Advice Please

[Franksmum01]

Hi all,

Was looking for a bit of advice, our Frank is a delight on the lead does not pull, walks on loose leash, I can hold him and push the baby in the pushchair no problems except.....This does not happen with every dog but enough for it to be a problem when I am walking him with the baby. If a dog approaches him he sniffs all calm then starts jumping wanting to play, there is no aggression there only excitement obviously this is not something I want to happen as I am frightened he will squash the other dog....usually they are smaller than him, and worry about them and Frank getting hurt ( hips and elbows).

I make him sit on approach and give plenty of praise and continuously use the words be calm Frank, this works most of the time and is great if the other dog ignores him but if the other dog also wants to play.....up he goes and out comes the boofy newfie paws.

We plan and doing his kennel club good citizen awards but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all.

 

[fall3n-ang3l]

Have you tried the "watch" command? Were you say the word and he watches you? We keep trying this with bernie, have you tried distraction, move in a different direction, bernie is brilliant when he has a head collar on, he's very good but when he hasn't got in on, he wants to go play

 

[Franksmum01]

Would love to try the watch technique but Frank is so focused on the other dog he barely looks at anything else, I do stand in the way which helps....it's mainly when the other dog keeps running at Frank to play also, he sits calmly for a bit then thinks oh cool friend wanna play which he thinks includes jumping and landing on the poor thing. I have been thinking about a gentle leader or canny collar but he is so good otherwise never really pulls even slows down when I say slowly Frank if we are going down our steep hill and don't want to slip over x

 

[CathyC.]

I use leave it. Teach leave it during a calm moment away from distractions. I used food on the floor as the item to ignore. Treat for choosing to look away from the item. We have some dogs in fenced yards on our walking path so I used them as training distractions for leave it too. I also use leave it for things on the ground outside but you must put some training in first before you can expect compliance with such a distracting thing as another dog. Also, be sure to give Frank supervised time to play with other dogs. When things get rambunctious you can also use your leave it command to end the session.

 

[fall3n-ang3l]

I would try a treat that he hasn't had before, so it's very high value, get him to sit and say "watch" while holding the treat next to your eyes, as soon as he makes eye contact give him the treat, try treats he's used to at home and practice at home, then you need the higher value treats when out, if he looks away,wave the treat in front of his nose so he can smell it and try again. I use a dogmatic head collar and it's brill

 

[dreamchaser456]

Leave it is a great all purpose command! I use that for anything I want one to ignore. I also do use "watch me" at times before nearing something I know is likely to get a reaction. As suggested, teach these first in a controlled setting until he is solid on them there. Then use them at a distance at first with distractions. I have also found it's easier to control those excitement reactions if you keep him moving PAST the distraction while using "leave it" and luring with a high value treat. I don't give that treat until I get calm and ignoring (sometimes 10 or 15 paces past the distraction). As long as the "reward" is high enough value they will catch on quickly that when they calmly ignore the distraction the treat comes. I have a 2.5 year old rescue that we've had 8 months that is very excitable around new dogs! He will now walk calmly past almost all the time and will also "sit/stay" so I can visit about half the time.

 

[R Taft]

There are a multitude of training methods for this...but firstly i would do any training without the baby and also using a kennel Club or group of like mined people in a safe place also helps...i use the BAT system, which is really very much what everyone said, but i click and treat. Using people and dogs in a safe environment and getting him used to it all makes for easier training.

I do not use the words "leave it" as when the dogs get older and bigger, the words tend to scare the other owners, so i use a friendly word like "puppy", "look at me"...having worked with large aggressive dogs, i found the words "leave it" worked against me. As the people with the other dogs would react nervously and often set off a chain of events..and even would effect their own dogs. google the BAT dog training system and you will get some really good intro...the other thing is check out "kikopup" on Youtube and you will get many free lessons on how to deal with this....she has lots of stuff on videos for free. She also uses the BAT click and treat system. I know it works , because i use it all the time for both the over friendly and aggressive dogs , Happy training, Ronnie