Giant reactive towards people in a big city

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eli thorne
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Joined: 15 Aug 2021, 09:13
First Name: Eliza

Giant reactive towards people in a big city

Post by eli thorne »

Hello! Excuse the novel πŸ˜‚
I'm a dog walker for a 11 month old giant right now and the owners have raised this dog very well. Unfortunately there's a but.
Theres only one issue that they were very adamant about me truly knowing and handling it the way they advised. It's really not so much people but rather large bags, phones, scooter, skateboards or vois. People who jogg or yelling as well. He can pass them just fine if he sees them in front of him but if they come too fast or sudden then he will lunge towards them and scare the people.

He was walking so calmly with me that they actually said "wow we have to take him to a busier street so we can provoke him and you can see how he can really be haha!". As we got the main street, before I knew it, a person went on a skateboard behind us and it was like his mind disappeared, lunging and barked repeatedly. I held my ground and guided him back. It doesn't last too long but I can definitely tell that this is what people mean when they say they're a strong dog needing a strong handler!

I know he used to be reactive of bicycles as well but the husband started to take him out near a busy bike lane which mended that problem! Maybe that's is all he needs here as well? Lots of rewards for looking and being calm, slowly getting closer and closer?

Now I'm curious of your thoughts! Have you dealt with this in your giants? Is it an age thing? Reactivity out of fear or guarding? How would you deal with this situation to get him to calm down?

They know I come from a sport dog background, so they told me if I wanted to try anything new, just run it by them for approval so that they can keep it consistent with their training as well. Really great owners ❀️
I think I might ask if we could continue their scentwork training as they've done a course with their dog already but that comes later once we have a nice foundation of markers and understanding between us first πŸ˜„
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Dawnspell
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Re: Giant reactive towards people in a big city

Post by Dawnspell »

Hi and welcome.

I find the term "prevoke him" rather worrying. I know they're meaning more testing the boundaries but if you have a dog with a history of biting children as an extreme example. If they've ignored a child and not bitten them you don't then take them to a playground full of children to see if they will bite or not :-s

At 11 months he's an adolescent and is going through changes which means he's going to react differently in some situations. Unfortunately these new behaviours during adolescence can become new learned behaviours if he's allowed to continue to be exposed to the stimuli and rehearse the behaviours.

Rather than trying to expose him as with the bike scenario I would be keeping him away from such situations and instead working on him being able to disengaged from the environment and focus on you. This can be started at home in the house then as he succeeds up the difficulty to the garden ,then quiet areas away from the home. Once you can reliably get his focus on you then you could introduce one trigger item in a controlled environment. By that I mean if he reacts you can get him away quick so he doesn't rehearse the behaviour.
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HugoBrum
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Re: Giant reactive towards people in a big city

Post by HugoBrum »

It was interesting reading your thread and experiences but my reaction was why take him to an area were may he be provoked / react to something that is not familiar to him especially if something unexpected comes from behind? To be honest, it would disturb me let alone the dog which I have encounter on many occasion in the past with cyclists who I call the silent assassins being the main cuprits! As you have found out, they are very strong dogs so a good firm grip of the lead is required in some instances when you are in an unexpected or unusual situation.

Certainly when I had Hugo, everything was a gradual process from when he was pup were he got used to most things even the 'silent assasins' were to the point nothing would faze him (well almost). I certainly in the main never took him to a High Street as there were too many uncertainities although he would be ok, the main problem, never got far down the High St due to the warm attention he received from passers by!

I certainly think what 'Dawnspell' has suggested in her final paragraph is good advice / tips and that is the way forward - in other words 'gradual' but dont forced the situation.
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zeta1454
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Re: Giant reactive towards people in a big city

Post by zeta1454 »

Absolutely agree with Alison and Doug above. Don’t force a dog into situations they find frightening or react badly to and any training to be done very gradually and carefully in non-threatening environments initially until you are confident he is focused and relaxed with you / whoever is walking him.
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Re: Giant reactive towards people in a big city

Post by Schnauzerluv »

eli thorne wrote: ↑15 Aug 2021, 09:54 I know he used to be reactive of bicycles as well but the husband started to take him out near a busy bike lane which mended that problem! Maybe that's is all he needs here as well? Lots of rewards for looking and being calm, slowly getting closer and closer?
Maybe I read this wrong, but I personally agree with lots of reward for remaining calm just watching at a distance. But it's important to keep below threshold. If at any time he reacts, it's important to go back a step (give more distance) until that is solid again.

The goal is for him to be indifferent to these triggers, associate the triggers with good things (treats or praise or both).

But until he is not reacting at all, for the dog's safety (and other pedestrians) it's a good idea he doesn't have a chance to lunge, bark and scare people.

When people come from behind (like on a bike path), I give him less slack on lead so he doesn't trip the cyclist and it also kind of forwarns him that someone is coming up. No big deal to me, no big deal to him. I usually wave and they are off and away.
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