"A reactive dog needs someone with the confidence to say no...when done correctly this builds confidence."

This has worked really well for us.

There are some situations where I have to choose for my dog because he is not going to make a good choice. In those situations I have to say NO and offer an alternate - ie. Sit, Down, Leave It, This Way, etc.

I do need to train for my dog's success - that is what gives us things to do together! But I also have to be ready to step in and just say NO - and that is what I have been missing. I have now set a standard of zero tolerance for reactive outbursts.

Tonight we walked past a softball game. There were at least three dogs tied to the dugout. As we walked past, they all started barking. I told Jethro to Leave It and we walked on past. At one point I gave him a quick, sharp correction for staring back. The beauty of the halti is that it brings his head around quick and all of a sudden he is looking at me with this quizzical expression, as if to say, "How did you get in my line of sight?"

For the first time this evening, I was able to take Skipper to the field to chase a ball, and keep Jethro leashed up to me on his walking leash. Skipper got the workout he needed and Jethro played some treat games with me - I would roll up a sock with treats in the centre and he lay there pulling it apart to get at the treats. I threw the sock a few feet away with Jethro in a Sit and then said, Find It and he did that. I was able to start to imagine some new kinds of games to play with Jethro that keep him close to me but also give him satisfaction.

It was a very successful evening walk. When Jethro tried to charge a passerby I said a sharp NO and strung him up and told him to Sit. He Sat, and I released the pressure. Then I said, Focus and got him to make eye contact with me. Then we moved on out of there.

For us, NO means NO - I don't use it for training OB. I use it to indicate ABSOLUTELY NOT.

This thread feels like a break through for me. I can't believe I have spent almost two years struggling to get to this point.

 Quote: Jenny Arntzen

For the first time this evening, I was able to take Skipper to the field to chase a ball, and keep Jethro leashed up to me on his walking leash. Skipper got the workout he needed and Jethro played some treat games with me - I would roll up a sock with treats in the centre and he lay there pulling it apart to get at the treats. I threw the sock a few feet away with Jethro in a Sit and then said, Find It and he did that. I was able to start to imagine some new kinds of games to play with Jethro that keep him close to me but also give him satisfaction.

With all due respect, you are a new handler, and just making some headway with Jethro. IMO, you need to leave Skipper at home when you are walking Jethro, so he can have your full attention. Timing (as Steve has pointed out repeatedly, as have others) is critical to your effective communication with Jethro. Set him up for success, and give him your full attention until you have all this sorted out.

It was a very successful evening walk. When Jethro tried to charge a passerby I said a sharp NO and strung him up and told him to Sit. He Sat, and I released the pressure. Then I said, Focus and got him to make eye contact with me. Then we moved on out of there.

If he charged a passerby, your correction was too late, and consequently, because of your timing, was harsher than it had to be (if you would have corrected earlier). You need to recognize the exact point in time where he gets locked onto something, and correct there, not after he has charged. This is what separates trainers from people who own dogs. You are acting as a trainer in this situation, so you have to learn. You have to pay attention. He is telling you what he is going to do before he does it, through his posture. Watch his ears, the height of his tail, the way he is walking. When he spots something and is going to react, he will be all forward and tall. You watch him and see. When he goes to this place, it's your job as a trainer to recognize this and correct that state of mind. If you have trouble with this, have a professional help you.

What you don't want to happen is for Jethro to get a correction for just looking at something. If he starts getting corrected for just looking at a stranger, he may go into avoidance and be fearful, or me may start launching preemptive attacks at the stranger, or you.

You must be fair.


For us, NO means NO - I don't use it for training OB. I use it to indicate ABSOLUTELY NOT.

This thread feels like a break through for me. I can't believe I have spent almost two years struggling to get to this point.

Please don't take all this to heart. I think you are doing a great job here, and you have come a long way in the past 2 years. Trust me when I say that your next dog will be a piece of cake because of the education that Jethro has provided. I just really want you to succeed, and I'm going to point out when I think you have made a mistake to make you a better trainer, until you tell me to go pound sand

Keep up the great work, and keep us posted Jenny!

I need a hat cam.

I have learned tons using a helmet cam. Even better, have someone follow you with it so you can see yourself too.

 Quote:

This thread feels like a break through for me. I can't believe I have spent almost two years struggling to get to this point.

What a shame that no one tried to point out that you could try a better way.

