# Night time heightened suspicion/leash reactivity - strategies?



## reraven123 (Jul 21, 2017)

When you see somebody approaching, get her attention on you and tell her "it's OK, I see them." Don't stop or change speed, just let her know you know they are there and will take care of it, she doesn't need to react. Put her on the opposite side of you from them. I teach my dogs "behind", which means to go behind me and switch sides. If she is fixated on them and won't give you attention, stop. Bring her back to you with the leash and make her sit and give attention and ignore the passing people. If she won't (can't) ignore them, you need to move her farther away until she can. Turn and walk away from them instead of passing. If people think you're acting weird, just tell them she's in training!


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

reraven123 said:


> When you see somebody approaching, get her attention on you and tell her "it's OK, I see them." Don't stop or change speed, just let her know you know they are there and will take care of it, she doesn't need to react. Put her on the opposite side of you from them. I teach my dogs "behind", which means to go behind me and switch sides. If she is fixated on them and won't give you attention, stop. Bring her back to you with the leash and make her sit and give attention and ignore the passing people. If she won't (can't) ignore them, you need to move her farther away until she can. Turn and walk away from them instead of passing. If people think you're acting weird, just tell them she's in training!


Thank you! This is basically what we are doing. I will just try to be more tuned in to her at night and work harder on making sure she has enough distance to ignore them, which lately is dramatically more than she needs in the daylight.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

We struggle with this sometimes. I find it helps to remember how bad their eyesight is. Gives me a little more compassion when I’m feeling frustrated.

It might also also help you to pair the “I see them” with something yummy, otherwise those words might actually heighten Oona’s alertness and over time become a cue for her to start barking. That’s something we accidentally did with Peggy.

Can you adjust your nighttime route a little to give Oona more space and improve your chances of keeping her under threshold?

A couple of nights ago, we had a quadruple whammy on a dark and rainy bedtime walk: a dog walking behind us _the whole time_, a dog tied up outside a store, a dog approaching us as we turned back towards home, and then _another_ dog appearing from the shadows across the street. I thought that last one was going to push her over the edge, but then we stepped onto a little stretch of sidewalk that was separated from the street by a railing. It was amazing how that really only symbolic barrier visibly relaxed her enough for us to distract and treat her.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Oonapup said:


> I will just try to be more tuned in to her at night and work harder on making sure she has enough distance to ignore them, which lately is dramatically more than she needs in the daylight.


Yes, this. My husband gets frustrated when Peggy can perform at 100% in one context but only 50% in another. I try to gently remind him that 50% may actually be taking _more_ effort from her than the 100%.

Because I’m tired in the evenings and just want to get the whole thing over with, I’ve definitely slacked on bedtime potty walk counter-conditioning. This thread is reminding me to step it up. Thank you.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

PeggyTheParti said:


> Yes, this. My husband gets frustrated when Peggy can perform at 100% in one context but only 50% in another. I try to gently remind him that 50% may actually be taking _more_ effort from her than the 100%.
> 
> Because I’m tired in the evenings and just want to get the whole thing over with, I’ve definitely slacked on bedtime potty walk counter-conditioning. This thread is reminding me to step it up. Thank you.


My partner reports Oona's 'fails' without much interest in understanding why it happens, which is frustrating. He rarely brings treats with him and is less attentive than I am when walking her. At least I got him to stop using the flexi-leash but his expectations for her are not always calibrated right. 
Last winter, Oona's first, we did most of her potty breaks in the yard, and definitely all of the evening ones. So this is her first winter she has been expected to do this much public walking in the dark.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

PeggyTheParti said:


> Can you adjust your nighttime route a little to give Oona more space and improve your chances of keeping her under threshold?


Thinking about this one. We could resume using the yard for nighttime potty but have found she is quicker to pee on a quick walk whereas she will faff around in the yard. We can use the big empty school field after 6 PM which avoids passing people and decreases leash reactivity since I usually have her on a long line there, but there are sometimes other dogs playing and in the dark that becomes a whole other thing (though less of a worry than the people reactivity, to me. When a person is with a dog she is fully absorbed with the dog, or sees the dog as an endorsement of the human and no longer worries about the people - priorities, LOL)


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Maybe just pick your battles. Use the yard when you don’t have the energy to train (or when your partner doesn’t want to carry treats or follow the protocol you’ve decided on). That way Oona isn’t rehearsing undesirable responses.

