USA Dog Behavior Podcast
Are you struggling with a dog that is anxious, fearful, or aggressive? You’re at the right place. In this audio podcast series, Scott Sheaffer will explore insights and strategies to guide dog owners, veterinary practices, and dog trainers in overcoming these issues using scientific and humane methods.
USA Dog Behavior Podcast
Beyond the Fence, Using Proximity to Dog Parks as a Tool to Address Dog Aggression
Are you navigating the challenges of a reactive dog? In this episode, we dissect the misunderstood concept of 'socialization' and reveal humane, controlled methods to help your reactive dog overcome their fears. I'll walk you through a technique that works outside the dog park fence, offering behavior modification opportunities while keeping your canine at a safe distance from their triggers.
I discuss an axiom of dog behavior when it comes to visual triggers and why walking your reactive dog outside the dog park could be a technique you've been searching for. By the end of our chat, you'll understand why tossing a reactive dog inside a dog park to 'socialize' them isn't just ineffective—it could worsen their anxieties. So gear up and join us; we're sharing practical advice and strategies to turn a dog park into a behavioral tool.
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About Scott Sheaffer
Scott Sheaffer, CCBC-KA, CDBC, CPDT-KA, is a certified dog behavior consultant who has worked with thousands of dog owners and their aggressive dogs. Scott specializes in the assessment and treatment of fear, anxiety, aggression, and phobias in dogs six months and older. For more information about Scott, see USADogBehavior.com.
Disclaimer
If your dog is aggressive toward humans, consult an experienced, certified canine behavior consultant immediately and ensure your dog cannot harm anyone. This podcast is for educational purposes only and does not replace professional guidance. Scott Sheaffer and USA Dog Behavior, LLC, are not liable for outcomes resulting from the advice provided.
Hi, I'm Scott Sheaffer, your host. In today's episode, we're going to talk about dog parks. This is episode four of a 12-part series that takes you through the nuts and bolts of addressing the major types of dog fear, reactivity and aggression. You've probably heard someone say that you know that owns a dog. I'm going to take my dog to a dog park today to socialize them, and this will be coming from a dog. I'm going to take my dog to a dog park today to socialize them, and this would be coming from a dog owner who has a free or reactive or aggressive dog, and from this point forward, we'll just call them reactive dogs. You may have tried taking your dog into a dog park yourself. We're going to talk in this episode about how to properly use dog parks today to treat these triggers with your dog humans and dogs, that is but in a different, safe and effective way. Are you struggling with a dog that is anxious or aggressive? You're at the right place because in this podcast series, we educate dog owners, veterinary practices and dog trainers on how to overcome dog fear and aggression using humane methods.
Scott Sheaffer:My name is Scott Sheaffer and it's my mission to help you better understand your dog's behavior. The dreaded dog park. You either love them or you hate them. Some vets don't like them because of infectious diseases, the spread of infectious diseases, but many dog owners hate them because of a bad experience their dog has had while at a dog park. It seems like every YouTube video on dog training tells you that you should take your reactive dog into a dog park in order to and I hate doing this, but I'm going to socialize them. Socialize there's a word that's really misused and we cover it in some other episodes of the Grumpy Dogs podcast. Most people do this incorrectly, and today we're going to talk about a way to socialize your dog properly. We're going to talk about a technique that you can use at dog parks to help your reactive dog.
Scott Sheaffer:However, there's a twist on how we're going to use dog parks, and this twist avoids all the problems that we associate with dog parks mentioned earlier, and even some additional problems. Why is that? Because we're not taking your dog inside the dog park. We're working outside of the dog park with your dog, and here's why this works so well. We know that if we take your dog inside the dog park, we can have some problems that we were just talking about. However, if we stay outside the dog park, that's not going to be a problem, and the reason that we can do these exercises out of the dog park is because of an axiom in dog behavior, and that axiom, or that principle, is if a dog can see a trigger in your dog's case, that would be a dog or a human that they react to. If they can just see them, they're going to have a problem with it. And let's think about it In a dog park, which is almost always encircled by a chain link fence, your dog can see these dogs and people inside the dog park, but remember, if they can see it, there's a problem. Even though there's a chain link fence there and we're going to use this to our advantage your dog is going to be reactive to these triggers because the fence doesn't mean anything to him, and so this gives us an opportunity to do behavior modification exercises that are completely safe and under our control.
