r/OpenDogTraining

I have an adolescent GSD. Needless to say, we train a lot. Between working through some reactivity and our regular group obedience classes, we are training in medium to high distraction environments ~5 times a week. Because of that, he’s getting a decent amount of high value rewards. Kibble isn’t high enough value to use around distractions for him, and he’s not toy motivated enough either.

Since he’s still young I want to ensure he gets his nutritional needs met through his regular meals, but I’ve noticed when we train frequently like we are now, his interest in his kibble drops dramatically. He will skip meals or just take a few bites and then walk away. If I hand feed he’ll more likely eat it for some reason. I think it’s because he knows he’ll get higher value stuff later and is fine waiting for that.

I use his kibble for basic training in the house but it’s just not enough to motivate him outside. For a brief period we weren’t training and he would lick the bowl clean. But now, he doesn’t even get excited when I make it.

so my dog didnt really walk outside all that much because he would bark at absolutely everything and everyone. Safe to say he wasn’t trained. I’ve made it my mission to train him and so far he’s doing great! He’s learning how to bark less at distractions and has even learned how to sit. Granted he’s not a pro yet, but I consider them wins in my book.

today I thought it was a perfect time to take him out on a walk in our neighborhood and see how his training paid off. it was a massive improvement as he now stops at barking at cars. He‘ll get a bit distracted by his surroundings but I was still training him in our walk so he can learn to stick near me. In the middle of our training (we were walking slow) my neighbor opened her door to let her dog out. Her dog saw my dog and immediately charged after him. I freak out and shielded my dog as best as possible from him and we ran. I heard my neighbor yell at her dog and her dog backed off. Still, I was very shaken up and I could tell my dog was too. i just decided for us to go back home.

my dog is ok, no scratches or bites, but this situation still could have ended horribly if her dog didn’t listen to her.

I still want to take him out on walks but now I’m scared to. should I wait until he’s fully trained or should I walk him at a park? what can I do to prevent this from happening again?

TLDR: Reactive dog is especially reactive at home and when outside on our property. Any advice to work on it besides management?

So I’ve been working on my dog’s (7Y, F/S, Border Collie mix) dog reactivity for a while now. It’s a ton better on walks and very rarely will she react unless we get spooked and charged at by an unleashed dog or a dog in close proximity. Outside our home she is NOT reactive to people.

The only thing I haven’t been able to kick is her increased reactions when we’re at home or just outside of home (on porch, front/back yard, etc). It’s like her threshold is so much smaller and begins to include people. In any other situation she does not care about people. Just mainly dogs. We live in a close neighborhood and our property size is pretty small, so creating distance while still being considered “at home” is difficult.

Besides management options like covering windows with film, what can I try?

If it matters, in the past there was an incident where I attached the leash to the wrong ring (the ring that holds her tags and not the actual collar D-ring) and it ripped off when she reacted. She charged at the person walking by and sniffed them and ran back. So I am unsure if it is really “protecting her territory” (as many people have told me in the past) more than just fear and insecurity. Or maybe I’m wrong.

Any ideas to try? (We do not use e-collars)

I have a one year old golden retriever who is generally pretty calm. He sleeps in a crate at night. He understands that calm gets the door opened, so he'll sit calmly for me to open the door. However, once he's out, he starts bouncing, doing the puppy play bow (not sure what to call this), and just zooming around trying to get me to pet him. He'll do that for maybe 10 seconds, then he remembers his manners, and sits directly in front of my feet looking at me expectently. I wait until he's sitting to pet him, but the moment I do, he starts bouncing and zooming again. Then the pattern repeats. This goes on for a minute or two until I can manage to walk past him into another room.

I'm not sure how to train him out of this. He's not jumping ON me, just next to me, and I can hardly get out of the room as he keeps coming right under my feet. He's not a biter, but he'll get a little grabby if I simply stick my hands in my pocket and ignore him until he's calm. I know this isn't that big of a complaint relatively, but I want to train him to greet me calmly, and I'm tired of my feet getting stomped on!

Koda is a pretty high-drive Aussie, and one thing I've learned is that getting a behavior 100% in a quiet environment doesn't mean much if I haven't proofed it around the things that actually matter to him.

