Hi Newfie friends, We are having a problem with our dog Winston and would appreciate any advice you could give us. Although generally a friendly dog, Winston barks, growls and lunges at other dogs when they get near, mainly big dogs. He will start staring at them, make himself small, and when they get close, within about 10-15 feet, will lunge. We have tried clicker training, which has helped with some other behaviors, but not the lunging. You can click the clicker repeatedly right in his ear, and he just ignores it. His favorite treats don’t seem to matter either. I cut his food back a little to make the treats more enticing also. I would like to try positive approaches first, would rather not go to adversive measures (shock collars, etc)if we can find something positive that works. Thank you Mary

Hi Mary, I don't know whether you already got a bunch or replies, so mine could be redundant. :-) The first step with any behavior problem is to make sure there isn't an underlying physical problem. Has Winston had a check up to make sure there isn't anything painful? Any stressful events in his past which may have left an imprint? Next I would recommend consulting with a certified behaviorist/trainer. I'm a big fan of Joann Neve (She owns Pack Leader where we had our December meeting.) She trained with Ian Dunbar, a highly respected veterinarian, animal behaviorist, and dog trainer. Joann was a huge help to me with my big rez dog who came as a medical foster with lots of phobias. (It took 6 months to get him going through doorways!) https://www.packleaderbehavior.com/who-we-are/ For a very specific trigger like you described with Winston, you might want to look into Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT). You gradually desensitize him to his trigger by very slow small steps. You can find a trainer to guide you, join a facebook group, or design a BAT program yourself from reading about it. Its advantage is knowing that a dog over threshold will not be able to pay attention to treats, clicks or anything else, so the progression of adjustment to a trigger is slow and cued by the dog's reactions. Here's a primer: https://grishastewart.com/BAT-basics.pdf Depending on where you live, I'm sure the group could come up with referrals to someone good in your area. Then you need to meet them to get a feel for whether it's someone YOU feel comfortable with. Kuma and I had a horrible experience last summer with a dock diving trainer. She just was not a good fit for us. Above all, you have to be Winston's advocate and partner in training, so listen to your gut. Hope that helps! Linda On Tue, Mar 15, 2022 at 10:45 AM Mary Shumaker <pooziemn@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Newfie friends, > > We are having a problem with our dog Winston and would appreciate any > advice you could give us. Although generally a friendly dog, Winston barks, > growls and lunges at other dogs when they get near, mainly big dogs. He > will start staring at them, make himself small, and when they get close, > within about 10-15 feet, will lunge. We have tried clicker training, which > has helped with some other behaviors, but not the lunging. You can click > the clicker repeatedly right in his ear, and he just ignores it. His > favorite treats don’t seem to matter either. I cut his food back a little > to make the treats more enticing also. I would like to try positive > approaches first, would rather not go to adversive measures (shock collars, > etc)if we can find something positive that works. > > Thank you > > Mary > _______________________________________________ > NewfLink mailing list -- newflink@nsnewf.org > To unsubscribe send an email to newflink-leave@nsnewf.org >