I have an extremely dog reactive female German Shepherd, and I want to pursue agility with her but she goes nuts when she sees other dogs. Do you have any suggestions?

Question

Cindy: I have a 15 month old female German Shepherd that is extremely dog reactive. When I have her out for a walk and she sees another dog she starts screaming. I don't know how else to describe it. People come out of their houses because they think that a dog has been hurt. She also pulls and is only focused on the other dog. This is what I am currently doing to try and stop this behavior:

I have had private sessions with a trainer and introducing her to other dogs. She is not allowed to great the other dog until she is calm. Once the initial greeting is over, she is much calmer and the screaming stops.
Now, she is in a group intro to agility class. However, she can't participate fully because of her behavior. The purpose is to get her to work for me and focus on the obstacles vs. the other dogs. She is able to focus on the obstacles. However, when we first arrive at class and she sees the other dogs, she goes nuts ? screaming, pulling etc.
I try to get her to focus on me before it escalates to the screaming point, however she has zero interest in anything else ? food or toys.
We do obedience daily.
She gets 2 walks everyday.
We play fetch daily

I am so frustrated at this point and don't know what else to do. There are so many things I want to do with her, but can't because of how she reacts when other dogs are around. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks, Melissa

Accepted Answer

I’m going to make a couple of recommendations. First you need to address the correct way to handle her when she becomes out of control around other dogs. I’d completely avoid any type of classes that introduce her to other dogs. This is not going to help your issues and may actually make them worse. For dogs like yours, they need to learn to be indifferent to other dogs, not friendly with them. You don’t want the reward for any behavior to be another dog, especially if you want to pursue agility or any other dog sport where you want your dog focused on you.

For the dog reactivity, I’d recommend a strict restructuring program in and around the house. Start with our groundwork program and the video that picks up where the article leaves off, Pack Structure for the Family Pet.

For the screaming and out of control behavior, you need to be able to block and stop this behavior BEFORE it escalates. By the time your dog is screaming, you’ve already missed your window of opportunity to let her know that’s not allowed. Good dog training is about being one step ahead of the dog and giving the dog something else to do with herself, instead of the negative behavior. I like to teach my dogs to look at me, or lay down with eye contact on command. This way if I scan the horizon and see something I know will be challenging for my dog I can give him something to do that he WANTS to do and he knows bring rewards. In the meantime, you need to know how to manage her when she has an episode of pulling/screaming.

I’d recommend a dominant dog collar and Dealing with Dominant & Aggressive Dogs.

For teaching the focus and interaction with you for future training should be started at home in a no distraction zone. You are literally going to have to teach your dog how to focus and learn first before you can expect her to do this in an agility class. Don’t continue to put her in a class situation until you have a handle on the aggression/reactivity and have taught her to engage and focus on you.

I would recommend using markers to teach her the very basics first.

The Power of Training Dogs with Markers
The Power of Training Dogs with Food

You’ve got a lot of work ahead of you, but if you don’t try to skip any steps and really concentrate on the small details now I think you may be able to get your dog into the proper state of mind. Just remember to stop letting her rehearse behaviors you don’t want. This means no more classes that have other dogs in attendance right now. If you continue to let her practice the unstable and reactive behaviors, you won’t be able to reach any of your training goals now or in the future.

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I hope this helps.

Cindy