He can recall beautifully when we're training.

Then a rabbit moves and suddenly I'm competing with a biological event.

So I've stopped thinking of recall as one behavior.

For us, it's more like:

From name response to disengage to turn toward me to recall to come all the way in to settle.

And I train those pieces separately before expecting the whole chain around serious distractions.

The other thing I've changed is that I don't keep increasing the difficulty just because he succeeded once.

If he nails 9/10 recalls around moderate distraction, I'm not automatically moving somewhere harder. I want the behavior boringly reliable before I raise the stakes.

Curious how other people handle this with high-drive dogs:

Do you build the recall first and then proof it against distractions, or do you deliberately introduce the distraction early and train the disengagement itself?

I'm especially interested in what people have found works with prey/movement triggers rather than just food or other dogs.

Hey everyone,

I have had my dog for two years and he has had separation anxiety since the first day. He takes prozac but we haven't tried trazadone yet because I'm worried about Serotonin syndrome. I am moving to another country with him in one month and the max time he can stay home alone is 20-40m before howling begins. When I leave him alone for hours he howls half the time and sleeps for half the time. I have tried training for two years, one year very consistently (no absences more than he can handle etc) but progress has been very slow. What would happen if I left him alone for three or four hours every day for a month? Do you think it is possible he will eventually get used to it and stop howling?

Potty training with my 16 week old Chihuahua mix has been going pretty well. We’re way down on accidents inside the house. I take him out frequently throughout the day, every few hours and immediately after eating. He knows that once we’re outside it’s business time, no dilly dallying which is awesome.

But he has yet to tell me once that he needs to go of his own volition. Which is a lot to expect of a baby, I know. So sometimes, albeit rarer now, even if we just went out a bit ago, he’ll squat down to pee right in front of me on the carpet apropos of nothing.

I’ve heard good things of using a bell system, so we’ve started that a few days ago, but how do you personally go about teaching that? Is there another way I can start to have him give me some notice? Or will that simply come with time? Much thanks.

Hello all! First post here. My dog is a very anxious girl and has severe aggression when she is scared. Our neighbors moved in awhile ago and there dogs LIVE to fence fight. At first my dog would just run inside, but now she's actively doing it too. I am not able to least her in the yard as my husband let's her out most of the time on his way out to work and doesn't have time to leash her. She also has since started using our living room as a bathroom. Any advice on what I can do? We love her very much, her using the bathroom in the house, staying glued to the door when she's outside than fence fighting when our neighbor let's their (4) dogs out is just not manageable. And I absolutely will not be talking to the neighbors about the issue as they don't seem to care.

Hi friends,

I’m so sorry if this this incredibly long-winded. I have had a lot of issues with one of my shibas. Today he killed a young bird that was learning how to fly in our backyard. I know that this is just his prey drive kicking in, but I have had a lot of frustrations with this pup. For context, we have two shibas- my partner has had them since they were puppies. One is kind of laissez-faire and \*typically\* doesn’t have much of a prey drive, especially as he’s gotten older. He’s also special needs but he’s an overall very sweet and good boy.

The other one is 5 years old and he is just an absolute punk. Before my partner and I moved in together, I told him that I needed this dog to be trained because he can be a butt to other dogs, and my senior pup was entering the picture. My partner did all but like two training sessions and did no more (this is not great and I’ve communicated my frustrations, but there’s not really anything he can do about this now because he works quite a bit) but I feel like I’m left with this situation where I have to deal with a dog that has no listening abilities. This baby was also very antagonistic to my senior dog, which was incredibly frustrating. My journey to loving shibas has been very turbulent because I have never been around such independent and stubborn dogs in my life- but I promise that I do love them deeply 😫 With my partner’s work schedule, he is gone half of the week- sometimes more. Today our punk shibe killed a baby bird and when his prey drive kicks in, he absolutely tunes me out and gets very vocal and mouthy if he feels like he’s being cornered or manhandled. I have now inherited this burden of not only being the one to care and train him, but also kind of the emotional side of things. I’m a huge wildlife lover, and this is just really heartbreaking for me. He really needs effective recall training, but I’m not sure how possible this is with a 5 year old? I do training with him every now and then, and he seems to pick up new things still and he’s incredibly smart. But it’s environmental situations where any of his training just goes completely out the door. I just don’t know what to do with a shiba that completely disregards me in these situations. I’m worried that one of these days his prey drive will put him in a dangerous situation or he will continue to harm small animals if he’s presented with an opportunity. Does anyone have advice or tips on what to do? He’s just so different from our other shibe and I just am feeling really discouraged right now. I would love to hear about your experiences with recall training and what was effective for you.

