A couple weeks ago, I wrote a post titled Housing Complexes and Reactivity - Part 1. Which sort of implies that there should be a part 2. I always had the intention of writing a part 2. I even had it partially written! But life sort of got away from me. A run in with Iris' new least favorite dog yesterday reminded me that I meant to write this.
So there definitely seems to be a cycle of reinforcement for reactive dogs, fueled by too many clueless owners and poorly behaved dogs in too small of a space. So what is the solution? I don't know if there is a good one. Even if you do want to actively work with your dog, it's not an easy place to work in. And there's no way to avoid it. I have to walk Iris outside multiple times every day so she can relieve herself. And very often, she's barked and lunged at, which reinforces the idea in her head that she needs to bark and lunge at other dogs. Since it seems like everyone's solution to the problem is "just keep moving," all the dogs learn is that barking works! The other dog just keeps moving on past and away. It's a hole that everyone just keeps digging deeper and deeper.
To really make any progress, you'd have to get all of the dog owners here to start actively working with their dogs all the time and really respecting other dogs' boundaries. Is it realistic? I don't think so. I wish it was! I would LOVE to have a professional trainer come in and run a mandatory class teaching everyone what to do when their dogs encounter another dog outside. I'd have everyone participate regardless of whether their dog is friendly or reactive. Everyone could use a refresher course of why not to run up to every dog you see.
In some ways, the friendly dogs are just as much a problem as the less friendly dogs. I've had people walk up with their bouncing, barking, pulling dogs because their dogs really want to say hi to Iris. Even though nothing about Iris' body language says she wants to say hi. How can you train that calm behavior will result in other dogs keeping their distance when that's just not true? The fact is, people do stay away better when Iris is acting like a bitch. If she's not exploding, people refuse to believe me when I says she's not friendly. It blows my mind.
We've had a few near misses recently - some loose dogs, some leashed dogs. Most of the time we don't. Often we can go outside and be perfectly fine. But I admit it, I've started checking out the window before I take Iris outside now. She's going to tense up every time she sees another dog because she's right, that dog will bark and lunge at her. For potty breaks, I try to take Iris out right next to my car. If we do see a dog and Iris gets barked at, I can shove her behind the car to block the dogs' view of each other and they both quiet down. It's not ideal. It's certainly not making Iris less reactive. But it does prevent the situation from escalating, which seems to be the key right now.
I'm torn between just how much work I want to do with Iris. I was leaning toward mostly management (cars as barriers, exercise outside of the complex), but now I'm not sure. A recent bad experience, which really deserves it's own post, has Iris and another dog really looking for a bitch fight.
3 comments:
I understand your frustration, so hard to be proactive about your dog when everywhere you turn someone is undermining your efforts with their ill behaved dog and no training. I know it wouldn't be a long term solution and maybe only useful some of the time but what about trying a Premier Calming Cap when you take her out? it is a sheer material that fits over the dog's eyes so they can't see their environment clearly enough to react to other dogs. I've used it before with dogs who react to outside stimulus when riding in the car. never used it outside of that situation but it came to mind as something maybe worth trying.
Ugh. What a frustrating situation. What totally stinks is that obviously the environment is setting all these dogs up to be more reactive in all parts of their lives, not just in the complex.
Since we have moved to Wrentham we encounter far, far fewer people or dogs on all our walks. I have noted that Ike's over all barkiness and fearfulness has gone down in other life situations. I think this has got to be because his cortisol level is not shooting sky high every other day. He doesn't exit the house and immediately start scanning for other dogs or creepy people.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if you really could get everyone involved in a mandatory class?!
Katrin, I'll definitely look into a calming cap. It sounds like it would be a great solution for when I just want to take her out for a quick potty break.
Julie, I think the whole situation is just kind of sad for the dogs. The cortisol levels here are probably sky high all the time! I really wish there was a way to do a class with everyone! I think a huge part of the problem is that people have no idea how to handle the situation (or even what an appropriate greeting is!) They're requiring everyone to be in the buildings on the 30th for smoke alarm testing, couldn't they require a dog training class? :)
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