Training Your Dog To Ignore Other Dogs: Why It Matters and 4 Methods To Get Started
Training your dog to ignore other dogs on a walk could potentially be one of the best skills you could teach your dog (and yourself). Whether you are struggling with a reactive dog, have a sociable dog or just an easily distracted dog, there is a huge benefit in teaching neutrality especially from early on.
In this blog post I’ll cover the importance of having a neutral dog but also 4 methods to help your dog stay focused on you, remain calm in distracting environments, and ultimately training your dog to ignore other dogs. Let’s get into itâŚ
Socialisation Vs Socialising
When starting this blog post I was going to use the term socialisation, however I feel there is a lot of confusion when it comes down to that word. When people think of socialisation in dog training they think of the general term of socialising which is actually completely opposite to what is meant.
Socialisation is going to an area and just watching the world go by. If you have a reactive dog, standing across the road from a dog park and letting your dog see (but not interact with) other dogs is socialisation.
Socialising is going into the dog park and having your dog interact with these dogs or meeting with a friend’s dog and hoping they get along.
Even though they are both different, the words are too similar which is why I prefer the term, neutrality!
The Power of Neutrality!
I fully believe one of the best skills you can teach a dog is to be neutral in their surroundings to the environment around them.
Whether you have a dog that is reactive or a dog that is a social butterfly, being able to teach them to be comfortable in the environment regardless of distractions and/or triggers is a very empowering skill.
This is where neutrality comes in. The ability for a dog to see another dog, or a stranger and not react in a manic manner such as barking, lunging, over excitement, jumping, pulling on leash etc.
Why Should You Focus on Training Your Dog To Ignore Other Dogs?
If you have a reactive dog whether it be through fear or overarousal you already know why training your dog to ignore other dogs is beneficial, if not crucial for everyone’s safety.
This section is more for those owners that have happy go lucky dogs, the social butterflies, the easily excited.
These dogs may not be an issue right now and you may even feel like you are depriving them from chances of being social with other people and other dogs but what may seem like easy going behaviour now can backfire as time goes on.
Consistently allowing dogs to interact with other dogs can lead to issues like reactivity, it can also lead to your dog seeking fun from these dogs and dragging you to go and say hi. This may not be an issue but in a few years time when your dog has more strength and still believes they are âentitledâ for that interaction you will regret making the decision for constant interaction.
Now I’m not saying never let your dog interact with other dogs. If you have a dog that doesn’t have any issues such as reactivity or will pull you to say hi to other dogs then having time for interaction is great but you must set those boundaries and structure so it is on your terms.
A big hole you can fall down here is having your dog end up in a state of stress and overarousal during the walk which can lead to unpredictable and reactive behaviour, especially if they run up to another dog that may not want the interaction.
Don’t be one of those owners who shouts âdon’t worry he’s friendly!â. That’s just an excuse for not training your dog and in that case they shouldn’t be off leash either way.
Take for example my dog Jasper. Jasper absolutely loves people and I made the mistake of letting him interact with anyone and everyone. This got to the point where he’d get excited about going for a walk because he knew the prospect of interaction was out there (putting him in the wrong mindset for the walk already).
The problem became that he wasn’t enjoying the walk for himself, he didn’t want to sniff, he didn’t want to explore, instead he just wanted to interact with people, even if they didn’t want to.
Our walks became a point of frustration and took a long time to fix and I believe this is one thing that a lot of owners don’t realiseâŚ.it’s easier to prevent issues from happening than it is to fix them after they’ve established.
4 Proven Methods on Training Your Dog To Ignore Other Dogs
#1 – Engagement Training
Engagement training is my favourite thing to go through with dogs and their owners.
The majority of dogs are fixed on their environment, whether it be other dogs, people or just the plethora of smells wafting around.
How many times have you walked your dog and felt like they were walking you? We’ve all been there, no matter whether you call their name, they just don’t care.
Engagement training is working to shift that engagement onto you.
