Whenever it’s time to have Juno meet a new dog, I start on leash in a large area, about 40 to 60 feet away from the new dog. I make sure I’m far enough away that Juno does not react wildly, but close enough that she clearly is paying attention.
I start by simply clicking and treating for looking at the new dog. I don’t really care what she does, and will click and treat even if she growls or looks stiff. After a number of clicks and treats, I’ll start to notice Juno looking at the other dog and then turning her head to me. At that point, I start withholding the click until she turns her head.
Then I slowly move closer, a few steps at a time, at each step, click and treating for attention, then for turning her head. If, at any point, the situation gets worse, I back up a few steps and start again. When doing this kind of work, or any animal training, you have to let go of the notion that backup up a bit is failure. It’s just part of training.
We repeat this process, moving forward slowly until we are about 20 feet apart. At this time I arrange with the other person to do a series of walk bys. We start at about 50 feet apart, and walk our dogs past each other, keeping about 10 feet between us at the closest. We walk past the other dog three or four times; until Juno softens up. Each time, as we get to the closest point, I’ll click and feed. Since I want her to see the other dog, I don’t lure her eyes towards me. I want her to take in the other dog and then get food.
After several successful passes, I ask the other handler to sit or stand their dog and face away from Juno and have the handler feed the other dog consistently. Juno and I will slowly walk by the other dog, keeping the leash loose. I click and treat as we pass the other dog. Each pass gets slower and a bit closer. We continue this until we’d pause for a moment near the dog and let Juno sniff the other dog’s butt. This routine will go on until we can have the sniff last several seconds. This phase can take anywhere from five to twenty repetitions.
Next we have a few options. I might choose to do a walk where we walk next to the other dog for a few blocks, while feeding constantly. After that we return to the open space and try face to face walk bys at a closer distance, asking for a pause or sit when we get to the closest point.
At some point, I’d ask Juno to ‘smootch’, which is her cue for sniffing/touching the dog near their neck. Each smooch would earn a click, treat and slight withdrawal.
After having Juno pass the stationary dogs a number of times successfully, we reverse roles. I ask Juno for a sit, stand or down and feed her as the other dog walks past her butt and takes a sniff. I repeat this until we can do this without Juno visibly stiffening or otherwise reacting.
Throughout the exercise, we maintain loose leashes and be prepared to increase distance quickly if things start to heat up. We use liberal ‘happy talk’ to keep attention and would take breaks from time to time to allow dogs to cool down if needed. If needed, we break the entire process into more than once session.
In all cases, I make sure both dogs are handled by people I trust to not be pushy. This is not something you want to try with an inexperienced handler.
If things go well, we go to an enclosed area and allow Juno to drag her leash while interacting with the other dog.
In this way, I introduce Juno to each new dog she meets. This will NOT work with all dogs, but is going faster each time. Juno’s problem seems to be with unfamiliar dogs; this process allows plenty of time to take in the information she needs to become a friend.
Once she is friends with a dog, she plays well.
This process was adapted from ideas learned from my mentor Nancy, the book Fight! by Jean Donaldson, as well as in the book Click to Calm by Emma.
I would learn much later that the transition from a non-contingent ‘see a dog, click, turn, feed’ to the operant ‘see a dog, turn, click, feed’ had healthy doses of classical conditioning as a by product, To many trainers, it looks odd to click when your dog is staring at another dog and causes some form of “yeah, but!” and “why are you clicking for the dog looking at the other dog?” This exact activity got me to loosen up a bit on the dogma about one way or another being the best way to work on an animal behavior problem.
Over time, I found using a clicker for this kind of work is optional and may even get in the way by adding another thing to manage in a tense situation. What is important is getting the food into Juno as the other dog is near. A clicker may give you a bit of a boost as it allows the dog to know that a treat is coming and may even cause the dog’s head to turn once the dog knows what it predicts. A clicker used to signal food in this was is called a bridge. It’s buys you some time to fiddle for food; having the clicker hand with food and using a happy voice as a bridge has been just as effective for me for the non-precision work I am describing here. Clickers are great for situations when you need to precisely mark behavior, but I consider them optional – trainer’s choice. In working with reactive or fearful dogs and nervous but coordinated owners, a clicker can provide the owner with something tangible to do rather than worry and act tense. In this way a clicker can be valuable by keeping the owner calmer.
I use a clicker when I’m training precise work, such as agility or shaping tricks. I teach their use in my basic manners or obedience classes, but don’t require them if a student has trouble managing, a leash, a dog and a bait bag.
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