# Leash reactive with low food drive



## uoser (Sep 21, 2009)

Hey all! Lexi is almost turning 3 and she's the best dog I could have asked for. She's always been very reactive while on leash, mainly to other dogs. Sometimes her fur will go up and sometimes they won't, but she will always pull and bark and whine. I've read all the threads I could find on it and we've been working on it for months now with little success. I've been trying to watch for the second she see's the other dog from a far distance so that I could distract her and get focus on me. This seldom works even at a very long distance and I've tried VERY high value food rewards and it doesn't phase her a bit. She does have very high prey drive and we started using tug in obedience training quite often. How could I implement this to our leash reactivity issue? I'm worried that pulling out the tug to get her attention will put her into even higher drive and would be counter-productive if I'm trying to get her to calm down. Also how would I use her low food drive, high prey drive to my advantage in the distraction phase of training (when other dogs are around).

I was also wondering on a technique that I've read several times where you correct the dog for staring at the other dogs? What is the concept behind doing this? I've never tried this technique since I've also read that you shouldn't correct or it would associate the correction with the dogs. I was just wondering because she does this a lot. If I step in her line of vision of the other dog, she will find any way to get a sight on him/her. Even while out on our daily walks she will start looking into every area or backyard that we've encountered a dog before.









Lexi and I thank you very much for any advice


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT): Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) | Official site for BAT: dog-friendly training for reactivity (aggression, fear, frustration) by Grisha Stewart, MA

BAT Ahimsa Dog Blog

I'd also recommend reading Control Unleashed, and/or buying the DVD, it's great for reactive dogs: Leslie McDevitt: Control Unleashed®, The Book

It sounds like you're doing counter-conditioning and desensitization which can be an effective technique, but it is usually a slow process, and the fact that she's not food motivated definitely makes it more difficult. If a food motivated dog won't take treats it usually means they're over threshold and you need to back up because you're too close to the trigger. But if she's just not food motivated generally it's hard to say if the distance that you're working at is sufficient or not because she might refuse treats no matter what the situation is. 



> I'm worried that pulling out the tug to get her attention will put her into even higher drive and would be counter-productive if I'm trying to get her to calm down.


That would be my concern too. Learning to control her impulses when she's in drive might help alleviate that problem, but generally you don't want to do stuff in the presence of a trigger that's going to amp her up further. 

As far as correcting her for staring at other dogs (eye contact is a HUGE trigger!), I'd be careful of that as well. You'd want to be VERY sure where her reactivity is coming from because corrections could actually make it worse. That being said, I will correct Keefer for staring at another dog on a walk, but I also know that he's extremely friendly and social off leash, and even if on leash he's usually fine if he gets to meet the other dog up close and personal. There's no fear there, he doesn't want to run away or for the other dog to go away either, he gets excited and frustrated because he wants to meet the other dog and the leash prevents him from doing so. So for him, I can give him a "knock it off" correction with the prong to remind him not to be a butthead, and there's no fallout. He also has very high prey drive, so I feel your pain!

Keef is also much better if we pass by dogs who are calm and well behaved, or completely neutral and ignore him. If the dog stares at HIM, or is out of control, and barks or growls and lunges on the leash as they approach, he's pretty much guaranteed to react. What I sometimes do is turn him around and go the opposite direction for a few paces, then turn again and go in the original direction, then turn around again, and so on, so we're walking back and forth over the same 5 or 6 foot area while the other dog approaches us. This breaks off eye contact, preventing prolonged staring that can trigger a reaction, and by then, they're almost past us. At that point I throw a verbal party, whooping it up and telling him what an awesome dog he is, and toss treats around on the ground for him to find. He's actually much more likely to react at a distance than he is closer to the dog, so I keep him busy as we close that gap. 

Good luck!


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

Something to keep in mind is that a dog that doesn't eat which normally WOULD eat is overloaded with stress. If you and Lexi are out walking and you spot another dog, give Lexi something like fried bacon. If she eats it even after spotting the dog, GOOD! You found her working zone. Stay at that distance and work on obedience, look-at-that, etc. If she refuses the food and tries to look around your hand, move backwards until she finally does take the food. in time, you can get closer and closer. 

When Renji and I first started training classes, we had to be half a football field away. Now we can be right next to other dogs. It took a LONG time but I had to work within his thresholds and be very cognizant of his threshold limits. Keep in mind that thresholds change depending on the movement/type of the other subject. A running cat or bouncing lab is going to put on a lot more pressure than a snoring bulldog or a cat sitting still. 

