Hi All,
Crazy busy at work, so I've been a lurker. Any advice on the issue below, much appreciated.

Cali (11 months) is very friendly, but she needs a little work in the social graces, if you ask me.

When we go walking in the woods where dogs are allowed off leash, she often does her own thing and moves on past other dogs with a sniff. Every now and then, however, there's a dog coming at her from the other direction that she decides she wants to play with--and it's always play. I have never seen any aggression in this dog. She will go into a "down," then charge the other dog at a run.

Needless to say, some dogs go into play mode readily, but that charging unnerves others and they don't like it. I'm afraid she's going to charge the wrong dog--as in very wrong--and the consequences won't be good.

We started her e-collar recall training about 4 weeks ago with our trainer, so she knows what is expected when she hears the word "aqui." When I see she downs as she spies another dog, I have been giving her the "aqui" command, low stim, breaking her focus, and having her come back to me. I put her in a down stay. But being young and impulsive still, she sometimes breaks that, and charges off again. I have to tell her "no," and give her more of a correction. Sometimes the whole thing takes a too much time, and she's at the other dog before she turns to get back to me.

Any other words of advice? And I am right to be concerned about this charging, right? TIA!

I will just say that 11 months old is still pretty young to expect perfection. Maybe you should continue to keep her on a long line until her recall is more perfected, that way there is no chance that she will charge the wrong dog as you put it. My young dogs spend a long time on long lines & then even with e-collars for a while until I am sure of what their reaction will be in just about any situatition. I still use e-collars on my dogs as a backup when they are off my property. I will say that I have only had very rare occasion to use them because I took the time to be sure of my dogs obedience before letting them go off a long line. I would also see if you can find other places that are less populated with loose dogs if you really feel that you have to let her off leash. Dog fights are not a pretty thing, nor are they easy to break up without getting yourself hurt. Better to avoid any chance of one at all costs. JMO

Thanks, Anne. Great advice, as always. She spends a lot of time on a long line, esp with this recall training. The foray into the woods was a break from it for fun, but it wasn't the best idea I readily admit. I didn't think about putting her back on the line in that venue--and even had it with me. Dumb rookie mistake.

And, you're right, her impulse control at 11 months isn't always 100%. She's pretty darn good a lot of the time, but as you say not perfected. That clarifies a lot that seemed muddy in my brain. I see a lot more clearly where I'm at with her now. Thanks.

If you keep to the trails, if there are some in the woods she will have less of a chance of snagging the line on something. Another thing that I do if there are things that the line can get caught on...I take a sissors & clip thru the handle so that it have less of a tendency to catch on something. Of couse I would not let her get too far away so that you can get to her if she gets caught & before she might be inclined to panic. You can still step on or grab hold of the line even without the handle if you need to catch her.

Linda,

Please do not take this wrong...but I respect that you are going to get a handle on this behavior.

I hate when other dogs run up to mine, uninvited, out in the world, especially when they charge up, regardless of their intent.

I second all of Anne's suggestions.

leih

Leih,

I would not take it the wrong way at all. I hate it too--coming or going. It's not acceptable behavior in the least. Nothing good to be said about it. It's a new-ish behavior for Cali, and I'm nipping it. I can't get a hold of my trainer right now, so I needed to get my head clear before another week went by, which is why I asked here. I know exactly what to do, now that I sorted it out in my mind. It won't be happening in the future.

Well, having a game plan is half the battle, isn't it?<g>

They're so good at keeping us on our toes...coming up with new things as they mature. It's great that your girl is the happy kind.

leih

If she's blowing off your recalls while this happens I would take away her off leash privileges and work on recalls with varying levels of distraction in various places while on some form of either a long line or even just a longer leash for starters. I know it can be very tempting for us to want to have that fun off leash romp in the woods with our dogs, but if she's not ready for that environment and blows you off, you're just taking massive steps backwards in your training and creating problems for yourself down the road. She's learning that there are times it's ok to blow you off and there are no consequences.

Do separate training to proof her down stays or even sit stays beside you while under distractions. Bottom line would be, if she doesn't listen, she didn't earn her freedom. I wouldn't rely on the ecollar for any of this at this point. Good ol' leash is all you need.

I have a reactive dog and one of the basic exercises we do that could help you is to just stay stationary while your dog is in a sit stay beside you as the other dog approaches and eventually passes. Dog has to have a fair understanding of a sit stay, although this exercise helps to strengthen it as well. Correct with the ecollar or a leash correction if your dog starts to stare at the other dog or breaks the sit. Reward with a very high value really yummy treat (obviously food motivated dog) for eye contact with you. You do this enough times for long enough and you will end up with a dog that offers you undivided attention and eye contact when ever other dogs approach. You can then introduce a "go say hi" command as a release. If you can release the dog at a point when the other dog is very close by, you're avoiding that rush in. While you're training this however I would NOT release your dog and allow it to say hi. One point of this training is to teach the dog that the other dog is not more important and more rewarding then you, and each time you release the dog to go play with the other dog, your dog is self-rewarding for not paying attention to you. I would only let my dog interact with the other dog once I know he absolutely definitely prefers me over the dog, and will ignore the other dog when I want him to, and will come back to me away from the other dog every time I call.

 Quote: leih merigian

Linda,

Please do not take this wrong...but I respect that you are going to get a handle on this behavior.

I hate when other dogs run up to mine, uninvited, out in the world, especially when they charge up, regardless of their intent.

I second all of Anne's suggestions.

leih

i had the same thought and god does it happen often.

my young dog is the same, he will go into a down and will ambush..although most of the time its to my other dog and not to strange dogs..what i do is I whistle a certain way (and i practiced it playing two-balls with him) and when he turns to me i either run in the opposite direction (so he chases me) or have a ball, snowball or rock to toss him , again in the opposite direction of the ambush (that get's him out of this world excited, he actually turns around of chasing critters for that).

that way i can keep my recall for a perfect sit in front of me and have the whistle for "run to me but don't necessarily stop in front". Comes in very very handy.

its similar to what Ed and Cindy showed in a video, where each time a dog is crossing their dog on a walk, they start playing tug to lower the attraction to the other dog.

Thanks everyone! Great input--and exactly what our trainer would teach, I'm sure. I'm looking forward to working with him on this in person next week. In the meantime, you all got me further down the road with a plan of action that I can begin working on now. I've been doing a lot of the same work, but for some reason this issue and the venue had me unnecessarily confused. I'm glad I asked, and appreciate the time you took to answer. I feel back on track.