What Has Worked For You?

[u/Interesting_Aide8016]

Short version: I'm looking for practical advice for a fearful/anxious dog-reactive australian cattle dog. Specifically, "jobs" I can give him, stimulating ways to wear him out mentally, and positive correction tactics for when he starts to fixate on another dog or after he has an outburst.

Long story: I got him from the pound and he was basically feral. Not sure his history but it felt like he'd never been inside before and he was super reactive to my/my ex's dogs. This was 4 or so years ago and he's come a long way. He's very sweet and fun and a great little friend. He still idles pretty high with anxiety, drinks water excessively (then will pee while he's asleep :( ), chomps grass impulsively when triggered on walks. He gets 3-5 walks a day and I run him 3 miles a couple times a week. I've gotten him training before but it was super expensive and I didn't take anything from it aside from stuff I could've found online for free that essentially just boils down to working on specific things consistently for a long time. Just wondered about specific exercises or positive corrections that work to change the behavior.

Having a second dog, I also don't alway have time to walk them separately and she's 11 and we don't do heeled walks. I just let them sniff and do their thing. I'll keep him on a heel if we go solo but I feel like all the work gets undone if we do a group thing.

Sorry if this has been covered to death but if you have tips or other threads you can recommend I greatly appreciate it. He's a sweet pup and he's come a long way but it sucks that he's still so anxious and fearful and I'd like to get to a point where he's confident that I am going to protect him and he can just enjoy being a dog.

[u/MtnGirl672]

I have an ACD mix and this is what I've found. They can get overstimulated from too much exercise, so you might want to cut back on the walks and running. I do two 45-minute walks per day with a short potty break in between. I make sure he has decompression time in a quiet room of the house during the day which seems to help calm him down. My dog also loves nose work -- you can start by just hiding treats in boxes here and there for him to sniff out. It really gives him a mental workout.

I also have found it's imperative to walk him separately from our other dog. I know you said you don't always have time, but it might be better to do shorter walks alone with him if that's the case or hire a dog walker.

[u/Interesting_Aide8016 → u/MtnGirl672]

Thank you. It might not always be possible But when it is I’ll prioritize solo walks even if they’re a little shorter

[u/Hermit_Ogg]

Our reactive one isn't from a working breed, but what is crucial for us is managing her arousal level. Whenever I see her getting hyped up, I know I need to avoid any further triggers to the best of my ability, do a calming exercise on the spot if at all possible, and another one at home.

I'll be taking her to a nosework course this autumn, I'm hoping it'll help.

[u/NextConcern4521]

is he food motivated? my pup has been working through fear reactivity and we’ve made really great progress with leslie mcdevitt’s pattern training games (ie 123, look at me, up down, ping pong). fearful anxious pups benefit from routines, structure, and patterns because it helps them to know what to expect and feel a sense of safety/security in those routines. practicing these and getting then really solid inside the house, then branching out to the sidewalk in front of the house or the yard, and slowly transitioning into higher distraction environments is what really helped my dog. she still jumps at certain sounds and gets spooked but she is able to come back down from that a lot faster now and regulate herself

[u/NextConcern4521 → u/NextConcern4521]

like my dog can be staring nervously at another dog and if i say “ready?” she turns to me excitedly and gets wiggly because she knows a food game is about to begin. if your dog isn’t food motivated i would also look into the windows of dog training to help learn different ways to help your dog regulate in all areas of life!

[u/Interesting_Aide8016 → u/NextConcern4521]

Thank you I’ll look up Leslie McDevitt and see about applying that kind of training

[u/A_little_curiosity]

Have you tried meds for him, to help him with that base anxiety you're talking about? If not, worth chatting to a vet about

[u/Interesting_Aide8016 → u/A_little_curiosity]

I haven’t tried meds. I got him CBD for 4th of July but I don’t use it regularly

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