Okay so I've talked about Koda and for some reason Missy react worse with her than other dogs. Well yesterday I came so, so close to Missy not losing it when Koda and her owner walked by. When I saw Koda coming toward us on leash with her owner I pulled over to the side with Missy had her sit and got kneeled down so I would be at her level. I got my treats out (hotdogs) and kept telling her watch me treat she'd look away "watch me" treat and so on. She was doing pretty good but when Koda was pretty much beside us 3is feet away Missy lost it. I know once she hits that point there is no reason in trying to stop it so I got up and we walked away. This is the best she has done with Koda.
Another plus that day was my other neighbors dog happened to be out, contained by an electric fence. When we walked by yes Missy reacted, so I turned around to try again. But this time I got my treats out. I had Missy sit to where she could not see the dog I allowed her to look in it's direction then told her watch me, after doing this a few times we moved forward some this time she could see the dog and I continued doing this till we passed the dog. After we passed the dog that second time it was time to walk calmly passed the dog. I had Missy at a close heel and would allow her to look in the dogs direction while walking than would tell her "watch me" we got passed the dog without a problem!!!
Yes, there is more we ran into a third dog. I saw that another dog was coming and if I tried to walk past it me and Miss would be on a very narrow bridge bad idea. So I told her "let's go" I walked away and started looking for a place to get off the path to create distance. I did find a spot not ideal(as in I would have prefered to be farther away), but it would have to do. I tried keeping Missy's focus on me because looking at the dog for a certain amount of time builds up excitement and frustration in her and she goes off. So if I can't get her focus off the dog soon enough she will go off. It was a somewhat successful attempt. Why somewhat? Because for a little while I was able to keep her from going off but the closer the dog got to being in front of us the more challenging it was for Missy not to focus on the dog. When she did go off I was able to get her attention back. She did go off twice but both times I was able to refocus her attention back to me by saying "watch me" and "Hey Missy" in a sing song voice. Yes when you have a reactive dogs sometimes you will have to sound stupid to keep the dog chill.
I'm glad to say Missy is progressing in her training. Slowly yes, but hey at least it's progress.
Another plus that day was my other neighbors dog happened to be out, contained by an electric fence. When we walked by yes Missy reacted, so I turned around to try again. But this time I got my treats out. I had Missy sit to where she could not see the dog I allowed her to look in it's direction then told her watch me, after doing this a few times we moved forward some this time she could see the dog and I continued doing this till we passed the dog. After we passed the dog that second time it was time to walk calmly passed the dog. I had Missy at a close heel and would allow her to look in the dogs direction while walking than would tell her "watch me" we got passed the dog without a problem!!!
Yes, there is more we ran into a third dog. I saw that another dog was coming and if I tried to walk past it me and Miss would be on a very narrow bridge bad idea. So I told her "let's go" I walked away and started looking for a place to get off the path to create distance. I did find a spot not ideal(as in I would have prefered to be farther away), but it would have to do. I tried keeping Missy's focus on me because looking at the dog for a certain amount of time builds up excitement and frustration in her and she goes off. So if I can't get her focus off the dog soon enough she will go off. It was a somewhat successful attempt. Why somewhat? Because for a little while I was able to keep her from going off but the closer the dog got to being in front of us the more challenging it was for Missy not to focus on the dog. When she did go off I was able to get her attention back. She did go off twice but both times I was able to refocus her attention back to me by saying "watch me" and "Hey Missy" in a sing song voice. Yes when you have a reactive dogs sometimes you will have to sound stupid to keep the dog chill.
I'm glad to say Missy is progressing in her training. Slowly yes, but hey at least it's progress.
