Those photos are fantastic! Sorry I can't help with your question.

 

I have tried several different collars over the years, and I personally really like the Mini Educator E-Collar by E-Collar Technologies. I find that it has plenty of range from a super low level of stim to higher levels as needed. It also has a vibrate function as well as I believe a tone.

 

Love the photos. I have no experience with correction collars. Just had to comment on how well the photos portray the different personalities

 

I definitely wouldn't do a bark collar. The worst dog fight I've ever had to help break up was started by one. It took three people to pull the dogs apart. The dog wearing the collar was barking out of excitement and got shocked. He blamed another dog near by and went after him. Since it was a bark collar, the noise of the fight kept setting the collar off without human intervention (or the ability of the humans to stop the shocks.) The dog wearing the collar got more and more aggressive as the shocks continued. I got bitten on my hand. Fortunately I was wearing gloves, and I was able to extract my hand from the glove and let the dog continue mauling the glove. It could easily have been a career limiting injury for me, as my job at the time required me to do a lot of typing.

 

i've never used a bark or shock collar so please take my thoughts with a grain of salt. shock/bark collars are an aversive with a high risk of fall out (meaning new behaviours may be created in order to avoid the collar or the shock, often times worse than the barking). in my (limited) experience, it's much harder to pinpoint the exactly moment of "no don't do that" rather than "yes please do this" -- i deeply empathize with being frustrated with barking and feeling overwhelmed. i've seen dogs develop much more severe behaviour from the use of shock collars, though my sample size is small.

 

I don’t have experience with poodles. But we used the SportDog brand of collars with our terrier under our trainers guidance. She responded well to it and loves her e-collar because that means it’s treat time.

 

How old is Limerick? I don't remember. Is it possible that time will solve the issues by him settling down on his own as he ages?

And I think that if you did go ahead and get them trained with a collar, YOU might know how to use it and keep things under control, but you said your parents need to feel comfortable with the dogs. My concern is that they wouldn't have the same level of experience and confidence as you. Which would land you with more probs than you started with. If they aren't completely comfortable and able to control the dogs now, getting the collar might not help.

 

I discuss using the electronic collar with Phoebe in her 52 weeks thread at the bottom of page 10 and on page 11.

52 weeks of Like a Diamond in the Sky - Phoebe

The first pic was taken today when she was supposed to be running around outside with the kids. For some unknown reason, she’s pretty sleepy today. Second pic- We had a good nap this afternoon, her happy in the crate and me on the floor beside the crate.

www.poodleforum.com

She has never been shocked with it - only beeps/vibration. It was weeks before she learned I was the one controlling it. I always had the controller in my hoodie pocket and never let her see it. And I accidentally trained her to an almost perfect recall with the beep. 😂 I would call her while pushing the beep if she was committing an offense (bothering the cat, focusing on the cat, etc.) and I would push the beep button simultaneously. Of course, I wanted to be more interesting than the cat so I had super high value treats. Now I can use it for a distance recall rather than yelling for her. When she hears the beep she comes running! If she didn’t stop with the beep, then I would use the vibration to get her to break her focus on the cat, and then she would pay attention to me so I could call her for her high value treat.

I didn’t like needing to resort to the electronic collar, and I don’t really recommend it. It’s not going to fix your dog, of course. It is just a tool that might help some dogs. I’m glad it helped mine.

 

All great points.

Kiley, the mini mix who has since passed, was trained on an e-collar (which i no longer have). She would go after small animals to the point of bolting into traffic (hence why she was walked on a prong collar) - or, when she was off leash in my parents yard, she would wind up head first in my parents pool. I had to go in after her once or she would have drowned. After a couple more close calls, because of course she never learned, under the guidance of a trainer we got her to break off of chasing these small animals using the e-collar.

But this was, obviously, a LONG time ago. I know methods and ideas have changed. It worked for her which is why i'm looking into my options for the boys (mainly Limerick.)

Where i'm at with Limerick:

• He is two years old.
• He is neutered (as of two months ago give or take).
• He is reactive on walks. His response to stimulus is to bark like a total idiot and completely ignore anything other than the stimulus.
• He is reactive in the house. He barks at the window even if he can't see anything. If he thinks he heard something, or that something is going on, he barks.
• It is not just the barking, it is the screaming. And the jumping. But not lunging/pulling. He acts totally ridiculous about it. Sometimes he will listen to a command WHILE barking like a fool.
• He gets overly excited indoors. Especially with guests. Both dogs do, but Lim will knock you over. Or smack you with his paws hard enough to hurt.

