Your Dog s Evaluation Result: Leash Reactivity. Don t worry, he is really friendly off the leash.

Transcription

1 Your Dog s Evaluation Result: Leash Reactivity Don t worry, he is really friendly off the leash.

2 about Your results Based on your answers from the questionnaire in conjunction with what we learned during your evaluation, we have determined that your dog has moderate to severe leash reactivity. This diagnosis probably isn t a surprise to you. But with the right help, your dog can probably dramatically reduce (or even eliminate) its leash reactivity altogether. the information in this guide Will: c Help you understand where this problem comes from c Teach you how to help your dog work through it c Show you some options for correcting this behavior 1. The Dog Wizard

3 What is leash reactivity? A dog who has leash reactivity shows aggression when restricted by a barrier, usually a leash, fence or window. It s one of the most common problems with dogs today. A dog with leash reactivity will play fine with dogs off-leash, but on a leash they can become aggressive and unfriendly. It is important to understand that if your dog behaves aggressively on a leash or behind a fence, but also acts aggressively when those barriers are removed, then he is not exhibiting leash reactivity. Instead, this is dog aggression from a lack of social skills and requires a different discussion and assessment. Potential Causes of leash reactivity Of course everyone wants to know why their dog exhibits this bizarre behavior. Why does he look as if he wants to kill a dog one minute, and the very next minute he can run off-leash and play with that same dog like best friends? Here are the most likely causes of leash reactivity in your dog: THE LETHAL COMBINATION: ENERGY, SOCIAL, AND LOW STRUCTURE Excitable social dogs with low structure is what we like to call a lethal combination for leash reactivity. These dogs end up reacting out of frustration from not getting what they want. It starts like this: an owner gets a dog (adult or puppy). On walks, the dog is pulling them most of the way (until he is exhausted). At home the dog is jumping on the furniture, digging, counter surfing, etc. 2. The Dog Wizard

4 They go for a walk and pass another dog. The owner is just going for a quick walk and has to get back to work so the plan is to go by quickly without any socializing. The dog, however, has other plans. As the dog gets closer his excitement builds... but then he s pulled by without any interaction. Then another dog approaches... and another let down. The dog might start whining from the anticipation and desire to interact, but nothing comes of it. Over time, this frustration mounts from a whine to a single bark, and then a series of barks, and it s not long before the behavior evolves into a full-blown tantrum. Unfortunately, many owners magnify the issue by then avoiding passing other dogs. In addition, other owners veer away when they see what looks like an aggressive dog. This frustrates the dog more and more until it becomes almost unbearable to walk the dog at all! OWNER NOT LISTENING. That s right, owner not listening. Owners are often just as guilty of not listening to their dog as dogs are to owners. This happens a lot with socially insecure dogs. A leash can be an insecure dog s worst nightmare. When a dog is uncomfortable with meeting anther dog, they give many signals (growl, lip curl, tense body posturing, to name a few), but some owners ignore all this and allow strange dogs to invade their insecure dog s space. To be fair, owners have the best intentions, they mostly do this when they know the other dog is friendly, after all, maybe this friendly dog will cure their own dog of being nervous. Instead this forces your dog to go screaming for help to defend himself quickly because the leash prevents him from doing what he would like to do: run for the hills. If owners ignore the signals, as soon as a socially insecure dog figures out that barking and growling will keep other dogs away, they begin doing it sooner, louder, and more intensely... until it is almost unbearable to walk the dog. 3. The Dog Wizard

5 NOT HAVING AN ENERGY RELEASE OR JOB. Let s look at an example of leash/barrier reactivity in a breed with a high working drive, a border collie. The dog in our example comes from excellent bloodlines and has instinctive working skills. His mother and father both have herding champion titles. His owner lives in the suburbs and has a small back yard where the dog spends a lot of time watching foot traffic on the nearby sidewalk. With a very high working drive and no outlet to work, the dog becomes stimulated by the people and dogs walking by the fence line. Since dogs have very little other way to communicate, the dog innocently begins to bark when other dogs go by. Soon, he becomes increasingly vocal and focused on the sidewalk as he accomplishes his new invented job of herding dogs and people down the fence. It can look like a full-on aggression explosion when another dog passes on the sidewalk. But then if that same dog is let into the fenced-in backyard, the border collie will often ignore the dog. He keeps his focus on the fence for the next dog that comes by he is an excellent employee and stays focused on this job. High working drive dogs LOVE jobs, and if they are not given a stimulating mental outlet, then they create their own jobs jobs that their owners rarely like. A TRAUMATIC PAST. Your dog may have had a run-in with another dog (or dogs) earlier in life while on a leash. As a result, your dog has internalized that notion that bad things happen when I m on my leash. 4. The Dog Wizard

