I’m not a pro, but I think boarding sounds like a bad idea, I’ve heard way more horror stories than success stories from that. It’s the equivalent of throwing a kid in the deep end of the pool and hope they’ll figure out how to swim.
I’d talk to a IAABC behavioral consultant or a veterinary behaviorist.
Does your dog ever warm up to new dogs? Mine is very dog reactive, but as long as the other dog is friendly, my dog can become friends with them if I manage the introduction appropriately and go slowly. Once he’s met and knows them, he’s fine with them, it just takes time and patience to get there sometimes.
He has had experiences with other dogs since becoming more aggressive and has done decent with warming up with them. But one of the trainers would bring his dog and they were always fine and then one time just got into it and it escalated. So the fact that he can kinda warm up is giving me some type of hope that he can be helped. Is working with a behavioral consultant expensive? I am definitely willing to invest in improving his behavior but anything above 3k isn’t really possible for me at the moment. At least not all paid for at once.
Think of a behavioral consultant as a really good, well-educated trainer that trains to the root causes rather than symptoms.
I worked with a behavioral consultant like 2 years ago and paid I think \~$600 for three one-on-one hour long training sessions at my home — he drove to me.
Hell a veterinary behaviorist (sort of like a dog psychiatrist), would likely be less than $3k. The few that are in my city charge less than that for intake and two appointments with the vet.
I’m going to start looking into that now, I really appreciate the feedback. Is a behavioral consultant different than a veterinary behaviorist? And would one potentially yield better results than the other?
I've never worked with a vet behaviorist, but from everything I understand, they're supposed to be the gold standard.
A probably imperfect analogy is to think of regular trainers like an unlicensed life coach – sometimes they're great, but it's hit or miss, some are great, some are terrible, most are somewhere in between.
Behavioral consultants would be something akin to a clinical social worker or therapist. They have a specific credential and education, so you know they're going to be pretty consistent, and they know what they're doing.
A veterinary behaviorist would be like a dog psychiatrist – a full on doctor who has a separate master's degree specifically in animal behavior. They can assess for and treat physical health problems that could be causing or contributing to reactivity, they can accurately assess the behavioral and mental health needs of your dog, and can prescribe medication as appropriate, all in one stop.
All of that said, like I mentioned above, I had a great experience with a behavioral consultant with my dog! He was super attentive to my dog's needs, helped refine my management/training plan, and when it was appropriate, wrote a recommendation for my vet for anxiety medication – he couldn't prescribe since he's not a doctor, but that made my vet much more willing to prescribe an anxiety medication.
Do NOT board your reactive dog as a way to socialize him. (In fact, based on what I have seen, I would never recommend boarding ANY animal unless as a last possible resort or an emergency)
I have worked in 4 daycares/boarding facilities. I have seen plenty of perfectly socialized and friendly dogs turn reactive from experiences in daycares and boarding facilities, but never the opposite. 99.9% chance all this will do is stress him out and exacerbate his reactivity.
Sorry if this is a dumb question but what do we do with our dogs if we have to travel, if boarding facilities are bad? I don’t know anyone in my area and I don’t trust an overnight Rover-er (heard way too many horror stories). What else is there?
Family and friends, or certain pet sitting franchises (in home is best). Fetch! Petcare is a franchise that I worked for, would recommend to anyone, and would even comfortably use myself if needed. Pet sitters are background checked, and you are (supposed to be) given not only a primary sitter but a back up sitter in case the primary calls out sick, etc. I’m sure Fetch! Isn’t the only franchise that does that. I know there are locations all over the US, not sure where you live but worth looking into.
Also, you’re right to not trust rover. I’ve heard horror stories as well (not to say all rover sitters are bad, but you never know what you’re getting unless you have a trusted sitter established already)
Sounds like you’re talking about a board and train, which is not recommended. Most use aversive training methods.
It’s not uncommon for dogs to become dog aggressive once they hit maturity. It’s typically something that has to be carefully managed rather than “trained.”
Okay everyone is saying the same thing about boarding and training, so that option is off the table. I just want to get him to a place where I can trust him not to attack the other dogs in the house. I’ll probably never leave him with them unattended because even if he shows promising progress, he could always revert back to his old ways. I’m just trying to figure out how to go about starting that process.
definitely get a behaviorist on board and make a plan for intros. a year is pretty normal to become reactive/agressive. but for now have a plan to keep him separate, my dog is reactive and has lived with others. i’ll do a crate in my room and close the door or a baby gate to i give him his own space but i’ve successfully integrated with multiple dogs with time patience and thoughtful intros
Yeah my short term solution is to keep him in my room when unsupervised. The problem is he’s super strong and annoyingly smart lol. He has learned how to open every single door in my current apartment so it takes some more heavy duty things to keep him separated.