Some of the things i have tested, in preparation for talking to the trainer:

• Does he respond to treats or toys when he is "riled up"? Nope. Not at all. Even high value stuff. Ignores it completely.
• Does he respond to anything aversive when he is riled up? Nope. Note that i have not tested this harshly or extensively. Just enough to be able to say that a leash correction with a Prong collar does nothing for him in this state. (Dublin, on the other hand, needs only a tiny tug to redirect his focus.)
• How far away does he have to be to NOT react? Well.... He will focus on and react to a stimulus from as far as several houses (maybe half a mile) away. The farther away, obviously, the easier he is to calm.... BUT he will still watch or look for the stimulus.

Things i have noticed:

• He doesn't have to see it to react to it. In house especially, if he THINKS there is a sound or something going on he will bark.
• He is very very very observant on our outings. He is constantly looking. Stimulus can include small animals, dogs, cats, people.... lawn mowers going off.
• It is NOT fear.
• It is NOT aggression.
• If he gets close enough, or is in a busy place, he is QUITE but still very excitable.
• He will act like a fool while following some commands. Sit/stay, he screams as he does it.

I'm trying to keep track of everything. It's not easy!

Thankfully, Dublin is not nearly as crazy.

As for my parents - by them needing to be comfortable with the dogs, i mean that the boys need to stop being silly when they come over (more or less lol). Right now they go berserk - partly because i rarely have guests, so we never get the chance to practice that sort of thing.

I'm not looking for my parents to train them, or handle them with training tools, or anything crazy like that. My parents come to visit when i'm home and sometimes they come let the boys out to potty when i'm at work - they don't take them for walks, or in public, or otherwise really do anything with them. I just need the boys to be calmer, listen to commands, etc. Dublin alone is fine. Limerick ramps things up.

Ideally, not jumping on guests. Not barking. Not bowling people over. I would like them to learn place command. That sort of thing. Not so much stuff i would use an e-collar or bark collar for, really.

The e-collar bark collar would be more for, well, the barking in general. Again - just researching my options. I know a big part of this will be finding out how to drain Limerick, because he has WAY more energy than Dublin. But also have to find what motivates him. How to redirect. That sort of thing.

 

As you research your options, remember there were some good suggestions offered here:

What worked for you - reactivity and desensitization?

So, Limerick is healing up well from his post neuter oops. And now that he is on the road to recovery, i want to start thinking about his training and socialization again since we've fallen a bit behind. A training class would be ideal but isn't in the cards at the moment. So, i'm asking you...

www.poodleforum.com

I’ve also started a reactivity support thread if you need to vent or read about others’ experiences. I’m no stranger to how frustrating it can be. Keeping a dog under threshold so they can think clearly enough to learn alternative behaviors takes time, patience, and planning. But you’ve got a good, enthusiastic boy. You’ll figure this out.

 

I'm keeping all suggestions in mind. Doing a lot of research. Thanks for all the ideas, so far! I'm open to any and all thoughts. And there have been some good ones, as well as some good points made. I love posting on here, everyone is incredibly helpful!

Right now is research phase. When i get back from vacation will be the working phase, lol. Currently, Lim is getting yard time for exercise - equal parts running around and some simple training exercises. Walks are short and infrequent, i give him six foot leash to sniff and explore instead of keeping it structured. The only "rule" i have is he can't pull, and he does great at that.

Even when he's riled, he doesn't so much pull/lunge as he does bark and hop in place.

We do some indoor fun training too. Sniff games for treats. He loves snuffle mat, but recently learned that he can pick it up and shake it to get the treats faster. And we sit on the front porch a couple times a day, just watching. He gets full range of the porch on leash and i reward calm. He's slowly starting to relax for that.

Right now he's asleep under the big window, on the cool air vent of course, after we just ran around the yard.

Another set of play photos:

 

...but recently learned that he can pick it up and shake it to get the treats faster.

Say it ain't so! 🤣😂.

 

He’s a beautiful boy. I think you’d both love the training games over at SpiritDog. Their reactivity course could provide the exact sort of structure you need for this next chapter, but there’s lots of free content as well.

 

I have nothing to add other than rather than use tools is to train as early as possible what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Not to say they can't still be taught when older, it will just take consistency and time. From the size of your pup I can see why you are looking for options but any discomfort or pain is not going to get the results you want. JMO

 

You might find this Kikopup video helpful for the issue of Limerick overreacting to visitors.