6 COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE CONDITIONING. No dog is confident and disciplined 100% of the time. What we do in times of nervousness and anxiety can help shape our dog s behavior. For example, while on a leash, a dog may bark at another dog because she s nervous. As a reaction, her owner strokes her and comforts her to calm her down. When the owner responds to this type of behavior with comforting, it s communicating, Good dog, be nervous and bark a lot, I ll give you love and affection when you do. INGRAINED HABITS. For many dogs that exhibit leash or barrier reactivity, the initial reason or cause is long forgotten and the behavior has become an unconscious habit. This is most apparent with a dog that reacts with intense barking and pulling toward dogs in his neighborhood, but if you drive him to a park, he can pass the exact same dogs without reacting at all. There are two possible reasons for this. One is that the habit occurs only in his neighborhood, where he practices it twice a day, but the park presents itself as a completely different context and is out of the norm of his routine, and therefore doesn t trigger the habit. Another possibility is that the park (especially a very busy park) offers so much more mental stimulation to occupy the mind and override the habit. The dog instead is more interested in exploring new smells, different scenery, and all the human activities movement (bikers, joggers, skateboarders, games, picnics, etc.). 5. The Dog Wizard

7 important Facts about leash reactivity c Leash reactivity forms over months and years it s never caused by just a one-time incident. c Even if a dog s needs are met to correct the behavior that causes leash reactivity, it is still a process to change the habit as a completely different course of action. Even if the antecedents for a habit may be gone, the habit itself may still remain. c The longer the dog has practiced this behavior, the longer the process will take to resolve it. c Reactivity can be stronger in areas where they practice the reactive behavior most. Some dogs will not react to dogs walking past at a park, but will react intensely with the same dogs in their neighborhood. This is an indication of how strongly habits underlie their behavior. 6. The Dog Wizard

8 resolving Behavior vs. Harmfully suppressing it Suppression of a behavior usually involves corrections that the dog associates incorrectly. It seems to address the problem, but it just masks the behavior. For example, owners often want to stop their dog from barking at another dog on-leash, so when the dog growls, the owner (or even some trainers) try to correct the dog with a leash correction, ecollar, swat on the butt, or anything else to stop the behavior. If the dog has no underlying issues and the dog rightly associates the correction with the barking behavior, it may very well stop barking. But if the dog associates the correction incorrectly if the sight of another dog approaching immediately triggers more barking, followed by another correction the dog can very well associate the correction with the presence of other dogs instead of with barking. Just look at it from the dog s perspective: at the time the correction was administered, two elements were different from the minutes before barking and another dog. So you can see how the dog could inadvertently associate the correction with the presence of the other dog. Unfortunately, if this happens, the dog will become increasingly anxious and often exhibit worse barking. In contrast, resolving the behavior, teaches the dog how to walk on the leash regardless of other dogs or distractions. The dog is psychologically calm, not just behaviorally inhibited. To get to this point, we need to teach the dog how to walk on a leash with no outside stimulations first. Then we add in other distractions, like other dogs. This addresses the root of the problem and prevents a situation where the dog might lash out unexpectedly. 7. The Dog Wizard

9 Your Dog s Future: treated vs. untreated Behavior If left untreated: c Leash reactivity will definitely not improve and stands to get worse over time. c Your dog can become more of a burden than a buddy. You may already be wrestling with this issue. c Dog ownership can become a stressful, anxietyinducing ordeal as you become increasingly restricted in what you can do with your dog and where you can take it. c Leash reactivity can turn into more intensive and problematic behavior, like generalized aggression and anxiety. However, if the aggressive tendencies are corrected now: c You stand a very high chance of greatly diminishing the leash reactivity or eliminating it altogether. c You ll obtain clarity and a clear understanding of your dog, allowing for the constant worry about the what if to be gone. c You ll enjoy walking your dog without worrying about what might be coming around the corner, and if a loose dog is bolting toward you, you ll know exactly how to handle the situation. 8. The Dog Wizard

