January 18, 2016
Do you have any advice on working with dog reactivity with dogs that WANT to get to the other dog vs ones that are uncomfortable and want space?
Full Question:
Hi! I recently purchased the leash reactivity self study course from your online classes. After watching all the videos I noticed that the trainer only talks about dogs that are reactive because they aren't comfortable with a social interaction/want more space from a another dog ect... I could be wrong, but I believe that my dog has the exact opposite issue in that he desperately wants to interact with the other dog. He's a 2 year old dutch shepherd and LOVES playing with other dogs but can become very reactive if he can't get to them. He's even jumped my 8 ft fence multiple times to go play with neighbors dogs. Do you have any advice on working with dog reactivity with dogs that WANT to get to the other dog vs ones that are uncomfortable and want space? Thanks! 
Cindy's Answer:
Hi Alex, I sent your question on to Tyler and here is what he said:
Thanks for purchasing the course! The bulk of the material can be directly applied to dogs who are social and simply frustrated by the leash. I would recommend spending a lot of time on the foundation work, especially the place command, and make sure that at least once a day he practices holding the place command for at least 30 minutes once a day. This will help to increase his frustration tolerance and ability to calm himself. This “duration work” should not be overlooked or under emphasized. Additionally, the stop-pop-move corrections in module 5 and the fire drill exercise in module 7 work very well for dogs who are simply over-excited. In fact the fire drill exercise was derived from a drill that is used primarily to teach dogs to ignore prey. The only major difference is that you do not need to be looking for and responding to cut off cues if you are certain that your dog is not insecure. Essentially, the only info that you can basically ignore would be the theory and application of module 4.
Lastly, just use caution, as there are many dogs who are quite social off leash, yet are very insecure while on the leash. So, as you are going through this process, always be on the look out for signs of insecurity as sometimes once the explosiveness is gone, the insecurity surfaces. You know your dog the best, but I just wanted to throw that out there.
Thanks for purchasing the course! The bulk of the material can be directly applied to dogs who are social and simply frustrated by the leash. I would recommend spending a lot of time on the foundation work, especially the place command, and make sure that at least once a day he practices holding the place command for at least 30 minutes once a day. This will help to increase his frustration tolerance and ability to calm himself. This “duration work” should not be overlooked or under emphasized. Additionally, the stop-pop-move corrections in module 5 and the fire drill exercise in module 7 work very well for dogs who are simply over-excited. In fact the fire drill exercise was derived from a drill that is used primarily to teach dogs to ignore prey. The only major difference is that you do not need to be looking for and responding to cut off cues if you are certain that your dog is not insecure. Essentially, the only info that you can basically ignore would be the theory and application of module 4.
Lastly, just use caution, as there are many dogs who are quite social off leash, yet are very insecure while on the leash. So, as you are going through this process, always be on the look out for signs of insecurity as sometimes once the explosiveness is gone, the insecurity surfaces. You know your dog the best, but I just wanted to throw that out there.
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