reactivity

Tips for Camping with a Reactive Dog

September 22, 2022 By Duke Ferguson Leave a Comment

TIPS FOR CAMPING WITH A REACTIVE DOG

I’m an avid camper and if I am booked for board and trains and want to go camping, I will usually take them with me. Sometimes the dogs I have in for training are reactive as is the case with my current board and train – Yasha, the 1.5-year-old sable GSD. We are camping right now at Green Park in Tyne Valley, PEI.

Having her along on this trip inspired me to share some tips with you on how to camp with a reactive dog:

🐕When choosing a campground, if possible, drive and scout out the best site for you and your dog prior to booking. Camp in the off-season when campgrounds are quieter. I’m the only tenter here right now and am enjoying lots of space and a decent amount of privacy. If you have a trailer choose a spot off by yourself as best you can.

🐕 Muzzle train the dog. If you are in training, still working on your dog’s issues, and don’t have full control yet, then for everyone’s safety have a properly fitted muzzle on the dog when you are out and about with them. A good muzzle allows the dog to eat, drink, and pant.

🐕Kennel train. Yasha is coming along well but I do not trust her yet to be tethered on my campsite unattended while I’m puttering around and not freak out at anything that passes by. Also, I’m friends with the staff and they sometimes pop by unannounced to chat. This sets me up for setbacks if Yasha loses control and lashes out and I’m not ready. Whenever I can not 100% watch her, I put her in her kennel. Times when I’m working online, cooking, cleaning up the site, collecting firewood, etc.

🐕 Walk the campground solo and see what kind of dogs are here. Make note of any that are sometimes not tethered or are in groups of 2 or more. Also, how secure are their tie-outs. Note if any are reactive themselves and whether owners try and do anything about it when they react. Avoid areas where you think there will be potential problems.

🐕 Train a bombproof recall. Before having your reactive dog in any lesser controlled environments, you want to make sure that they have a 100% reliable recall. IF I had Yasha tethered on my site and IF someone I didn’t initially see walked by and she reacts, I want to immediately call her to COME so I can diffuse the situation.

🐕Post a beware of dog sign at your site. People will appreciate having a heads-up.

🐕 Prevent what you can not control and control what you teach. For safety have all the proper management protocols in place at times when you are in uncontrolled situations. Always be in a position to reward or correct behavior the moment things happen so you can succeed at teaching the dog more desired behaviors. Don’t set them up to fail by getting slack on your protocols and assuming no one will come by, so it’s okay to have them off their tether this time. Assume nothing, plan for everything.

If you don’t feel your dog can handle the potentially high distractions of campground life, or you lack confidence in your abilities to manage and keep things under control – then arrange to have them boarded. This does not mean you are a failure. There are a lot of people who don’t camp with their dogs. And if you are living life with a reactive or aggressive dog it is ok to take some respite, board them somewhere and go camping, and have a break. Especially if you camp in high season where the campgrounds are teeming with kids and dogs. Some cases of reactivity take a while to fully get under control.

In the meantime prevention of out of control situations is paramount. If you are not at a point in training where you feel you can manage your dog then it’s ok to say you know what? We’re not ready for this yet and that’s ok. Let’s find you a place to stay and have fun and we’ll keep working on things so we can all camp together someday. Sometimes the best way to love your dog is to avoid having them in situations they find too stressful. But this does not mean you have to avoid those places as well.

– Coach Sara Bryanton

Are you an avid camper who dreams of taking your currently reactive dog camping? We can help!

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Reactive Goldendoodle

September 21, 2022 By Duke Ferguson Leave a Comment

Meet Mickey the 5-year-old reactive Goldendoodle!

Mickey’s family was at a loss on what to do regarding his reactiveness to people. After booking a consult with us to discuss their frustrations and overall goals with Mickey, they decided to enroll in our Board and Train program!

After several weeks of living and training with Coach Duke, Mickey has now completed boarding and is living his best fearless life with his family who are now having so much more fun with him!

Here is what his owner had to say:

“We were really at a loss before Mickey went to PEI to stay with Duke. We didn’t know what we were going to do.

Mickey was showing signs of aggression towards some people and even growling at my daughters. We could not take him anywhere off leash as he had no recall at all. We were limited on being able to go away because we had no one that could watch him. We couldn’t trust him.

We did try another trainer before UPK9 but had little success. Mickey had also had obedience classes from the time he was a puppy. He had the basic, sit, stay, down, but that was it.

Mickey spent 6 weeks with Duke on Prince Edward Island. We were so excited when he came home and certain people he didn’t like, prior to training, could now feed him from their hands. We knew we were on the road to success! (*Check out this quick video on one of Mickey’s amazing socialization outings: click here to watch)

We love how much Mickey loved Duke and how well he responded to him. We love that all the things he learned while he was there we can continue to build on at home. His recall is amazing and we love seeing how Mickey responds to us now at home!

If we had not enrolled in the Board & Train program, we would still be frustrated and really at a loss on what to do with Mickey.

If you too are interested in the dog training at Unleashed Potential – especially the Boarding program – we would tell you it was the best thing we ever did. The support we have received is amazing and we would encourage you to come to see Mickey and see how far he has come. We have friends that can’t believe the difference in him!”

– Owner Ruth Ann

Lawrencetown, NS

Thank you for the kind words and awesome job keeping up with Mickey’s training! He was a fun dog to have around and we miss him lots – reactive Goldendoodle no more!

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Reactive Dog No More!

February 10, 2022 By Sara Bryanton Leave a Comment

One of our Vet Student clients came to us with her reactive dog, Indie, a couple of months ago. They both learned a ton during their lessons and have been on a road to success ever since! The amount of hard work this client put into her dogs training truly shows and we couldn’t be more proud!

“We had our first group obedience class this weekend!

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous going into it. I hadn’t really trained Indie all week due to studying and patient care at school and there would be quite a few dogs present, so I wasn’t sure how it would go.

But as usual, she blew me away. Indie didn’t have one single reaction at group class – she was focused, calm and so dang good, even with other excitable dogs and other dogs working around her. We were able to participate in all of the drills with the other dogs, including weaving through them and their handlers and walking past them.

If you would have told me that we would be able to do this a couple of months ago, I would have laughed. If you have a reactive dog and are struggling – reach out to a trainer. It was the best decision that I made – they helped me with things I couldn’t see, taught me how to handle situations, and continuously supported us through the process. So do better for your dog, do better for you. It’s a hell of a lot of work, but I promise you it is so worth it to see your dog learn that life isn’t so scary and to give you the confidence to help them navigate the world.“

– Owner Maddie

You can follow along with their journey on Instagram – @tailsofindie

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