Large, reactive rescue dog.

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evilsheep
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2016 10:27 am

Large, reactive rescue dog.

Post by evilsheep »

Hello

We currently have our latest foster rescue dog (our previous one had very deep-set issues with males, and it was decided by the rescue manager and behaviourist that she would be best placed with a female-only household). He is a big, cuddly one-year-old malamute/akita cross, and is very well house-trained, sits on command (sometimes with a bit of howly grumbling), lies down, gives paw, and unfortunately was also taught to jump up on his hind legs and place his paws on humans shoulders on greeting them (not good for his joints surely, let alone the unsuspecting people he meets).

At home, he's generally confined to the kitchen, which is a room approximately 12 feet square, and tiled. He has a bed underneath the (open) stairs which consists of a big cushion and a blanket. He usually rearranges these and sometimes sleeps on the bare tiles, which presumably is due to his thick fur being perfectly warm enough. We did have a very large crate set up there for him, but he wasn't keen on using it. The reason he's confined to the kitchen is due to him being unable/reluctant/scared to negotiate the stairs. They are open-tread stairs, with only a handrail and no bannister, but even after blocking them off using paper/blankets he still refuses to ascend (or descend) them. He's fine with concrete steps when out and about on walks, but these are always far wider, so I presume these are easier for him as he's able to turn around easily on them. He doesn't seem remotely bothered about being left alone in the kitchen though, and only barks when he hears dogs passing by outside.

His typical day consists of spending 8 or so hours alone asleep in the kitchen overnight (with plenty of toys), greeting us happily in the morning, being taken out for a short half-hour walk first thing, then either a longer walk in the afternoon (1 hour plus) or two further shorter walks. He poos pretty regularly - once about ten minutes into the afternoon walk, then again about 10 minutes later, and never in the house apart from on one occasion when he'd just returned from a weekend kennel visit and seemingly had picked up worms/bug. As I said, he's usually confined to the kitchen as he doesn't do indoor stairs, but we can walk him around to the front of the house which enables him to sit on the sofa with us. He had slept in the living room a few times, but seems to prefer the tiles in the kitchen, which is fine by us!

He was neutered about a fortnight ago and has recovered well - he destroyed a plastic Elizabeth cone pretty quickly by bashing into things with it, so we bought an inflatable collar instead which worked a treat. He's happy in car travel, provided he's not tethered. I tried attaching his harness to the seatbelt/head rest but this seemingly encouraged him to strain against it, so now we put the seats down and he lies down in the boot happily gazing out of the rear window (we have a dog guard installed behind the front seats). He's a lovely, happy dog and really enjoys playing with us both (which is particularly good news for my OH who was practically banished from the house by our previous foster!).

In the few weeks we've had him, we have now trained him to remain seated whilst the door is opened, and he is only allowed to leave when given the 'heel' command after we've gone through the door first. When he arrived, he would barge past us through the door, dragging us behind him so this is a big improvement (and didn't take too long either). He's nowhere near as bad on the lead as he used to be, but still tends to get a bit excitable and pull off frequently. Nothing unmanageable now though. At first he wore an EzyDog chest plate harness with lead, plus a slip lead, and lately a K9 with 6-ft lead (no slip). The pulling has decreased after consistently stopping whenever he pulls, waiting for him to slacken the lead, calling him to me and then treating him from behind my knee (with lots of praise). He still pulls a bit, but I almost feel like he's doing this in order to get a treat, because as soon as he pulls he looks behind me expectantly! I was using an EzyDog Zero Shock lead as he was starting to destroy my shoulder, but I gather this was probably encourage him to pull, so now after reading up a bit more and different training techniques, I've started using a solid rope 6-foot lead attached to his K9 to allow him a little more room before pulling. He's a sniffer, and practically has his nose to the floor constantly when we're out and about, so it's quite difficult to get his attention away from that. Should I be letting him sniff about, and generally follow him (not allowing him to pull of course), or be insisting he follow me? When I stand still (before crossing a road, when talking to people, on the phone etc.) he doesn't pull at all, and either sits quietly or just stands near me, looking around.

Now, the main problem - he's very reactive to most other dogs. I live very near a cycle-path/popular dog-walking trail so it's inevitable that we'll meet many other dogs on a walk, and also there are several houses nearby that we walk past who have dogs loose in their large gardens. The first dogs we encounter are enclosed in a yard only about 15 feet away from the back door. They're VERY vocal dogs, and will bark usually when a dog is within 20 feet. I've had some success with his reactivity with them as now he doesn't make a bee-line for their gate to argue back, but runs past, looking back to their gate. He seems quite anxious doing this though, which troubles me. He's a massive malamute and they are two very small JR-sized dogs.