TL;DR Looking for advice for recall training a 5 year old shiba with a strong prey drive

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Hi everyone, my family has a reactive dog on leash and off leash. He's around 3 years old and we adopted him almost a year ago. He is so sweet to people and has such a calm disposition but especially lately its been difficult taking him on walks. I feel quite embarrassed admitting this but he was already reactive when we adopted him. He would only freeze then, and when the dogs approached close enough to greet, he would say hi. We would try to pull him to get him moving but it didn't work. We started working with a trainer but it was hard to find time to train him and be consistent. Eventually it ended up becoming lunging and laying down. When he lunges he growls and pulls quite hard. Recently he bit a dog while on leash. They had to go to the vet. We were not there as we are on vacation but I feel terrible. As a dog who is infamous for being incredible with humans its awkward to try and controll him when he lunges.

We are away still but come back very soon and I'm going to start training right away (Turning around, rewarding, wide berth, etc). Please share your experiences with your reactive dogs. I know it's not aggression, its reactivity, but we don't want it to progress into that.

We just sent our 4 1/2 month old German Shepherd puppy away for some obedience training. She’s already a good dog, but we want her to be well behaved and listen well. Anyways, it’s only been one night and we miss her terribly. How did everybody deal with that and how do you think the dog feels? We talked about it and I told my wife that they will not turn her into a machine and that she would still be the same loving dog. She will be gone for 6 weeks. We will still go out and work with her and take her for walks sometimes but we’ve never done this before. We’ve had dogs our entire time together(30+yrs).

We have a cocker spaniel puppy who just turned 12 weeks old. She is half show - half working breed and has relentless energy. I read that they need to sleep 18+ hours but even when forced in the crate, she basically doesn’t! Biting and nipping are really bad and she spirals after 5 mins of waking up. We just have the sweet baby angel puppy for 5-10 mins post-nap after that she is on the go! I try to do training, sniffing, interactive toys, tug wars - anything you can think of. She just doesn’t stop! She can’t relax on her own. She sleeps really well in the car after turning into a shark but never ever naps anywhere else. What are we supposed to do??? It’s getting really frustrating but I’m trying to stay calm. Please give us suggestions!

Not trying to be remotely controversial here, and for context I don't work so my dogs aren't left alone.. and that has been true for some 20yrs. Also not implying this is a bad thing.

But reading posts where people are like, "omg, I have to leave my grown dog alone for 2hrs, what do I do?" and the replies are like "you totally need a dog walker" (hyperbole) when I remember our dogs were alone from the time the schoolbus arrived until my sister and I got home from school. My parents were divorced, my mom worked odd hours, and the dogs were home alone quite often and did fine.

I used to take my dogs on all sorts of 'adventures' as a kid (things you could do with your bike) but it wasn't like they were constantly entertained. And that sort of thing was a sign I was a super lonely kid with no friends.. not that our dogs needed it exactly.

Not sure I have much of a question here.. more of a musing. When did we start to think dogs had to be entertained 23/24hrs of every day? I have BCs now.. it is sort of like that.. but with our old farm mixed breeds, collies, whatever.. nope. Dog was expected to manage a good 8hrs alone. I kenneled exactly one pup (not housebroken). My dad had a gf who kenneled her GSD (high-energy) while she worked full time.. but generally dogs were just expected to manage.

Then again, we let our dogs wander.. which I wouldn't call in the best interest of the dogs. So maybe everything is improving.