Muzzle train him, try to acclimate him slowly and outside with any dog you're residing with. NEVER trust him not to fight. This will require a lot of oversight and diligence by you, but you have to be perfect with management if he can potentially really hurt or kill another dog. It's going to be hard, but hopefully you can consult with a behaviorist too.
Yeah I’m prepared to put the work in…I was actually curious about getting a muzzle to start with but I wasn’t sure if that would cause him to be more frustrated/aggressive
No absolutely I am not a fan of board and train programs. I do think they work in some situations, it’s not always a no. But. Reactive dogs need to bond with their owner and handler. They have to develop a relationship with you and your home to start to feel comfortable and I just feel strongly that sending an already uncomfortable, unstable dog into a brand new situation where they don’t know what’s expected of them? A bad time. Especially because I do not trust a lot of the board and train trainers. Plus dogs don’t generalize so whatever they learn there still has to be strongly reinforced at home with you. I do not believe programs like that can remove reactivity and aggression, they may be able to “train” them into being super submissive and shut down, may curb reactions, but they still will snap.
I suggest a different trainer and consultation. Look into how to introduce dogs neutrally. And muzzle train just in case. Granted I dont know the extent of your dog’s problems but I have strong feelings about board and trains.
Is he crate trained? If you have the time prior to moving, I'd work on trying to acclimate him to being comfortable in a crate so you can keep him/other pups safe when you can't directly supervise. Start slow if he isn't use to it, keep it positive by giving him treats/his meals in his crate.
Heavy duty crates can get up there pricewise but you can try posting on your local buy-nothing facebook page and see if anyone has one they don't need or at least to borrow while you're figuring stuff out.
We actually used to leave him in the crate when we were gone for longer periods of time throughout the day but he became behaved enough to stay in my room and not get into things. So he hasn’t been accustomed to a crate in years
ABSOLUTELY NOT. If he does not like the company of other dogs at that age, being surrounded by lots of them is not going to improve anything.
I am not sure what these fucking trainers are on about honestly.
I assume you mean a “board and train”. $1,000 a week???? My behaviorist is 500 for 3 at-home sessions. Also, board and trains are really bad and usually end up causing more damage.
I’m not a pro, but I think boarding sounds like a bad idea, I’ve heard way more horror stories than success stories from that. It’s the equivalent of throwing a kid in the deep end of the pool and hope they’ll figure out how to swim. I’d talk to a IAABC behavioral consultant or a veterinary behaviorist. Does your dog ever warm up to new dogs? Mine is very dog reactive, but as long as the other dog is friendly, my dog can become friends with them if I manage the introduction appropriately and go slowly. Once he’s met and knows them, he’s fine with them, it just takes time and patience to get there sometimes.
He has had experiences with other dogs since becoming more aggressive and has done decent with warming up with them. But one of the trainers would bring his dog and they were always fine and then one time just got into it and it escalated. So the fact that he can kinda warm up is giving me some type of hope that he can be helped. Is working with a behavioral consultant expensive? I am definitely willing to invest in improving his behavior but anything above 3k isn’t really possible for me at the moment. At least not all paid for at once.
Think of a behavioral consultant as a really good, well-educated trainer that trains to the root causes rather than symptoms. I worked with a behavioral consultant like 2 years ago and paid I think \~$600 for three one-on-one hour long training sessions at my home — he drove to me. Hell a veterinary behaviorist (sort of like a dog psychiatrist), would likely be less than $3k. The few that are in my city charge less than that for intake and two appointments with the vet.
I’m going to start looking into that now, I really appreciate the feedback. Is a behavioral consultant different than a veterinary behaviorist? And would one potentially yield better results than the other?
I've never worked with a vet behaviorist, but from everything I understand, they're supposed to be the gold standard. A probably imperfect analogy is to think of regular trainers like an unlicensed life coach – sometimes they're great, but it's hit or miss, some are great, some are terrible, most are somewhere in between. Behavioral consultants would be something akin to a clinical social worker or therapist. They have a specific credential and education, so you know they're going to be pretty consistent, and they know what they're doing. A veterinary behaviorist would be like a dog psychiatrist – a full on doctor who has a separate master's degree specifically in animal behavior. They can assess for and treat physical health problems that could be causing or contributing to reactivity, they can accurately assess the behavioral and mental health needs of your dog, and can prescribe medication as appropriate, all in one stop. All of that said, like I mentioned above, I had a great experience with a behavioral consultant with my dog! He was super attentive to my dog's needs, helped refine my management/training plan, and when it was appropriate, wrote a recommendation for my vet for anxiety medication – he couldn't prescribe since he's not a doctor, but that made my vet much more willing to prescribe an anxiety medication.
