Hi to all~

My 31/2 month old GSD puppy has a great temperament. Due to our current health issues, I am training him to be a companion/ house dog. He is doing well in the house. House training has been fast.

I would like some suggestions on the fear/ aggression of other dogs etc. I blew it on my last GSD and want to start early on Ramsey. I have walked him and have the typical bark/ hackles reaction to other dogs ( not too much with people). Here, we have idiots who let dogs off leashes who are out of control so I have to be careful where I go.

I am taking him to a few different spots and of course he's VERY distracted and I just spend a little time letting him look around, doing some marker training. I can tell when he's stressed and won't take food.

I don't want him to LOVE other dogs, just be neutral. Obviously, we don't all have ideal situations in which to train for this.

Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks

Hi, Carol,

"I am taking him to a few different spots and of course he's VERY distracted and I just spend a little time letting him look around, doing some marker training. I can tell when he's stressed and won't take food."

This means too close, too long, too much. (The marker work is actually done just outside his reactive range.)

Before I "retype the wheel," have you seen any of the threads here about desensitizing? Some will seem to you to be far higher on the reactivity scale than your pup, but the basic steps are the same.

Are you doing little upbeat marker sessions in distraction-free areas (inside the house, say, with just you and the dog, to start)?

" I have walked him and have the typical bark/ hackles reaction to other dogs"


What do you do?

I can tell you what worked for me and Buddy, We lived outside city limits and just about everyone let their dogs run. Buddy was 4 months old when I started walking him off our property. Just as we got outside the gate a med size dog came running over. It scared Buddy and he growled at the other dog. I gave Buddy a light pop and told him no and then made an exaggerated point of stepping in front of Buddy and very aggressively told the other dog to back off and took a huge step toward it. I didn’t stop until I had backed that dog across the street. I did this with every dog that tried to approach us, either at a walk or run. It wasn’t long for Buddy to understand that he was to stay behind me and I handled the other dogs no matter where we were.

Good Luck

Hi Connie~

Thanks for your reply

Yes we are doing a lot of marker training in back and front yard. I find it very helpful when he gets crazy, I can really get control.

Across the street seems OK, but then again, sometimes it isn't. I try to get him out of range where he might "watch", "sit" etc. I will check on the desensitizing threads.

Hey Peggy

I did the same the other morning and my cute boy sat in back and watched me do it quietly. But I'm trying to eliminate his lunging and barking at dogs passing by on leash. So I can't very well do that to trained or controlled dogs.

I will read the desensitizing posts Connie mentioned. Thanks for your reply!

Try to get him away and to perform a command like "sit" or whatever.

Here's a start, and if you will bump this tomorrow morning, I'll find more.

http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=28694&page=3#312536

http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=24232&page=2#251710

Please ask any and all questions you may have after reading a bit.

I have a link somewhere to "dog-reactive success stories," too, that I'll find tomorrow.

 Quote: Peggy Bayer

I can tell you what worked for me and Buddy, We lived outside city limits and just about everyone let their dogs run. Buddy was 4 months old when I started walking him off our property. Just as we got outside the gate a med size dog came running over. It scared Buddy and he growled at the other dog. I gave Buddy a light pop and told him no and then made an exaggerated point of stepping in front of Buddy and very aggressively told the other dog to back off and took a huge step toward it. I didn’t stop until I had backed that dog across the street. I did this with every dog that tried to approach us, either at a walk or run. It wasn’t long for Buddy to understand that he was to stay behind me and I handled the other dogs no matter where we were.

Good Luck

I agree with making sure your reactive dog sees you as the one in charge, the one who will handle the source of his reactivity.

In fact, I have a similar anecdote:

http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=24388&page=1#253411

The more my reactive dog perceived a permanent and dependable leader between him and the rest of the world, the easier it was to desensitize him.

I wish I had done this when my dog was reactive at 4 months. Instead of taking him out to lots of different places with lots of distractions, I wish I had only taken him out in very graduated steps, and for very short periods of time. I wish I had given him enough freedom to engage with the environment, but not enough to get overwhelmed and reactive to it. I wish I had ignored advice to let my dog sniff and interact with other dogs, and instead had focussed on letting my dog see dogs at a safe distance and after they had moved on, gone over, with a calm manner, and sniffed their trail.

Jethro has calmed down a lot, for the time being, and one of the changes I have made is to take him for short walks on familiar territory, only pushing the boundaries of new routes in a very limited way. I watch for any reactive behaviour and if it starts up, we just head home (which we are not far from, in the first place).

We walk frequently, at least 3 times a day, often 4, and I give him lots of sniff time, especially when I see a dog he is having problems with. We wait until it is a safe distance away, and then we go and sniff the trail it left. We don't get far, and we only walk fast for focused exercise.

FYI - Jethro just turned 2 and we are working very hard with his calming exercises. He is doing much better, and I think he is enjoying life more, too.