So, I have a 10.5 month old female Doberman. She is probably one of the most food-motivated dogs I’ve ever seen. I know being food motivated is generally a good thing, but I feel like it’s actually becoming an issue with training.
She is SO focused on the food that she locks her eyes onto the treat/bowl of food rather than me. She’ll listen to commands she already knows really well, like sit, down, and wait, but teaching her something new is where we struggle.
I can usually get a few repetitions in of what she knows, but then she gets antsy and starts trying to get over to the treat, past me. And yes, I have tried keeping the treat/food out of sight. I’ve let her see it, then put it on the counter out of sight to hopefully assist her in focusing on me.. but she still just looks behind me and won’t even LOOK at me. If I don’t let her go, she starts throwing out every behavior she knows- sitting, laying down, shaking, etc. Basically trying random things to see what will get her the treat. Then if I keep waiting and trying to get her to focus on the new task, eventually she just gives up and walks away like she’s completely done with training, or gets super frustrated and starts barking.

What is this behavior called when they start spamming behaviors they already know? And what causes this? Is she somehow too food motivated, or is this more likely an issue with how I’m using treats during training?
How common is this, and how would you guys go about fixing it? I’m genuinely looking for opinions because I’m sure there’s a chance I’m contributing to the problem with how I’m training her.

Hi! I'm at my wits end with my soon to be 10 year old miniature wirehaired dachshund. He's from a show breeder (he's still very much a dachshund, but notably less interested in game). He's has always been a smart, energetic and curious boy, but this past year, I can't seem to be able to contain it.

A little about our daily life:

I work from home about 2-3 days a week, and the days I go to the office, I try to work from home for the first hour of the day. He gets a 10 min poop and pee walk in the mornings and a longer walk before dinner, plus I take him out to pee midday if home and before bed. We cuddle a lot and play some nights. Weekends will usually involve at least one long walk. This month, we've been doing one or two 6-13 km​ trail hikes in the woods per weekend. Lots of different terrain and elevation. He recharges fast and is ready for a play sesh at night even after those outings. He has some separation anxiety when I leave. It worsened after I lost my previous dog to old age in 2020. Usually means he'll roam around and bark some for 2-3 hours before he settles and sleeps until I get home. I have cameras that I yell at him through when he barks, and he does listen some to my commands 😅 He was neutered at 1,5 years old, but still thinks he's the boss of every dog we meet/know. We go to the vet on a regular basis and had a thorough health check this summer after a biopsy scare, ​but do let me know if any of this warrants a health check.

My problem is this:

When he's home alone, he will often pull on/down and climb on anything. Sometimes it feels like I'm coming home to a war zone. He might be small, but somehow manages to get onto both my bed and the dining table, and he's able to flip the drying rack on to it's side​. Last year I had to stop using a tablecloth on the dining table as he kept pulling it (and whatever was on it) down, and this year he has advanced to moving chairs to get on to the table itself (which I try to stop by leaving heavy items under or on the chairs, to no avail). He also pulls down coats from the hooks if they're long enough for him to reach, and whatever is on the dining table or chairs will often meet the floor.. And he can open zippers. Worst of all, it doesn't seem to be food motivated. This happens regardless of if there's anything edible to reach. I think he's just hella curious - like his mama, I must admit.

I often give him bully sticks, disperse treats in his toy box, IQ puzzles etc. that he can work on when I'm away, and I try to place them without him noticing, so he can discover them when I'm gone and enjoy some "illegal fun". ​ I also leave out my worn clothes for him to snuggle, and an empty backpack/bike bag for him to poke his head in and sniff.

I know dachshunds are a demanding breed. While I could always do more to cater to his genius level brain, I feel like his needs get met. The struggle is maybe more about how fast he recharges.

Is there anything I can try except crating him? He was crated when I owned two dogs (because he loved to disturb my senior and very sweet guy, and I didn't want to risk anything), but hasn't been crated outside of car rides these past six years. I would love to avoid crating, but it seems like that's where this is heading. If it all points to crating, I'd love some tips on how to get him comfortable with it as fast as possible.

It's not really possible to have him in just one room as my apartement is tiny.

He's a super fun guy, but when it comes to this issue, it feels like owning a mix between a ferret and a racoon 🥲