Everyone who owns a dog would love for their pet to get along with everyone, but that is not always the reality. Is your pup pushing towards other dogs? Or is your dog reactive, scared, and acting brutally toward other dogs? Can they resist barking, pulling, lunging, or getting overly excited?
Today, we will talk about reactivity during walks. If your walks feel more like a tug-of-war than a relaxing stroll, this is for you.
Why Should I Train My Dog to Ignore Other Dogs?
There are three main reasons why you need to train your pup to ignore other dogs during your walks.
- Training your dog to ignore distractions makes the walk safer for all parties involved. It also makes going out for a stroll an easier task, even more in crowded environments. It is not just your dog that might be reactive. Sometimes, other dogs can be reactive as well. If you come across a dog that doesn’t like yours, it is best that your pup can ignore them.
- When we talk about safe walks, we think of both puppies and people. Dogs that pull on the lead can cause injuries to their owners.
- Last, but not least, extremely social dogs can get frustrated if they cannot sniff every dog they see. The frustration can lead to reactivity, and eventually aggression.
A Common Mistake Among Pet Owners
Speaking of friendly and overly social dogs, let’s talk about a common mistake among dog owners: over-socialization.
This is a mistake in socialization. Too often, people think of socialization as teaching dogs to interact with everything. This can lead to reactivity because the dog will expect people and other animals to always be friendly and approachable.. As a result, they become too excited and stop listening to their owners.
When and How To Socialize Your Pup
As a dog owner, you have to understand and show your pup when it is okay to say hi and sniff another dog and when it is not.
Here is a step-by-step guide.
- If you come across a friendly dog, stop without giving any cues to your dog.
- Wait for your dog to look to you for an approval to socialize with their fellow friend.
- To continue the walk after a short sniff, give your dog a command to look at you and go.
- You can also designate a command like “say hi” to let your dog know when it is okay to socialize.
Four Reasons Dogs Bark at Other Dogs
Many triggers cause dogs to excessively bark. While every dog is different, most fall into these four common situations.
Over-excitement
Your dog is overly excited, friendly, and wants to play. They start barking to show off their excitement, or bark because they are on a lead. It makes them frustrated that they cannot meet their potential playmate.
Fear or Anxiety
Dogs who haven’t gone through a proper socialization process or who have had traumatic experiences can become anxious or fearful. Fear is a powerful emotion. When combined with an inability to escape because of a leash, dogs can show reactive behavior.
Lack of Self-Control
Dogs that haven’t been trained to have self-control and impulse control will get frustrated when they cannot get close to other dogs. Because they are on a lead, they can become reactive when other dogs pass by.
Aggression
Dogs display aggressive behavior for various reasons. For example, some dogs are prone to resource guarding, leading to aggression when other dogs get close to their toy. Other dogs might be prone to territorial aggression and can bark when someone is close to their territory.
Step By Step Guide For Training
Teaching your dog to ignore other dogs on walks is easier than you think with the right techniques. Let’s go step by step to ensure you are successful in your training.
Step 1 – Plan Walks in Isolated Environments
To begin training your dog to ignore other animals on walks, start in an area where you are removed from other stimuli and mostly alone.. You can also schedule walks when the area is less likely to be busy.
Step 2 – Bring Some Treats
During the early stages of training, keep your dog on a loose leash. This prevents them from charging up to other dogs. Whenever your dog looks at another dog but doesn’t react, reward it with a treat. Slowly decrease the distance between you and other dogs.
Step 3 – Put the Focus on You
The goal is not just to have your dog ignore other dogs. The real game changer comes when your dog learns to put its focus on you. Whenever your dog looks at you on walks without being called, reward with a treat. Encourage this behavior until it becomes a habit, and then slowly add a cue to get his focus.
Step 4 – Pay Attention and Reward
Dog owners often react only to bad behaviors and forget to reward good behaviors. It is time to change that. Pay closer attention to your dog and see if he checks you and follows your commands or ignores your guidance. Your goal is to make ignoring the distraction more rewarding than the alternative.
Three Ways to Teach Dogs to Ignore Other Dogs
Now that we talked about the basic guide for ignoring other dogs, let’s take things deeper.
Here are three more techniques you can use to teach your dog to ignore other dogs on walks.
Call a Friend for Help
If you have friends with dogs, they can be of great help. Use the desensitization technique, repeating the same thing over and over again.
- Have your friend stand with their dog five feet away from you and your dog.
- When your dog looks away from the other dog, mark it with “nice” or “good job” and give them a treat.
- Put the treat in front of their nose, and turn their head so they are looking at you.
- Repeat several times.
- Take a few steps forward, and check on your dog. Repeat until your dog continues to look at you or your environment with another dog right in front of them.
- Praise and reward positive behavior.
- Then, walk past the other dog, but give rapid-fire treat rewards in one hand.
- Keep the food close to your dog’s nose to keep their attention.
- Practice everything daily.
Emergency Turn
Learning the emergency turn technique is a vital skill for all dogs, but especially for reactive ones. You can use it to avoid an approaching dog or quickly remove your dog from a stressful situation. Your dog should be close to you so that you can quickly turn at 180 degrees and move in the opposite direction.
- Have your dog on the left or right side.
- Get a treat on your dog’s nose, and make them follow it.
- Take a couple of steps forward, and as you turn, lure your dog to turn with you.
- Keep the leash loose.
- After a few repetitions, introduce a verbal cue as you are turning.
- As your dog understands the cue, phase out the lure, and offer a treat after a successful turn.
- Keep your dog’s attention by changing directions as you walk and practice every day.
Play For Fun
Play is one of the best ways to bond with your dog and teach them to ignore other pets. If you go for a walk and scroll on your phone, your dog will find other interesting things to do. Play fetch, tug, or throw treats in the grass for a sniff game. If your dog has fun with you, it will naturally ignore other dogs.
Final Words
Sometimes, it is okay to let your dog sniff other animals, greet people and be curious. After all, canines are social creatures always looking for new stimulation. However, it is your job as a responsible dog owner to stay in command and look out for the safety of you and your dog.