Hi all, I just thought I'd give you all an update on amber's progress with reactivity. She is doing well, has made progress. Because of the situation with my neighbors dogs, and my very dog loving town it became virtually impossible to desensitize her without dogs around, just taking her out to pee caused the neighbors dog to charge at the fence. So I decided that if we couldn't avoid them we might as well join them. Basically with the neighbor when that dog would be barking, I would just have Amber circle me (on the leash) and do her remote training, reward her when she looked away, and say nope when she reacted. Within 2 weeks she was pretty much ignoring the other dog, actually peeing, instead of reacting, and even sniffing bushes. One of the very unexpected benefits was that since the neighbors dog is no longer getting a reaction his fence aggression has now decreased as well. On walks Amber virtually ignores dogs in yards, houses, etc the only time she really reacts is when a dog is close by and passes and even that has decreased. She is listening more, we are having more walks that are enjoyable. Because she is now at the point where I think she is ready for more close work she is starting a reactive dog class on the 24th, here hopefully we'll be able to completely extinguish her fear, its all positive reinforcement based, hopefully they'll let me continue with the voice work instead of using a clicker. She still has some more to go but has really done quite well since I first posted about her at 8 months old. Hopefully she will only continue to improve, she is now able to be home at night when I'm at work and is doing wonderfully. Hopefully the improvement will only continue to expand. Just thought I'd give an update if anyone was wondering how she was doing. jodi

We have been attending a distractions class on Sunday evenings at a local park with our trainer and 5 other young dogs (adolescent). It has been a fabulous experience and Jethro has improved immensely. The main areas of improvement have been his ability to give his focus to us when there is a dog in close quarters, and his ability to Leave It. Our work as been markers and treats and making the training fun for the dogs. He gets tired and a little wrangly by the end of class, but his reactive incidents have cut down dramatically here at home and around the neighbourhood. And he sleeps like a dead dog after the class and the next day too.

Congratulations, Jodi! It sounds like you are making great progress with Amber, in spite of the difficult conditions you have to contend with.

BTW - we have a neighbour whose rottie-cross has a bad reputation for fence fighting whenever a dog walks by on the sidewalk. We have got Jethro and the rottie now to where they simply leave each other alone as we walk past. It is pretty gratifying to see they have both settled down.

Thanks Jenny, I'm glad to hear that Jethro has made such good progress as well. I'm really hoping our reactive dog class can have such a great outcome. I know that Ambi would love to do agility and if we can get her fear dialed out I'll sign her up for a class. It has been a long, hard road though. But we'll keep plugging away. I hope Jethro's progress continues by leaps and bounds. Jodi

Congratulations on your progress, Jodi. Sounds like your hard work is paying off. When people post on the forum about particular problems they're having, it's always nice to get follow-ups!

Thank You Cheri, hopefully in a couple of months I'll be posting that she is non-reactive. Out of all the animals I've worked with she has been easily the most difficult and I've had to take particular care to not show my frustration. She is so much better though.

"One of the very unexpected benefits was that since the neighbors dog is no longer getting a reaction his fence aggression has now decreased as well."

" ... we have a neighbour whose rottie-cross has a bad reputation for fence fighting whenever a dog walks by on the sidewalk. We have got Jethro and the rottie now to where they simply leave each other alone as we walk past."

One dog becoming less dog-reactive can change the dog-dynamics of a whole street or neighborhood. You guys are experiencing this wonderful phenomenon, and, not only that -- YOU CAUSED IT!

YAY Jodi and Jenny!! And Elizabeth with her Izzy too! These happy positive updates are great to hear!!!

One of the best results of the distraction class is teaching Jethro the moving Down and to Sit/Focus with other dogs in close proximity. It is really helping on our walks.