that I run into a dog with Buster, what should I do?
He's getting better with the distance he can take between dogs, it varies, but its usually about 40-50metres if the dog is loose and ignoring him.
So I took him out today, through this little strip of bush behind our house, there was a big BC behind a fence barking at him which he glanced at once even though we were only a few metres away and then promptly ignored, he was much too busy tracking birds. (I had him on a horse lunge rope)
Then just as we were coming out back towards the road there was a Staffy walking with its owner probably 20metres away, it didn't even notice him but any concentration he had was gone, we'd just come aroudn the corner and he noticed it before I did.
He pulled to the end of the rope, stared, tail in the air, pointing (like he's part GSP or something lol) when it got out of
"range" he started his frustrated whining and wants to follow it.
This reaction is pretty typical.
While I'm trying to avoid dogs that I can't control the situation around, I can't always, even just coming around the corner could end up with us facing another dog I didn't know was there.
My question, how should I treat this situation? When he's already turned off.
Ignore it, continue on like he's not straining at the end of the lead, eventhough I really don't want to reinforce any pulling.
Try a command like "sit" or "come" eventhough he's not really listening at this stage, and once he does, he's so overstimulated he can't do it properly. Like he'll run to me then flip around and start going to the end of his lead again, or he'll whine and sit/lie down then run to the end of his leash again
I could turn around and walking away from teh situation, but from what I've seen so far, this really makes him a lot worse. Like he thinks that now there is a real reason to feel insecure around that dog, if I want to get out of the situation, then there is really something to fear.
I won't be using this as how I help him with his DA, I will continue to work slowly on getting him comfortable with other dogs, but in the situations where he starts reacting before I can avoid/distract from the dog, what shoudl I do?
He's getting better with the distance he can take between dogs, it varies, but its usually about 40-50metres if the dog is loose and ignoring him.
So I took him out today, through this little strip of bush behind our house, there was a big BC behind a fence barking at him which he glanced at once even though we were only a few metres away and then promptly ignored, he was much too busy tracking birds. (I had him on a horse lunge rope)
Then just as we were coming out back towards the road there was a Staffy walking with its owner probably 20metres away, it didn't even notice him but any concentration he had was gone, we'd just come aroudn the corner and he noticed it before I did.
He pulled to the end of the rope, stared, tail in the air, pointing (like he's part GSP or something lol) when it got out of
"range" he started his frustrated whining and wants to follow it.
This reaction is pretty typical.
While I'm trying to avoid dogs that I can't control the situation around, I can't always, even just coming around the corner could end up with us facing another dog I didn't know was there.
My question, how should I treat this situation? When he's already turned off.
Ignore it, continue on like he's not straining at the end of the lead, eventhough I really don't want to reinforce any pulling.
Try a command like "sit" or "come" eventhough he's not really listening at this stage, and once he does, he's so overstimulated he can't do it properly. Like he'll run to me then flip around and start going to the end of his lead again, or he'll whine and sit/lie down then run to the end of his leash again
I could turn around and walking away from teh situation, but from what I've seen so far, this really makes him a lot worse. Like he thinks that now there is a real reason to feel insecure around that dog, if I want to get out of the situation, then there is really something to fear.
I won't be using this as how I help him with his DA, I will continue to work slowly on getting him comfortable with other dogs, but in the situations where he starts reacting before I can avoid/distract from the dog, what shoudl I do?