u/Garnets_

I was told that, to help my 9 month old dog become less fearful of people, I should mark/reward whenever he approaches another person. However, would this not be counterproductive when I don't necessarily want him to seek out strangers when out on walks?

If my goal is to build his confidence, wouldn't I be better off focusing on play and allowing him to gain assurance through natural, positive experiences? Introducing a clicker/treat into an already positive interaction seems artificial/unnecessary to me, particularly if he's already feeling comfortable to approach on his own accord.

For context, my dog does not have a severe fear of people. He's usually a little standoffish and unsure at first, but he's not afraid to approach someone independently before deciding whether he wants to continue the interaction. If he doesn't, he'll create space himself. I always respect his choice and never force him to engage with anyone.

So is marking/rewarding these moments beneficial, or should I simply continue to allow him to navigate these interactions at his own pace, without intervention?

I’m letting my dog get used to wearing the E-collar before turning it on/using it. He’s been wearing it during everyday activities - playing, napping, training, etc. How long should I wait before finding his working level and starting the process of E-collar training? Should I wait a couple of days?

My sister says my puppy, who will be eight months old in a month, is "rough", and I'm wondering whether I'm being unreasonable in thinking that his behaviour is normal for his age.

For context, he's a Lab x English Cocker Spaniel cross, so a combination of two fairly bouncy, excitable breeds. Overall, I'm happy with where he is in training and how he's progressing. He's doing well and, with the exception of a couple of things we're still working on, I don't think there's anything significant to worry about at this stage.

The main difficulties we've been having is with jumping and counter-surfing, which is what sparked my sister's comment. Initially, I took the approach of ignoring the jumping and waiting for him to stop, but I didn't see any improvement. I've since started using a leash pop as a correction, which has helped, and the behaviour seems to be getting better - particularly the counter-surfing. I also intend to E-collar train for off-leash safety, so may well consider whether that has a place in addressing these issues as well.

I guess what I'm asking is whether I should be worried at the jumping up? It's a pretty normal behaviour for an adolescent dog, right? Don't worry, I'm aware it needs to be addressed, but I'm fed up with my sister acting as if my dog is in need of a behavioural expert. From my point of view, it's as if she expects an adolescent dog to behave as nicely as an adult one.

I've heard people say that you should never correct a fearful dog, but this has made me wonder what the appropriate response would be if a "fearful" dog started lunging and barking at another dog to create more space. Surely the dog needs to learn that such behaviour is unacceptable, even if it's rooted in fear?

I suppose some would argue that a fearful dog shouldn't be put in that uncomfortable situation in the first place, but unexpected/unavoidable situations do happen in real life (off-leash dogs suddenly appearing out of nowhere, encountering another dog on a narrow path, etc.) In those scenarios, the handler may not have a choice but to deal with the situation there and then without much preparation, so I'm curious how people would address the dog's unacceptable behaviour while being mindful of the dog's fear?

I was on an off-leash walk with my 7 month old Labrador x English Cocker mix when we came across a field with horses in it.

He's seen and been around horses before, but he doesn't encounter them on a regular basis. This time, the horses were quite close to the fence and he started doing the zoomies. I'm pretty certain this was a nervous/over-aroused response than excitement. He didn't bark or lunge, and he would look away from the horses to me, so I marked/rewarded that choice. I also asked for a sit (and only made him hold it a second) just to see if he was capable of responding to something simple in that environment.

It's worth mentioning that a few days ago we came across a donkey, which really spooked him and he did bark that time. I again handled it just by marking/rewarding engagement, so I'm wondering if this is actually an improvement with the horses?

What would you do to make him more comfortable around horses and other large animals? Should I approach this differently? I'd just like to help him learn that equine aren't something to be concerned about.

I’m trying to gain a better understanding of the different methods in E-collar training, so apologies in advance if this post sounds quite broad or too general.

Using recall as an example, am I right in thinking that low-stim conditioning would follow something like this:

“Come” -> Working level stim -> Leash pressure as guidance -> Mark and reward for coming to you

Whereas using the e-collar as an aversive would be along the lines of:

“Come” -> “No” (or another punishment marker) -> stim above the working level, depending on environment (high enough to be effective as punishment) -> repeat “Come” -> Mark and reward for coming to you

Please correct me if I’ve misunderstood, which may very well be the case.

There seems to be a lot of conflict regarding whether conditioning is necessary prior to using the E-collar as an aversive - any thoughts on that?

