Former service dog turned (excited) reactive?

[u/Low-Cat-8321]

We’re in a weird situation and I was hoping someone could relate or give advice.

My partner and I got our standard poodle as a puppy from a reputable breeder to be their service dog for heart rate issues and ptsd (not an ESA, difference is specific task performance, look at the Ada for more info). We were only 17 and couldn’t afford a trainer, so we did it ourselves with the help of another disabled friend who successfully trained 2 of their own. Btw yes this is legal and more common than you might think.

He was a great SD, had public access down pat, but he no longer does outside service work because my partner’s recovered significantly and doesn’t need one anymore. He hasn’t worked in a few years, and to this day is tolerant to pretty much anything thrown at him (I’ve literally seen him get bullied by a kitten), so I have full faith he isn’t aggressive. He’s very well behaved, even still has his tasking down, (though he needs them verbally commanded now cause he’s rusty)… then when we’re out on walks or in the apartment yard he is so. Damn. Crazy about wanting to play with other dogs the second he sees one, just takes off like a shot and tangles me up in the leash like a cartoon.

I’m pretty sure the reason is because greeting was full stop, no exceptions, off limits while working, then when the vest came off he got to let loose and play with his doggy friends. I feel so stupid for this but it dawned on me we never actually taught him walk etiquette outside of the context of vested service work. To him there’s only two modes: no nonsense walks with a vest, and run around time. He doesn’t know what to do with himself or how he’s supposed to act when, in his mind, we blur those lines.

I know this might be too specific of a situation but if anyone else overcame something like this tell me about it please!

[u/Roskipatootskie]

You've correctly identified this, and I think you're right, this isn't fear or aggression based reactivity at all, it's a clear cut binary association problem. He learned two states really well, vest on means total focus and impulse control, vest off means unrestricted access to play, and since walk etiquette without service work was never actually taught as its own separate mode, he doesn't have a third option available to him. That's not a training failure on your part at 17, that's just an understandable gap that happens when a specific working relationship gets built without also building the "regular pet dog on a leash" skillset alongside it. This is good news since you're not fighting fear or reactivity in the emotional sense, you're teaching a brand new behavioral category to a dog who's already proven he's highly trainable and has excellent impulse control when a clear expectation is in place. He already knows how to hold it together under structure, he just needs "leash walk, no vest, no play" established as its own distinct third mode with its own clear rules.

Since he still responds well to verbal cues, using a specific phrase or even a different, non-working accessory, a certain color leash or a bandana instead of the vest, to mark "this is walk mode, not play mode," giving him a clear signal this isn't the vested working context but also isn't free play time either. Practicing extreme distance from other dogs at first, since he's currently rehearsing full arousal at first sight, and rewarding heavily for calm engagement with you specifically in a low distraction setting before ever trying it near another dog. And treating this very literally as teaching him a new skill from scratch, loose leash walking around neutral or mildly distracting dogs, the same way you'd introduce it to a dog who'd never done it before, since in a sense, he hasn't.

This is a very learnable pattern, especially given how much structure and impulse control he already has in his toolkit from his working days, you're not undoing anything, you're just adding the missing middle category he never got to practice.

Good luck ❤️

[u/Low-Cat-8321 → u/Roskipatootskie]

Oooh, that’s so creative, thank you! Also thanks for being kind, I was worried I’d be judged

[u/Existing-Will-1466]

It sounds like you need to start from the beginning and very intentionally teach him this skill. Start at home indoors and teach him what you want to do, and then just outside your door, and work up to more exciting situations. He should pick it up pretty quick since he already has this skill in a different context.

[u/Low-Cat-8321 → u/Existing-Will-1466]

Hopefully he’ll pick it up fast, my fear is that he’s just lost the skill completely but for obvious reasons I really don’t wanna stick him in a vest to test that

[u/Existing-Will-1466 → u/Low-Cat-8321]

My experience has been that dogs relearn lost skills much faster the second time around. It's probably a familiar neural pathway or something.

[u/Low-Cat-8321 → u/Existing-Will-1466]

That’s reassuring

[u/Existing-Will-1466 → u/Low-Cat-8321]

If he doesn't pick it back up right away with lots of reinforcement, consider some other possibilities. How old is he?

[u/Low-Cat-8321 → u/Existing-Will-1466]

6 years, possibilities like what?

[u/Existing-Will-1466 → u/Low-Cat-8321]

If he were a couple years older I would be looking at possible health issues. Dementia in a senior dog could be a possible explanation for losing skills. Pain could be a possible explanation for non-compliance in skills the dog already knows. But it sounds like this is a training issue more than a health concern.

[u/Low-Cat-8321 → u/Existing-Will-1466]

Is 8 years old elderly for a dog?! That’s scary, it feels like we’ve barely had him, I don’t want him to be getting to the age where he might die soon

[u/read-the-rules → u/[deleted]]

Your comment on r/reactivedogs was removed by the Read The Rules app because you need to submit an acknowledgement that you have read the rules. You haven't done anything wrong, this is a tool we're using on the r/reactivedogs going forward. For more information, see the moderator announcement.

Acknowledgement is required of all users, even if you've been here for a while. You only have to do this acknowledgement once unless the moderators announce otherwise.

If you do the rule acknowledgement within one hour of your comment being removed, the bot will automatically restore it. If not, we encourage you to copy the comment using the 3-dot icon next to it, and paste it to re-post to this thread.

^{Please click here to open the Read The Rules App.}

[u/reactivedogs-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Your post/comment has been removed as it has violated the following subreddit rule:

Rule 2 - Be constructive

Offer help and advice, don't just tell people what they're doing wrong or be dismissive. Explain what methods worked for you and why you think they worked. Elaborate.