Reactive 165lb Irish Wolfhound

Dealing with a reactive dog takes  a lot of work, but it can be VERY SERIOUS when the dog weighs more than you.  Enter Sheila with Murphy.

I’ve know Sheila for many years, she’s been a private client with a couple of her other Irish Wolfhounds.  Murphy has been a handful for her and shows unpredictable behavior at certain dogs.  She was afraid that his behavior was serious aggression, but from what I saw during our session it was just reactivity to certain dogs.

For example, Murphy reacted to Jimi, our 10 year old neutered Lab, but did NOT react to Duane our intact younger Labrador.  He had no issues with Maya 10 year old female spayed German Shepherd (and Maya had none with him), but Goofy set him off badly.

And so it is with dogs…  you never really understand what is going on until you really see it.  He’s a monster to control at 160lbs / 73 Kilo.  He’s young and strong and even if his behavior isn’t aggressive, it’s enough to get someone (especially the owners) hurt.  So Sheila came to me for some info on how to best control him.

Murphy is trained on e-collar and my original intention was to do a 2-part lesson on using an ecollar to control this type of behavior.  However, things don’t always work out as we think they should.  I found it more valuable for Sheila, Murphy and you guys to actually work through the dog’s body language and predictive behaviors to prevent and control the impulses he’s showing.

This weeks online dog training lesson (one of the longest I’ve posted) will walk you through so much in the line of timing, corrections, rewards and what to really look for in the dog that it should be required viewing for anyone wanting to be a dog trainer.  Janet commented afterwards what amazing stuff she saw from behind the camera.  I never know because I zone out and just watch the dog.

So instead of lecturing and explaining, I’ll let the video lesson speak for itself.  Enjoy and PLEASE…  Study this lesson carefully whether or not you have a reactive dog.  There is a lifetime of knowledge in this lesson.