Dog advice

[Steph and Dud B]

Our son and his new bride have a rescue dog. We think she's a German shorthair/chocolate lab mix. 4 years old. We had her with us for 2 weeks while they were on their honeymoon and she's a sweetheart. Smart, well-trained, and a real cuddle bug. Problem is, she's anxious and reactive to other dogs, and they already have another dog. The two dogs have fought in their house, which led to Truffle spending her days in a crate when they're not home and nights alone in a separate bedroom - which must be hard for her because she's a people-dog and spent every night with us in our bedroom. They've talked about putting her down before they have children because they don't think she's adoptable.

We fell in love with her and would consider adopting her but we're worried about her behavior in a campground, especially while being walked. She tends to bark and lunge at other dogs who come within 10-20 feet while she's leashed, even though they have worked with a trainer to try to get her past this. She's absolutely fine with other people while being walked. The only people-problem she has is the mailman, who comes onto their front step and puts mail through a slot in their front door. (Our mail is delivered in the street and she didn't react to that at all.)

Has anyone dealt with a dog-reactive dog while camping? Any suggestions or advice to offer? 

[dewdev]

All dogs hate mailmen for some reason, but same with FedEx and USPS delivery men.

With time and further training by you, you should be able to control her when around other dogs.

Google the problem and see what others are saying.

Try a different trainer or at least talk to one if you have to.

Do not put her down. That would be a waste.

[Half Fast Hugo]

Socialization and training are key. Careful socialization around other dogs may take awhile and be really slow but, they also have to know that you're the leader of the pack and that some behavior will not be tolerated. As also mentioned talk to a professional trainer.

[Katjo]

Try a different trainer. Sounds like she just needs some socialization training from a good trainer. I sincerely hope they don’t put her down, it’s not her fault she’s not trained/socialized. I’m guessing since she was a rescue dog she may have had a not so great life prior to being rescued. Don’t give up on her, training takes time and work, an aggressive/reactive dog is an unhappy dog, good training will turn her life around. Wish you the best on finding a trainer, she’s so cute and it sounds like she loves being with you. 
 

[Tom and Doreen]

That sounds exactly like our dog, a rescue as well; Very good with people but does not like other dogs.  Luckily so far she's been very well behaved when camping for some reason even when we've stayed at a Harvest Host farm  with lots of animals.  We do use a remote controlled training collar with her which we can set to make a noise, vibration, or tingle at the press of a button if need be.  So far we've only had to use the noise and a couple of times a vibration to change her behavior.  We are careful not to let other dogs get to close to her though, just in case.  Some dogs she's ok with, others not; it's hard to know. 

[mossemi]

I can sympathize with you as the owner of a very reactive dog.  He loves people, but anything on 4 legs sets him off.  He is never off lead except in our fenced back yard.  He has been this way since we brought him home when he was 12 weeks old.  A 3 month long reactive dog class did not help and we have excepted his limitations around other animals.  Nearly 10 years later he is a little better and will play with other dogs in our fenced yard and will behave around other family members dogs, but we really don’t trust him 100%.  We love him and he’s ours until the end.

Mossey

[Steph and Dud B]

@mossemi, I assume your dog camps with you. How is he in campgrounds? Have you had any issues with other campers or campground management? We want to be good neighbors. 

[GraniteStaters]

We camp with a dog-reactive girlie. Fiona is great with people, but having had some scary dog-dog interactions when she was younger, she does bark and sometimes lunge  especially if the other dog comes at her. It requires some management but certainly can be done. I've become much better at telling other dog owners to NOT let their dog greet  mine. The phrase "but mine is friendly" from other dog owners now has me bluntly replying "mine is not".   After lots of training she can walk pass campsites with barking dogs and not make a peep. That is amazing! One thing that helped a lot was learning and practicing pattern games, especially those from Leslie McDevitt. You can find several of them on You Tube.  If another dog passes our campsite she will bark a bit but then is quiet, as she gets paid with a treat for being quiet. 🙂  We don't leave her outside the trailer if we are not out there with her as we know she will bark more then. If we meet other dogs while hiking we move off the trail and I toss her a few pieces of food into the grass or leaves and tell her to "find it."  She's too busy sniffing them out to react to the other dog. We have worked on "find it" a LOT, over and over, especially without other dogs in the picture. The cue to "find it" is so strong now that she doesn't stop to think, her nose just hits the ground. Unleashed dogs with owners who can't recall them are a nightmare though.  I've tried to teach Fiona to go behind me if an unleashed dog approaches her but haven't been to successful at that. At least not yet. 🙂. Like I said, it requires management but is doable. We've been very happy many times to find that she's one of the better behaved dogs in a campground, despite her dog-reactivity! Here she is relaxing at an HH. Paula

[mossemi]

On 8/18/2023 at 1:00 PM, Steph and Dud B said:

@mossemi, I assume your dog camps with you. How is he in campgrounds? Have you had any issues with other campers or campground management? We want to be good neighbors. 