Learn to read body language and react quickly. Holding breath and ears perking up are sure signs that it is time to step into the dog's space to say "I can read your mind, Buddy, leave it alone!" Catch them while they think about the chase, not when they are chasing.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

Yes, the key is learning to read your dog (and of course that means watching them like a hawk!) and your recting BEFORE they do. Much easier to catch and turn their reaction around before they ignite (from personal experience with our guy).

One thing that has really worked for me (and very surprising that it did work so well0 is teaching him a command when we see something that might have caused a reaction.

I.E. whenever we see another dog of the type that he might react to - Big, staring at him or generally giving off dominant or aggressive signals - what we did (and still do) is to say "Dogs!" in an excited voice and pop a nice treat into his mouth. Now when we see such a dog, I just have to say "Dog' and he turns to me with the hope of a treat!

BTW same thing works with cats and even people! Can use the same word or a different one - still the same affect.


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## uoser (Sep 21, 2009)

Cassidy's mom, thanks for the recommendations. I looked into Leslie's LAT technique and I just started training Lexi on the leave it and LAT training (indoors with no distractions). She doesn't have very high food drive so the training didn't go so well because she wasn't too interested in the treats first. Should I try with a tennis ball and allow her to play catch every time she leaves it and focuses on me? Thanks again for the help


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

What kind of treats have you tried? If she's not interested in even high value treats indoors with no distractions then you might do better with BAT, where the rewards are functional rather than food. 

Also, if you've read the Control Unleashed book, you can sign up for Leslie's yahoo email list and ask for further suggestions. Anyone can join on a "read only" basis, but in order to participate in discussions you must have read the book so that you're familiar with the program and terminology. Leslie will answer questions personally, she has a few moderators that help her, and the community is extremely helpful too.


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## GSDkid (Apr 19, 2011)

This might sound mean but just don't feed her so much. I've never had to do this but it sounds logical... If the dog's too used to being well fed, no wonder she doesn't have a high food drive. If your dog's getting 3 meals a day, cut it down to 2. I don't know, I'm just throwing something out there.


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

GSDkid said:


> This might sound mean but just don't feed her so much. I've never had to do this but it sounds logical... If the dog's too used to being well fed, no wonder she doesn't have a high food drive. If your dog's getting 3 meals a day, cut it down to 2. I don't know, I'm just throwing something out there.


I have to do this sometimes with Woolf. It does work. The days I know we are going to be doing some close to threshold work I go light on his breakfast. Instead of the usual 1 1/2 c I drop it down to 1/2 - 3/4 cup just so his stomach isn't empty, then use some very high value treats. At the end of the session the look on his face is like 'I let that get that close to me'?


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## uoser (Sep 21, 2009)

I'm using natural balance rolls as treats. She's just not a big food person. For example, for her meals she will lick around the food bowl for a while and then lick the food for a bit and then eventually start eating. I found someone that actually has one of the control unleashed DVDs that I watched (it was full of the games). She doesn't really have too much of a problem with the leave it command because again shes not very interested, but when I can get her to look at it and I click or use my "YES!" she does not look back at me (my guess is that she's not interested in the reward).


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## marshies (May 18, 2011)

Up your reward to something stinkier. Hotdogs? Cheese? 
My puppy wasn't REALLY REALLY into her kibble (but was still into treats) when I was feeding her per the bag's instructions. With some advise, I dropped it down to one cup less than recommended and she now eats like a champ. Maybe try less food?


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## uoser (Sep 21, 2009)

I've decided to start doing some BAT training while I build up the look at that game at home. I just have a quick question for the LAT. We've been doing it with a tennis ball since she loves tennis balls. She can leave it without a problem and give me eye contact but for the looking part of the training I've been marking when she moves her head in any direction toward the ball and then marking. The question I have is do I reward after marking the look if a) she looks and continues to look at it even after the marker, b) she looks at my hand for the reward after the mark, c) only reward if she gives me eye contact after the mark (if its only c, do i wait however long it takes to get the eye contact after the marker?) During training I get a little bit of all three options.


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## Bismarck (Oct 10, 2009)

why won't you use a pinch/prong collar? (besides the looks... they are useful tools that help, not hurt, your dog)


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