Feisty Fido: Help for the Leash-Reactive Dog

by Patricia B. McConnell, Karen B. London

A dog who barks and lunges at other dogs when out for a walk is embarrassing and potentially dangerous. Using these pet-friendly, positive reinforcement techniques you'll soon be able to relax and enjoy your walks.

Genres: Dogs, Nonfiction, Animals

59 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

About the author

Patricia McConnell, Ph.D., a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, (CAAB) has made a lifelong commitment to improving the relationship between people and animals. She is known worldwide as an expert on canine and feline behavior and dog training, and for her engaging and knowledgeable dog training books, DVDs and seminars. Patricia has seen clients for serious behavioral problems since 1988, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor in Zoology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, teaching "The Biology and Philosophy of Human/Animal Relationships." For fourteen years she dispensed advice about behavior problems, and information about animal behavior research, on Wisconsin Public Radio's Calling All Pets, which was heard in over 90 cities around the country.

Patricia received her Ph.D. in Zoology in 1988 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison researching dog behavior and communication between professional trainers and working domestic animals.

Reviews

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feisty Fido was a very helpful book. It gave some great new ideas that I have not heard of that will help you deal with reactive dogs when on a leash.
I’ve already implemented a few ideas and it has helped with my new adopted dog.

If you’ve got a dog that barks, lunges and is super aggressive when it sees another dog, this might be the book for you. Have faith, patience and don’t give up!

[Desiree · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I got this book because my dog is a little shit. She's a Jack Russell Terrier mix that the boyfriend adopted a year ago.
She hates other dogs, homeless people, disabled people, elderly people, young people--she's a little fascist.

I loved that this book was short and to the point so I could get to training her right away.

And, I have to say it's a nice thing to be able to turn to.
Already working on it.
Took some treats on our walk today, and just the distracting of knowing I have treats I think is helping.

I can see this book working.

[Magen - Inquiring Professional Dog Trainer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard book to rate. I am confident that the methods in this book are highly successful for dog trainers and maybe the incredibly diligent dog owner. For the rest of us, it simply asks too much of the pet parent without enough guidance on various scenarios. For example, this book assumes that every person who walks their dog is in the city, with sidewalks and lots of roads and other places to pull your dog into when you come across an unexpected dog. I don't live in that neighborhood and it doesn't seem to be ideal to take my dog to a totally different neighborhood he's unfamiliar with to work on encountering dogs. The problem with this is that there aren't many solutions for how to handle walking in semi-rural neighborhoods where there are very few roads, no sidewalks, and definitely no alleys. In addition, this book assumes the dog is leash aggressive and lunging at another dog. That's not the problem with my dog; he barks at other dogs, not out of aggressive, but because of a combination of fear and really wanting to meet the other dog. I've found more success with getting my dog a safe distance away and letting him watch the other dog, and if possible, letting him sniff where the other dog was previously. It wasn't clear to me from this book why it's so important to get your dog to "watch" you and that was a huge flaw in my opinion. If I understood the reasoning for it, I'd be more likely to work hard at it, but since my dog can be calm while looking at a dog and also checks in with me while doing so, it seems a bit like I'll make the problem worse by taking away something that calms him and seems to help him deal with seeing that dog the next time.

There are good things in here and it is nice that there are ideas for emergency situations. I unfortunately find one unrealistic - the emergency sit/ stay - and another not effective - the U-turn. While I understand the logic behind an emergency sit/ stay, I do not see how it would be effective in early stages of training. If you have a dog that lunges and barks at approaching dogs, 1) he's going to be worse when the other dog is off leash and running right at him and 2) until he's had a lot of practice with learning to change his behavior when he sees another dog, he's not going to calmly sit and stay while you get the other dog to go away. It's also not clear to me what you do with the leash in that instance, which seems like a significant oversight. The U-turn makes a lot of sense in principle, but my dog won't take treats when he's barking at another dog or be interested in a toy and when we U-turn, he spends the whole time trying to look back and is barking at the other dog until we've gotten a significant distance away. I would love to troubleshoot this, but there is no troubleshooting.