I think you should also consider the fact that you, as a dog groomer, have some additional considerations that don't apply to the rest of us. You interact with dogs on a professional basis. That means you should hold yourself to a higher standard than the average pet owner. The CCPDT page on LIMA behavior intervention is perhaps a useful place to start thinking about what that higher standard might look like.

Another consideration is that you will be exposed to a variety of different dog personalities throughout your career. Some dogs will be at least as reactive as your Limerick. Some owners will be even more stressed than you and far less experienced in dog handling. It is quite possible you will be the closest thing to a dog authority these owners have access to. Limerick is a challenge, but he is also an opportunity to learn skills you can use in your shop work and also to help your clients with their dog problems.

 

I don't believe that reactivity is something you can solve with an e-collar. e-collars cannot be used to train things, only to proof things that the dog already understands. I'm pretty sure you will only make things worse if you try to use an e-collar to change reactive behavior--you are ramping the dog up rather than calming him down. I would strongly advise the kikopup videos recommended above, as well as other training methods that are meant to work on reactivity. Can't give you any particulars as this is not a problem I have had with my dogs, but I really strongly believe that an e-collar is not the answer here. I have used them for other things, mainly recalls, but only once my dog already fully understood what he was expected to do and how to avoid being shocked.

 

My trainer uses them with her GSDs. And Maisie's BFF (ironically named Taser) aussiedoodle just got one.
In the decade BP (before poodles) I had border collies. Many of whom require only the tiniest excuse to become irretrievably neurotic. I've seen BC who would not leave the porch after receiving a shock in the yard. So their owners had to use puppy pads for their 40 lb dogs. Until they surrendered them to rescue, which is where I met them.
I am way too traumatized by my BC rescue experiences to ever use an e-collar - but Taser and the GSDs seem OK with theirs.
I think there are dogs who can handle a correction like that and dogs who can't. I know, you're not electrocuting them. But the sudden surprise of even a vibration would scare the crap out of a soft dog. I'm not a pure positive trainer - I think fair corrections have their place. But wow. I don't know. I am personally not comfortable with an e-collar as a fair correction.
If I had a dog who was running into traffic or - in my trainers case, GSDs who will swim into the Atlantic headed for France - I might feel differently.

 

No advice but a few questions.

Is Lim 0-top speed instantly or are there gear changes? If there are differences, do they vary by the trigger itself? the distance? the time of day? immediate prior activity?

My example:
My boys are reactive to certain dogs on walks. There are two triggers. One is bouncy puppy behavior, the other is similarities to the dogs that attacked them a few years ago.

While I'm not doing the process very well, we're having some success with my variation of LAT. I'm usually scouting pretty far ahead so when I see a trigger I get the boys to sit and focus on me and the treat in my hand. This is usually half a long block or more away, and the boys haven't yet crossed the starting line. We cross the street and just wait on the other side.

I place myself between them and the trigger and alternate between focus on me, focus on the trigger, and receiving a treat. If they've only just crossed the line I can still usually get them back but if they have more than a few seconds it's almost impossible to get them back til the trigger has passed.

 

cowpony - Every dog i've owned has taught me something new. I look forward to the challenges of working with dogs with different needs. And yeah, i do use what i learn on dogs in my shop and to help educate owners. I like to know how to use ALL tools and about ALL methods as i generally get a variety of people who use so many different methods/tools.

Including dogs trained on e-collars, prong collars, etc etc. I have had people ask for help with certain behaviors, and have recommended my trainer to others with success. I will look into those links, though! Thanks!

reraven - agreed, most tools are not meant to take the place of training. They are aids to HELP training. In Limerick's case, he knows the commands but his attention is more on the reactivity than me or the commands. So i was thinking it might be of use in the sense of NOT correcting him but as a means or re-gaining his focus or "snapping" him out of it.

When i trained Kiley on it years ago, the goal wasn't to correct her but to provide a stimulation that would make her go "hey, whoa, time out, i'm supposed to be listening". She KNEW the commands leave it and come already. And that's how we used it with her. The lightest setting would make her pause, break her from her focus on the small animal she wanted to chase, and i would follow it up with a command (leave it, come, etc) and then heavy reward her for listening. We kept her on leash, to make sure we could follow through, until she was reliable and understood what we were doing.

I hope that makes sense!

Pearl - YES!! I agree! Some dogs are not suited for e-collar work. Or corrections at all. I would NEVER use one on Dublin, for example, because he is what many would consider "soft". Even the beeping or vibrating feature on the newer collars would probably make him nervous. My goal is not to scare them. So, he is 90% positive only, lol. A sharp "uh uh" is enough "correction" for him!

