Does your dog have a reactivity final boss?

[u/knitandstretch]

After 5 months of consistent counter conditioning for his on leash dog reactivity, my dog can now pass most dogs when out and about and remain pretty chill. I still have to get him to disengage if I notice things might escalate, but he disengaged quickly when I do a clicking sound and offer him a treat. We can go often on long walks with zero reactions now, running into several dogs. Even in the occasional reaction, he is easy to disengage and will chill immediately after you redirect his attention.

However! Any dog that resembles a husky or chow chow will regress him to his very worst reactivity, he will react even if the dog is far away and will take a while to settle (continues barking even if the dog is out of sight). I am hoping this is not something that will be permanent, but rather choosing to see it as the final boss level: the monster you defeat at the very last level of the game.

Just curious, does your dog have a reactivity final boss?

[u/MoodFearless6771]

I want to make my dog a Regina George style “burn book” of his absolute worst frenemies for the dog walker. Because he is neutral, save a couple select dogs.

“This is Greg, the Bernadoodle from building 4. He’s the nastiest stinkiest overpriced mutt in the place. He thinks he’s hot shit and the whole place is his just because he has nuts. We hate Greg.”

I do refer to them as frenemies because we hate no one. However, some dogs need to be barked at. Achieving a “no bark” at any of the big bosses is like a triple-amazing ice cream all around day for us both.

[u/Affectionate-Okra681 → u/MoodFearless6771]

this is actually such a good idea for dog sitting. there’s a german shepherd mix and a pomeranian who both started at my dog so she really doesn’t like them

[u/heartxhk → u/MoodFearless6771]

there’s a fluffy white neighbor dog that our dogs HATE. the humans aren’t chatty or sociable, nor do they call out to their dog, so we don’t know the nonchalant samoyed-thing’s name & just refer to it as “the enemy” lol

[u/Landithy → u/MoodFearless6771]

For my dog it's the big chocolate lab up the street, walking around with his fancy AKC certification and his gonads. He is dimly aware that my dog exists.

And of course the entire Berner breed, with whom my dog is having some kind of blood feud because one of their infinite clone army tried to say "hi" to him once when he was having a meltdown.

[u/MoodFearless6771 → u/Landithy]

Anything larger than a bowling ball with testicles SHALT NOT PASS.

[u/knitandstretch → u/MoodFearless6771]

I have been thinking about this for the past 4 hours. I love this.

[u/MoodFearless6771 → u/knitandstretch]

It’s legitimately necessary to give my walker instructions. “Everything should be fine, he’s really pretty easy. If you see this dog from 100 feet away…run, dive into a bush, hide. Or join in. It doesn’t matter. He’s really just going to bark no matter what.” 🤣

[u/HabaneroPopper → u/MoodFearless6771]

"However, some dogs need to be barked at" is hilarious! And I agree.

[u/NewDriverStew → u/MoodFearless6771]

There's a house near me with five crazy Frenchies and they just acquired a Corso puppy, oh goodie! Their fence goes right up to the sidewalk and when they all rush up at once my dog turns into DMX. We cross the street, or step off the curb and cheater's heel

[u/suesueheck]

Skateboard.

[u/pseiko5 → u/suesueheck]

Same. And men

[u/suesueheck → u/pseiko5]

Man on skateboard would be the ultimate boss then.

[u/pseiko5 → u/suesueheck]

It often is

[u/Lumpy_Physics3101 → u/suesueheck]

my dog used to find skateboards challenging, so i brought my board to a tennis court, let her off leash, and skated. the combination of exposure, no restraint, and her handler convinced her pretty much immediately that these things are nbd.

[u/knitandstretch → u/suesueheck]

I live in a city (and area) that lovessssss its skateboards (it's a coastal city, and both surfing and skateboarding are a big part of the culture here) and I'm just so so so thankful that my dog is completely indifferent to them.

