This is just a thought…. You know how when you have a bad day at work, you don’t yell at the whatever the problem is you just suck it up because certain behavior just isn’t appropriate in the work place? Then you come home and fly off the handle at some little thing that usually didn’t bother you or you were at least able to live with. Could it be and again I’m basing this on my experience with Louie… When Louie came to live with us I was under the belief that all dogs needed to be walked, that a tired dog was a good dog, so we walked him daily with the others. It was hard, he barked spinned, leapt toward people and dogs and when dogs which were in the house who barked at him, he was wild, his teeth showing looking like he would bite you, we even put a muzzle on him so people we met would feel safer. In between seeing people he happily bounced along and we thought overall he “liked” his walk. We tried the treat or turn around and walk away and all the normal things people tell you to desensitize your dog, it just didn’t work and I was becoming more frustrated which I’m sure went right down the leash to him. I was a part of another group for reactive dogs and one of the things they always said was that it isn’t good or healthy for that matter to allow your dog to become so upset, that you should just quit making them do what is so upsetting to them, allow them to rest and regroup, also the good things that get them over excited in a good way too. Not all dogs but those who like Louie and it sounds like maybe Toby, those that are over the top. I know I’m not explaining this right but I did just discontinue Louie’s walks, I just quit taking him along and I was amazed that he didn’t mind. When I quit the walks I was encouraged that he seemed calmer in the house, not good mind you but better and it occurred to me to start trying to not let other things that he didn’t like happen so we started eliminating doing those things he didn’t like. We couldn’t get them all of course but those we could we did. He became a different dog. Months down the road we offered him the option to go for a walk early in the morning on weekends while we knew most people wouldn’t be out and sometimes he would want to go and other times he would turn and walk away. Stress plays a big part in this whole thing, not just his stress but ours too because they pick up on that. Anyway I was wondering if it is possible that Toby may be sucking it up during his walks because he has learned what is appropriate behavior on them but when he gets home the stress is being let out on things that he was previously able to handle? That is why it seems he is getting new behaviors. These dogs are different than “normal” dogs and the normal training just doesn’t work, the goal has to be less stress, less stress, less stress whatever you have to do to make that happen. They aren’t easy dogs especially when there are other dogs too. I worked way too long on the normal training techniques, I wish I had known about the less stress earlier because life was not fun for probably the first year. It can and does become better, much better. My heart goes out to you I know how difficult this is.
) but he's extremely gentle, all noise and no bite.