot less that would great. Some dogs are just genetically pre-disposed for certain behavior but I'm hoping to get rid of this behavior or at least mostly.
So, I signed her up for a class at PosiDog in Hilliard, called Rowdy & Reactive. The class is held on Sunday's and is a rolling entry class so it's going on all the time, which is nice. You attend a 2 hour long orientation where you talk about your dog and about his/her lunging, barking issues and under what circumstances they occur, then you go in and watch the class which is really helpful.
Next, you do your homework with your dog. There's an exercise you work with your dog feeding them when you say, "here!" in a high tone of voice. River and I worked on this for about 3 weeks. It was over the holidays and I thought it was a good time to work on it and then start classes after Christmas. After you get the "here!" exercise down, you go in for a 45 minute individual session, where they see how your dog is responding to the exercise and they test your dog with what they call a "helper dog" or a dog that is really calm and couldn't care less about your dog or what its doing. After your evaluation, you start classes on Sundays and you attend 6 classes.
In the class, the goal is for your dog to get glimpse of other dogs without reacting. So they have portable, 1/2 walls that made of strong cardboard or foam core or something like that so that they can create a gap in the wall around you that you and your dog are behind. You walk past and when your dog turns to look out (and they will) and see the helper dog, you say "here!" and they turn back to you and get a tasty treat. As your dog progresses, the gap gets wider, the helper dogs move, bark or jog or whatever to help challenge your dog.
There is some special equipment you need to get. Every dog is attached to their owner at 2 points - one at the collar and one at the harness. They suggested getting the Freedom harness which you can attach your leash to your dog at the back or the chest. They suggest attaching at the front and that way if your dog reacts you can gently pull their chest around and away from the dog they're reacting to and you have a lot more control over your dog. The leash is attached to the collar and the waist leash is attached around your hips and to the harness. PosiDog also provides the waist leash if you don't have one. This is also called "hands free" leash.
The other equipment you need is food. Lots and lots of the best food your dog wants. I don't mean Pupperoni sticks or Milkbones either. Roast chicken, steak, tuna, salmon, canned tripe. You know the good stuff. Food your dog doesn't get on a daily basis. River is a true carnivore and pretty much snubs her nose at everything unless it's a form of protein but she really, really likes American cheese slices so I take that along with various meats. You can test your dog to see what they like best but you should take at least 5 different things. You'll want to switch up your treats and keep it interesting.
We went to class for several weeks and then we moved to level 2. In this class, you work on your dog lying next to you while other dogs are working. You also work your dog in the center of the room while other dogs are watching. They also introduce items/sounds that may make your dog reactive. For example, they ride a scooter around or roll a large ball or make a plastic bottle snap and pop. All of these are challenges for reactive dogs. We've been going to this class for almost 3 months and during that time, I've limited her contact with other dogs but it's back to the real world soon and I'm hoping that she'll be a little more relaxed out and about. I haven't taken any other class at PosiDog but I was pleased with all the trainers we interacted with there. So if your dog is a bit of bully or reactive to other dogs you might want to check out PosiDog or look for a dog class in your area that addresses reactivity.
So, I signed her up for a class at PosiDog in Hilliard, called Rowdy & Reactive. The class is held on Sunday's and is a rolling entry class so it's going on all the time, which is nice. You attend a 2 hour long orientation where you talk about your dog and about his/her lunging, barking issues and under what circumstances they occur, then you go in and watch the class which is really helpful.
Next, you do your homework with your dog. There's an exercise you work with your dog feeding them when you say, "here!" in a high tone of voice. River and I worked on this for about 3 weeks. It was over the holidays and I thought it was a good time to work on it and then start classes after Christmas. After you get the "here!" exercise down, you go in for a 45 minute individual session, where they see how your dog is responding to the exercise and they test your dog with what they call a "helper dog" or a dog that is really calm and couldn't care less about your dog or what its doing. After your evaluation, you start classes on Sundays and you attend 6 classes.
In the class, the goal is for your dog to get glimpse of other dogs without reacting. So they have portable, 1/2 walls that made of strong cardboard or foam core or something like that so that they can create a gap in the wall around you that you and your dog are behind. You walk past and when your dog turns to look out (and they will) and see the helper dog, you say "here!" and they turn back to you and get a tasty treat. As your dog progresses, the gap gets wider, the helper dogs move, bark or jog or whatever to help challenge your dog.
There is some special equipment you need to get. Every dog is attached to their owner at 2 points - one at the collar and one at the harness. They suggested getting the Freedom harness which you can attach your leash to your dog at the back or the chest. They suggest attaching at the front and that way if your dog reacts you can gently pull their chest around and away from the dog they're reacting to and you have a lot more control over your dog. The leash is attached to the collar and the waist leash is attached around your hips and to the harness. PosiDog also provides the waist leash if you don't have one. This is also called "hands free" leash.
The other equipment you need is food. Lots and lots of the best food your dog wants. I don't mean Pupperoni sticks or Milkbones either. Roast chicken, steak, tuna, salmon, canned tripe. You know the good stuff. Food your dog doesn't get on a daily basis. River is a true carnivore and pretty much snubs her nose at everything unless it's a form of protein but she really, really likes American cheese slices so I take that along with various meats. You can test your dog to see what they like best but you should take at least 5 different things. You'll want to switch up your treats and keep it interesting.
We went to class for several weeks and then we moved to level 2. In this class, you work on your dog lying next to you while other dogs are working. You also work your dog in the center of the room while other dogs are watching. They also introduce items/sounds that may make your dog reactive. For example, they ride a scooter around or roll a large ball or make a plastic bottle snap and pop. All of these are challenges for reactive dogs. We've been going to this class for almost 3 months and during that time, I've limited her contact with other dogs but it's back to the real world soon and I'm hoping that she'll be a little more relaxed out and about. I haven't taken any other class at PosiDog but I was pleased with all the trainers we interacted with there. So if your dog is a bit of bully or reactive to other dogs you might want to check out PosiDog or look for a dog class in your area that addresses reactivity.
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