Jen, learn Jethro's body language.
You'll see when he's doing more than just looking out of curiosity.
I know that all dogs don't give the same body language, but I look for slower walking, tail going up, hackles, position of head (high if Tuckers looking at another dog, low if he's spotted some sort of prey)etc.
If he (Jethro) takes a look and keeps going IMO that's good. If the look turns into a stare and he starts to slow his pace or his tail starts to go up etc. that's when I would pop him. If he's already in his zone it's too late to correct, at that point I would put into effect the running/jogging scenario that was mentioned before. Move at a quick pace, forcing him to move with you and past whatever he's reacting to. Anytime that Jethro looks at something that would normally set him off and he doesn't react praise him.
(sorry, i do see that David has already pointed these out)

I know that you aren't using a prong..but i do believe I saw you say that it was because it was amping Jethro up more than anything. That's because the timing was off. If you pop with the prong at the right time (before he's in the red zone) it won't have the amping effect. If you pop the prong when he's already hackling and acting up it's counter productive.

It's alot to remember and try to keep in your head, trust me I know. But it will soon become second nature to you.

Big ditto to everything!

"You'll see when he's doing more than just looking out of curiosity."

Yes, there's a very noticeable change between casually looking, and that stare that precedes trouble. The stare can't be allowed to develop at all.

If he lunges, that's too late. (I too wouldn't have the other dog with Jethro and me right now, dividing my attention.)

This has been brought up by more than one in the past, but the BAT protocol was overriding it, I think.

I'm hoping that seeing the problem with granting decision-making rights to this dog (David's "why BAT isn't the best tool for Jethro" post) now leads to not granting him the time and space to choose what to give stink-eye to.


Every time I look at this thread, Jenny, I see major progress! You HAVE made a breakthrough!

Steve, I'm not sure that I would blame the trainers that have helped me so far. I think a big part of the problem is me learning to read the signs and act in a timely manner with the right response.

I won't take the two dogs out together for now. I can definitely say that Jethro's reactive incidents go up 10x when I have Skipper with me, probably because I am distracted.

Sometimes Jethro's arousal is very obvious and easy to catch and address. It is the moments where the signs are not as clear to me, or I am not picking up on the signals, that we get into trouble.

I appreciate the detail about when to give the pop. By the end of our use of the prong, it didn't matter what I did with it. I'm sure my timing was bad and he was more provoked by it than getting any useful information to change his behaviour.

I will take this with me today: If he lunges it is too late, just get out of there as quickly and calmly as we can. Set him up for success, don't put him into situations that are going to be too difficult. Keep reading the scenes for 'teachable moments' where the stimulation is within Jethro's range to respond to me.

I've been practicing Really Reliable Recall with Jethro and Leslie Nelson instructs to do three practices a day. She has figured out that is enough to build a conditioned response, but not enough to bore the dog with the protocol.

I'm training Jethro not to react, and I want to make the most of the teachable moments and then give both of us a break. More short walks.

I do love training this dog, but when I look at what I just wrote, and how much time and energy I have put into this, I really have to shake my thick head.

"Steve, I'm not sure that I would blame the trainers that have helped me so far. I think a big part of the problem is me learning to read the signs and act in a timely manner with the right response. "


Maybe I can try to clear up a little thing and move past it ..... I can't speak for Steve or others, but only for myself. I/we have said these things on past Jethro threads, but I think that what we were saying was so contrary to BAT principles that there was no way it could be espoused while BAT was still the protocol in effect. So now, as they are re-said and responded to, there are a few reactions of "we said that here, and here, and here, and again here" .... but really, at bottom, we get that that was then and this is now.

Maybe it's just me, but I pretty much see David's post about "why BAT protocol is not only not right, in this situation, but, in part, actually counterproductive in this situation" as a major turning point.

So it's all good. It's a new day, and a new start.



"I do love training this dog, but when I look at what I just wrote, and how much time and energy I have put into this, I really have to shake my thick head."

Why? It got you to here. Who ever has a straight and perfect route? Not me.




"I'm training Jethro not to react, and I want to make the most of the teachable moments and then give both of us a break. More short walks."

Not so much training him not to react as not allowing the opportunity right now in your new role as THE BOSS. Yes yes yes to the correcting, but when it comes right down to it, the real goal for me is not allowing the opportunity and not strengthening a bad habit that has been allowed to gain foothold and needs correcting when it arises. Too much time, too much attention, too much focus on triggers lie in "training him not to react."

Starting a stink-eye look? Nope. Come on, NOW.

New fallback: march beside me. I will decide on what to focus on.

As Wendy said: "Move at a quick pace, forcing him to move with you and past whatever he's reacting to."

JMO, of course.

I'm not just copying Mike Arnold when I say truly that it was 7 a.m. here when I logged on with one measly cup of coffee, so this may be randomly meander-y.