Reactive to many dogs and people

[Rosebud]

Hi there,

 I homed my greyhound Finn in January. He was initially very anxious and froze often but after a few weeks he became aggressive as a result of his anxiety rather than freezing. He is very territorial and barks at all other neighbours dogs, and out walking he barks at every other dog. His bark is snarling and not at all playing. He lunges and is very strong on his lead. I have tried rewarding positive behaviour but we don’t seem to be making any progress. It is becoming very stressful. But around the house he is playful and loving. Is anyone able to recommend a behaviourist or trainer that who could help? 

[ramonaghan]

A couple of questions:

Where exactly are you located? There are a few knowledgeable folks on the forum who might be able to recommend some good behaviorists, but they'll probably be primarily US-based and I suspect you're not by the "neighbour" and "behaviour" spellings.   @NeylasMom@greysmom 

Is Finn food-motivated at all? Sophia Yin has some older but helpful YouTube videos about leash reactive dogs like this one and this one. I used the "look at me" command to train Sweep mostly out of her leash reactivity, but that girl would do just about anything for food, which helps a lot! Searching "leash reactive" or even "lunging" on the forum should yield some helpful posts.

This is trainable—thank you for sticking with him!

[Rosebud]

Thanks so much for your reply. I’m based in Twickenham (London, uk).

He definitely is food-motivated, but when he sees another dog he is very unresponsive to anything.

Ill have a look through past posts- new to this forum so I’m sure there is a lot to uncover. And I will look up Sophia Yin on YouTube.

thanks again 😊

[greysmom]

Also get the book by Patricia McConnell called "Feisty Fido: Help for the Leash reactive Dog."  She's a very good behaviorist and gives step-by-step instructions in all her training manuals.

You can also search through here for "leash reactivity" for many many threads on the subject.  It's really common for newly adopted dogs to be overwhelmed and anxious and have a hard time coping with all the newness that happens in their world after adoption.  

I would also suggest that - for the time being - you limit your walks.  If you don't need to walk for toileting, just let him sniff around in the garden for a short while, and decompress that way.  He's way too anxious now - which is why the behavior is escalating - and he's not finishing the bonding process with you and trusting you'll protect him.  He feels he has to take that on to himself, and he's not feeling any safer, so he's doing the only thing he knows how and upping his response.

If you do need to take him walking out in public, choose less busy times, and make the outings short and purposeful.  

Your vet or the adoption center where he came from may be able to help you with referrals for good behaviorists in your area.  Make sure they are certified by the UK board in charge of such things, and that they *only* use positive reinforcement training in their work.

Good luck!

[HeyRunDog]

It might be worth having a word with your adoption group as many have or know of a behaviourist.

[Rosebud]

Thank you so much for your replies!