Permission to share as long as Jill Porter/Faithwalk Aussies is credited.
The topic is how Aussies (or any dog) can get aroused by something behind a barrier like a fence or window. My example is about the one UPS man we get. My dogs can crowd in a corner of the fence up by the house and see him. He whistles and claps, like he’s trying to wind them up and it works. That can make them fence reactive and also more prone to redirecting aggression on each other because building frustration at a barrier can REALLY predispose a dog to redirecting aggression on pack mates. In a group of young, impressionable dogs, that is something I want to stop before it starts. So now when I see him pull in, I go out back and dispense kibble so the dogs are busy with me and not even over in that corner, reacting to the guy. They can’t see him and they stay calm even though they know he’s here. It’s a good training opportunity to work on a desired response vs a negative one. Now they will associate a delivery truck with a training/treat session, instead of building frustration while crowded in a corner of the yard fence.
This is a GREAT example of being PROACTIVE vs reactive in your dog training and management. The photo is my husband working them in a different part of the yard (since he’s not a photographer, I had him do what I normally do so I could take the photo.) But it shows eager, focused dogs waiting for a reward, vs wound up, reactive dogs who are frustrated by a stimulus they can’t reach and who could redirect aggression on each other.
These breeds, and all dogs really, are quite prone to getting over stimulated and taking it out inappropriately with their pack mates, and we have to be proactive not reactive. By that I mean we know it will happen so set up a training protocol that prevents it from starting and gives the dog something better to do instead rather than trying to react to it afterwards. When dogs are in the reactive part of their brain, and are over threshold, they can’t learn anyway. By keeping them below that threshold ahead of time we are able to get the desired result, which is dogs can can stay calm and focus even when something is happening that could trigger a reaction.