I was out on a sniffy walk with my 6 month old Labrador Retriever x English Cocker Spaniel puppy early this morning. He was on a flat collar and flexi lead when an elderly blind Jack Russell rushed out at us.

My puppy immediately tried to flee while the Jack Russell lunged towards him. In the moment, I reacted by kicking the Jack Russell away, and it returned to it’s yard.

My puppy was naturally amped up after the encounter, but no barking or any sign of aggression on his part. He started zooming around, so since we were in a safe area, I let him off lead to zoom around and decompress without the risk of him hitting the end of the lead. After that, we carried on with the walk as normal - he continued to sniff and seemed fine.

I’m just wondering if there’s anything I could have done to handle that situation differently - did I do the right thing? Any advice for handling encounters like this?

My Labrador Retriever x English Cocker Spaniel puppy will be 6 months old in the next two weeks. For context, I’m currently using a flat collar and a nylon leash.

When he’s on leash, he’ll sometimes pull towards my family members. My father likes to excite him, and if my pup is on leash, he’ll pull to try to get to him. In such situations, I just keep walking towards wherever we’re going rather than stopping. I’m wondering if there’s anything else I should be doing? Asking my father not to ‘tease’ while my pup is leashed isn’t really an option (my father won’t listen) so I feel like I’m best not complaining and instead treating it as a training distraction.

Should I just focus on building my puppy's attention with me in those moments?

When we pass strangers, he'll generally look at them but he hasn’t barked or lunged or anything like that. I'm curious whether the excitement he shows towards family members is something that could potentially become an issue with other people later on.

I thought using a flexi lead in novel environments where I want to let my puppy explore, and when I'm not concerned about practising focus or loose leash walking, might be useful. That said, I've heard that because flexis maintain a light, continuous tension, it can encourage some dogs to ignore leash pressure and potentially make loose leash walking on a regular nylon leash more difficult. Is there any truth to that, or am I overthinking?

My puppy is currently 5 months old, and compared to when I first brought him home, he’s definitely grown more independent. With that said, he still needs plenty of attention and supervision. I’m curious to hear when your puppy started to feel more like a companion and less like a baby!

My puppy is still quite young (nearly 5 months old), and all our walks tend to be sniff walks, so I don't mind if he's walking ahead of me as long as he isn't pulling on leash. When he checks in/looks at me, I click (my terminal marker), then lure him into heel position and reward him there. If he starts pulling, I stop and wait until he takes a step towards me and the leash become loose, then click, lure him into heel position, and reward him there. I'm just curious if this sounds like the best approach or if there's anything I should change?

My puppy, a Labrador mix, will be turning 5 months old in the next two weeks. I generally spend a lot of time at home, meaning I spend the majority of my day with him.

Our current schedule is roughly this:

• 5:30-7AM: Wake up, sniff, play, train
• 7-9:30AM: Lickimat/frozen food toy, chew toy/wood, then nap outside crate
• 9:30-10:30AM: Wake up, sniff, play, train
• 10:30-11:30AM: Nap in crate
• 11:30AM-1PM: Sniff walk
• 1-2:20PM: Nap outside crate
• 2:20-4PM: Sniff, play, train
• 4-5PM: Nap in crate
• 5-6PM: Sniff, train, light play
• 6-8PM: Lickimat/frozen food toy, then settle down or nap outside crate
• 8PM: Bedtime

It feels like I'm interacting with him constantly when he's awake and finding ways to keep him entertained. I'm wondering if I'm doing too much in this sense and need to encourage more independent play and downtime instead. He's quite good at settling outside his crate and I wouldn't necessarily consider him any more rambunctious or playful than any other puppy his age.

I'd really appreciate any feedback on our routine and advice on helping him gain more independence as I'm confused on whether I'm doing things right or not.

There are a lot of dogs that bark and lunge behind fences in my area, so it's basically impossible to avoid them. When I take my puppy (4 months old) out on sniff walks, I keep moving and encourage him to continue walking with me. He's not naturally the most confident around other dogs, but he'll walk past them without barking or lunging himself. Once we've passed the barking dog and created some distance, I'll click and treat, and he usually takes the treat and goes back to sniffing. This approach seems to be working so far, but I wanted to check whether this is the best way to handle it. I really don't want to inadvertently cause reactivity, but I also don't want to avoid passing these dogs either.