By Sally Bradbury
Does your dog dash up to other dogs in a rude manner and upset everyone at the park?
Enrol the help of any friends and family with dogs that he gets on with; ideally, dogs that are well-rounded and won’t be intimidated by his lack of manners.
He doesn’t need to practise his social skills on unknown dogs or dogs that you meet out and about. Besides, on lead meetings are not ideal because the lead will interfere with communication.
As with everything else, prevention is the first course of action. That means that when you are walking him, you need to give other dogs and people a wide berth. It might mean taking him somewhere in the car for a walk.
Then you need to find somewhere where you can watch dogs and people passing in the distance and where you can teach him an alternative response to seeing them.
If you clicker train, you can use a method called Click the Trigger. You can use a marker word, such as ‘yes’ instead of using a clicker.
Every time he sees a dog, you click and give him a treat. You should be far enough away from the trigger for him to want the reward rather than fixate on the other dog.
So, lots of practise in different places, with him seeing a dog in the distance and getting a click and treat. After a while, he will look or may even pretend to look, and look back to you quickly in anticipation of the reward. Then you have Stage Two; see a dog, turn back to you to tell you he has seen it, click and treat. Continue in this fashion. Vary the criteria, for example closer to the trigger or with you walking, but not towards other dogs until you are both really competent.
Once you have him ignoring other dogs for the most part, then you can also use play with other dogs as a reward for not rushing at them.
Arrange to meet one of your volunteers with their dog; you will need to have them appear at a strategic point. Have your dog on his long trailing line. When he sees the dog, stand on his line and the other dog will stop approaching as pre-arranged. Call him back to you or wait for the auto check in. He can choose to stay where he is and look at the dog in the distance, or come back to you and be released to go and play. It will take a few repetitions for him to learn how to earn the reward that he wants. You will need several sessions with several different dogs, and you will also need to vary the rewards. He doesn’t always get to go and play because it won’t always be appropriate. Sometimes he gets food, sometimes a game with you.
Your aim is for him to see a dog and return to you when off lead. This gives you time to ascertain whether it would be appropriate to allow him to go and see the dog.