Train Positive Dog!

It’s that time of year again, when ever larger and more bizarre objects appear on lawns and porches.

I am sure that many dogs (and small children) would be frightened by suddenly encountering a 16-foot inflatable black cat with flashing green eyes that wasn’t there the last time they walked by the neighbor’s house. Your dog may raise the alarm by barking and lunging, or may cower and try to escape in a direction away from the monster.

The first step, after encountering a “scary monster” is to get far enough away to calm down. Sometimes you can turn around and go back the way you came, or go behind a visual barrier, or cross the street to gain distance away. However you do it, move away from the monster, far enough away so that your dog is visibly calmer.

As the dog’s handler, it is your job to remain calm and observe your dog’s body language. You want to see a more relaxed gait and body position, a relaxed facial expression, attention on something other than the “scary monster”, no raised hackles, no barking, no panic.

You need to move away from the scary monster to do this. Do not make the mistake of asking your dog to sit and deal with it when they are too close for comfort. Panic, stress, over-excitement, or over-arousal are not compatible with learning to calmly face your fears.

The following positive training exercises all start from this place – far enough away from the “scary monster” to be able to look at it, but not over-react. Far enough away to be able to face your fears and learn that there is no value in over-reacting.

Look at That https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW_WLETEmNM

BAT https://grishastewart.com/bat-overview/

Engage/Disengage http://www.clickertraining.com/reducing-leash-reactivity-the-engage-disengage-game

All of the above training exercises are helpful for every dog and dog handler. Easily half of my work with training clients focuses on this stuff. Happy Halloween and keep some distance away from the scary stuff!