Limerick is very different, though, and is hardly phased by ANYTHING. Which is why e-collars and bark collars have been mentioned (and why i'm researching.) He is already walked on a prong collar, to give me a little bit more control. When he gets riled up he doesn't even notice leash corrections so i don't even bother. He does respond to very mild leash pressure when he is NOT riled.

Rose - His response varies by trigger.

In house, he will go from totally focused on me (IE say i have egg for breakfast, he will sit in front of me and wait for me to share) to barking like a fool and i won't even know what caused it. Noise outside?!? Zero to 100 in like a second or two. Dublin won't even react to whatever Limerick heard. If someone walks by the door when it's open and the boys see that person, Dublin will watch with interest but not bark and Limerick will go from doing whatever he was doing to crashing into the door and barking like a fool.

Once he is like that, i can pull him away and he will sit when i say sit, but even if i stand in front of him he will continue to bark until the trigger is gone. He generally won't "leave it" on command, though he knows the command. He will remain focused on that trigger until it is well out of sight.

Out of house, he is always super aware and looking around. He will pinpoint on something all the way down the road. Outside, when he first notices something, there is a more noticeable gear shift. I can tell when he's spotted something and i can see him starting to get amped up if i watch carefully. When this happens i will look for it, acknowledge it, then try to redirect him. If we're far enough away he will remain focused on it but QUIET. He will follow me off to the side, or in the opposite direction, and will engage with me to a degree but will remain focused on the trigger until he can't see it again.

He starts barking at it when we're closer to it. I would say.... four or five houses away he starts to get loud about it and stops responding to me. If i turn him around and walk away, he will continually look back. Or try to walk backwards. When the trigger is about two houses away he gets absolutely ridiculous.

BUT if they approach us and we're in much closer contact, he shuts up other than the occasional bark or woof. IE crowds. Or the brave should who is like "OoOo Poodle can i say hi". If i can reach out and touch the person (or dog) then Limerick goes quiet and actually watches DUBLIN for cues. Which is funny, because Dublin will quietly but happily go right up to strangers for pets. Then Limerick is all up there too.

Then he barks as we walk away. So. He's an interesting one. If i can get my friend out here again i'll have her record us so everyone can see more of what i'm talking about lol.

 

cowpony - Every dog i've owned has taught me something new. I look forward to the challenges of working with dogs with different needs. And yeah, i do use what i learn on dogs in my shop and to help educate owners. I like to know how to use ALL tools and about ALL methods as i generally get a variety of people who use so many different methods/tools.

Including dogs trained on e-collars, prong collars, etc etc. I have had people ask for help with certain behaviors, and have recommended my trainer to others with success. I will look into those links, though! Thanks!

reraven - agreed, most tools are not meant to take the place of training. They are aids to HELP training. In Limerick's case, he knows the commands but his attention is more on the reactivity than me or the commands. So i was thinking it might be of use in the sense of NOT correcting him but as a means or re-gaining his focus or "snapping" him out of it.

When i trained Kiley on it years ago, the goal wasn't to correct her but to provide a stimulation that would make her go "hey, whoa, time out, i'm supposed to be listening". She KNEW the commands leave it and come already. And that's how we used it with her. The lightest setting would make her pause, break her from her focus on the small animal she wanted to chase, and i would follow it up with a command (leave it, come, etc) and then heavy reward her for listening. We kept her on leash, to make sure we could follow through, until she was reliable and understood what we were doing.

I hope that makes sense!

Pearl - YES!! I agree! Some dogs are not suited for e-collar work. Or corrections at all. I would NEVER use one on Dublin, for example, because he is what many would consider "soft". Even the beeping or vibrating feature on the newer collars would probably make him nervous. My goal is not to scare them. So, he is 90% positive only, lol. A sharp "uh uh" is enough "correction" for him!

Limerick is very different, though, and is hardly phased by ANYTHING. Which is why e-collars and bark collars have been mentioned (and why i'm researching.) He is already walked on a prong collar, to give me a little bit more control. When he gets riled up he doesn't even notice leash corrections so i don't even bother. He does respond to very mild leash pressure when he is NOT riled.

Rose - His response varies by trigger.

In house, he will go from totally focused on me (IE say i have egg for breakfast, he will sit in front of me and wait for me to share) to barking like a fool and i won't even know what caused it. Noise outside?!? Zero to 100 in like a second or two. Dublin won't even react to whatever Limerick heard. If someone walks by the door when it's open and the boys see that person, Dublin will watch with interest but not bark and Limerick will go from doing whatever he was doing to crashing into the door and barking like a fool.