Also, know that you’re not alone. We’ve been in an apartment building for a couple of weeks while visiting Canada, and the long, dark evenings regularly erupt with the sounds of spooked dogs.


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## star (Feb 20, 2011)

My older poodle doesn't see well at night. Depending on how dark it is maybe carrying a flashlight might help


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## I_love_dogs (May 30, 2021)

This is Loki's first winter. He is okay in the dark or full light, but he isn't doing well with shadows from street lights or porch lights. Could that be what Oona is reacting to? They may look like people with creepy shadow monsters following them.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

I_love_dogs said:


> This is Loki's first winter. He is okay in the dark or full light, but he isn't doing well with shadows from street lights or porch lights. Could that be what Oona is reacting to? They may look like people with creepy shadow monsters following them.


She does sometimes look twice at things like lawn decorations (reindeer etc), but I haven't noticed any reaction to shadows in particular. She's recently reactive to people walking toward/by us on the sidewalk at night. And it seems to be generalizing to the daylight as well, but she's been especially tense at night this week.

We had a pretty good walk this evening including being able to walk past two kids roughhousing with snowballs on their lawn. Hopefully we can work through it.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

You may have already seen it, but this is a really helpful resource: Reactive Dog Training: Tips To Help Your Dog Get Better


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

Today was really good. I was able to accompany Oona into the vet's for the first time in her life, and she did awesome with her checkup and vaccines, stepping on the scale, all of it. Afterwards we walked up the plaza toward the pet store where we bought treats and she was able to stay with me for all of it even though there were other pedestrians, construction, and someone with a dog. This makes me think that it's partly dark and partly about her getting into a habit of being reactive on our block. Counter-intuitively, when there's more going on she's more attentive to me (kind of like when we are off leash walking somewhere new, and she is less secure so checks in more). 

Tonight I took her for a post dinner pee walk in the school field on her long line, and she did tons of checking in and running around. Then when she let out an anticipatory bark when we walked by a yard where yesterday a chocolate lab charged the fence, her bark echoed against the school buildings on the far side of the field and this goofball got into a full on barking contest with her echo. Silly silly girl. Hoping she can figure that one out. It's not the first time she's been spooked by the echo but it's the first time she's carried on so long about it.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Good job at the vet, Oona! That’s great. Isn’t it such a relief to get to go inside with them again?


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## kuriooo (Feb 17, 2010)

Oh, this is interesting. I’ve noticed Kali spooks easy at night on walks. She is a bit timid generally, so I assumed this was just her.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Good job at the vets Oona! What's her latest weight? She's just about full grown now, right?


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

PeggyTheParti said:


> Good job at the vet, Oona! That’s great. Isn’t it such a relief to get to go inside with them again?


Yes! I had never been in with her even once, they were doing curbside medicine from when we brought her home. And after her very first shy visit at 9/10 weeks, they reported that she did fine, so I was a bit nervous about whether me being there would undermine her good behavior. But she was super brave and compliant with everything and I was able to treat her while she got her shots to distract her.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

kuriooo said:


> Oh, this is interesting. I’ve noticed Kali spooks easy at night on walks. She is a bit timid generally, so I assumed this was just her.


It makes sense that a more timid dog would have any worry amplified when they can't see their environment well.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

94Magna_Tom said:


> Good job at the vets Oona! What's her latest weight? She's just about full grown now, right?


She's 26.4 kg (54 lbs) and 16 months tomorrow. Not sure of her height, I would have to measure her but my guess is between 25-26 inches. I had expected a 45 lb female like her mother, but oh well! The vet says she is perfectly healthy and a great weight. She's likely getting spayed in January.


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## Phaz23 (May 31, 2020)

I would try a couple of things- 

1. Using Control Unleashed’s “Look at That” when she sees something boy is not yet “concerned” about it call her make or say “yes, a friend” or whatever in a cheerful tone and give her a treat. Then create distance. Never do this when she’s already reacting or you might be reinforcing the behavior (not the emotion but the behavior).

2.Make sure she never gets self-reinforcement from the behavior by either always keeping her under threshold for reaction and/or using tools such as gentle leader, front clip harness, or even a properly trained prong or slip lead (only use these if she understands yielding to leash pressure very well).

3. Play with her at night. Bring her favorite toys, treats, and yourself and show her how fun night time can be and that there’s nothing to be worried about. Set up a blanket somewhere safe and do her favorite games and tricks

4. Practice Calmness protocol at home and outside to teach her to self soothe.


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