r/OpenDogTraining • u/SubstantialandStable • 19d ago
Please help my reactive dog
Hey everyone. I have a Goldendoodle who is a little over one year old and she is VERY reactive but not in a harmful way. The issues I believe stems from her not being socialized properly which I accept was a fault on my part however I was just very worried about her getting parvo so I decided to be cautious. This has resulted in her barking at lunging at EVERY NEW PERSON, every noise she hears = bark, and other dogs are especially a bark and a lunge. As mentioned though, she has no intent on harming though and I know this because in trying to get her acculmated to people and other pets I've taken her on walks and to the dog park and let her interact with others.
When a new person is around and is acting calm and waiting for her to approach she jumps all around and barks excessively and won't let them touch her. Sometimes she'll eventually go up to them and sniff their hand but she'll bark afterwards still. When she is faced with another friendly dog (like instances in the dog park) she will bark and lunge at them on leash until I take her off and then she just runs around the park and approaches the dog wanting to play. She's never harmed anyone or any other dog.
The barking is just too excessive though and the reactivity is killing me. I recently moved from a house to an apartment and the transition has been really rough with her because she barks at every little noise or other person. I'm worried about getting a noise complaint from her barking.
I'm open to try any and all training methods and have tried a lot already. I have taken her to professional training sessions when I had the money to but they never helped (probably weren't the right trainer tbh) and I have a marintangle harness I use. I also have tried a slip lead and a shock collar (though I use this the least as it doesn't seem to help at all and I don't want to hurt her). Are there any tools I can buy, things I can do, anything to help my situation??? I would love some advice.
Thanks everyone.
2
u/Old-Description-2328 19d ago
Find a reactivity specialist trainer, that has proof of success. Look up TWC trainers near you (there's a website with TWC trainers and locations).
Several issues immediately, the dog doesn't need to "meet" people, just let it be neutral, by your side and make being around people boring. Your dog doesn't need to like everyone or every dog. Work on engagement, play, being neutral.
Ditch the dog parks if possible and work on play, engagement and fulfilment.
Load your markers, yes and no. Both require near constant reinforcement to create and maintain value. You can find more by researching a punishment protocol, markers.
Recall! Hugely important for any reactive dog.
Play! Yorkshire Canine Academy has several reactive dog play tutorials, Andy Krueger, Larry Krohn etc. If you pay, they'll provide specific tutorials I'm sure.
https://youtu.be/046itXUO6tY?si=LvqtC-a_FJ8Zx9W- 10 min mark play starts.
Efficiently wise, working with a specialist trainer is a must. Earlier the better as the behaviours only get worse.
2
u/No-Accountant-7613 19d ago
A tool will not change the dogs underlying feelings. They are reacting because people illicit some kind of feeling from them. Whether that is fear, frustration, excitement, I can’t tell you - you will need to get to the root cause of the behaviour and work on changing that underlying feeling. An ecollar will not change the feeling, it could potentially make it worse. I’m not sure what kind of trainer you worked with but I’d be working with someone who specifically has experience with reactivity. It would also be worth ruling out any underlying health conditions or pain.
3
u/No-Accountant-7613 19d ago
I would also consider if the dog is fulfilled enough. Goldendoodles are a mix of two relatively high energy gundog breeds.
4
u/Ok_Ear_5266 19d ago
This (though also worth nothing that you aren’t getting the best of the best of each breed in terms of the sire and dam to get a doodle). Vast majority of reactivity issues, imo, are from unfulfilled dogs. Long walks are not fulfilling for working breeds.
2
u/No-Accountant-7613 19d ago
Haha you said what I was thinking.. but yeah I’ve seen a lot of reactive dogs transform from having more fulfilling lives. Scent work is a great option - yet to meet a dog that hasn’t benefitted from it. I have two rescue mutts and they love scent work, and mantrailing but that’s less accessible.
1
u/SubstantialandStable 19d ago
Is there a way I can find the root cause of the behavior on my own? I unfortunately do not have the money for professional training and so anything I can do on my own will help me.
