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Reactivity to new neighbors.

3676 Views 20 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  Laco, 
M
Hi everyone! I joined this forum a year ago when we first adopted our rescue dog (lab/hound mix), Kinzie. She came to us very anxious, nervous and reactive to other dogs and people. As I mentioned in previous posts, it was completely overwhelming at first and I wasn't sure I could do it. A year's worth of patience, consistency and love has paid off as she is much more calm and obedient now. We still have issues with reactivity, but much improved. She can ignore other neighborhood dogs now and is only reactive maybe 30% of the time (versus 100% before!)

That was, until last week when new neighbors moved in. Our old neighbor was a single guy who was super quiet. The new ones are a family with three young (noisy!) kids. Now her reactivity is almost like it was a year ago. She is on high alert in the backyard, barks loudly whenever they talk or move in their backyard. To make matters worse, one of the kids likes to yell back at Kinzie when she barks and will mock howl or yell back to her...which makes her bark MORE! I spoke to the family and let them know she is reactive and it will calm down in time, but to not yell back at her. The parents seemed so understanding and were really nice, but the kid still does it.

Im just frustrated. It feels like Im back at square one. I need some words of wisdom!
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For some children, a loud dog is a fearful thing. Their barking back may be an attempt to desensitize themselves from the fear by doing something they may see as humorous.
To have a parent tell this child to be quiet will be just about as effective as you telling your dog to be quiet, if both the dog and the child have underlying issues.
If your dog is reactive and so is that child, I suggest the same approach:

melly2577 said:
patience, consistency and love
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Doppelganger0337 said:
the parents said nothing about their child being afraid of dogs
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These parents may not be aware that the child could be stressed by this dog.
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I think those that have done more training will likely give good info for your dog, I have a suggestion, though. How long is the fence between your yard and theirs, and would it be in the budget to get some of that inexpensive roll up bamboo type fence just to give a bit of help? I realize that both child and dog could still hear each other. Maybe a radio played and vision blocked with bamboo might help just until other more time consuming solutions are put into effect?
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