Honey's reactivity

[JacqueZ]

Last year we worked with Honey to train her to sit whenever a car drives by. She did really good with that, and when we walked in the park and had to cross a street to get to the rest of the trail she knew to sit down about three feet from the street and wait for my all clear before crossing.

She did start getting a little reactive with main roads when we would walk on the side streets around our house. But her friend Emma lives on the other side, and that probably contributed to it.

After her month and half of bed rest this winter though that reactivity has appeared with all cars, whether we're on the sidewalk or a street.

We've taken her to walking trails that are around five feet from the road, and using turkey worked on getting her to sit and be calm and it's definitively helped. Some days, so long as I can get her at least two feet from the road while a car drives by she'll either sit, or ignore them completely. Other times we can be six feet from the cars driving past and she'll get so upset, barking, circling, jumping.

I can see her trying, you can watch the quiver in her muscles as the first one goes by and she tries to stay sitting. But once she loses the battle one time, it just gets worse and worse as cars go by. If I can see it not working even when I'm crouched beside her and putting pressure on the harness and her hindquarters, I pick her up and carry her the rest of the way until it's either a. quiet, or b. we're back home (this often starts when we near the end of the walk because our house is on the corner of the main street and the side streets.)

Is this the best solution? I don't want her to be leaping and lunging and me scolding pointlessly, while she's not hearing it. If I have turkey with me she almost always manages to concentrate on that, but since it's not something I can store in my pockets, when we decide to take a walk on the spur of the moment I don't have anything to distract her. She doesn't get very excited about regular biscuits.

She also is never bothered once we actually make it into our yard. It's like she knows she's reached a safe zone and calms down completely.

 

[dblock]

You may want to talk to your vet, because it sounds as if she may need some extra help with anxiety medication.

Beau is on them and they have helped him tremendously. A lot people are against using these kinds of medication(mostly, I believe because of the prejudice of mental health issues) but, I believe if you would treat your dog, or your self for that matter for diabetes, heart disease, or the many other plethora of health ailments one can have you should definitely do this for your animal as well. There is no shame for doing so. Please speak to your Vet,


The problem with picking her up every time she is scared is that she learns to associate the picking up as protection, rather than being loved for being loved. I had to learn to stop coddling Beau when he would quake and quiver. For instance, it was really hard for me during the summer months, particularly during thunderstorms not to just go love him up to keep him from shaking all over. Now, instead, I let him find his safe place in the apartment and then when that no longer works and he comes in the living room and tries to hide behind the computer desk, I will pick him up and put him in the crate and put the blanket on top of the crate covering it. He's fine. And when he comes out he's completely happy and relaxed.

 

[JacqueZ]

I wouldn't be against the anxiety medicine, but I would like to exhaust other options first, if training fails I will get a thundershirt and try that. I know medicine can be helpful, but it also can cause as many issues as it helps. (And anytime Honey has taken any sort of medicine she starts throwing up)

I am worried that carrying her will delay the problem, but I wasn't sure what else I can do short of holding her down, which I don't suspect is any more helpful.

I'd be open to some suggestions on irresistible treats that I can keep with me all the time. When she was young I always had a bag of biscuits in my pockets to reward her with. But now shes pretty indifferent to everything except the fresh baked treats we get once a month; but those need to be refrigerated, so it's the same problem with the lunch meat. All the jerky I can find in the stores has been made in China, and I think that takes to long to chew to be an effective walk treat as well.

 

[take4roll10]

Is lunging at cars the only thing he is reactive to or is he reactive to anything else?

If that is the only thing he is reactive to then I wouldn't medicate unless it is seriously hindering his everyday life. There's also the chance he is lunging at cars because of his herding drive not out of anxiety.

I would first hire a trainer. Preferably one who is a behaviorist, so they could tell you if he is reacting because of his herding drive or because he is anxious around cars and of course show you how train him.

You can also speak to your vet about natural medication like lactium or l'theanine if you feel that it is anxiety.

Non medication tools to try are a thundershirt or calming collar.

Another tool that some dogs respond to is nose touching to a wand or nose touching to your hand. That's an alternative to making him sit.

I find tossing treats on the floor or using the "look at me" command to be the most effective for my dog.

 

[JacqueZ]

The cars are the only thing she's reactive to, which is why I want to try to work it out through training before trying anything else.

I do feel it is more anxiety driven than herding, because if I'm not holding her into one location with the leash while she is acting like that, she is running away from the direction of the cars.

If the first few cars that pass her in a day are going slowly she has a much better chance of staying calm with all cars, which I suppose could speak for herding, or

!! And as I type this up, your suggestion of look at me just gave me a great idea. She loves! Loves! the cats feathered toys. If I get a few of the smaller balls to keep in my pockets as a special toy she only gets to see and interact with in those situations, maybe she'll stay focused on that and me.

Oh thank you!

(I do have a number for a trainer that we met a few weeks ago, and if I fail I will be getting in touch with her. But it's $75 an hour, and most of our available cash this summer is going towards a fence. I will feel soooo much better once we have that in and she can start making use of our full yard for running.)