Distance is your friend! Crossing the street is ok!!
Thanks for your response but I think your dance party analogy is somewhat over the top. Passing by occasional people or dogs on a hike is hardly the same as being grabbed and hugged at a loud party. .
I can understand how you may feel my analogy was over the top. Sometimes, though, I think we humans underestimate just
how stressful things can be to our dogs.
Something as simple as passing a few strangers and a dog or two shouldn't be a big deal, right? For many dogs it is not a problem, in fact they would be happy in this situation. But- fear based reactive dogs can merely see a dog far away and honestly go into panic attack mode.
My Gracie dog was like that. Pretty much seeing a dog (cat, deer, etc) at any distance, even if we were in my car, blocks away, she would freak out and bark, growl, lunge, etc. It was terrible. I had never had a dog like this before, so honestly, it was very scary and troubling (and embarrassing!!!) behavior. All fear based.
What worked for us? Counterconditioning. LOTS of it!!!!!!!!!
I gradually over time changed Gracie's mindset with counterconditioning (CC) to think seeing other dogs would predict good things like amazing food, praise, happy things.
Is she 100% perfect now? Heck no!!!!!!! But she is so vastly different now. Night and day difference. She can actually
think things through now, instead of just instantly panicking and (over) reacting.
I didn't suggest you always keep your dog isolated or away from stressful events forever. Just use caution so no one gets hurt and your dog doesn't get overwhelmed. Use distance as your friend. Work towards decreasing her safe distance space so she can approach scary stuff. Like maybe your dog can see a dog at 500 ft at first and not bark. Work towards being able to see a dog at 100 ft gradually, for example. Not all dogs have to actually meet. But the goal is to reduce our dog's stress so they will not need to react (growl, bark, lunge, snap)
Sometimes I think people think that over time, with no dessensitization work or CC work, thier dog will magically get better. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. (not at all saying this is you)
About crossing the street upon seeing other dogs:
Yes, we cross the streets when we see other dogs! It is not reinforcing that there is something to fear like you are mentioning. Unless you are screaming or yelling at your dog as you are bolting across the street!
Instead, crossing the street allows your dog's brain to be able to process the training that you are working on bc you are allowing your dog to be at a safe distance for your dog.
Remember, what you think is a safe distance is probably not the same as what she thinks!!! If she feels threatened, it is very real for her. Fear is fear. No dog chooses to feel fearful. Giving her space between her and the scary stimulus (other dog or person) will help her to be able to work on your counterconditioning since she will remain underthreshold.
A dog cannot generally learn if she is over threshold. Brain just registers fear or panic or stress.
Just like a child at a dance. Sometimes a shy child can panic at just the
thought of being in a place like that.
Does that help clarify? Hope this helps you guys. I know it is hard having a reactive dog.