[u/HoneyDill_or_Death]

e-bikes because they're so fast and seem to think it's okay to zip by within a couple of feet of us. Also, big black shepherds. I don't know what it is about those dogs in particular but her reactions to them are much more extreme than any other dog.

[u/ShaarkShaart → u/HoneyDill_or_Death]

I have a black shepherd, I've noticed she freaks other dogs out! I don't totally get why.

[u/Affectionate-Okra681 → u/ShaarkShaart]

i’ve heard from my dogs trainer that black is the hardest colour for them to see. so when the fur is black and they’re a bigger dog, it freaks them out the most because it’s a bit of a fast ish moving black blur

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[u/knitandstretch → u/ShaarkShaart]

I think it has to do with dogs struggling to make out the shapes, expressions, etc. they just see a massive dark creature.

[u/ShaarkShaart → u/knitandstretch]

That tracks!

[u/thisisnottherapy]

Mine is doing absolutely great these days. But all frenchies still either mildly irritate him (females and neutered males) or completely set him off (unneutered males). It's very likely their inability to communicate, "mean" wrinkly look with bulging eyes, plus growl-like snoring and grunting noises. Add to that the, to him, apparently, funky unneutered smell, yeah, he hates that with a passion.

[u/rrxxxdbs123]

Yes. One of my dogs was attacked by a husky as a puppy, so now she also reacts to every husky-shaped dog. It sucks because she’s territorial around the house, but she doesn’t usually bark much on walks unless her PTSD is triggered, but that makes my other dogs (who are more likely to bark on walks) start. So then it’s just chaos.

[u/cheersbeersneers → u/rrxxxdbs123]

Same with my Malinois! He had to have the canine tooth of another dog surgically removed from his leg a few months after I adopted him. If he sees a husky or malamute he reacts super strongly.

[u/Mouzles]

Strangers with hats. Now she's ok with acquaintances or friends with hats when she's calm, so we're getting there.

[u/Affectionate-Okra681 → u/Mouzles]

i once was at the park with my friends dog and a man walked past wearing a wizard hat. she went absolutely crazy (the dog, not my friend). apparently she doesn’t really react to hats anymore but something about that big wizard hat didn’t agree with her

[u/HoneyDill_or_Death → u/Mouzles]

It's so weird how the seemingly smallest thing about a person's appearance can set a dog off. My dog hates it when guys have mountain man/ZZ Top style beards.

[u/knitandstretch → u/Mouzles]

Yeah, my dog used to react to strangers in hoodie (with the hoodie up). He's now mostly fine with it, though it's true that because of el niño phenomenon we've had an unusually warm winter so not a lot of hoodies out on the street for some months now.

[u/Affectionate-Okra681]

yes! i have the same thing. it took 4 months for me but she hates any large black dog because she got attacked by one about a month ago. she’s also a lurcher, and i learnt from her behaviourist that they’re long sighted so if they’re close to her she just sees a bit of a black blob. (not to mention she’s quite old hahah).

we can pass most dogs, but if one is near her it’s the one time i will either turn around or give her as much space as possible

[u/knitandstretch → u/Affectionate-Okra681]

to be honest, a big black bob moving around would also scare me too. poor baby.

[u/Organic-Fun-6319]

My neighbor’s pittie who attacked my girl when she was a puppy. We call her ‘The Nemesis’. Even now, 4 years later, my dog goes completely off the rails if she even gets as much as a whiff of her. There’s another dog down the street who looks like the pittie and she is now designated as ‘Nemesis 2’ through no fault of her own.

[u/heartxhk → u/Organic-Fun-6319]

Nemesis 2 is hilarious!

we call the neighbor dog that always elicits a big reaction “the enemy” bc we don’t know its name lol

[u/knitandstretch → u/Organic-Fun-6319]

i now feel bad for nemesis 2 :(

[u/Fun-Garlic4775 → u/Organic-Fun-6319]

We call the nemesis “Moriarty”

[u/Alternative_Mall_656]

It’s the stare down for my dog. If another dog gives my dog the hard stare, mine will escalate it. Dogs that are neutral to him he is neutral to them.

