Barrier Frustration? [ & being TOO social ]
Would love some ideas guys 
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Wraith LOVES people & dogs, & I mean, REALLY loves them. When on leash, or behind something, [ ie: in a situation where he can't get to someone he wants to meet ] he goes CRAZY barking. Thankfully, every person [ & dog ] he's met who he's done this to realizes he just wants to play, but I'm more worried for when he gets bigger & looks more scary LOL [ not to mention, he drags my ass along ]
When he does get to a person, he greets them for a few seconds, then loses interest & comes back to me or Bri.
When he gets to greet a dog, a play session ensues. lol
I'm assuming the barking is from barrier frustration? [ when he's offleash, or dragging a leash, he just runs up to the person / dog, doesn't bark or anything ] He also does this when he's behind something like a sliding glass door, or the pool screen.
Would a good idea be to make him sit & wait patiently until he calms down, then allow him to greet? Any ideas?
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Also...slightly related, how are NK when it comes to Barrier Frustration?
Thanks guys! ~
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Wraith LOVES people & dogs, & I mean, REALLY loves them. When on leash, or behind something, [ ie: in a situation where he can't get to someone he wants to meet ] he goes CRAZY barking. Thankfully, every person [ & dog ] he's met who he's done this to realizes he just wants to play, but I'm more worried for when he gets bigger & looks more scary LOL [ not to mention, he drags my ass along ]
When he does get to a person, he greets them for a few seconds, then loses interest & comes back to me or Bri.
When he gets to greet a dog, a play session ensues. lol
I'm assuming the barking is from barrier frustration? [ when he's offleash, or dragging a leash, he just runs up to the person / dog, doesn't bark or anything ] He also does this when he's behind something like a sliding glass door, or the pool screen.
Would a good idea be to make him sit & wait patiently until he calms down, then allow him to greet? Any ideas?
---
Also...slightly related, how are NK when it comes to Barrier Frustration?
Thanks guys! ~
Comments
I'll second what Jess said, but also share that I had horrible success with that approach on Joey. It was probably my fault for not being patient enough, but after months of trying I finally gave up.
You can also sweeten the deal for him by using treats. When he's in that "mode", have him sit and "watch me". Treat. Repeat. Try to condition him to look to you when he wants to greet another dog.
Also, when approaching on leash, if he gets too excited and tugs, turn and walk away. When he relaxes, begin approaching again. Repeat.
Training will take lots of patience from you and Bri. In this case, I would say you are training him out of a behavior that is common in the breed and those are the most difficult behaviors to transform. I don't have anything to add to what everyone has said other than be patient and you may have to learn to accept this behavior if all else fails.
But, what I did was just start talking to her and going through training exercises. I asked her to sit, then to jump up (yeah, I tell Rakka to jump up all the time) and I'd give her lots of praise. Then we'd take a break and walk around. Did she completely lose interest in the dachshunds? No. She still wanted to go see them, and she kept lunging toward them every once in a while, but the training exercises took a lot of the edge off and helped her calm down. This was the first time I'd tried it, and it didn't work perfectly or immediately, but it was certainly more effective and enjoyable (for both of us) than just yanking on her leash and telling her to stop (which was what the owner of the dachshunds were doing, because they were basically barking the whole time).
Next time I go out, I'm going to take a squeaky tug. Those are Rakka's all-time favourites, and I need to start making walks to the playground more fun, I think. She enjoys the walk (well, in this case, Noah biked her around for a bit and then joined us at the playground), but then we get there and she just has to stand there watching all the kids and dogs running around. The apartment building nearby allows dogs, so there are quite a few dogs in the area. In fact, as I type this I'm kind of realizing that I'm stupid for not bringing a toy and a long line every time... lol...
Here are a few articles that may help...
http://www.dogdaysnw.com/doc/Protocol_for_Relaxation-_Karen_Overall.pdf
http://www.aspcabehavior.org/articles/77/Impulse-Control-Training-and-Games-for-Dogs.aspx
http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/you-can039t-always-get-what-you-want
Having written that, I have found a lot of barrier frustration goes away with maturity.
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As for NK...
Its been my experience that Shikoku Ken are very much predisposed to barrier frustration. I'd say that Kai Ken are predisposed as well, but it manifests in a less over-the-top fashion than the Shikoku - but its still there. There was about 2 years where we couldn't walk Ahi and Kona next to each other as if they saw another dogs they would tear each other apart out of frustration. Now tho, with maturity, Kona has little-to-no barrier frustration and Ahi's has reduced by at least 75%.
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This is Doggy Zen, as instructed by Virginia Wind.
