July 08, 2021

Can you give me some strategies on helping my leash reactive dog? He is confident but wants to play with every dog he sees and gets frustrated.

Full Question:
In the Leash Reactivity video, Tyler talks about frustration as one of the sources of leash aggression, but never mentions how to fix it. The reviews on the paid course say that it is not addressed there either. Can you give me some suggestions on strategies to help a dog that is confident and secure, and just wants to play very badly with every dog he sees? Or point me to any resources?
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
When a dog has a history of frustration that leads to any type of reactive behavior you may never be able to "fix" the dog's tendencies but give them alternate behaviors to do instead. The biggest thing for frustrated greeters is not allowing them to greet and play with dogs he sees. The more he's practiced this in the past, the more you have to be on point with your management and training.

I have found that as humans we want to fix or make behavior tendencies go away permanently and that's not always possible. It's all about knowing your dog, knowing the triggers, training, training, training and NOT allowing the dog to get into situations that will reinforce the behaviors you are trying to change.

With consistent management and training you can likely change your dog's behavior but always keep in your mind what your dog's default behavior, temperament, and tendencies are so you can set him up for success long term. The biggest part of fixing our dog's behaviors we don't like is management and realizing that training is not a project that has a definitive end. It's always going to require some level of maintenance and for some dogs it is ongoing. Like humans, some dogs are easier to retrain and others will be a challenge. Living with dogs like this is a lifestyle as opposed to a project with a beginning, middle, and end.

This is often not the answer people want but it’s the reality of living with some dogs. I hope this helps.

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Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
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