Once he is like that, i can pull him away and he will sit when i say sit, but even if i stand in front of him he will continue to bark until the trigger is gone. He generally won't "leave it" on command, though he knows the command. He will remain focused on that trigger until it is well out of sight.

Out of house, he is always super aware and looking around. He will pinpoint on something all the way down the road. Outside, when he first notices something, there is a more noticeable gear shift. I can tell when he's spotted something and i can see him starting to get amped up if i watch carefully. When this happens i will look for it, acknowledge it, then try to redirect him. If we're far enough away he will remain focused on it but QUIET. He will follow me off to the side, or in the opposite direction, and will engage with me to a degree but will remain focused on the trigger until he can't see it again.

He starts barking at it when we're closer to it. I would say.... four or five houses away he starts to get loud about it and stops responding to me. If i turn him around and walk away, he will continually look back. Or try to walk backwards. When the trigger is about two houses away he gets absolutely ridiculous.

BUT if they approach us and we're in much closer contact, he shuts up other than the occasional bark or woof. IE crowds. Or the brave should who is like "OoOo Poodle can i say hi". If i can reach out and touch the person (or dog) then Limerick goes quiet and actually watches DUBLIN for cues. Which is funny, because Dublin will quietly but happily go right up to strangers for pets. Then Limerick is all up there too.

Then he barks as we walk away. So. He's an interesting one. If i can get my friend out here again i'll have her record us so everyone can see more of what i'm talking about lol.

You've left some helpful information about Lim, thanks for that. Just for clarification on responding to this post, I'm an e-collar user, but I don't think an e-collar will help much once Lim has reached his peak in reacting as you describe here. Once a dog is in that highly reactive state, their brain is not in learn mode.

The e-collar is a good tool for foundation training which will automatically solve the issues you described in this post.

I wouldn't close yourself off to using an e-collar on Dublin. The e-collar has low static settings that are friendly that might help Dublin. Some of these static sensations, we can't even feel as humans. The ones we can feel just feel like you're barely touching yourself with your finger. The e-collar can be way less invasive than a regular collar or even us using a harsher tone of voice.

 

Not to derail the thread... I'm reading that and I'm thinking... This is what I get to look forward to.

Vinnie has discovered his Big Boy voice recently and is using it every chance he can. 🙄

 

Haven’t read all the responses, but I’m immediately struck that we’re focusing on symptoms. My current pup was wildly reactive from 8-12 months of age. By starting at ground zero with training (for us it was positive reinforcement games, relaxation protocol, and not exposing him to any stimuli/thinking about getting ahead of the behaviors), we made massive progress. I would also consult a veterinary behaviorist who could advise on meds while you train. E-collars on psychologically stable dogs out working in a field, I have less concern with, but on an already reactive, emotional dog….that might backfire/mask or suppress the symptoms and erupt at a later date if the collar is removed. The goal really should be addressing the root causes.

And, apologies for overstepping, as you work with your dogs, please feel very comfortable pausing on dog #3 until you know both resident dogs are solid, reliable, and stable with no aversive in sight. Three dogs is much more of a challenge than 2.

EDIT: if Limerick is so stimulated that he doesn’t respond to you, please start at ground zero with him in a zero stimuli environment. Gradually add in minute distractions. The world sounds like it’s just too much for him and he’s not looking to you as a safe guide in life. His lil brain is on fire. ☹ ❤❤❤ it’s entirely something you can help manage! I’m in awe of my boy’s progress and am excited about his future. Lastly, consider addressing these root causes too bc the stress he’s under predisposes him to illness as he matures. A calmer, happy dog is a healthier dog.

I’d say good luck, but instead I’ll say — enjoy the journey of bringing Limerick peace and building the deepest connection you’ve ever had with a dog!

 

I agree with the getting ahead of behaviors. Instead of waiting until he fixates on something and loses it, try to anticipate what's about to happen and get his attention firmly on you before he loses it. If you just can't keep his attention, move away from the distraction until he can. I still don't like the e-collar for this, because again you are ramping up instead of calming down, and also you run the risk that he will associate seeing other dogs/people/whatever with getting shocked and blame it on them instead of his own behavior, which could lead to even bigger problems.

 

We're a ways off from deciding on using an e-collar or not: and there have been many great points made that suggest it isn't a great idea with him for this. And a lot of alternate suggestions. Which is why i love this forum!

