11 replies to this topic

[meadow~]

 Lakota is a 6 month old service dog in training and is really reactive to dogs. He growls, barks and sometimes lunges. How should I stop this behavior??? Why does he do this? As a service dog, this is not ok and needs to stop

[PerkyAnimals]

You could give him a punishment when he does it and when he doesn’t give him a treat. Then he will learn that he will not be reward it when he does that. Dogs like to make there owners happy. So when he learns that you are happy when he doesn’t try to attack another dog. He might not do it.

[lil BIG dwarf]

You could give him a punishment when he does it and when he doesn’t give him a treat. Then he will learn that he will not be reward it when he does that. Dogs like to make there owners happy. So when he learns that you are happy when he doesn’t try to attack another dog. He might not do it.

 

I disagree personally-it depends on the route cause. For example, if (just talking generally) a dog has been abused by other dogs in the past and you didn't know, punishing them for being scared/trying to defend you or themselves could be worse. Other members can answer this better than me, but-

 

 

1. Does he do this with all dogs? Does it tend ot mainly happen with certain ones (i.e growling ones, large ones)?

2. Has he been socialized? Does he play well with other dogs anytime?

Edited by lil BIG dwarf, 25 April 2021 - 11:47 AM.

[nebit]

You need a trainer, full stop. Do not take advice on the internet about this. Trying to do it yourself and accidentally taking the wrong approach, or even unskillfully applying the right approach, can make your problem much, much worse, and knowing the right approach requires experience, and an in-person evaluation to determine what exactly the underlying cause is.

 

The trainer can also evaluate your dog to see if they are a good service dog candidate. Sometimes reactivity is a normal developmental stage that can be worked through, but the behavior you describe is a red flag that he may not be suitable overall. He certainly needs to be pulled for ALL public access, if you've started any, until this has been addressed.

[meadow~]

You need a trainer, full stop. Do not take advice on the internet about this. Trying to do it yourself and accidentally taking the wrong approach, or even unskillfully applying the right approach, can make your problem much, much worse, and knowing the right approach requires experience, and an in-person evaluation to determine what exactly the underlying cause is.

 

The trainer can also evaluate your dog to see if they are a good service dog candidate. Sometimes reactivity is a normal developmental stage that can be worked through, but the behavior you describe is a red flag that he may not be suitable overall. He certainly needs to be pulled for ALL public access, if you've started any, until this has been addressed.

Clearly I made it seem much more severe than it really is. When he is working 50% of the time he completely ignores the dogs. We were walking into Petsmart and he was startled be cause he was not expecting a dog to be right there. He did a growl/bark once but did not go out of the heel position and continued heeling without and issues, There was a super loud dog barking and he completely ignored that. There was a tiny puppy that he also ignored.  A Lowes there was a pet that was

getting trained and i trained Lakota around him, and he did not have an issue. When he is not working, he does this excited bark and "lunges" excitedly at other dogs. I did not explain the issue well

[meadow~]

I disagree personally-it depends on the route cause. For example, if (just talking generally) a dog has been abused by other dogs in the past and you didn't know, punishing them for being scared/trying to defend you or themselves could be worse. Other members can answer this better than me, but-

 

 

1. Does he do this with all dogs? Does it tend ot mainly happen with certain ones (i.e growling ones, large ones)?It really just depends, look at the post above

2. Has he been socialized? Yes he has to some extent Does he play well with other dogs anytime? YESSSS He loves other dogs

[PerkyAnimals]

Clearly I made it seem much more severe than it really is. When he is working 50% of the time he completely ignores the dogs. We were walking into Petsmart and he was startled be cause he was not expecting a dog to be right there. He did a growl/bark once but did not go out of the heel position and continued heeling without and issues, There was a super loud dog barking and he completely ignored that. There was a tiny puppy that he also ignored.  A Lowes there was a pet that was

getting trained and i trained Lakota around him, and he did not have an issue. When he is not working, he does this excited bark and "lunges" excitedly at other dogs. I did not explain the issue well

Ok. So then just try to let him know that he needs to be kind with every dog. Also as nebit said, you should probably go to a trainer. You might have to go to a couple of trainers bc I took my dog to a trainer ( because he was very aggressive at male humans ) and he still isn’t very good with them soooo yea.

[Pippapotamus]

If you are owner-training, you should work with a trainer on the side at least once a month (if not twice) to make sure your pup is on track. Any sort of reactivity issues needs to be nipped in the bud immediately. If they are still showing problems with reactivity by the time they are a year old, they should be released from any sort of service dog training and be kept as a pet (or responsibly rehomed, if your disability would prevent you for caring for this animal as a pet). The unfortunate reality is that most dogs are not cut out for service work. 

 

In the guide dog program I volunteered for the success rate was around 40% any sort of service work, and maybe 25% of that was guide dog work. Any sort of barking or lunging disqualified a dog pretty quick (usually they would be released by 6 months). We didn't have these issues often because they were specifically bred goldens, labradors and goldador crosses that were bred for overall temperament. Both are typically breeds where any sort of reactivity issues are very uncommon to begin with because they have such happy friendly demeanors. The only issues we would run into is that the puppies would on occasion pull towards other dogs because they wanted to play, with no aggressive showing. 

 

Either way, you will want to find a trainer to work with. I would suggest a positive only reinforcement trainer, however, I know it is very common to use balanced methods on SDiTs. Do not use any sort of leash corrections to curb reactivity-- it will only make the matters worse. 

 

50% of the time responding to other dogs is frankly too many... I don't mean to be harsh, but it's already difficult enough for disabled people to gain public access with their service dogs, any animals that cast doubt into the minds of employees is harmful for the mass of disabled people with well trained service dogs. Additionally reactivity is extremely distracting and can cause a service dog to miss a life-saving cue. 

 

I have a reactive dog and I love the heck out of her and would not trade her for the world, but I will not bring her anywhere public, pet friendly or not because of that reason. It's not worth the risk to the h. 

[meadow~]

We went on a walk to train and we were passed by a dog 2 times and he looked at the dog looked and me and never stopped heeling with me!!!!!!!!!! He never growled barked or any thing!!!!!

[nebit]

I completely agree with Pip. It also appears you are a minor, in which case even if your dog didn't have any reactivity issues at all, a trainer is a necessity. Leash reactivity is a very common issue, almost any trainer should be able to help you with it, and you'll both greatly benefit from the help. I also stand by my original recommendation- the dog needs to be evaluated by an experienced trainer for general suitability.

[abievoller7]

When the dog doesn't listen to you, you should punish him. That way, he will know that he is doing something wrong. If the dog behaves correctly, it is also important to give him treats. Dogs are very trainable; you just have to do it right. Not every person can train a dog because there are nuances. I've been thinking about training my dog for a long time, but I decided it was better to go to service dog training . Because no one can better train a dog than a professional.

Edited by abievoller7, 23 August 2022 - 05:22 PM.

[HamsterLover246]

When the dog doesn't listen to you, you should punish him. That way, he will know that he is doing something wrong. If the dog behaves correctly, it is also important to give him treats.

I personally dont have any dogs, but I fo disagree with punishing, if that means screaming, or hitting the dog in any way.
I think the best thing to do is to reward the dog each time it passes a dog without any reaction, because dogs get that better than punishing. If they start being scared, because they don't want to be punished, it will just cause other issues. I think positive training is a lot better, and easier for the dog to get and less stressful. Depends on what you mean with punishing. Og course, if they bite, attack etc, pushing them away and "hitting" if they bite, in a situation where its necessary, its okay.
I know this is an old post, i just wanted to respond to the person over 😊