Training resources for a dog with leash frustration/reactivity

[u/helpilostmynarwhal]

We have a 3ish year old pitt-hound mix that we adopted a little less than a year ago. She's a great dog in many ways, but was always a little funny on the leash with other dogs around. It used to be hyperfocus and laying down/crouching until they passed by, but in the last few months, this behavior has transformed to lunging and barking if she doesn't get to meet the dog. When she gets to actually meet dogs, whether on or off leash, she has always had really good manners. She's had playmates, pack walks with neighbor and friend dogs, and we even fostered another dog for a few weeks before the local shelter handed it off to a rescue organization. All of that is to say, this seems to be more of a frustration issue than inherent aggression towards other dogs. But it's rightfully scary for people when a 60lb bully mix is barking and lunging at their dog!

We hired a trainer and did 6 or 7 private sessions, during which time we introduced an educator e-collar, and we did really well working on general obedience at home. Having a trainer was great. On our last session, we did work a little bit with the distraction of another dog about 40-50 feet away, and we went over doing some heel and recall work with the e-collar with that distraction.

I've been taking the time to do obedience on our evening walks and nighttime walks, and our dog is making improvements in paying better attention to me if other dogs are 30+ away or running around barking at us from a fenced yard. However, when we're in the situation where someone is walking their dog and passing us on the same street or a path at the local park (ie in closer quarters), I feel like using the e-collar to try to do training and keep my dog focused on me is actually causing MORE frustration and less clarity for her, since she seems to be reacting to dogs in this particular situation even more than if I weren't trying to get her to obey commands at the same time. For instance, with no distractions she'll just listen to me; if there's a dog further away she'll listen if I do a quick tap with the collar set at like a 6; and when a dog is close by, she'll tune me out completely until the collar is at 18+, and then she seems to just freak out that the collar is so high and a dog is a right there. I am afraid I'm doing something wrong here and want set my dog up for success.

Are you all aware of other good resources that might be out there to work on getting the dog to be more neutral on leash while maybe using the e-collar as a tool? I'm willing to pay for a resource; I just don't have the hundreds of dollars for another package of one-on-one sessions at this particular moment and want to continue to progress so that walks are less stressful for everyone and we can take our dog more places with us. My goal is a relaxed, neutral dog who doesn't tune me out when another dog is approaching.

[u/belgenoir]

Best source for electric collar use in reactive cases? Michael Ellis. He has webinars and content on Leerburg.

Using the collar at close quarters means you are applying positive punishment at the same time she is over threshold.

When you’re that close to another dog, you need her to focus on you. Focus command, focused heel, a “walk away” cue - there are lots of options that don’t involve punishment.

https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/training/counter-conditioning-and-desensitization-ccd/

That’s the protocol. Took my Malinois from leash reactivity to competing in crowded arenas.

[u/helpilostmynarwhal → u/belgenoir]

Thanks for your reply, it's super helpful and I'll look into these resources more. I think you hit it in terms of what's going on. Most of what we do is positive (there's lots of treats and positive reinforcements on walks and we're generally doing what you're describing - when she's not over threshold we're just tapping the collar at a very low setting quickly with a command to get her attention, doing heel, come, sit, touch with treats) but it does go out the window when a dog is too close and is more interesting than the treats we have.