10 What You Can Do to Help Your Dog Our research shows there are 3 components that ALL have to be addressed in order to make your dog more sociable and happy: 1. Boost your dog s confidence in a healthy way. 2. Add structure to provide clarity and make him feel secure. 3. Change his habits and definition of acceptable behavior when it comes to going on walks and meeting other dogs. Most training programs will stress the confidence element (#1 above) but often fail to incorporate structure or work on changing the negative opinions. Our programs focus on all three simultaneously, which is why we have an unbelievable satisfaction rate among graduates. And we re often the second or third trainer some dog owners have tried! 9. The Dog Wizard

11 CliEnt testimonials: Jane K. The staff at The Dog Wizard have transformed my dog from a highly reactive, aggressive, and territorial nearly-feral puppy to a calm, sweet, much less reactive adult (he was the most bike reactive dog they ve seen). I signed him up for the 2-week in- house training when he was 6 months old because it was either that or get rid of him. He came back to me MUCH better in terms of aggression and general obedience, and still had his goofy personality. But they didn t stop there. Over the past year and a half, I have been able to schedule numerous follow-ups for free, and the trainers have continued to work on his bike/ skateboard reactivity, entering/leaving the house, and calming down in the car. We go to the Pack Walk with other graduates every week to refresh his leash walking skills. I m SO glad I took him to the Dog Wizard when he was young, because he s grown up knowing what I expect from him and how to act. Even though he s been a work in progress, most other dog trainers would have given up on him by now. The trainers are personable but tough and are highly experienced and confident with even the most challenging dogs. I am now able to take my dog with me to outdoor restaurants, bars, parks, and walks around town without fear of how he s going to react, and he is nearly perfect in the house! This was the best investment I ve made, and it likely saved my dog s life! nick n. Trainers at The Dog Wizard have a deep understanding of canine behaviors and behavior modification and do incredible work. Our dog had a major leash aggression problem and acted like he wanted to attack every other animal he saw. After two weeks with The Dog Wizard, he goes on walks without pulling and lunging at other animals and is altogether more relaxed and obedient. Today, we went to the free socialization class at a park, and he did great around all of the other animals. We took him to a park afterwards, and, following our trainers suggestions, he did great there, too. He has been a very different dog since coming home, and our trainer trained us as well. She even made a special trip out to our house one evening to help us with training. Benson s new behavior is great for us, and even better for him as we can take him out in public and not have him make a big scene. It absolutely changed his life and ours, too. Thank you for your excellent work with Benson! I highly recommend The Dog Wizard to anyone with a dog with any kind of behavior problems. 10. The Dog Wizard

12 Megan H. The Dog Wizard have literally changed mine and Charlie s lives. I brought them my 8 month old rescue who had SEVERE anxiety/fear issues largely resulting from being attacked by another dog as a puppy. She was sweet as can be, but would completely shut down anytime a new person came to the house or you tried to put a collar or leash on her. I had worked with her for months to no avail. I couldn t even walk her in the neighborhood because she was scared to death of a leash and would freak out. Charlie came home to me today more confident and happy than I ever thought possible. In fact, for the first time in her life, we walked the loop at Wrightsville Beach tonight! I had tears of joy thinking about how much The Dog wizard has improved her quality of life (and my own!). THANK YOU!!!! Heather F. My rescue pup, Bruno, a Rhodesian Ridgeback mix, was quite a surprise when I found out that he was dog aggressive and aggressive with strangers after I had adopted him. He has such a fun-loving personality but was possessive, and I, myself, didn t have the trust I needed with him in order to build his confidence with me. After working with the Dog Wizard, I can definitely say I ve seen major improvements with both Bruno s behavior and confidence! From a dog who couldn t be within 50 feet of another dog or person without lunging and growling, can now walk past these situations and not even blink an eye. Although we ve finished our program, we continue to work on the obedience commands and trust building skills our trainer left with us every day. Can t thank the Dog Wizard enough for the time and effort y all spent with us! 11. The Dog Wizard