u/Affectionate-Okra681

i adopted aggie back in july, and she wasn’t too bad when she first arrived but she became increasingly reactive until we were unable to pass any dog even at a distance. she would freeze, bark, lunge, etc. she never showed actual signs of aggression, just a lot of fear. i know her reactivity isn’t the worst, but i’ve been told by her behaviourist the methods i’ll list below usually help.

she got so much worse after she got attacked by another dog (the full details are in a previous post i put on this sub). she started showing signs of actual aggression and it would go on for ages. she would bark, lunge, growl, bare her teeth, and even snapped at one or two. walking her was a nightmare because it’s so busy around where i live. i had to start walking her in the early hours of the morning. she couldn’t even smell another dog without growling.

after a lot of training with her behaviourist, she’s now able to pass (most) dogs without even freezing now! she still doesn’t like it if they’re too close to her, but we can walk again! we passed about 8 dogs today and she only barked at one. in her defence, the other dog barked at her first. she’s exhausted after every walk because of the below games we play.

what i did (generally):
1. bowl game - i would drop a treat in a bowl, swirl it around, cover it if she tried to go for it, and said ‘yes’ when she looked away. it can’t be her food bowl, so i have a dedicated aggie bowl now. the behaviourist said this is called disengagement.
2. mouse game - i also did the same with just my hand. i would hold the treat in my hand, wait for her to look away, ‘yes’ and then give her the treat. i do this while walking randomly.
3. practicing ‘yes’ at home - get a relatively high value treat and at home, throw the treat a little bit away. when she eats the treat, i say ‘yes’ and when she comes back to me, i give her another treat. this helps really strengthen the ‘yes’ when we’re out. make sure you’re behind your dog when you do this, the idea is you want them to know ‘yes’ means they turn around.
4. ‘this way’ - stop, say ‘this way’, as soon as she turns around, i say ‘yes’, i give her a treat and keep giving her treats as we trot along.
5. touch - just the regular nose touch. i do this while walking randomly.
6. focus - when we’re out, i say ‘aggie, focus’, stop as soon as she turns around and give treat, give treats every few seconds she keeps staring at me.
7. less exercise - this is specific to old dogs, but i learnt i was overexercising her. she is a lurcher (greyhound, staffy, collie mix) who is 10 next month. i used to take her for two 40 walks a day, and it turns out a bit of her reactivity came from her being sore. i now do two 20-25 minute walks, sometimes 30 if she’s particularly energetic. i focused on quality over quantity.

i played every game at least once a day, for about 2 minutes at a time. i spread it out throughout the day because shes old and gets tired easily.

after she got all of this down perfect -

8. while walking - as soon as she spots a dog even from a distance, i say ‘yes’ and give her a VERY high value treat (i use boiled chicken breast). initially, i would keep giving her the treat until she forgot about the dog or they disappeared while repeatedly saying ‘yes’.

after she learnt that seeing a dog meant chicken, i would say ‘yes’ when she spots a dog, give treat, wait for her to turn back around, say ‘yes’ again, she would turn back around, give treat. i would do that repeatedly.

eventually, she stopped turning back around to look at the dog to just keep staring at me and she keeps walking after one or two treats. as soon as she hears the little ziplock bag even without seeing the treat she’s now fully focused on me.

i also reduced her meals just to make sure she doesn’t get too chubby.

i just wanted to share a success story. like i said, i know she’s not the worst, but her reactivity was starting to really upset me. shes great with people, and we don’t know her past so no idea about her bite history. i would be shocked if she’s ever bitten anyone/another dog though. i’m so proud of her and we’re enjoying our walks again. i’m sorry this post is so long, but i thought these tips could be good as it has worked so well for me.

edit 1: for extra details and typos

edit 2: this post has gotten a decent amount of attention, if anyone needs clarification on the games i listed or even want a video demo, please drop me a message, i am happy to do this with aggie to show what i mean. she’s still not perfect - i didn’t notice a dog bc they came out from behind a parked car and she came face to face, so she barked/lunged like she did before. i believe we can get to a point where a dog near her won’t set her off. i believe in all of your dogs!!! i hope the best for everyone.

edit 3: correcting displacement and disengagement

their long limbs allow them to get into such funny positions - i would love to see them!

i never would’ve guessed collie. she’s extremely lazy and is exhausted by 30 minute walks. although, that might be because of her old age.

i also never expected pitbull either - i was so convinced she was part whippet part staffy but apparently i didn’t nail my guesses

aggie’s results have come through and i was quite surprised by them. she doesn’t look/act like a collie at all and i really didn’t see pitbull coming. really interesting i think!

i understand lurcher is a bit of a vague description so it’s hard to say. i’m 90% sure she has some staffy in her, she does the staffy whine, LOVES a cuddle, and loves burrowing in blankets. i mean, the one in the car could literally be a staffy.

her nose also isn’t quite long enough to be fully sighthound i think. it’s a very normal length dog nose.

so since she’s definitely too big and lean to be fully staffy, what else do you think she could be? she weighs 20.65kg if that helps. i tried to do a dna test but she hated it so im not sure if i’ll even get results. thanks in advance!

