No tools, no rewards, no obedience, no micromanaging. @konapotamus at liberty on a backclip harness+unlocked flexi combo passing a dog barking at her while being handled by her awesome moms who have truly put in the work.
This is our end goal for reactive dog clients we work with. A trained dog who can feel comfortable enough to make their own decisions navigating daily lives.
I was inspired by a recent question on a FB group to share how I deal with off leash dogs.
1. I manage my environment. AKA whenever possible, I choose wide trails with high visibility and low traffic. Obviously, I can’t always control these things (hence steps 2 and 3) but this is an important factor to mention. I see people repeatedly going to the same places where they get rushed over and over and there are 20 off leash dogs and they are the only on leash dog handler. Are those other owners at fault for having out of control off leash dogs? Yes. Is subjecting yourself (and your dog!!) to the same thing over and over again going to help your situation? No. If I show up at a park or a trail and see a bunch of off leash dogs arriving we turn around and leave.
2. If they are far enough away, I will politely greet the owner and let them know my dog isn’t friendly and I’ll be pulling over so they can pass with lots of space. I will usually put my dog in a middle or just hold them behind me on a leash. At this point, most people will leash their dogs and pass us. I get the occasional “it’s ok he’s friendly” and I calmly let them know my dog isn’t and to please keep their dog away because I don’t want there to be a fight.
3. If the dog is charging, far from their owner, or the owner has refused to take control of their dog, I will use increasing levels of force to handle the situation myself. If they were willing or able to help me, they already would have by this point. Getting in a fight with this person will not help me reach my goal (keeping their dog away from my dog). I’ll start with spatial pressure and yelling and escalate as far as I need to defend my dog. Most dogs are soft and will turn around and leave us alone at this point. Sometimes it is necessary to make physical contact but in my experience those situations are rare (see steps 1+2)
I saw an unexpected off leash dog on my hike with Atlas this past week so figured I’d include thi
We make a point of sending long, unedited videos of us working our client dogs to their owners. We do this for a few reasons:
1. Learning Style. Most people have a much easier time learning how to handle their dogs by watching vs. by only hearing what they should do or reading a follow up email
2. Seeing is believing. When you have been living with a severely reactive/aggressive/fearful/over-aroused/fill in the blank dog for months or years, it often becomes hard to believe this dog can ever change. Often, dogs will start progressing with us before they show improvements with their owners (obviously, we have been doing this for years so when we are handling a dog there is only one party learning-the dog. When owners are learning how to handle and train their dogs there are two beings learning how to navigate a situations). This tends to give owners hope that their dog can change and creates motivation to keep practicing.
3. Trust. As someone whose dogs have been mistreated by trainers, I never expect or take for granted a dog owner’s trust. We work hard to earn this trust and showing our clients exactly how we handle, train, and interact with their dogs when they aren’t around is a big part of that.
My boy 🤩 he maxed out at 8ft today (.5ft over the required 1.5x standing height for WC1)