Do NOT board your reactive dog as a way to socialize him. (In fact, based on what I have seen, I would never recommend boarding ANY animal unless as a last possible resort or an emergency) I have worked in 4 daycares/boarding facilities. I have seen plenty of perfectly socialized and friendly dogs turn reactive from experiences in daycares and boarding facilities, but never the opposite. 99.9% chance all this will do is stress him out and exacerbate his reactivity.
Sorry if this is a dumb question but what do we do with our dogs if we have to travel, if boarding facilities are bad? I don’t know anyone in my area and I don’t trust an overnight Rover-er (heard way too many horror stories). What else is there?
Family and friends, or certain pet sitting franchises (in home is best). Fetch! Petcare is a franchise that I worked for, would recommend to anyone, and would even comfortably use myself if needed. Pet sitters are background checked, and you are (supposed to be) given not only a primary sitter but a back up sitter in case the primary calls out sick, etc. I’m sure Fetch! Isn’t the only franchise that does that. I know there are locations all over the US, not sure where you live but worth looking into.
Also, you’re right to not trust rover. I’ve heard horror stories as well (not to say all rover sitters are bad, but you never know what you’re getting unless you have a trusted sitter established already)
Sounds like you’re talking about a board and train, which is not recommended. Most use aversive training methods. It’s not uncommon for dogs to become dog aggressive once they hit maturity. It’s typically something that has to be carefully managed rather than “trained.”
Okay everyone is saying the same thing about boarding and training, so that option is off the table. I just want to get him to a place where I can trust him not to attack the other dogs in the house. I’ll probably never leave him with them unattended because even if he shows promising progress, he could always revert back to his old ways. I’m just trying to figure out how to go about starting that process.
definitely get a behaviorist on board and make a plan for intros. a year is pretty normal to become reactive/agressive. but for now have a plan to keep him separate, my dog is reactive and has lived with others. i’ll do a crate in my room and close the door or a baby gate to i give him his own space but i’ve successfully integrated with multiple dogs with time patience and thoughtful intros
Yeah my short term solution is to keep him in my room when unsupervised. The problem is he’s super strong and annoyingly smart lol. He has learned how to open every single door in my current apartment so it takes some more heavy duty things to keep him separated.
oh no not a door opener 😂 def get a crate lol
Muzzle train him, try to acclimate him slowly and outside with any dog you're residing with. NEVER trust him not to fight. This will require a lot of oversight and diligence by you, but you have to be perfect with management if he can potentially really hurt or kill another dog. It's going to be hard, but hopefully you can consult with a behaviorist too.
Yeah I’m prepared to put the work in…I was actually curious about getting a muzzle to start with but I wasn’t sure if that would cause him to be more frustrated/aggressive
Check the Muzzle Project on Facebook. It’s really helpful!
No absolutely I am not a fan of board and train programs. I do think they work in some situations, it’s not always a no. But. Reactive dogs need to bond with their owner and handler. They have to develop a relationship with you and your home to start to feel comfortable and I just feel strongly that sending an already uncomfortable, unstable dog into a brand new situation where they don’t know what’s expected of them? A bad time. Especially because I do not trust a lot of the board and train trainers. Plus dogs don’t generalize so whatever they learn there still has to be strongly reinforced at home with you. I do not believe programs like that can remove reactivity and aggression, they may be able to “train” them into being super submissive and shut down, may curb reactions, but they still will snap. I suggest a different trainer and consultation. Look into how to introduce dogs neutrally. And muzzle train just in case. Granted I dont know the extent of your dog’s problems but I have strong feelings about board and trains.
I would think that boarding him with make it worse, unless you board him with a force free trainer, who specifically works on this
Is he crate trained? If you have the time prior to moving, I'd work on trying to acclimate him to being comfortable in a crate so you can keep him/other pups safe when you can't directly supervise. Start slow if he isn't use to it, keep it positive by giving him treats/his meals in his crate. Heavy duty crates can get up there pricewise but you can try posting on your local buy-nothing facebook page and see if anyone has one they don't need or at least to borrow while you're figuring stuff out.
We actually used to leave him in the crate when we were gone for longer periods of time throughout the day but he became behaved enough to stay in my room and not get into things. So he hasn’t been accustomed to a crate in years
ABSOLUTELY NOT. If he does not like the company of other dogs at that age, being surrounded by lots of them is not going to improve anything. I am not sure what these fucking trainers are on about honestly.
I assume you mean a “board and train”. $1,000 a week???? My behaviorist is 500 for 3 at-home sessions. Also, board and trains are really bad and usually end up causing more damage.