Doggie Bag: My Dog Gets Really Reactive and Scared of Visitors. What Should I Do?
Every now and then I get a hankering to talk about dogs. If you dont know, I was a dog handler in the Marine Corps for about 10 years. I spend time training bomb, drug, attack, tracking, and long-distance off-leash detection dogs. My final job before retiring from the Marine Corps was as the Chief Marine Military Working Dog Instructor. Over the years, I trained or supervised the training of hundreds of dogs ranging from Jack Russell Terriers to Belgian Malinois.
That being said, let's answer some questions.
First up, Eric's question. This one is SUPER common. In lots of training, I kinda view dogs as children who are underneath 8. Imagine if you were 8 years old and chillin on the couch. You're bored and have spent about 20 minutes outside playing, You've messed around on the xbox, and have just eaten lunch. You got all kinds of energy and are ready to go.
The next thing ya know, the doorbell rings and it's some friends to play with.
You go absolutely bonkers because you are so excited to play. That's what happens with the pups. They are just too damn excited to breathe let alone behave, so here are some things to try.
Positive Reinforcement: Use positive reinforcement to reward your dog when they display calm behavior around strangers. Whenever your dog remains calm and doesn't bark, provide treats, praise, or affection. This will associate positive rewards with calm behavior. Even if they are only calm for about 5 seconds, praise that 5 seconds. If they start acting crazy again, ignore. Rinse, wash, repeat. The best way is to tell a pal that you're gonna go over this drill a few times. Once the dog does well and calms down, tell the friend to leave for about 5 minutes and do it again. Rinse, wash, repeat. Make the breaks longer and longer. Everything in dog training is baby steps. Everything.
Desensitization: Gradually expose your dog to strangers in controlled environments. Start with a distance where your dog doesn't bark and reward them for staying calm. Gradually decrease the distance over time, ensuring your dog remains calm at each stage. Baby steps.
Counter-Conditioning: Change your dog's emotional response to strangers by pairing their presence with positive experiences. Have the strangers offer treats or toys to your dog when they meet if they are showing whining or anxiety-type responses. This will help your dog associate strangers with positive experiences.
Use a Cue: Teach your dog a specific cue like "Quiet" "Calm" or "Easy" to stop barking. Im a big fan of Easy because you can slow it down to give them a cue within a cue... eeeeee zzzzzz. ezzzz ezzzzz. eeee zzzzzz. Say it slow and in a calm way. If they start hypin up, you can make it sharper to grab their attention. EASY. Easy. eee zzzz. Like a little off ramp of sorts. When your dog starts barking, use the cue, and when they stop barking, reward them immediately. Consistent practice will help your dog associate the cue with being calm.
Identify Triggers: Observe the situations that trigger your dog's barking. Understanding these triggers can help you avoid or manage them better during training. For instance, tell your friends that are coming over to text you so that the door bell doesnt ring and then there's like a 45-second ramping-up phase for the pup.
Training Sessions: Keep the training sessions short and positive. Regular short sessions are more effective than infrequent long sessions. Initial Dog training should last 5-10 minutes at the most, pause for about 5-10 minutes and then continue. Dogs have something called spontaneous recovery so you'll be manipulating that natural behavioral tendency to your advantage.
Stay Calm: Dogs can pick up on their owner's emotions, so staying calm and relaxed will help your dog feel more at ease.
Avoid Punishment: Avoid punishing your dog for barking, as this may increase anxiety and fear. Positive reinforcement and patience are more effective training methods.
Alright, this was a really strange question and one that Im not sure I would have even understood last week.
My dog Gussy Boy From Heaven Above has started doing this at my new place. It has NEVER been an issue before but I've come outside a few times this last week and there's a huge ole dump sitting right there in the middle of the patio. At first, I thought he might have just had a thick turtlehead pokin and he needed to offload that bad boy with a quickness.
After three times, I'm pretty sure it is intentional.
I haven't figured out why. The grass here is green. It's thicker. I have no idea why he doesn't want to shit in the grass but when I figure out what the hell is going on, I'll help. It could be that there are certain outdoor elements like noise or unfamiliar surroundings that may make them uncomfortable or stressed, leading him to shit on the known rather than the unknown of the grass. It could also be thinking like a different fertilizer. Dogs are sensitive to smells, and if the grass smells very different from previous spots, it could throw ole Gussy for a loop.
That being said, I'll get back to you on that one once I figure it out. Gus is leaving too big of boulders to just let this one go.
If you're reading this Gus, sorry for putting your business out there.