Doggy Zen Steps 1-10
Dog who have learned self-control are less likely to be reactive. Unfortunately the usual obedience classes don’t teach life skills like self-control so we have to do it.
The added benefit of doggy Zen is that the dog won’t try to take candy from babies!
General rules:
Always be calm.
Other than when instructed, keep your (very verbal species) mouth closed We always want to talk to “help” our dogs get it right. Self-control is best learned by the dog learning to make the right decision without interference. That’s what the clicker or marker word does, it “marks” the right behavior.
Always end on a positive.
To avoid excess typing, when “mark” is used, it means click or say your marker word.
Doggy Zen Step 1
Put a treat in your hand and close your fist.
Put your fist right in front of your dog's nose, I like to be sitting and rest my forearm on my leg.
Let the dog sniff, nibble and mouth at your hand. If the dog is mouthing hard, put a glove on. Fireplace/barbeque gloves or heavy winter ski gloves are thick enough to protect your hand.
Be patient. Dogs who have not ever learned self-control take a while to figure this out.
The instant the dog moves the head away from your fist, mark, open your fist, drop the treat on the floor and cue the dog to “go get it”.
When the dog does not mug your fist three times in a row in a cold trial, move on to the next step. Note: a cold trial is the first “trial” in a session.
If children are wandering around with food in their fists, your dog won't try to take the food from the child!
Doggy Zen Step 2
Hold a treat in your open palm right in front of the dog's face.
If the dog tries to grab it, close your fist. Do not pull your hand away from the dog.
When the dog backs off, open your fist.
The instant the dog backs away from your open palm, mark, drop the treat on the floor and cue the dog to “go get it”.
When the dog does not attempt to snatch the treat three times in a row in a cold trial, move on to the next step.
Doggy Zen Step 3
From now on, all treats are fed from your hand, you do not drop anything on the ground.
Put a treat on the ground and cover it with your hand.
The instant the dog stops trying to get the treat out from under your hand, mark, pick up the treat and hand feed it to the dog.
When the dog does not attempt to mug your hand three times in a row in a cold trial, move on to the next step.
Doggy Zen Step 4
Put a treat on the ground with your hand right next to it. If the dog tries to grab it, cover it with your hand. When the dog backs off, uncover the treat.
The instant the dog pulls his head away from the uncovered treat, mark, pick up the treat and hand feed it to the dog.
Doggy Zen Step 5
This is the same as step 4, except wait until the dog looks at your face before you mark and hand feed the treat.
If you feel like you are waiting forever, you can make little noises (do not say the dog’s name), the first one or two times.
Doggy Zen Step 6
Hold a treat in both hands.
As you are feeding the dog with one hand, drop the other treat on the ground.
As this is difficult for everyone except the most coordinated people in the world who use a clicker, unless you have a second person to click, use a marker word.
If the dog grabs the treat off the ground, do not feed the treat in your hand, just do it again.
Doggy Zen Step 7
Drop the treat first, then feed from your hand, then pick up the treat and feed the dropped treat.
Increase the duration of the “stay”, but don’t cue the dog to stay to a count of 5.
Doggy Zen Step 8
This is the same as step 7, except wait for the dog to look at your face before you hand feed the treat, then pick up the other treat.
And it’s time to name it. “Leave it” is the most common name used, “mine”, “not yours” are also common names. It doesn’t matter what you name it as long as it is something you will say consistently, so make it something familiar and easy for yourself.
Doggy Zen Step 9
Put a wad of treats in one hand.
Drop a treat and then back away from the dog, saying “Leave it!” (or whatever you have named it), “Come!” in your happy voice.
If the dog comes with you, feed the wad of treats, then pick up the dropped treat and hand feed that.
Doggy Zen Step 10
Put some low value treats (kibble is often a low value treat) in a bowl on the ground.
Walk the dog past the bowl, staying out of leash range of the bowl. If the dog tries to get to the bowl, be a tree (stand still, no talking).
The instant the dog looks at you, mark and treat with a high value treat (steak, chicken, cheese, hot dogs, etc).
Repeat, repeat, repeat until the instant the dog sees the bowl, the dog looks at you.
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We've definitely got some work to do...he's gotten sooooo much more self-control then from when he was younger...EXCEPT the pulling / barking on leash to get to people. [ as when he barked at them, they'd come give him attention, & thus, reward him ]
He's particularly bad with my dad, who squeels like a girl when he sees Wraith & really gets Wraith excited. But damn, he's really starting to scratch my dad up in his excitement! lol
Thanks again, don't know what I'd do without you guys!!! [ probably crying somewhere with Wraith eating my leg