A reactive dachshund learning how to cope in the park. Reward-based training.

Nellie is a 6-year-old miniature dachshund. She’s always shown anxiety in the presence of people and dogs, especially visitors to the house and dogs she meets on their regular walks. I wanted her to learn that not all dogs are bad news. When I met her, it took about 5 minutes before she was comfortable having me around. She worked out pretty quickly that I was no threat, and accepted me as part of her gang. This helped me to realise that a lot of her worries were due to a lack of confidence. The other thing I noticed straight away is that she pulls a lot when she walks – running and leaning into the harness. I knew we weren’t going to solve that in one session, but we did work to improve it, by me coaching her owners not to walk on if they felt tension in the lead. But when she saw something that worried or exited her, the pulling came back – to be expected, especially considering she’s been practising and getting better at these behaviours for several years. The training is reward-based – using praise and treats to reward recalls, response to name, and staying close to her owners. The lead and harness stopped her getting where she wanted to go, but otherwise we didn’t use any punishment – we certainly didn’t correct her for any perceived ‘bad’ behaviour. There’s no need. The more you reward wanted behaviour, the less unwanted behaviour there is. We started off training a long way from other people and dogs, and gradually got closer. I tried to keep her under threshold (i.e. at a point where she was a bit stressed, but coping and capable of learning and responding), and to move her away from potential trouble. Most of the time we got this right. The two times when dogs approached too closely were still relatively predictable and safe, as they were both friendly dogs who have great social skills. Had I thought she was in danger, I would have asked her owners to pick her up and walk away. Is it a failure that she snapped at another dog? She only did this once in the hour’s training session, and learnt that she could make them go away. That’s okay, especially this early on in her training. What I want her to learn is that she only needs to do this if they get within touching distance. The more experiences she has, the more she will be able to stay calm. I kept checking Nellie’s general body language throughout, and was quick to give her a break if I felt she was becoming too excited or upset. Her tail kept wagging throughout, either through excitement/ arousal or through happiness at receiving praise and treats, and spending enjoyable time with her owners. If you have any questions, please ask in the comments. Please subscribe to ‪@helpingpetminds‬ for more videos. www.sarahcrockford.com www.facebook.com/HelpingPetMinds