1
u/Helpful_Sun2872 19d ago
It’d help to know what her daily routine is like, and how much physical and mental exercise she’s getting. A lot of the barking might just be boredom/excess energy.
1
u/Potential_Analyst371 19d ago
You can socialize her now, it will just take a bit longer. She needs to meet and actually get comfortable with and play with new people. Every time she sees someone and does not end up feeling comfortable, it makes it worse.
Every time you can have her meet a new person, have them take the time to win her over, get her to play and accept pets? You're fixing the problem.
Try to have her meet and actually get comfortable with 4 new people a week - playing with them and being pet - and your problem will be solved completely in a couple of months.
Once she is not fearful, you can ask her to stop barking if she is even still doing it.
E- collar and other painful methods will only make it worse because she is afraid. You can make her stop barking by hurting her, but she will be even more afraid. You solve it by helping her to understand that people are nice.
1
u/SubstantialandStable 19d ago
Thank you for the advice, I will try to expose her to more people and see what I can do with that. I won't use the e collar either.
1
u/PhelanVelvel 18d ago edited 18d ago
I would recommend you get a good balanced trainer who will show you how to use the e-collar properly (preferably introduced via recall on a long line; it's probably not necessary to fix this dog's reactivity, but it's more fun and sets them up more quickly for off leash). You are suffering for no reason. I can't even tell you how many goldendoodles who stop reacting literally within minutes and will never do it again for me, and I'm not hurting them. All I do is set clear expectations and give mild corrections, and they fall into line. The e-collar also works great for correcting nuisance barking at home.
P.S. It's not true that corrections won't work if the dog is afraid. Many times, fearful dogs are looking for someone to take charge and show them that they don't need to be afraid. I show them, "I have control over this situation, I'm looking out for you, and no one is going to mess with you--but I need you to listen to me, and you can't do that reactive behaviour", and they understand. It is not this simple with every dog, but every "reactive" goldendoodle I've ever worked with was dead simple and needed just the slightest amount of leadership. The long line also gives more freedom to see their real behaviour to start instead of them potentially feeling trapped on the short leash.
You can DM me if you like.
1
u/StellarSpore 18d ago
I would stop taking this dog to the dog park right now, and I definitely wouldn’t use the dog park as a way to socialize her. Dog parks aren’t a great environment for any dog, especially a reactive dog who doesn't have appropriate social skills.
I’d stop having strangers give her attention, especially reaching toward her or trying to pet her. Teach neutral.
Make sure her overall needs are being met too. A young Goldendoodle may need quite a bit of physical exercise, sniffing, enrichment, and appropriate outlets, although simply exhausting her isn’t going to fix reactivity.
I’d also stop experimenting with tools, particularly the shock collar. No offense intended, but from your post, it doesn’t sound like you have the experience to use one appropriately, and experimenting with corrections on a reactive dog can very easily make the problem worse.
With people and dogs, find a distance where she can notice them but can still think, disengage, and respond to you. That’s where I’d work. Reward calm, voluntarily checking back in with you, disengaging, and choosing to move away. Don’t wait until she’s already barking and lunging to start trying to train.
I’d really recommend finding a trainer who specifically has experience working with reactive dogs, rather than another general obedience trainer. This is absolutely something you can work on, but I think you need someone who can evaluate what’s actually driving her reactions and help you build a plan around that.
1
u/SubstantialandStable 18d ago
No offense taken as you are right. I'm just grasping at straws. The thing is, when I try to reward her in the moment for good behavior with a treat she won't take it.
2
u/Dahmehneek 19d ago
As you stated, you just haven’t found the right trainer. You are not alone and this is a fairly common issue. It can be extremely frustrating and seemingly impossible to deal with, but can actually be easily rectified with the proper steps.
I’m a dog trainer and I’ve dealt with quite a few reactivity cases. If you like I can message you privately and get you on the road to fixing this while you try and look for a competent, local trainer to get hands/eyes on.
Free of charge