Overall, I think this is a great primer, but I do not think it is sufficient. I would recommend this to someone who is planning on working with a trainer who uses this method as a way to reinforce the methods they will be working with this. I also would recommend this if one plans on watching the companion video, Fiesty Fido, where Patricia McConnell puts some of this ideas into practice. I would also recommend it to a trainer or an advanced dog owner. As a intermediate dog mom, I struggled to fully implement this plan, but have taken away some useful pieces of advice that have improved our ability to walk consistently in our neighborhood.

[Candice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, I have a Feisty Fido. He barks and lunges at other dogs while we are on our walks. He is also eager to please, so I am trying some of the techniques in this book. The "Watch" command gets his attention away from the other dog and to me (or to the treat I offer). It seems to be working, but the book says it's not unusual to take about six months before the dog is fully trained. We're working on it, and I'm happy to have gotten so many good tips from this book. Wish me luck!

[C.S. Wachter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am working with a trainer to help my GSD be less reactive toward other dogs. The information in this book was very helpful. I have seen a change in my dog's behavior.

[Scarlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clear and concise explanations to make walking our dogs a more pleasant experience, especially for people with reactive puppers.

[Sarah ♥ dog crazy ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

That's an interesting book for every dog owner, especially if you have a leash-aggressive dog (as the title suggests).

I already used some of the training tips before reading it ("Watch"). I'm not sure though some of my shelter dogs would be able to do an emergency sit. But who knows, maybe I'll train this as well.

Definitely a very good book.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is THE book to read if you have a leash reactive dog

[Chris Chinchilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feisty Fido is a fast, practical how-to book for the owner of a highly reactive dog. I read it in under 3 hours (including underlining and making notes). Although it's a quick read, it's not a quick fix, and I don't think it should be. Expect to practice three significant bits of training with your dog: "Watch," the U-Turn, and the Emergency Sit/Stay, all of which will require days and weeks to train. However, the training seems easy, practical, and worth it. Further, the book seems easy to reference: clear instructions, training guides, and bulleted chapter summaries.

I can't give five stars because I had several questions the book didn't seem to address. Here are some examples:

Training multiple dogs in these techniques was mentioned, but walking multiple dogs together was hardly addressed.

The U-Turn to avoid the surprising appearance of another dog is helpful, but wouldn't that dog be prompted ("triggered") by the sudden turn-around and more interested in following/pursuing my dog? And wouldn't my dog become anxious, knowing that surprise-appearance dog is still behind us?

The book addresses a loose dog directly approaching your dog and you and offers advice on how to avoid a fight and move on, but what if a dog, big or small, trails you? How do you "shake" a trailing dog?

The book could likely address these and other "what-ifs" in one to five additional pages. If it did, I'd be inclined to give it five stars. Still, I recommend this book. What it lacks is far outdone by what it provides. The voice is friendly, welcoming, and influential, and I appreciate how quickly the book offers its advice and moves on.

[Liisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

** My edition has been re-titled "Feisty Fido: Help for the Leash-Reactive Dog."

A fantastic book that gives easy, focused, and light-hearted guidance to owners of nervous dogs who react to things on leash (almost always out of stress and fear). I recently hired a private trainer and will be taking a series of classes for leash-reactive dogs, and this book summarizes exactly the process, so if you don't have several hundred dollars, just pick this up and read carefully! McConnell advocates a "positive training" approach with no punishments, so you will not be further stressing out your stressed-out puppy.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

My pup is not leash aggressive, but she does want to greet every dog we see (and person, but she doesn't usually bark at them) and gets frustrated if we don't. All these steps seem doable, and I really liked the encouraging stories and examples.

I also read the Cautious Canine, I'll Be Home Soon, and the How to be the Leader of the Pack booklets, and liked those a lot too - but I think this one is going to be the most helpful and can't wait to start this process, hopefully with the end result being a more polite dog who understands she can't greet every single dog she sees for the rest of her life!