[u/knitandstretch → u/Alternative_Mall_656]

yeah, mine get's triggered by the hard stare, but I can get him to disengage and redirect his attention now, which is a huge relief.

[u/windog315]

Golden doodles!!! She knows her breads and will let poodles walk by politely….but a doodle mix? It’s game over

[u/Lumpy_Physics3101 → u/windog315]

! that is like 60% of dogs where i live

[u/Mememememememememine]

My last dog’s final boss that we never conquered while she was alive - was dogs of any kind from any distance. We conquered people, cars, skateboards, scooters, and bikes.

[u/knitandstretch → u/Mememememememememine]

Conquering people, cars, skateboards, scooters and bikes is a lot though!! Good on her :)

[u/Mememememememememine → u/knitandstretch]

One of my proudest accomplishments in life! 🥹 I swear she was reactive to leaves falling in the beginning lol. We made so much progress.

[u/knitandstretch → u/Mememememememememine]

🖤🖤🖤

[u/grimsb]

A deer jumping out from behind something or around a corner.

He’s pretty good with deer if they’re just standing there, but if he gets surprised by one, he has an absolute meltdown. 😞

[u/recyclabel]

E-scooters/bikes. It’s on sight no matter what I do

[u/Midnight712]

Dogs bigger than him (he’s a 36kg dog so it’s not super common), skateboards and fireworks

[u/Spirited_Two9124]

Mine is like that with pugs. She has two in the neighborhood she specifically doesn’t like and even though we are able to have her focus on me when either passes at times, they are much more likely to get a reaction out of her than any other dog

[u/TomatilloTurbulent44]

The Bernese mountain dog that lives directly across from us. My dog goes nuts every time he sees him even though that dog has no reaction back!

[u/knitandstretch → u/TomatilloTurbulent44]

the chow chow we passed today couldn't care less about the insane fit my dog was throwing. he just DID NOT CARE. it made it more humilliating tbh.

[u/TomatilloTurbulent44 → u/knitandstretch]

Agreed it’s more embarrassing when the other dog just stares and carries on like mine isn’t there.

I gave the dog a Christmas present last year just like “sorry for my beast” lol

[u/Scaaaary_Ghost]

Oh yes. We call him the nemesis dog (dun dun dun).

When nemesis dog was a (large) puppy & younger dog, in the covid years, his owners walked him without a leash. Nemesis dog would fence-fight with my dog whenever mine was in the yard, and it always took the owners a while to get nemesis back under control. His owners learned eventually to keep their dog on a leash, but it's been like 5 years and my dog is not going to forget. With any other dog, there's a reasonable distance we can pass by without a meltdown, but if my dog gets any sight or sound of the nemesis dog he will lose his mind.

[u/suzemo]

In no particular order: * dogs with blue eyes (I think they look like they're intently staring * very Large very pointy dogs (like dobies with an extreme crop I've seen more of lately) * dogs in the flyball area not flyballing. That just infuriates her * A puppy teammate. He's large and floofy. He's done nothing to her but she hates him, we made some progress this weekend, though. *Patch, the reactive boxer that lives next door (this is the #1 boss)

[u/thunderling]

Yessssssss and luckily we can avoid its lair until we are powered up enough to take it on.

I have never met this dog, and we've never seen it out and about. This dog lives in a house on my street and bangs on the window every time we walk by. Barking and frantically pawing so hard on the window, and the sound its nails make on the window carries pretty far down the street. I honestly don't understand how the owners of this dog can stand it.

I don't walk on that half of the street anymore during the day. Even when we walk by in the middle of the night, when the dog must be asleep or crated or something, my dog still reacts just to the dark, silent house. That's been our current project.

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