Puppies
This group is dedicated to sharing tips for making it through the puppy stage. This can include:... View more
Organizers:
- Organized by
-
-
Reactive Malinois puppy
-
Reactive Malinois puppy
My 8 month old male mal is reactive with other dogs. Covid and other circumstances hindered socialization early on and about 5 months old he got extremely reactive. He would run away if he could, but when leashed, he would lung toward the other dog (large or small doesn’t seem to matter).
I tried working with trainers, but all local are positive only. I’ve worked with a few, but my own past and experience with them doesn’t give me confidence. Their engagement games are slow and he gets bored, he wants to run, jump, chew, chase – be a mal puppy. We found an agility trainer locally who’s a positive trainer but fast paced. My puppy is engaging with me so much more. She changes the course each day so he has to adjust. we make noises to get him used to things.
I’m seeing improvements, huge improvements to me, but it’s not over. I expect I’ll need more assistance but reading and seeing so much anti-balanced training, I’m getting a little lost and confused. I feel silly as this isn’t my first dog, and I’ve used an e-collar quite successfully in the past, but it was years ago and I’m second guessing myself and can’t decide when the time comes to go to the e-collar, or even IF it is warranted.
I’m in Canada, if the borders were open, I would take him down to a trainer in the US who could assess, advise and help train both me and my Mal.
I’ve even tried to reach out to some of the Youtube trainers that I thought might help to pay for advice over the phone without success.
I like this site and Robert’s approach. I found it before we got the puppy and I followed because it made sense. I’m afraid that I’ve got caught up in all the current political correctness and maybe screwing things up.
-
6 Replies
-
In your post you stated that he would run away if he could but when leashed he lunges towards the other dogs. So I might think that his actions are out of fear rather than all out aggression. There are a few videos on the site relating to leash reactivity. I wouldn’t jump into the use of the e-collar at this age and/or until you find out what the real issue is. In these videos the dogs are NOT corrected, just “lets go” turn away few steps, return. Sometimes it is hard to find someone to work with that has a well balanced dog. Robert addressed this issue recently in AMA. Sometimes you just have to find some dogs around the neighbor in the yard that will approach and see how he does. I use the fence all the time at the shelter as only experienced volunteers are aloud to do certain things with the dogs. When by myself it is approach the fence both dogs get treats, approach the next fence the same, same, same. I am desensitizing him, letting him know that when ever there are dogs around good things happen. You can also use the leash reactivity on a walk. It is not as good as the technique portrayed in the video but you use what you have.
-
I agree it’s fear, not aggression and the e-collar isn’t appropriate now. I’m finding that he’s more reactive in narrower areas. Yesterday we were walking a path that’s 5′ wide with trees and bushes on one side and a river on the other. A tiny dog approached and he wanted to run the way we came before I even saw the dog. We stepped off the trail and he was straining on the leash to get to the little dog.
5 minutes before, we pass a yard that has an aggressive GSD who lunges at the fence. Athos, my mal, reacts (what I would normally consider an acceptable return show of aggression) but because there’s more room from the fence (15′ in any direction or more), he was easier to guide away and even get to sit.
So proximity seems to be an issue, but feeling trapped might be the biggest (not only) trigger. If given enough room, no leash pressure (thanks to one of Robert’s videos for that), he will start to approach another dog if it’s calm. He will get closer, jump back, approach, until he’s good with it – about 5-10 minutes. Unfortunately I don’t get many people patient enough for that.
It’s not that I think I need an e-collar now, my faith is broken in the trainers that completely disregard it as a tool. How can I trust them if they discard tools blindly? This is my first reactive dog, so I’m in a situation I’m unfamiliar with and the guidance I’ve been able to receive doesn’t make sense. “Don’t apply leash pressure. Don’t let him get too close. Protect the dog by standing in front of the danger. Get out of the dogs way.” Each bit of advice seems to have a contradiction, or applies in very selective situations.
It was a few of the regular dog walkers that took the time to let him come to them that we owe solving his reactivity to humans. He’s not cuddly with strangers, and he’ll jump back if you rush him, but we can safely walk past anybody walking or bicycling. We still need to work with dogs.
So far, the agility training is doing wonders for him. He’s more confident and it tires him out! We’re doing it daily now because of how beneficial it is to him (it’s not hurting my fitness either!) He finally did the chute today on his own! A big accomplishment for him.
-
-
Stay with this site, there a large number of people that have Malinois puppies,dogs that have been thru these issues before. They will help you thru the wonderful wilderness of the dog world. You can also submit the question at AMA.
-
Whats AMA?
-
Cameron,
At the top of the Community page, you will see a drop down that says Member Questions. There is a form there where members can submit any training question for Robert to answer. AMA (Ask Me Anything) Member Videos go up twice a week.
You can view a archive of past videos and ever search certain keywords so only videos show up with the keyword you searched. If a member submitted a question like your search, the video will come up.
The archive can be found here – https://robertcabral.com/member-questions/
-
Thanks! I’ll do some searching first!
-
-
-
Log in to reply.