Stanley is reactive around other dogs but with training cues, he's learning to remain calm and stay focused on his handler. He is now beginning to watch dogs from a distance without reacting which is great progress.
1. Stanley reacts to other dogs by barking and lunging, he is worried by them and tries to drive them away. Stanley has been learning to remain calm, but these situations need to be managed by using training cues to support calmer responses. Reactions like these occur due to a negative emotional state, and reacting fuels the negative state. Stanley’s handler needs to watch for subtler signs that he is becoming worried by dogs, to prevent him reaching the point where he feels his only option is to react.
2. Learning a cue word is helping Stanley to stay focused on his handler. This then enables his handler to manage situations better if dogs appear. This allows Stanley to feel calm and safe. He has also learnt to ‘go sniff’ to search for scattered treats. Sniffing and searching are calming activities that will help him distract his focus away from other dogs if needed, rather than fixating on them and becoming increasingly concerned and potentially reactive.
Training starts initially away from situations where he may be worried, so he can relax and have fun learning
3. Training in action! Well done, Stanley! He practices some of his cue responses and the calmer behaviours at a distance from another dog.
4. Having been practicing his training for a while now, at a safe distance from other dogs, Stanley is able to keep calmer and spend time reading the other dogs behaviour. Here he is calmly and politely approach Lola and starts some closer interactions. Lola is dog friendly and good at reading other dog social communication signals; she feels relaxed enough to choose to lie down calmly when he approaches.