Scott Sheaffer:Before we get into the exercise, I want to say a couple of things about dog parks. Taking a reactive dog into a dog park is almost always a bad idea. That's why we stay outside, and we stay outside because of that line of sight thing. If your dog can see the triggers, it works just great, even when they're behind a chain link fence thing. If your dog can see the triggers, it works just great, even when they're behind a chain link fence. When we take a reactive dog into a dog park, we lose control of our dog and we're not able to do any kind of behavior modification exercises with them. They are literally out of our hands. We don't even have the leash, we have no control and they are exposed to all kinds of triggers, whether human or dog, in ways that are going to be probably too much for them, and this exposure can make things worse. A lot of dog owners, by the way, think well, I've taken my dog into a dog park and they seem to be fine. They must enjoy dog parks and benefit from them because they seem to do so well at dog parks.
Scott Sheaffer:However, if you really observe these reactive dogs at dog parks, you'll notice that most of them, if not all of them, don't interact very much or very well with the other dogs. They choose to walk around the perimeter fence by themselves or tend to stay close to their owners. They're hiding, they're not having a great time, since dogs are off leash at dog parks and are able to zig and zag more freely. They are able to selectively avoid dog and human triggers. This makes them appear more comfortable. This zigging and zagging that they can do is something they can't do when they're walking with you on a leash. In short, if you have a fearful dog, reactive dog, aggressive dog, don't take them into a dog parks. Use the outside of the dog parks.
Scott Sheaffer:Before I tell you about the dog park treatment exercise in today's episode, I want to quickly remind you that I have a bunch of free dog behavior articles on all kinds of dog behavior subjects that are searchable on my website. Go to grumpydogspodcastcom and select the articles tab if you're interested. And now for the exercise. It's comprised of six simple steps. We're going to desensitize and counter condition your dog using this technique. All right.
Scott Sheaffer:Step one select a dog park near you that has some real estate surrounding it, in other words, some grass and stuff that gives you some room to work with your dog. You can find dog parks all around you by searching for them on Google Maps. Just put in dog parks and since Google knows where you live, it's going to populate the answers with those near you. It's always good to find about three or four of these dog parks, as you'll want to do this exercise we're going to talk about in a second at multiple dog parks. So your dog will learn to generalize what they're learning. In other words, for them to learn that, no matter where they are, that dogs and humans aren't so scary, not just at one dog park. We're going to do a second dog park, a third dog park, maybe even a fourth, and they start to generalize what they're learning. All right, so you've selected a dog park. Step one. Step two You'll want to go to these dog parks when dogs and people are there. In other words, we need the triggers to be there, or this won't be valuable. We need your dog to see triggers. Best times are evenings and weekends, when the weather is nice, in other words, when people aren't working. All right, we have selected some dog parks. We know when we need to go. Now let's start doing the exercise.
Scott Sheaffer:Step three select a distance from the fence where your dog is curious, but not panicky, aggressive or fearful of the triggers that they are looking at behind the dog park fence. And how do you know what this distance is? You know what this distance is because if this is the dog park fence, and this is your dog. When you get too close to the dog park fence, they're going to start becoming reactive, and what does that look like? That looks like barking, growling, lunging, whining, really pulling toward the fence. You don't want any of those things. You're too close. You want to be far enough away so that your dog is just sort of casually looking like oh, what's back there? Hmm, what's that about? Just kind of looking like this. Okay, too close. Your dog is doing those aggressive type behaviors that I just mentioned About. The right distance is they're looking, but that's about all. Too far, they're not looking at all. They're completely disinterested. So what we're looking for is actually called the yellow zone, or I also call it the effective zone. It's a zone, it's a distance where they're kind of looking, but nothing more than that. Okay, that's what you're looking at.
