Fixing Leash Reactivity Method: Alternative Behaviors & Extinction (ABE)

Alternative Behaviors & Extinction (ABE): If you train an alternative behavior, the old behavior will become extinct, and the dog will no longer do it.

WHY DOGS LUNGE AND BARK ON LEASH

Dogs lunge and bark on leash because it works. Each time they do it, the other dog owner continues to walk past. The dog has no idea that the owner would have continued to walk anyway and didn't want anything to do with him. The dog thinks the other person's dog wants to attack him, and then he gets defensive to keep the other dog away.

How does it start? It could be any of these things below:

1. Dog had low confidence to begin with, and another dog played roughly with him (in a non-aggressive way), causing your dog to become reactive.
2. Dog got attacked because the owner failed to protect his dog from an off-leash dog. ALWAYS protect your dog. Carry a stick with you, a cattle prod, wasp spray, anything and USE IT on the other dog. KICK the dog if you don't have anything with you. If your dog gets attacked, it's on YOU. 
3. Dog attacked at a dog park. There's the old wives tale that if you bring an aggressive dog to a dog park, they will "work it out." So, many dog owners of aggressive dogs bring their own dogs to the dog park by some idiot's recommendation. Then, the dog bites other dogs in the park, and that dog could be yours. 
4. Dog hated leashed greetings, but the subtle signs (whale eyes, lip licking, averting gaze) were ignored and you allowed the greeting to happen anyway. Eventually, the dog begins to lunge and bark instead because the subtle signs didn't work.
5. Dog is actually excited by other dogs, but gets triggered by leash pressure. For example, the dog begins running toward the other dog in order to play. Dog hits the end of the leash, becomes fearful, and then begins acting aggressive. 

TRAINING ALTERNATIVE BEHAVIORS

By training an alternative behavior, you cause the other one to become extinct. But, for most people, this is difficult if you aren't using a control tool. I suggest a headcollar such as a Holt or Gentle Leader. Also, use a target stick. There's one by Terry Ryan (Clik Stick) that has a built-in clicker. Train the dog first to touch it with his nose, then train him to follow it in a straight line, in a curve, to the left, and to the right. Once you see another dog, practice this on a walk. Hold the leash in one hand and the target stick in the other. Before the lunging or barking even starts, present the stick in front of your dog's face and continue moving to get him to follow the stick, just like you practiced in the house. Then, jackpot with high value food rewards after he gets past the other dog without lunging or barking. High value isn't kibble. It's hotdog, cheese, liver, bacon, steak, or chicken. And ONLY use those high value rewards while having your dog walk past another dog. Make these treats special that he only gets when he follows the target stick.

LUNGING AND BARKING BECOMES EXTINCT

Eventually, after maybe a month or two, you can fade out the target stick. The dog has now forgotten about his old lunging and barking habit and has learned that calmly walking past the other dog will get the other dog to go away. The lunging and barking, since it hasn't been reinforced for a month or two, no longer exists. That behavior is gone, hopefully forever. 

WHY ABE WORKS BETTER

ABE works better than traditional counterconditioning and desensitization because you aren't actually training the dog to do anything. You're just shoving food in the dog's mouth until the trigger disappears from sight. And how often do you hear of a dog actually being cured using this method? Rarely ever. I have read forums where people have dealt with a reactive dog for up to 9 years, doing daily counterconditioning and desensitization following strict protocols (such as CARE or the engage-disengage game) and their dog was reactive for life. Other people have had some success but it took them several years. ABE takes a few months and the effects are permanent. My dog hasn't lunged at another dog in over a year since I faded out the alternative behavior.

One day, a dog was lunging and barking at my dog. My dog just calmly walked past. Another time, an off-leash dog came charging at me and my dog. I put my dog in a sit-stay, held out my stick to the aggressive dog, and shouted at it and threatened it until it backed away. My dog never broke out of sit position in order to fight, even though the dog was terrifying. Bared teeth, raised hackles, snarling like a wolf. I haven't heard of any dogs trained using the counterconditioning protocol be able to be calm around other dogs after only two months. Their method takes years, if it even works at all.

As I said, I used counterconditioning for two years. Every time my dog would see a dog, I'd feed him treats until the other dog was out of sight. For two years my dog still had intense anxiety around the other dog. The goal of counterconditioning is to get the dog to associate the trigger with positive things. Two years is a damn long time to constantly stop and feed on every freaking walk. Alternative behaviors top pointless feeding. 

Use a headcollar and target stick and you will get results in under a year, usually under 6 months time.