pghboxers
Boxer Buddy
Hi there!
To keep things on the short side...I have a very leash reactive boxer boy, between 1-2 years old. We adopted him about 3 months ago. He was neutered by the rescue. We have no idea of his history, other than we was an owner surrender. These issues were not apparent at the time we adopted him - he got along great with our boxer at their initial meeting (both on leashes). They've gotten along fine every since. The issues began getting worse as we came across more dogs in public.
When walking (either alone or with our other boxer), he walks great on a loose leash and is able to work very well with me. As soon as we see another dog, it is as if the world closes in around him and all he can see is that dog (or cat, actually). He gets very focused, and is hard to break out of the "spell" - so to say. As the other dogs approach, I can normally keep him from acting aggressively. We move over, give the other dog more room, and walk by at a brisk pace. However, if the other dog so much as looks at him the wrong way - gives a bark or growl - makes extended eye contact - anything our guy interrupts as a challenge...the lunging/barking/growling/hair standing up/teeth showing/etc. starts. Also to add..off leash he is fine. He has been to dog parks and daycares with us initially, and never had an issue. We stopped going in an effort to have 100% control over his interactions with other dogs, once his issues started to show.
Things we've been doing...
-Working on our "watch" command. We practice everywhere.
-Going on walks without our other dog - focusing entirely on him.
-Taking treats with us everywhere.
-We are using a prong collar now, per our trainers advice (I know controversial topic - but we really have tried everything else - nothing else yields us enough control. We do alternative with an easy walk, however it really does not do much when he gets going)
-We make an attempt to go 1-2x/week on a busy walking trail with other people/bikes/dogs as we live in the country and rarely encounter another person at home.
-We had 6 private lessons at our trainers, and are now trying to slowly get involved her their group classes. Right now, we're trying to go twice a week when we're able. He generally has one outburst at class - I'm sure the other owners must hate us :( So embarrassing!
-We make trips to the pet store about every other week as well. We work on our obedience there, practice "watch", "heel", etc. We stay far away from other dogs, and leave without buying anything often times (as waiting in line is too risky for us still).
Anybody have any other suggestions? He is doing so well with obedience training, I'd LOVE to show in in obedience and rally next year (maybe even agility), however we need to get over this hurdle first for sure!
Thanks guys!! Sometimes it just gets sooo frustrating..you gotta make sure you're not missing something easy here!
To keep things on the short side...I have a very leash reactive boxer boy, between 1-2 years old. We adopted him about 3 months ago. He was neutered by the rescue. We have no idea of his history, other than we was an owner surrender. These issues were not apparent at the time we adopted him - he got along great with our boxer at their initial meeting (both on leashes). They've gotten along fine every since. The issues began getting worse as we came across more dogs in public.
When walking (either alone or with our other boxer), he walks great on a loose leash and is able to work very well with me. As soon as we see another dog, it is as if the world closes in around him and all he can see is that dog (or cat, actually). He gets very focused, and is hard to break out of the "spell" - so to say. As the other dogs approach, I can normally keep him from acting aggressively. We move over, give the other dog more room, and walk by at a brisk pace. However, if the other dog so much as looks at him the wrong way - gives a bark or growl - makes extended eye contact - anything our guy interrupts as a challenge...the lunging/barking/growling/hair standing up/teeth showing/etc. starts. Also to add..off leash he is fine. He has been to dog parks and daycares with us initially, and never had an issue. We stopped going in an effort to have 100% control over his interactions with other dogs, once his issues started to show.
Things we've been doing...
-Working on our "watch" command. We practice everywhere.
-Going on walks without our other dog - focusing entirely on him.
-Taking treats with us everywhere.
-We are using a prong collar now, per our trainers advice (I know controversial topic - but we really have tried everything else - nothing else yields us enough control. We do alternative with an easy walk, however it really does not do much when he gets going)
-We make an attempt to go 1-2x/week on a busy walking trail with other people/bikes/dogs as we live in the country and rarely encounter another person at home.
-We had 6 private lessons at our trainers, and are now trying to slowly get involved her their group classes. Right now, we're trying to go twice a week when we're able. He generally has one outburst at class - I'm sure the other owners must hate us :( So embarrassing!
-We make trips to the pet store about every other week as well. We work on our obedience there, practice "watch", "heel", etc. We stay far away from other dogs, and leave without buying anything often times (as waiting in line is too risky for us still).
Anybody have any other suggestions? He is doing so well with obedience training, I'd LOVE to show in in obedience and rally next year (maybe even agility), however we need to get over this hurdle first for sure!
Thanks guys!! Sometimes it just gets sooo frustrating..you gotta make sure you're not missing something easy here!