I've never had a dog so this is a little new to me and I’m hoping someone can give me a bit of advice.
A few years ago, a friend got a dog but never really did much training with her. Due to a few issues my friend is having, they’re struggling to walk her ,so I’ve offered to help out. She is a Labrador and just under two year old, around 16 months.
The problem is that whenever she sees another person or dog, she starts pulling and barking. Today I thought I’d try doing a bit of training with her. I took some treats and watched for the moments when she started to notice other dogs.
When she did, I’d show her a treat and ask her to sit. It wasn’t perfect, but it did seem to help a little (she was still barking). I also asked her to sit now and then when it was just the two of us, hoping she’d start focusing more on me rather than everything happening around her.
My worry is that I went through nearly an entire bag of treats in just one hour. I’m planning to break them into smaller pieces tomorrow, but I have a couple of questions:
- Does this approach seem like it could work?
- Is it okay to give her this many treats in the short term while I try to reduce her reactivity?
- Assuming it isn't okay to use that many treats do you have any other suggestions? I was thinking of cooking some plain chicken for her?
- Is there a time frame where things should improve? I ask this to know if what I'm doing isn't working.
I’d just like to get to the point where I can walk her twice a day without the stress. While it doesn't happen often, sometimes I can tell I'm annoying other dog walkers and it makes me somewhat anxious.
Any tips or advice would be really appreciated.
Thanks!
submitted by /u/Diezelboy78
[link] [comments]