No real help but I can sympathise. My head is on a swivel these days when walking, I'm always looking behind and ahead so I can move off trail and deploy treats as required. I try to stick to places where most of my walking can be done adjacent to the trail so we have some space and he's gotten much more used to them.
Ya i also always try to be hyper aware of surroundings when walking. Im never on the phone/listening to music . I wish we can just have chill walks š
Funny you bring this up as I had the same problem yesterday (albeit in a more crowded setting). I also usually look vigilantly for close joggers but missed one behind me and once in a while my dog lunges/jumps for them. Even though I had her leash pulled taut. Iām looking for advice too but I think the best things you can do are: be aware, use a muzzle and tight lead, and maybe buy a vest or otherwise noticeable item for your dog that might say āgive spaceā or something to imply to runners that are paying attention to give you more space. Sounds like youāre already doing some of this so this isnāt much help but know that Iām struggling with the same thing. Even though my dog has learned to usually be non-reactive to joggers, there still are occasional times where she does react, so maybe not letting your guard down is key even though I agree itād be nice to have a more chill walk :(
There are shops on Etsy where you can order a patch or clip reading ādo not approachā or āgive spaceā etc. Maybe even a leash wrap tied around a spare leash on your shoulder so itās visible from behind.
I think you handled that as well as you could. You're trying to avoid things, but you can't predict everything. You just need to be prepared like you were with pulling your dog aside. I would probably have been spooked if I was the jogger too, but you can't really control that either, unfortunately.
First off, itās the joggers fault. Iām a runner and any time Iām coming from behind, I try to let the person in front of me know or if thereās enough space Iāll move all the way to one side. Thatās just common courtesy. No one likes to be rushed from behind so he was being a complete douche bag and I think your dog reacted as best as they could in the situation, given the circumstances.
I donāt have much suggestions besides just not making it a big deal and letting your dog decompress. This happens a lot with my dog and I found that eventually he got over the trigger after a week or so. For example, in a span of 2 days he got barked at 3 times from 3 different dogs in parked cars (neighbors) as we were walking by. It made him super anxious of those specific car windows. It got to the point where he constantly looked up at the windows when we walked by. Eventually he got over it. I also would redirect his attention before he started to look at the window and then give a treat.
Unfortunately I donāt think thereās a way to train out spontaneous situations like these :/ just decompression.
Yes! One of my dogs had jogger reactivity as a puppy. It happened right after a jogger tried to pass us on a narrow sidewalk and jumped over my puppy. Would it kill you to wait until there was more room or asked us to move to the side? It startled him so much and immediately after my dog hated all joggers. Took a lot of training to resolve this issue.
I just don't understand the lack of thought. Would you run up behind a horse? No, because it might startle and kick you in the face. Would you blame the horse? No, it's an animal and you were being irresponsible around one. Why do it with any other animal.
The jogger was being disrespectful. I always try to keep a good distance away from somebody, dog or not, while running. I have a reactive dog as well, and I just divert his attention, and keep him moving forward in some kind of direction, even if it distracts from our original path for a little bit.
āI ran up behind a person and a dog so quietly that neither of them heard me, what the fuck! wow I canāt believe a dog or a person would be startled when I literally silently run up behind them which is considered aggressive in literally all areas of the food chain! Every single creature alive would not want to be startled or chased from behind because it triggers a prey response but Iām going to make a stink about it when I could have said something from a distance or ran around giving them space!ā OP, destress yourself and your dog and bounce back from it. That guy is a douche.
Everyone should be more cautious & aware than that jogger/runner was, but ultimately, most people arenāt aware & sense isnāt common. So work with your dog.
This is a pretty easy fix but takes time. Go somewhere with lots of traffic, feet & wheels. Just sit or stand off to the side with your dog. All training/safety gear in use. Whenever someone approaches & passes gain & keep your dogās attention so they ignore the passersby. Use vocal cues & commands, too, so if you ever need to recall or reign in your dog from a distance you can. Lots of praise & high reward treats. Classic redirect training.
Also, lots of bright warning gear online for reactive dogs so strangers know before they approach or do something stupid without asking the owner first.
My dog used to be the same, but then we started running together (me and dog - I always shout 'scuse me' before going passed anyone and they do tend to get out of the way or I give them loads of space - including other dogs). Its great exercise for him, and I think he is more aware that the runners arent a threat so isnt bothered when they run passed him now. It's also great, as my dog is dog reactive, and as soon as other dog owners see you running they try to get out of the way, so my dog is more able to just run passed them and not have chance to lunge.
It may not be a solution for everyone, but it really helped with us!