(edited for typos)

i learnt on her first night here all she wants to do is be covered by a blanket. that and my singing are the two things that make her settle (she only arrived last wednesday so will be discovering more tricks!)

she’ll literally whine at me and nose at the blanket until i lift it up for her to go under it. these are just photos where you can see parts of her - she’s constantly being 100% covered by a blanket.

have i got a silly lurcher or is this just typical behaviour?

since i posted to this subreddit asking for so much advice, i thought it was only right to post my lovely girl living her best retirement life. that’s only possible because of everyone on here! thanks for all the help and advice on getting her to settle/enjoy the new house as much as possible 💙💙💙

most days i wake up to her cuddling me. and if she’s not cuddling me then she’s whining that somethings in her way. she is so incredibly well behaved and a real snuggle bug. such a great girl

i posted to this subreddit a couple of times whilst preparing to welcome aggie to the household. she’s now home and is settling in nicely. she was an angel in the car - after it cooled down in there, she just slept for the whole 90 minute drive. this subreddit has been such a game changer and i can’t thank everyone enough for all of the advice that i needed to prepare for her. apologies in advance for the long post, i wasn’t sure what details to include.

the main issue that’s come up so far is that she’s REALLY destructive with her toys - she just loves to rip them up. (evidenced in the photo). she’s only been home about 6 hours and has destroyed 2 toys already. she doesn’t eat them, just loves to destroy them. whilst this is fine for now because i’ve got about 10 ready to go, this is quite unsustainable. she’s somewhat interested in balls and ropes but generally prefers destroying her stuffed toys. she seems to only be interested in destroying toys.

chews don’t seem to hold her attention for long - i’ve tried a himalayan yak chew and a no hide beef chew. she liked them but she got bored after about 10 minutes. i also bought rabbit ears and she wouldn’t even try them.

i think part of the reason is that her eyesight doesn’t seem to be the best and she relies entirely on her nose, so she really struggles to try and find hidden things. she loves a sniff but isn’t very good at it. she’ll miss a treat that’s right in front of her.

i’ve purchased a lick mat and a kong that haven’t arrived yet, so that’s going to be my next attempt.

the one silver lining is that she loves her training treats, but has also destroyed her snuffle toy in the process. she’s currently refusing any of her dry food even rehydrated with bone broth, but i’ve been told she’s really gone off of it in the last few days, so it might be the heat. she was never much of a fan of her dry food to begin with. she’s eating some of the wet food i’ve mixed in, but is generally uninterested in her food at the moment. im not too worried about that as this her first day here and she’s eating other stuff.

any advice would be great in terms of toys and mental enrichment suggestions - especially during this heat wave at the moment when she’s unable to go for longer walks, even at night. thank you so, so much to this subreddit and everyone who took the time to read/reply. sorry for the long post!

hi everyone! i posted a couple days ago on this subreddit so i’m sorry for taking up the space - i just want to do the best for my girl when she arrives on tuesday. im adopting a senior rescue lurcher and have listed below what ive already purchased for her -

- dog bed
- dog bowls
- id tag
- food she is currently on + food i would like to transition her to
- car supported harness
- supplements for her joints (she has arthritis)
- portable water bowl
- cooling mat
- long lead
- regular lead
- treat pouch
- training treats
- poo bags + poo bag holder
- brush
- balls
- a squeaky toy
- beef trachea for her teeth

am i forgetting anything? or if anyone has any recommendations for lurchers specifically to live their best retirement life possible, i would appreciate it so much. or if anyone has any general tips re lurchers.

she can’t walk very far due to her arthritis so i’m hoping to give her non exercise stimulation specifically. we don’t really have any background on her as she was abandoned, but she definitely used to have a family (leash trained, can sit, good in cars, etc.). she is slightly dog reactive if she feels they’re encroaching in her space but is fine with other dogs on walks. she seems relatively smart, just a little silly, and the centre reckons she’s part staffy. also apparently a real cuddle bug!

i’ve only looked after a pomeranian, maltese, golden retriever and german shepherd so this is a different breed for me. i’ve done research but just want to make sure i’m doing the best for her!

sorry for the long post and the repeated posting. i’m very grateful for everyone’s responses.

i’m renaming her aggie beever bones (hopefully someone gets the reference 😉) and have attached a different photo for dog tax

edit: forgot to mention she’s 9 and a half. and the bed is an orthopaedic dog bed - looking to get a second one for the living room if she likes it.

hi everyone! i’m adopting a rescue lurcher who will be coming home with me on tuesday. the current food she’s on is wainwright’s salmon and rice kibble but she has a few joint issues, so i’m looking to change to a senior diet. she also apparently isn’t the biggest fan of the food, but it’s what the centre had.

she’s 9 and a half and has arthritis in her hind legs, so if anyone has any recommendations, i would be highly appreciative.

attached a photo of her for pet tax!