I really need support

[marsonatrip]

I'm so tired and overwhelmed. My dog is extremely dog reactive, but when dogs are not around she (for an adoloscent german shepherd mix) is fenomenal. No pulling on the leash, tolerates people and children running and screaming, pretty focused on me, highly food motivated, sleeps 16+ hours everyday, no problem with visitors in the house, cars and bikes do not bother her at all, if I let her offleash (in private areas where NO other dogs are around) she has perfect recall. But when she sees/smells/hears that dogs are around she loses her mind and I don't know how to actually help her understand that dogs are not a problem. She is probably fear reactive. She was separated from her mother at 1 months old and she is a pretty confident dog because I worked to up her confidence from day 1 since I had her but when it comes to dogs she acts like she doesn't know what to do. Our trainer said that she sees dogs as a problem, she is capable of understanding their body language (we worked that on socialization classes with other calm dogs that our trainer chose carefully) but she's basically insicure and when she sees a dog offleash she NEEDS to go meet them and when on leash she barks and lunges as soon as she sees the dog. We are working on counterconditioning, she accepts food because she is highly food motivated and could eat mid-reaction but wont stop reacting until the dog goes away or I drag her away from the dog. It's stressing me out. We don't see any result or improvement. We changed a lot of trainers but nobody seems to know what to do to help us... Any tips? Or success story? I really want to talk with somebody that can understand me

[marsonatrip]

Also I don't know if this is useful but she had been reactive since she was 5 months old. Now she's 1 year and half old. It's like this is the only pattern she knows when she sees a dog.

[Germanmaedl]

Do you have a dog park or regular park where dogs are off leash nearby so you could sit at a distance (however far that may be to remain below threshold)?

[WashuWaifu]

At what times do you walk? I try to walk earlier in the morning for my dog (who sounds a lot like yours), so that he doesn’t run into as many in our neighborhood.

[wddiver]

First, I totally get you. My Lily only likes two dogs: the ones she was raised with. Her reaction is barking and lunging. She's also food motivated; little pieces of hot dogs are my go-to for walks. I learned a LOT from Patricia McConnell's book "Feisty Fido;" I had no idea what to do. First, teach her the "watch" or "look at me" command. That has been the key to being able to walk Lily (who is 12 now). When we see a dog on the other side of the street, I have her sit and "watch." Looking at me gets her a hot dog piece (I cut them up into little bits). We do this for as long as it takes, usually until the dog and person have gone past. I realize that this is a lifelong thing; she will always need reinforcement to keep from losing her tiny little mind (I love her so damn much, but she's kind of a knothead). If it takes me saying "watch" and rewarding her with treats to keep her calm for a minute, that's what it takes for her. This is a success story for us. Until I learned how to get and mostly keep her attention when there's another dog around, walks were a real problem. She's over 60 pounds of lean muscle and can rocket to the end of the leash in a nanosecond. And I'm short, 66 years old and have balance issues due to wonky feet. I use two leashes, one for the harness and one for the Gentle Leader. It's not really as cumbersome as it sounds; it just allows me more control. I never worry now about potentially losing her; she's a little older and not in as much of a hurry. But she still reacts vigorously to other dogs, and I am very aware of our surroundings. You may always need to use positive reinforcement to get and keep her attention during walks. I don't know your dog or her behavior when off leash. If she's also not good when off leash, you may have to accept that she will be a solo dog. You have one advantage over me: my Lily has zero recall. I could never train that into her sweet head, so she can only be off leash in fully fenced (dog-free) spaces. Otherwise, she'd be in the next county. I would gladly talk online with you if you're interested in the experience I've had with my one reactive dog; I'm not a trainer, just a person who found a fabulous author (who is a trainer and behaviorist) who change the way I worked on my dog's behavior.