Is this a teenage thing and how do I fix it?

D

DPSheltie

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Riley is 9 months old and loves everyone, other dogs, people, etc. He is wonderfully socialized with other dogs; doggie daycare at least once a week and we go to the dog park a lot also. In the park he plays very well, backs out of bad situations, gives up things to other dogs, and will roll over submissively when another dog is a little to rough. He also excelled in puppy kindergarten.

We have started our next step in obedience training, which means class without playtime included. Riley has suddenly become a a different dog in class. As soon as we walk into the room he is barking (a little aggressively) and lunging at the other dogs. He barks at them in class if he faces them and at the end of class he spins and barks and lunges as the others leave. If I let him off leash he will go to play but acts like a complete lunatic on leash. I hate to admit it, but I am highly upset (and embarrassed) with his behavior since we have worked really hard to socialize Riley well. Our trainer works with herding dogs and says he is reactive, but not to worry to much about it since he is fine off leash. She says we need to work on keeping his focus on us and keep him busy with lots of training during class.

Is this a possible teenage thing? Will he grow out of it? Can we train him out of this? Any suggestions? We were planning on getting his CGC and obedience and agility, but I am not sure of this will prevent any of that from happening.

Sorry for the long post :smile2:
 
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It will get better

Sounds like a reactive adolescent sheltie that I know ! It will get better.

A hungry dog, the best possible training treats, and lots of focus work indeed are very helpful.

My dog is VERY reactive to motion, so I made an effort to keep some space between the dogs in front of and behind us on heeling exercises. Standard poodles (sheep look alikes ?) were a challenge for us! Some of the techniques from Control Unleashed (mat work, look at that, whiplash turns), BAT (take a look), or Crate Games (reorienting through doorways) have helped me.

I also tried to get to class a little early to settle my dog on a mat and have him work targeting the mat. It was a confidence builder for him and took his mind off of other dogs entering the facility.
 
Bailey never grew out of it. She's great with dogs off leash, but goes nuts if she is on leash and sees a dog. She starts barking and lunging, but as soon as we get close to the dog, she goes into a puppy bow and tries to play on leash.

I use the "watch me" command on walks and if she doesn't listen then I turn around and walk in the other direction. I never "reward" her for behavior by allowing her to play with the other dog...unless she is calm. This does seem to help. she has gotten a little better, but it's probably one of her bad behaviors I haven't been able to break.

However, she does seem to know the difference between when we are in class and when we are walking down the street. She doesn't bark and lunge at dogs in class.
 
Thank you. I was actually in tears during class the other night because of this. It's really weird, as Riley is not nearly this bad on leash on walks and at events. (he did awesome on Halloween at a doggie Halloween party, although he did get to play with the other dogs and greet them). Do you think that part of this is frustration due to not being able to play/greet the other dogs?

I hope that we can get him past this, since I don't want him to labeled as an aggressive dog by others!

So lots of targeting and redirecting will be happening. Our trainer wants us to have him constantly working during class to keep him busy and focused. Unfortunately we cannot arrive much earlier as there is a competition class prior to us, so we cannot go in until they leave. Maybe we should try being the first out the door, since that's when his worst behavior is, as everyone else leaves.
 
I completely understand where you're coming from... and yes, I do believe in leash / barrier frustration.

This is an issue for my dog, as well as poor impulse control. When I was going through the worst of this, I found this article which made me feel better about it:

http://www.dogsincanada.com/dealing-with-barrier-frustration

Sounds as though you have a wise and understanding trainer ! That's good. I think your idea of leaving class promptly is a good one. I have found that my young dog is mentally burned out at the end of an hour class, but with energy to burn... and frankly he can be a "jerk" ready to lunge at / chase others that are departing. It's exciting when a number of dogs and handlers are leaving at the same time !!!

If you can't exit quietly, then I would hold back and work on tricks or something fun off to the side until things quiet down.

Hang in there.
 
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