Scott Sheaffer:Okay, now that you've established that, let's move on to step four. Before I do, though, when we actually start to do the exercise, who's going to determine what this distance is? Your dog is. Just remember that your dog is going to tell you what this distance is, not you. You're looking at your dog to determine that. Once you've established this distance, I want you to start walking your dog in big circles about 20 to 30 feet in diameter. So here's the dog park fence, here are your circles. So this is 20 to 30 feet in diameter. Right, you're doing like this. You just, these circles, by the way, are stationary, you're not moving around or anything, you're just you're stationary, doing these circles. Your goal, remember, is far enough away, to be far enough away from the dog park fence, so your dog just appears curious. This could initially be a couple of hundred feet or much closer, depending on what your dog is telling you. Here we are All right. So here we are doing this. Now let's move on to step five. Dog is just kind of curious, is kind of looking, everything's going great.
Scott Sheaffer:Every time your dog looks at the dogs and humans in a dog park while doing these circles, give them a very tasty and very small training treat. This is the counter conditioning part of the exercise. You're helping your dog make a new, positive association with the triggers. In the episode notes I'll provide a link with information on a couple of dog training treats I really like. So it looks like this so here's the dog park fence. Let's get that right about there and here you are doing these circles, okay, every time your dog looks, no matter where they are on the circle treat, treat, treat, treat. It may happen pretty quickly, which is why I'm really a big fan of having those treat bags. And one way you know your dog is really looking at those triggers is they'll their head will pop up a little bit and the base of their ears will come up. Even on floppy ear dogs It'll kind of pop up like this, do like that. That's a real good indication your dog is looking directly in the triggers inside the dog park.
Scott Sheaffer:Once your dog, while doing these circles, becomes almost bored with this circling at a given distance, it's time to move the whole circle a little closer to the fence. So it would look like this You're doing these circles and you're going to just shift a few feet closer, but only when your dog is not worried anymore about these things behind the dog park fence. Their curiosity is starting to wane, they're getting bored with this, and that's a good thing. Moving closer very slowly is the desensitization part of the exercise. The counter conditioning is the treat part. The desensitization part is moving closer very slowly. We are both counter conditioning with treats noted earlier and desensitizing simultaneously with the distance to the dog part fence, doing it very slowly. This exercise is simple, but we're using solid animal behavior science.
Scott Sheaffer:How long should you do this exercise when you go to the dog park Doing it for I don't know. 20 minutes in a single session would be pretty good. That would be excellent. 20 minutes is a long time to do this. I recommend scheduling two sessions per week at various dog parks until you can routinely take your dog right up to the fence. You're outside, of course, the dog park and he or she is no longer concerned with the dog and or human triggers behind the chain link fence.
Scott Sheaffer:After doing maybe 10 to 15 of these sessions, you should begin to see significant improvement with your dog. Of course, every dog is different and you may need to do more sessions. Your mileage and your dog may vary. As they say, when you can. Here's a good test when you can get out of the car with your dog at the dog park and walk pretty much right up to the fence and your dog is not really that interested in what's going on behind the fence, you're making great progress. This is one of the big indicators and it's very rewarding when you start to see this happen.
Scott Sheaffer:The benefits of this exercise can be seen when walking your dog in the neighborhood. In other words, this exercise, as it should, translates to the leash walk. Your dog will be able to get closer and closer to these triggers walk. Your dog will be able to get closer and closer to these triggers without being so reactive. Your dog will be less concerned with triggers when taking leash walks with him or her in your neighborhood. Remember, this exercise is always done outside of dog parks, so don't take your dog into the dog park even after you've achieved your goals with your dog.
Scott Sheaffer:If you haven't listened to the first three episodes of this 12-part series, please do so before starting this exercise with your dog. You'll learn important foundational skills that will be really helpful when you try to do this exercise. So here's your assignment if you wish and if you're ready to do this with your dog, search for about three to four dog parks near you and start doing this exercise with your reactive dog at least a couple times a week for the next few weeks. Figure on 10 to 15 sessions total. In our next episode in this 12 part series, we'll continue to provide you information and tools to help you with your reactive dog. Thanks for listening, as always. If you'd like to leave me a message, please go to grumpydogspodcastcom and scroll to the bottom of the page, where you'll find a place to leave me a written or voicemail message. Thank you for joining me today. Don't forget to subscribe and share this podcast with other dog lovers. Stay tuned for our next episode, where we'll continue our dive into the world of dog behavior.
