# Frustrated greeter



## LoveEcho (Mar 4, 2011)

So I'm having a hard time figuring out how to break Echo of being a "frustrated greeter". He has zero DA issues, but when he's on leash and there are other dogs around, he sometimes (but not always) starts to scream, pace, etc. I try and redirect with obedience and keeping him moving and focused on me... he does what I tell him, the first time, but.. he's continuing to stare at the other dog. It's hard, because I don't know anyone else in the area with a dog who will work with us, and he doesn't seem to do it in "fabricated scenarios". I use a prong on him, but it doesn't seem to break his focus for more than a second. Anyone have any tips? We do a lot of obedience in different spots and he is rock solid in every other scenario; he's not treat motivated but very ball motivated.


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

I think it's just a matter of drilling "Leave it" into their heads, lol. I thought I could get my puppy to behave better around other dogs if I took him to the dog park and let him socialize a little more, but it didn't really help much. He's so unpredictable - some dogs he ignores completely but other dogs he strains to get closer to, and yips in frustration when he can't.


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## x0emiroxy0x (Nov 29, 2010)

My trainer told me if the dog can't break its focus to look at you, you are way too close to the other dog/person. Do you live at an apartment? I take Rocky to this middle section of grass between the four buildings so we can watch people (his trigger) from far away where he will take treats.

If you live in a neighborhood, go to the OUTSIDE of a dog park and stand far enough away that he will take treats but close enough that he notices other dogs walking on leash into the dog park. Treat him for looking at you.

I don't use leave it unless we are on a walk and don't want him to go up to the other dog....if he is sitting and another dog is just walking by I say "look at me"


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## LoveEcho (Mar 4, 2011)

x0emiroxy0x said:


> My trainer told me if the dog can't break its focus to look at you, you are way too close to the other dog/person. Do you live at an apartment? I take Rocky to this middle section of grass between the four buildings so we can watch people (his trigger) from far away where he will take treats.
> 
> If you live in a neighborhood, go to the OUTSIDE of a dog park and stand far enough away that he will take treats but close enough that he notices other dogs walking on leash into the dog park. Treat him for looking at you.
> 
> I don't use leave it unless we are on a walk and don't want him to go up to the other dog....if he is sitting and another dog is just walking by I say "look at me"


We live sort of in the middle of nowhere. The two places I've noticed he does it are at the state park and the beach, where dogs will randomly appear. 50% of the time, he could care less, 50% of the time, he goes nuts. He does do it with my mom's dog, but BAT doesn't seem to be working with him...probably because my mom's dog is not even remotely a calm, balanced dog... I'm sort of at a loss. We were at the park today and he could care less about the 3-4 dogs that walked by. It's so hard to re-create it consistently enough to get him to learn anything, it seems. Next time we're at the beach I'll try moving farther away and seeing how far it takes (which is hard, because the people have their dogs OFF leash, and they have zero recall....).


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## Mac (Jan 10, 2010)

I have the same problem with one of mine as well. She goes nuts around other dogs on a walk and claws and screams, yips, barks....you name it. We use a prong as well, and have had a really excellent trainer. She is also dead reliable in every other situation with her commands. Its hard to find other dogs to try to desenthitize her with b/c she looks so feroucious when shes doing it....i know its not that she wants to attack the other dog b/c before we used the prong she would break, run up to the other dog and want to play. Her behavior then gets my male all rilled up. Its pretty frustrating. Any advice from you guys would be great.


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## katdog5911 (Sep 24, 2011)

Stella was a frustrated greeter when she was younger. There was also a fear factor and strong defense instinct. This made for a lot of reactivity when seeing another dog. Or it could have been a cow, horse, or the farmer's tractor. Her reactions got stronger as she got older. I tried everything. Finally went to a local GSD breeder who also does some training. What is working for us is using the prong collar and obedience. There is no staring allowed and if Stella starts what I call "poofing up", she gets a command to "fuss" (heel) and if she doesn't comply within a second or two, she gets a prong correction. Then she needs to sit and look at me! No compliance, prong correction. If she obeys then depending on the situation, she can go "say hello". I find this has worked much better for us than treat based training in this particular situation. I will use treats sometimes when practicing in the yard or house to heel but out in the real world I expect her to listen without treats now.


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