When we get back from vacation i have a sit down with the trainer that we've been using, to discuss everything and my options. If we can do a few one on one sessions then i would like to do that, to start, and then work him into a group class or their reactivity workshop depending on his progress.

We're also a ways off from dog # 3. I always said that a third would come with time, after i've worked with the boys. You know, bar emergencies (like when we took Adam to prevent him from going to shelter.) I would love to have a sibling of Limericks, but his mom's last litter will be due to go home in late fall and that is not enough time to work with him on this. I also can't afford it.

There's no time frame on anything, really. Thankfully, Dublin is a stable influence. He gets riled but not to the same extent, and he's easy to redirect. He's also very food motivated. So when Limerick is acting like a fool, at least Dublin is just standing there (or sitting) and going "wtf bro, chill out".

Over vacation, i'll be looking into all the links and suggestions given in both threads. I'll have plenty of time to do so, as we don't have many plans other than "beach". The dogs will be staying at a local kennel, which used to belong to the vet and is still affiliated but is now independently operated. I wish they could come, but that was veto'ed by my parents (and Limerick's propensity for carsickness).

 

I'm pretty new at dogs, so I don't have much experience. One opportunity I think you can exploit is his reactivity in the house. You could get someone (or several someones) to help you train him by making outdoor noises, knocking on the door, walking past the window, or whatever triggers him. The second before he becomes reactive, click and treat. I think you'll need to succeed at home before you will be able to succeed when out and about. Again, not much experience here so I could be wrong.

 

My mpoo was extremely leash reactive. Initially, a dog could be barely visible off in the distance and he would start to react. Once he was reacting he would not respond to cues and seemed to lose any interest in treats. I worked for a while with a private trainer and I learned to carefully read his body language. The second I observed the slightest stiffening in his posture, I changed direction and put a yummy treat right up to his nose. That kept his arousal state low enough for him to eat the treat. It took a long time, but gradually he was able to get closer to the stimulus before his body would start to stiffen.

Shortly after I had adopted him he developed a chronic GI issue. It took many months to diagnose the problem and then many more to stabilize him. The first two years I had him I was mainly focused on getting him healthy and was not addressing his leash reactivity at all. Unfortunately, because of the delay, the reactivity became ingrained and was that much harder to deal with. I wouldn't say he ever became a dog who could calmly pass by another leashed dog on a sidewalk. But he did improve and those embarrassing barking/lounging behaviors became far less frequent. My approach was to cross over to the opposite side of the street whenever possible. If I was unable to cross the street, then I would go to the very inner edge of the sidewalk (or even a little bit into someone's driveway) and ask my dog to sit facing the sidewalk. I would stand in front of him to block his view and I would feed him treats nonstop while the other dog walked by.

While I was living in MA I had the good fortune of taking my mpoo to reactive dog classes taught by Emma Parsons, the author of "Click To Calm". My mpoo made more progress in these classes than he had in the previous years when I was working with him by myself. The highly controlled environment was invaluable. What is difficult in the "real world" is that you are faced with the unexpected, and at times it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to keep your dog under threshold.

Kukla has some reactivity issues, although they are far less severe than those of my mpoo. However, if another dog is approaching, I still must cross the street to keep him under threshold. I know I am not working with him as much as I should. I would like to find a good place where I can have him lie on his mat and see dogs at a distance, then gradually reduce the distance as he gets better. I often will sit with him on our driveway, but most of the time nobody with a dog walks by.

I don't really have any advice for you that hasn't already been mentioned, but having had a highly reactive dog, I wanted to let you know that I empathize with your situation with Limerick. I think it's great that you are addressing his issues and seeking assistance from a trainer.

Lastly, those are fabulous photos of your beautiful boys!

 

First, I LOVE your photos. Topper,my nearly 3-year-old blue mini, started demand barking at my husband as soon as we sat down for dinner or to watch TV. I tried offering to play with him myself when I finished eating, but he wanted dad. We had him "relax" on his mat while we were eating, but having dad walk around afterwards put him over his threshold. I got a bark collar from Stop Woofer that I can set to beep of just vibrate. The first time we tried it, Topper stopped after one or two barks. As soon as he stopped barking, we praised him and offered treats. He soon learned that the collar was a good thing and once even brought it to me to put it on him! I think it works because the demand barking is much more manageable. Dad has been away for a few days and guess what? No demand barking at all! To summarize, I think it just interrupted the barking and with praise and rewards, Topper soon learned to make better choices.