[Ema Phillips · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book surprised me a bit. It's 2009 so not completely outdated but not up to date either. Despite all that, the methods used in this book aren't what I'd consider the be the most effective and many of them are downright punishing. If you're looking for a book to help with your reactive dog I'd go elsewhere and find something more up to date and understanding of the emotional workings behind behaviours

[Jenna]

This book has already helped with our walks. My dog is a roughly 1yo, large, rescue dog, who is a blind dog, and he has some fear aggression issues when he hears other dogs. Our first couple weeks of walks together was a circus, and I wasn't sure what to do, since he loves going on walks and he needs them physically/mentally, but they were at times a nightmare for me. But, this book and the training regime they recommend is helping. Really though, I'd read anything by Patricia McConnell

[Rebecca Siedschlag · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2016

I purchased this book because I needed a little extra help training a reactive dog. Feisty Fido offered great tips and pointers on how to manage and train a reactive dog, I sure appreciate the recommendation and would suggest it for anyone who is working with a K9 that is either reactive, has fear based behavior, or just breaking some bad habits. It's was an easy read not too long, which for my schedule, is perfect.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the straightforward techniques to help Rabbit not get so worked up about encountering other dogs. Some are so simple, I can't believe I didn't think of it; such as: toss treats past an approaching loose dog to gain time to make an escape.
I think most of the information in this booklet would be better conveyed in a video, however, and have sought out McConnell's DVDs.
Mostly I'm happy to have learned about Patricia McConnell and look forward to reading more of her work.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to owners of dogs who are responsive or reactive to other dogs while on leash. The advice is clear, uncomplicated and easy to implement and based in sound counter-conditioning and desensitization principles. It is effectively similar to the work I do with clients already and installs helpful default behaviors that result in dramatically reduced reactions while on neighborhood walks.

[Gena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very quick and easy read. Very thorough. A few of the suggestions may not be practical for most of us, but they are just given as options. The watch, Uturn, and most of the other suggestions can be quickly and immediately implemented. I’ve already seen a huge improvement with my leash reactive dog. I also really enjoyed the light, forgiving tone of the book.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent little book that tells you exactly what you need to know, tells you how to improve things with easy instructions, and makes sure you know that trying to make your dog a better pet is an andmirable and useful goal. The author has an excellent sense of humor too - she is an icon of animal behavior and training. I can't wait to read more books from Dr. McConnell.

[Fan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very straightforward methods and explanation.
Always know your dog before choosing the method you want to use to help. Learn more techniques and tools.
Observe, Learn, Find solution. No one can use tool to fix all problems.

[Karin Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is helping me so much with my leash reactive dog. I have to reread parts to ensure I'm doing it the best I can. I also appreciate the humor. Walking a maniac on a leash is not very fun, and it's good to have the humor!

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it has great advice. Only about 60 pages long and a little repetitive, but wonderful for people struggling with this. It explains both the methodology but also dog's thought processes in those situations.

[kao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great tips and fast, read, full of humor. Hoping to keep working on my reactive dog with these tricks.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great hope for me with my reactive(on leash) dog! Y really like this author and think she knows how dogs think.

[Mel Talarovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read; essential for parents of reactive dogs.

[Carrie Kann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good intro to working with a leash-reactive dog. Most of the info I had already read in other places, but it was a good refresher of things we can work on to help my dog live a lower-anxiety life.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patricia McConnell never disappoints with dog advice. Oh Arco...when will you grow up.

[Liisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can see why this book is so highly rated although I didn't know it at the time I chose to read it: it is really humorous, besides being instructive about managing one's dog.

[Jordan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good simple book on basic dog training. Methods are effective and easy to follow.

[Laney Muntz]

I feel like I’m behind on my goal so I’m counting this lol. Trying to teach Sasha not to have a meltdown when she sees anyone else on the sidewalk.

[Stef · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but useful