After negotiating this hurdle, we then continue down the path, unhindered by other dogs for about 100 metres or so. Then we come to the next hurdle - two staffie-sized dogs running loose behind a gate. On our first walk down there a few weeks ago, he lunged for the gate and got nipped on the nose by one of them, so I completely understand why he's especially jittery with them. I've tried walking him to within site of the gate, and treating/praising, then walking away again, but don't seem to making progress. He seems very very anxious around most other dogs to me, and I'm worried about making this problem worse so thought it best to ask for further advice her before proceeding with training. When he sees other dogs and becomes reactive, he jumps up and pulls, which makes him very difficult to control. The K9 is great in the sense that I can grab the handle on the back to hold him, but this isn't really solving the problem. I had ordered a Halti head collar which arrived this morning, but he snapped it within 5 minutes after several lunges at passing dogs (I've written to them requesting a refund). I've also bought a Halti lead as the rope one was rather heavy (and non-adjustable).

Any and all advice appreciated!

*EDIT* I forgot that I've also used a figure of 8 lead, which was great for controlling him, but too short to walk him really, plus he wriggled out of it rather easily.
JudyN
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Location: Dorset, UK
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Re: Large, reactive rescue dog.

Post by JudyN »

I'm not an expert, but a few questions spring to mind:

1) How long have you had him for and been working on his reactivity?

2) How long do you expect to have him for? (I know this could be as long as a piece of string but you might have a rough estimate.)

3) Would it be possible to drive him to places to walk where he will encounter fewer dogs?

I'm thinking that particularly if his time with you is limited, it might be best to work on his reactivity in other places, where he's not forced to come close to dogs he may have already decided are the 'enemy'. And even if he is to be with you for a long time, it may still be best to start in this way before addressing the dogs close to home.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
evilsheep
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2016 10:27 am

Re: Large, reactive rescue dog.

Post by evilsheep »

JudyN wrote:I'm not an expert, but a few questions spring to mind:

1) How long have you had him for and been working on his reactivity?
Only for around 3 weeks - early days I know. I've been working on the lead training from day one, but didn't focus on reactivity until about a week after that.
JudyN wrote:2) How long do you expect to have him for? (I know this could be as long as a piece of string but you might have a rough estimate.)
I could well have him until I've managed to train him more; he's more likely to stay permanently in his 'forever' home' if he arrives there as well-behaved as possible after all.
JudyN wrote:3) Would it be possible to drive him to places to walk where he will encounter fewer dogs?
It's finding places with fewer dogs that is the problem! Anywhere that's suitable to walk dogs has plenty of dogs walking there. He also doesn't react to all dogs, but most of them. There's a Welsh Terrier (female) just down the road, and he only barks at her when she's walking on the lead with her owner. When's she stood alone off-lead behind her gate he just wanders over and sniffs the air through the gate (she doesn't react either). I'm tempted to ask every single dog owner I pass what sex their dog is. Perhaps it's just males he has an issue with?
JudyN wrote:I'm thinking that particularly if his time with you is limited, it might be best to work on his reactivity in other places, where he's not forced to come close to dogs he may have already decided are the 'enemy'. And even if he is to be with you for a long time, it may still be best to start in this way before addressing the dogs close to home.
I don't hold out much hope of rehabilitating him with the staffies, but he's encountering new dogs every day on the path near me, so if I could even stop him from jumping at them (but still barking, just being under control) that would be great. Basically, if myself and the rescue manager/behaviourist think he's better off staying with me for more training before being rehomed, he will be. I know Malamutes/Akitas are not fully trainable in a sense (and this one's just a year, so is likely not to settle for another year or so anyway ...) but anything I can do will help!

Interestingly, as I've been typing this he was playing with various toys beside me in the kitchen and then just decided to gingerly climb the stairs! He's now in the living room with my other half. Clearly he's on a learning curve in his own way!
JudyN
Posts: 7018
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
Contact:

Re: Large, reactive rescue dog.

Post by JudyN »

evilsheep wrote:I'm tempted to ask every single dog owner I pass what sex their dog is. Perhaps it's just males he has an issue with?
Yup, I often ask that, and then ask if they're neutered or not. My dog has always been much better with girls, and also with more mature dogs.

My dog is also worse with dogs he meets in narrow places, such as narrow paths or pavements so if you were able to find a more open space you'd have more opportunity to keep at a reasonable distance. Also - and this is my reason for thinking it might be best to avoid the local dogs - dogs he decided he hated when he was a hot-headed adolescent, he still hates now, and he reacts as he did back then rather than he would if he met them for the first time now. The more you can avoid 'incidents' now, particularly with dogs he's likely to meet regularly, the more he'll learn that other dogs aren't anything to be worried about. And it means you can work on behaviours like 'When I see another dog [at a comfortable distance] and am calm/look at my owner I get a treat' when he's going to be calm enough to manage this. It's much harder to train calm behaviour in a situation where he simply can't be calm.

Have you come across impulse control training? There's a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipT5k1gaXhc It can help a dog learn to deal with his frustration/arousal which can be a big help in naturally impetuous dogs.

As I said though, I'm bu no means an expert so hopefully others will chip in. And WTG on him deciding to try the stairs!
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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