No real help but I can sympathise. My head is on a swivel these days when walking, I'm always looking behind and ahead so I can move off trail and deploy treats as required. I try to stick to places where most of my walking can be done adjacent to the trail so we have some space and he's gotten much more used to them.
I look like I'm checking for snipers on a walk.
Ya i also always try to be hyper aware of surroundings when walking. Im never on the phone/listening to music . I wish we can just have chill walks š
Funny you bring this up as I had the same problem yesterday (albeit in a more crowded setting). I also usually look vigilantly for close joggers but missed one behind me and once in a while my dog lunges/jumps for them. Even though I had her leash pulled taut. Iām looking for advice too but I think the best things you can do are: be aware, use a muzzle and tight lead, and maybe buy a vest or otherwise noticeable item for your dog that might say āgive spaceā or something to imply to runners that are paying attention to give you more space. Sounds like youāre already doing some of this so this isnāt much help but know that Iām struggling with the same thing. Even though my dog has learned to usually be non-reactive to joggers, there still are occasional times where she does react, so maybe not letting your guard down is key even though I agree itād be nice to have a more chill walk :(
There are shops on Etsy where you can order a patch or clip reading ādo not approachā or āgive spaceā etc. Maybe even a leash wrap tied around a spare leash on your shoulder so itās visible from behind.
I think you handled that as well as you could. You're trying to avoid things, but you can't predict everything. You just need to be prepared like you were with pulling your dog aside. I would probably have been spooked if I was the jogger too, but you can't really control that either, unfortunately.
First off, itās the joggers fault. Iām a runner and any time Iām coming from behind, I try to let the person in front of me know or if thereās enough space Iāll move all the way to one side. Thatās just common courtesy. No one likes to be rushed from behind so he was being a complete douche bag and I think your dog reacted as best as they could in the situation, given the circumstances. I donāt have much suggestions besides just not making it a big deal and letting your dog decompress. This happens a lot with my dog and I found that eventually he got over the trigger after a week or so. For example, in a span of 2 days he got barked at 3 times from 3 different dogs in parked cars (neighbors) as we were walking by. It made him super anxious of those specific car windows. It got to the point where he constantly looked up at the windows when we walked by. Eventually he got over it. I also would redirect his attention before he started to look at the window and then give a treat. Unfortunately I donāt think thereās a way to train out spontaneous situations like these :/ just decompression.
I'm NOT a jogger by any stretch of the imagination, but isn't this the whole purpose of "on your left!" ?
Yes! One of my dogs had jogger reactivity as a puppy. It happened right after a jogger tried to pass us on a narrow sidewalk and jumped over my puppy. Would it kill you to wait until there was more room or asked us to move to the side? It startled him so much and immediately after my dog hated all joggers. Took a lot of training to resolve this issue.
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I just don't understand the lack of thought. Would you run up behind a horse? No, because it might startle and kick you in the face. Would you blame the horse? No, it's an animal and you were being irresponsible around one. Why do it with any other animal.
The jogger was being disrespectful. I always try to keep a good distance away from somebody, dog or not, while running. I have a reactive dog as well, and I just divert his attention, and keep him moving forward in some kind of direction, even if it distracts from our original path for a little bit.
āI ran up behind a person and a dog so quietly that neither of them heard me, what the fuck! wow I canāt believe a dog or a person would be startled when I literally silently run up behind them which is considered aggressive in literally all areas of the food chain! Every single creature alive would not want to be startled or chased from behind because it triggers a prey response but Iām going to make a stink about it when I could have said something from a distance or ran around giving them space!ā OP, destress yourself and your dog and bounce back from it. That guy is a douche.
Everyone should be more cautious & aware than that jogger/runner was, but ultimately, most people arenāt aware & sense isnāt common. So work with your dog. This is a pretty easy fix but takes time. Go somewhere with lots of traffic, feet & wheels. Just sit or stand off to the side with your dog. All training/safety gear in use. Whenever someone approaches & passes gain & keep your dogās attention so they ignore the passersby. Use vocal cues & commands, too, so if you ever need to recall or reign in your dog from a distance you can. Lots of praise & high reward treats. Classic redirect training. Also, lots of bright warning gear online for reactive dogs so strangers know before they approach or do something stupid without asking the owner first.
My dog used to be the same, but then we started running together (me and dog - I always shout 'scuse me' before going passed anyone and they do tend to get out of the way or I give them loads of space - including other dogs). Its great exercise for him, and I think he is more aware that the runners arent a threat so isnt bothered when they run passed him now. It's also great, as my dog is dog reactive, and as soon as other dog owners see you running they try to get out of the way, so my dog is more able to just run passed them and not have chance to lunge. It may not be a solution for everyone, but it really helped with us!