Having a teenage dog can be stressful and put you into awkward situations when you’re out. But no matter what the circumstances you need to put the needs of your dog first, even if it feels selfish to do so
How teenage Bonzo reacted to another dog
Bonzo, a ten month old Labrador was in trouble. An off-lead dog had run over to him in the park. They’d stalked warily round each other with Bonzo’s owner desperately trying not to get wrapped up in his lead, then there was a scuffle, with lots of growling, snarling and snapping before Bonzo’s owner managed to drag Bonzo away. Luckily there were no apparent injuries, but Bonzo was a nightmare on the walk home, as he was barking at every other dog he saw.
If you’ve got an adolescent dog you may well be nodding along.
Adolescent dogs can become reactive to other dogs
One of the common problems that arises is reactivity to other dogs. Perhaps your dog was fine with other dogs for the first few months you had them, but suddenly starts to lunge and bark at other dogs, or tries to nip and bite them, like Bonzo.
Commonly this can be a false bravado from your dog, who wants to appear feisty and brave, but inside they are shy and scared.
Your dog needs you to be selfish.
How can you help your dog when they over react?
To do what it takes to protect them and help them cope.
Which may mean being rude to other people.
You may need to turn abruptly and walk away in the opposite direction when you see an off lead dog, before you get close enough to risk a problem.
You may need to speak sharply to someone to get them to control their off lead hound.
You may need to scatter throw some treats to distract an approaching dog before there’s a problem – and if that dog is allergic to those treats, it isn’t your problem.
Or you may need to scream and shout for help if your dog is being pestered by an off lead dog. And selfishly ignore any rude remarks from other owners.
You need to be selfish to protect your dog and avoid them practising the behaviour you don’t want.
Because practice makes perfect
If your dog practices behaviours you don’t want them to, those behaviours become ingrained and your dog will get even better at them – they become increasingly ingrained.
Being selfish includes being focused on doing what’s needed to help your dog best. Working out what you want your dog to do, instead of what you don’t want them to do. Which is all about teaching and reinforcing the basics.
That’s what we do in our signature 6 week Perfect Pet course.
Be selfish.
Book your place now and let us help you work out how best to help your dog.
Keep training and stay safe,
Carol
PS If your dog has an established reactivity problem, you may need to work 121 with me to learn how to help your dog relax around other dogs either through a behaviour package or our excellent Reactive Rover course which will run again in February – watch out for information on that soon.
