r/BalancedDogTraining

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?

hi all! i'm looking into getting an e-collar for my 11 month old standard poodle to help with off leash reliability, as well as general obedience. im a bit overwhelmed by all of the options, and i don't know which one to choose!

about my dog: 50 pound standard poodle. i shave her body and neck short with a #5 blade, so she doesn't have a thick coat to push through. she has sensitive skin and has gotten a hotspot from biothane before, so i'm super careful about what i put on her.

what im looking for: something i can use with a custom strap and hypoallergenic/more gentle contact points. something that has a tone and vibrate function as well as the stim would be nice. my girl is on the sensitive side, so i would want something with a bit of a duller stim. a remote that can fit in my pocket or be added to a holster would be a nice touch! i'd also like something that doesn't break the bank.

thanks!

I read the book and have listened to a few podcast that he's on. My dog is e-collar trained but I want a bit more out of him. I like what Eric has presented, but really want a bit more specifics in putting my lesson plan together. Even though we are at a good level with the current e-collar training, I want to start him at day 1 with Eric's book and have questions about day 1-3

Anyone here use his book successfully?

I'll start by saying I'm following Larry Krohns methods very heavily with my two pit mixes fighting in the home. Have done a paid call with him, but it's hard to pin him down for follow up calls.

Issue I'm looking for some clarification on revolves specifically around the younger of my two dogs. We've had multiple fights and incidents, that seemingly have been started by one or the other dog. Can't really say who the aggressor is at this point. However dogs have been separated for 6~ weeks and we are working on socializing.

The problem I'm having, is that my older dog seemingly ignores the younger one in these socialization attempts (walks, one dog kenneled in the same room other dog out, through baby gates in the home), but the younger pup has a "staring problem". Even on walks when we're 50' away from the other dog, he is still just completely focused on him. In the kennel, he will stand, not relax, and just lock eyes directly on the older dog, to the point the constant contact will eventually initiate them aggressively barking at eachother. Sometimes he will even let out little growls, which pisses older dog off causing the shouting matches.

I want to know the correct and proper balanced method of correcting these stares, and how to get the younger dog to ignore the older one like the older dog seems good at.

I'm relatively new to balances training, and punishments, so I don't want to screw it up.

Other points worth mentioning. Older dog is E collar trained. Working on conditioning the young one now (Larry Krohns book method). I don't use prong collars. They both are very obedient, understand and respond well to NO, both very much attached to me and focused on me, play very well tug fetch etc. older dog is not kennel trained and has bad confinement anxiety, which we are working on so eventually we can have him crated with the younger one in the room instead of the other way around.

Socialization is hard with my wife and I's work schedules, and 4 year old who is absolutely terrified of having both dogs in the same room after witnessing a few of the fights. We 100% need to do more walks, and find ways to make socialization work so we can progress, this staring problem is just making things more difficult.

I've had my dog for three months. He has been attacked three times now: Twice by dogs off-leash, and once - today- by a dog on the leash. My dog is always leashed.

My dog is a 10kg Pomchi/German spitz (we don't know which yet). The other dog was a daschund. We turned a corner and they were there, right in front of us, I quickly asked if her dog was good to say hello and the owner said 'He doesn't always like big dogs but he'll be fine with yours,' and two seconds later the dog had snapped and ripped chunks of hair out of my dog. (Hard lesson learnt - if your dog doesn't like some dogs, they shouldn't meet any, and I don't believe that all owners know if their dog will be reactive or not. I basically now don't trust anything other than an absolute 'Yes.')

Every walk, I'd say half the dogs we pass are lunging and/or barking. We spend a lot of our walk crossing over to avoid.

I live in a village in England. There are a lot of dogs, so maybe my experience is not the norm. But he is my first dog and I have been really surprised at how many reactive dogs there are. I thought they were the rarity, but apparently not.

My dog is a 1yo rescue, he was found in a 1 bed flat with 21 other dogs - we were told that, because of this, he is very well socialised and friendly with other dogs...and he is. He loves to meet other dogs, and I don't want to completely stop him from doing so.

But, it's starting to become an issue. I'm starting to dread it. I've tried walking him at all different times and different routes but it makes no difference and almost feels like one of these interactions is inevitable.

There are a few dogs he is now friends with, and I'm glad he can safely meet them, but I can feel myself becoming that over protective owner who doesn't even want to go out because whenever this happens I feel guilty af because it is my responsibility to keep my dog safe and I have stupidly believed that a dog is ok to meet just because the owner said so, then it goes horribly wrong. In that moment, I have let my dog down. And that really, really hurts.

Also, I'm really focussed on training my dog. He will walk-on past another dog, he sits, he listens to me, his recall is improving. I'm worried that these experiences are going to undo his progress or even make him reactive.

It also seems like everyone tiptoes around reactive dogs and their owners, because they are stressed dogs and the owners struggle. I get it. But no one seems to talk about the calm dog getting constantly bitten/barked at/lunged at, who are being made more fearful. And I do believe that if you have a dog that you know can be reactive - even if only sometimes - it's your responsibility to cross over and keep it away, because people aren't mind readers.Half the time there doesn't seem to be any attempt at training going on either, just a dog being reactive and an owner being reactive to their dog. And the second that woman saw my dog today she should have pulled ilher dog aside and warned me, rather than saying they'd be OK to meet.

Sorry to vent. It's just making the morning walk, which should be enjoyable, really unpleasant. .

Is this just my bad luck to live in an area with tons of reactive dogs? Or is this just normal? I'd like to hear other people's experiences, to get some perspective. Like I said, he's my first dog, so I'm learning a ton, and this has been an eye opener.

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It seems we need a banner and an icon for our sub. If you have any designs or suggestions, please let us know. The winner gets a pat on the head, or something.

I have always been interested in French Ring but am never near a club to try it out. I also like dock diving but not enough to drive more than 30 minutes to do it.

What other sports are tough to access?

hi all! i have a pretty vocal dog (8 mo. intact M, APBT x Cattle dog supermutt) and i was curious; does anyone correct their dog for being generally vocal? my kiddo tends to whine, boof, and growl (playfully) quite a bit, and sometimes it’s inappropriate (when i ask him for a command, when he doesn’t want to be in his crate, when he sees another dog, etc.). i know cattle dogs and pit bulls tend to be more vocal, it’s just how dogs communicate and i don’t necessarily want to suppress his desire/ability to communicate with those around him.

it’s one thing for a husky or a hound-type breed (within reason), but i know my dog’s brother, and he isn’t vocal at all. like, it’s rare for him to make any noises. i know that dogs can have their individual personalities, too, so i’m also not saying my dog is bad because he’s not like his brother. i just hear some people saying to let your dog be vocal (again, within reason) because that’s how they communicate, but then other people saying it’s inappropriate if not under correct circumstances. how do you guys do it? thanks!

Trains a Caucasian Ovcharka mix on the bite sleeve?? I just saw a video from a very popular European trainer I follow on Instagram. He rehabs dangerous dogs. This dog had gone through several trainers before him, including one who had tried to train him on a bite sleeve. Yeah because training a naturally fierce, independent, fearless breed that humans can be bitten, sometimes, is such a good idea!

To no one’s surprise, the trainer who was rehabbing him said the dog clearly “enjoyed attacking and was not doing it out of fear but pleasure.” He doesn’t show much of his actual work (he mentions setting boundaries and stuff with the dogs but idk exactly how since a lot of aversive tools are banned here), but after a single session he apparently had this dog walking in public unmuzzled. I wouldn’t trust that dog as far as I could throw him, just because of how vicious he clearly is by nature.

Are all dogs salvageable with balanced training? What does the community think?