This is easier said than done, engagement training does take a bit of work, mainly in low distraction environments and then working up until you can be around distractions but it is so worth the effort.
Imagine being able to walk past people, dogs and other smells with your dog walking calmly beside you engaged with you (trust me it’s such a great feeling especially when you’re used to being pulled around like a ragdoll).
The great thing about engagement is if you do it right you only have to use it when you need it, for example me and Jasper have worked with engagement for a while now to a point where we use it for structured walks. Simply put these are walks where he can walk ahead (not pull) but when it’s needed I’ll use our engagement work to bring him back to me into a heel position to pass certain distractions if needs be.
Engagement can be used in many other instances, if your dog is fixating on something or unsure or insecure in a variety of situations you can easily call them away.
They key is to start training this in low distraction environments and build up the reinforcement history and proof that behaviour.
#2 – Socialisation/Neutrality Training
Next is neutrality training. This is another great method of training your dog to ignore other dogs but also a great method to get your dog to be more comfortable and calm in their environment.
If you have a dog that pulls like mad, is always overstimulated on walks or if you are dealing with a reactive dog then this is a great option.
This is such an easy method for training as well, all you need to do is find a nice spot to sit and chill with your dog, preferably in an area away from stressors and triggers but still in that line of sight so your dog can see.
By being at a good enough distance your dog should not overreact (if they do you are too close and need to increase the distance). This enables a lot of dogs who are stuck in a habit loop of reacting to see that there is nothing to actually react about.
Many people like to reward good choices here which I recommend at the start as well, however, don’t rely too heavily on treats. I found that constant food rewards and even affection caused an increase in arousal and that switching to gentle praise allowed Jasper to settle down more in the environment.
#3 – Obedience Training
Another option is using obedience training. Now I’ve fallen out of love a bit with obedience training because I found that with engagement and neutrality, obedience sort of falls through naturally.
However, when teaching your dog to ignore other dogs, the two obedience commands I’d focus on are a strong âleave itâ and âwatch meâ.
I feel building a strong âleave itâ command is essential in the world of dogs and training but I really only use it for emergencies.
I like my dog to be curious about things and don’t want to call him off unless it’s actually going to cause trouble. However, some of you may prefer teaching a âleave itâ and a âwatch meâ to help when it comes to ignoring dogs.
Once again just like the majority of skills we teach our dogs, these are best taught in a low distraction environment and then added with distractions.
You could also argue that loose leash walking falls under this category too which would be very beneficial when it comes to dealing with distractions just like I mentioned about structured walks earlier.
There are so many options for teaching leash manners for dogs but my favourite is probably through loose leash walking games as these not only teach the skill but build engagement at the same time which will do wonders for when you are around distractions.
#4 – Be More Exciting Than The Environment
Finally, this is kind of a relationship segment. A lot of people say they have a great relationship with their dog but what I mean here is that your dog finds more fun out in the environment than from you.
A lot of us walk our dogs and don’t engage with them or use very mid-low value treats and sometimes don’t even reward the small things which in turn lead to the big things.
If you really want to make progress with your dog whilst out in a distracting environment you have to let your dog know that it’s worth their while.
- Use high value treats and toys as reinforcement
- Reward the small good choices they make, these will compound to better choices
- Be excited when they do the right thing
- Be relaxed around triggers
- Play with your dog outside!!!
- Advocate for your dog when needs be
We can’t complain that our dogs don’t acknowledge us when in fact we are just walking our dogs to walk our dogs. Have fun with them, show them it pays to listen to you and that you are so much more fun than other dogs. This small change will do wonders when it comes to training you dog to ignore other dogs and to focus on you in distracting environments when it comes to it.
Final Thoughts
With this information you can see why it is important to train your dog to ignore other dogs and develop the skill of neutrality.
If you want to have a calmer dog when you go out on your walk that isn’t pulling around or reacting to other dogs then you have 4 great methods that you can start working on today. This may take some time but training your dog to ignore other dogs and the art of neutrality will be a game-changer for you, trust me!