Yes, Nick always camps with us and we have never been asked to leave a campground.  And dogs led us to buying a RV.  When Krunch's parents were still with us, they were our dog sitters.  When our dog got to be too much for them, we started staying in hotels that allowed dogs.  And we soon realized that most hotels considered smoking rooms and pets allowed rooms to be the same.  When smoking rooms were outlawed in most states it made things easier, but the Ollie was the game changer.  National Parks are a real challenge with limited dog friendly areas and COE's are extremely dog friendly in our experience.  If we leave Nick alone in the Ollie, we try to limit his ability to see anything outside and sometimes we will leave him in the bathroom with a radio on.  Our biggest fear is an electric failure and the loss of the of the air conditioner so we try to limit the amount of time we are gone.  And I must say that one advantage of the Dometic AC's are their ability to drown out outside noise😎.  Like David and Paula mentioned above, behavior modification does work and consistent direction is the key.  Research clicker training for information.  And don’t give up, you be rewarded with a loyal best friend!

Mossey

Edited August 20, 2023 by mossemi
Typo

[Steph and Dud B]

3 hours ago, mossemi said:

Our biggest fear is an electric failure and the loss of the of the air conditioner

We use one of these to monitor my wife's medications, which have to stay in a certain temperature range: Govee WiFi Thermometer Hygrometer H5179, Smart Humidity Temperature Sensor with App Notification Alert, https://a.co/d/65LlkWV Hook it up to campground wifi or your hotspot and it will send a notification to your phone if the temperature leaves your preset limits. Works very well.

[Bryan in NC]

We have a Goldern Retriever and what we affectionately call a "Chowie" (Border Collie and Chow mix).  The latter was a rescue we got for our daughter 12 years ago.  He too is great with people, but not with every dog.  You just need to keep on top of things when you know other dogs are going to be around.  

[Steph and Dud B]

4 hours ago, Bryan in NC said:

Chowie

Tux and tie event. Very classy! 👍

[mossemi]

22 hours ago, Steph and Dud B said:

We use one of these to monitor my wife's medications, which have to stay in a certain temperature range: Govee WiFi Thermometer Hygrometer H5179, Smart Humidity Temperature Sensor with App Notification Alert, https://a.co/d/65LlkWV Hook it up to campground wifi or your hotspot and it will send a notification to your phone if the temperature leaves your preset limits. Works very well.

Thank you for the Govee suggestion.  Our big problem there is inconsistent wireless service.  Maybe I’ll fix that with a proper wireless network one day.  I do have the ability to monitor the temperatures with 4 Ruuvi sensors remotely when we have wireless coverage, but it’s those other times that worry us.

Mossey

 

 

 

[mossemi]

On 8/17/2023 at 4:59 PM, Steph and Dud B said:

We fell in love with her and would consider adopting her but we're worried about her behavior in a campground, especially while being walked. She tends to bark and lunge at other dogs who come within 10-20 feet while she's leashed

I forgot to mention that we often times walk the campground at odd times of day and night, trying to minimize the chances of meeting other dogs.  And a final note, we camp in the neighborhood of 20% of the year so that leaves us with about 80% of the time when behavior problems don’t affect other campers.  I also think the payoff we get every time we come home to Nick is priceless!

Mossey

 

[Tom and Doreen]

On 8/18/2023 at 7:15 PM, GraniteStaters said:

..The phrase "but mine is friendly" from other dog owners now has me bluntly replying "mine is not".   "The cue to "find it" is so strong now that she doesn't stop to think, her nose just hits the ground".

 

I think that we have the same dog!  We've had the same experience in that people with other dogs assume that it's ok to let their dog approach without asking. It's funny that you mention the "find it" game; We have a ritual whereby while she's eating her dinner we hide her after-dinner snack somewhere in the house.  When she's finished we shout "FIND IT" and off she goes.  She quickly tracks it down and upon doing so we throw up our arms and exclaim "she saw it with her dog nose!!" 😁 while she proudly does a victory lap around the house.