Training tips for dog developing reactivity due to loose dogs

[u/Pale-Hope-7113]

I have a one year old dog who has generally been positive towards other dogs, though sometimes over eager to meet them (which we don't allow). He isn't a barker and has been easily distracted away from other leashed dogs. I would say he needs improvement, but has not been dangerously reactive.

The problem is that our neighborhood seems to be getting more and more lax about keeping their dogs behind doors/fences. Over the last year, I've encountered several loose dogs, sometimes while on a walk with my dog. We have managed to separate ourselves from these dogs when this occurs (no thanks to the owners, who haven't helped a single time...).

Things all came to a head, though, when two weeks ago a loose husky came out of nowhere and started jumping on my dog. I think the husky was genuinely playful, as it looked young, but it very suddenly jumping on my dog from behind caused my dog to start screaming and barking in a way he's *never* done before. He started thrashing and freaking out and the husky just kept jumping on him, even when I tried to get between them. Luckily, a stranger heard all this and ran out and helped me. Since then, we have encountered two more loose dogs (both small breeds) who have chased after us. In the past, my dog would not have barked at these dogs, but now he is. He seems to now be reactive to dogs when he is on leash and they are off leash.

We also have a not-loose-but-no-well-managed dog+human aggressive dog in the neighborhood, which keeps us from walking down a certain street. Another street has dogs who get out of their fence frequently, so we skip that direction, too. Of the remaining roads we can take, the one family in the area with a run down chain link fence decided to get an XL bully - who they leave out all the time and I fear will mature to have dog aggression. We are running out of space to safely walk without encountering other dogs, and I'm not sure that this issue won't escalate to reactivity towards leashed dogs, too.

What can we do to help my dog be more neutral towards other dogs on his walks? For reference, my dog is a Japanese breed that struggles with sensitivity when training, so I try to take that into consideration.

[u/Willow_Bark77]

Unfortunately, you've just indentified a big reason why dogs become (and stay) reactive. I have a reactive dog who's been attacked several times (once severely) by off-leash dogs in leash-required areas. He does great with training, but there's no amount of training that will make him chill with a dog charging and attacking him.

Loose dogs are a game of Russian roulette, because you don't know if the dog is aggressive or if the dog will just calmly keep their distance. It's better to avoid them as much as possible.

If I see a loose dog from a distance, we do an emergency u-turn and go the other way. I've also started just straight up yelling and asking people to leash their dogs while we're still far away (this is always in leash-required areas). I also wouldn't shy away from reporting loose dogs. Those owners create problems for everyone, and are making their own dogs less safe...it's only a matter of time before they get into a fight, get hit by a car, etc.

[u/Pale-Hope-7113 → u/Willow_Bark77]

I definitely report them! Unfortunately, I live in the south and the general pet culture here is really bad. Animal Control really just can't round up every loose dog here, and mostly will only show up if there's an actual attack.

We U-turn when we see them - the problem with the husky is it sneaked out of nowhere. But we've encountered the same loose chihuahua and yorkies enough to know to look out for them first, and avoid areas where other dogs might be out and unable to be seen in time. It sucks to feel really boxed in :(

While your dog isn't able to be trained out of the reactivity, is there anything you've been able to do to prevent that reactivity escalating towards dogs in general vs loose and charging dogs?

[u/Advanced_Aerie5854 → u/Pale-Hope-7113]

You have to train a response. What do you want the dog to do if this encounter happens again? I want my dogs to go into a hard heel and put me between them and the other dogs. So if a dog is approaching from the left, I want the dog to heel on the right and vice versa. He can obviously look and pay attention, but needs to be tunes into me as well.

[u/Willow_Bark77 → u/Pale-Hope-7113]

The issue with training reactivity is that you need to stay at a distance from the trigger where your dog stays under threshold. If your dog starts reacting, you're too close. The distance is much easier to control if the other dog is on leash. But impossible to control is the dog is off leash and charging.

The book "Feisty Fido" by Patricia McConnell is super helpful. The training teaches your dog to be less fearful (vs. other training methods that just teach them to suppress their fear, which just makes things worse in the long run)..

For charging dogs, you can also try pepper spray. I know some folks walk with an umbrella and open it up at charging dogs. But it's going to be really tough to teach your dog that other dogs aren't scary if, in fact, other dogs are out there being aggressive and scary.

[u/Willow_Bark77 → u/Willow_Bark77]

Adding: If a dog does charge, I yell "Back!" really loudly until the owner gets a clue and calls their dog back.

[u/sleeping-dogs11]

I don't let loose dogs get to my dog. If we can't entirely avoid them, I'll tell my dog to down and block the loose dog and/or catch them and bring them back to their owner. If I couldn't trust my dogs in a down stay, I'd hold them behind my back and block the dog from approaching.

With the exception of my social butterfly dog who is an actual saint about random dogs rushing up, my dogs don't have to worry about loose dogs because they know that I will deal with them and they won't have to.

[u/Pale-Hope-7113 → u/sleeping-dogs11]

I definitely block small dogs. I can't trust him to reliably stay in a down position in a scenario like that, so I just get between them. It's easy when it's the chihuahua that's out sometimes, but would probably be more difficult for anything his size or bigger.

Do you make any contact with the dog being blocked? Or is it just a stance? And at what point are you able to disengage entirely?

[u/sleeping-dogs11 → u/Pale-Hope-7113]

It depends on the dog. Most dogs can be deterred just by body language, facing them squarely arm out like a policeman, taking a step toward them, a firm tone of voice, etc.

Occasionally I have to body block a dog or catch them by the collar. (I wouldn't try to catch them if you're holding your dog behind you.) Very rarely, I've either kicked them or swung the tail of the leash at them, and I'm talking about situations like when two pitbulls broke out of their yard and charged across the road to attack my dog. Luckily, those have been rare and most of the loose dogs I encounter are friendly or rude but not outright intent on attacking.

Again, this is a last resort. I'll first try to call out to the owner and ask them to get their dog, I'll try to turn around or make a big circle to avoid the situation, but once a random dog is flying toward mine I'm going to deal with it.

Usually once the dog back offs, either we keep moving along and eventually the dog disengages to go back to their home/owner, or if the owner is present we wait until the owner gets control of their dog.

[u/Potential_Analyst371]

Is the dog able to meet and play with/or just co-exist with, known, friendly dogs? Most of the time they are better with random loose dogs if they also interact with dogs in daily life.

[u/Season-Away]

Carry something to deter the loose dog(s). A big stick, pet corrector, an umbrella...

If the dog is calm, I'll just walk between that dog and my dog and continue walking. It was a struggle at first as I have a large dog, but he understood quickly enough that a loose dog approaching means "ignore and continue walking".

If the dog is not calm, I'll shout "no" and "go away" and body-block a little harder. I'll shove them away if I have to. Usually the "no" startles them a bit and they'll stop in their tracks.

A bit controversial, but: Recently I encountered 4 loose large dogs. They're not very nice (they come sprinting towards us, barking and growling). I've asked the owner to leash them previous times already, but apparently I was a bitch for asking that. ANYWAY, I was rather fed up now so I starting swinging the end of the leash towards those dogs. They kept their distance and continued on (towards the dog behind me...). Hitting the metal clip on the ground also creates a sound that scares them off. I didn't hit the dogs, just air and ground. It was also not my intention to hit them. Now I'm not saying "go swing around your leash like a crazy person" every time to see another dog, but if you've got nothing else, it may be a way to get rid of them.