Am I doing this correctly? Anxiety/Over stimulation?
 

Teddy went to the park today and every time he wouldn't stop barking at the sight of another dog in the distance, I reeled him in on his extend-o leash and made him lie down and be quiet for ten seconds, praised him and let him run in the direction of the dogs as a reward for being quiet. It seemed to work ie when he saw dogs he made moves towards them, as I allow him to greet, but didn't bark as much? I understand that being on the leash is not natural for dogs so they lunge, bark etc. but I am trying to teach him some manners because, on more than one occasion, a nice meet/greet turned into a potential fight because Teddy doesn't shut up! For example, a female husky wanted to play today but was accompanied by a smaller dog who greeted Teddy very sweetly, initially, but then became aggressive so I had to pull Teddy all the way into my arms with the leash. Not a nice situation because, obviously, something horrible could have happened had I not been quick on the mark.




He has definitely improved in his behavior once he meets up with a dog, though. He is quiet and doesn't jump up on them like he used to which is great. He used to not shut up no matter how long the dog tolerated him before so I'm relieved there's some improvement in this area.


Also, after making sure that Teddy was calm in the house before walking, I walked in front of him and out the door to force him to follow. As I'm locking the door, he barks uncontrollably (and sounded like a pig squeeling!) which I assume is as a result of either anxiety or excitement. I, therefore, made him lie down again for ten seconds and praised him for holding position quietly before commencing the walk. Each time he chirped or whined during the walk, I repeated this technique. It SEEMS to be working but I don't want it to work because its novel instead of correct if that makes sense?


However, he started chirping again and barking when we came back home and I was trying to fit the key to open the door. I repeated making him lie down with a command, holding him in position with the harness, commanding him to be quiet and praising him after ten seconds and releasing him from position. However, he did nip at me so obviously he was still stressed or overly excited.


Anyway, opinions/thoughts appreciated. I hope this post makes sense! It's very hard to sneak time in between preparing dinner and everything else that goes along with running a house on borrowed time!

It really sounds like you are doing the right things. You are rewarding the good behavior and waiting until they over excitement subsides before rewarding.
I have been working on getting Buster not to bark when he meets other dogs, it's a habit he picked up from his girlfriend Lola. He usually is friendly and shy when he meets other dogs but when he gets around Lola, who has aggression issues, he picks up her cues. It's sad because she is his best friend and he loves her but she attacked him the other day over a dropped treat. Luckily I was there to get between them but it's so sad because I think he stopped trusting other dogs more because of not being able to trust her.

Thanks for your encouragement, it's really appreciated. It has been very trying with Teddy this past year. I have a vets appointment next week where I'll be asking if I need to supplement his training with meds. He is just so high strung about EVERYTHING and I don't want to be encouraging it in some way.


The scenario with the smaller dog in the park sounds a lot like your Buster and Lola whereby Teddy picked up on the cues of a more assertive/aggressive dog. I think dogs are the best at teaching each other manners but it obviously shouldn't be a lethal lesson and without me going on all fours (which I'm willing to do!), I'm really at a loss as to how to get Teddy to calm down.


Wish me luck!