Getting adult dog used to horses

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Twiglet

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My (well, my parents'), labradoodle is very uncomfortable with horses. If he gets in a field with them he'll attempt to play, but quite aggressively - lots of barking, running around their legs and generally winding them up. If he meets them whilst on a lead he becomes slightly aggressive, in that he'll bark a lot and be a bit snappy. Quick aside here - he is not an aggressive dog in any way, shape or form, I think it's purely fear that makes him act this way (he's not like it in any other situation). As a general rule, he is one of the friendliest, safest dogs I've ever met. He's a rescue so I don't know if he had a bad horse experience as a youngster.

We haven't been allowed dogs at the yard in the past, so hasn't been too much of an issue, but now I can take him down there, I'd like to more often....but I need to get him accustomed to horses!

Equine Twiglet luckily is a great model, in that he is fabulous with dogs (interested but chilled about them) although I think even he will start getting annoyed if I constantly present him with a barking labradoodle!

So any recommendations on where to start? I've tried presenting them on leads, in the stable, but always the same result.
 
It's quite a common reaction for a lot of dogs.
Could you look out a trainer for some 1-2-1?
Might be easier than giving advice from here as we can't see his exact reaction if that makes sense!

What do you do when he starts acting up? Sometimes our reactions, while they would work well on an other human, for example, can make the situation worse.

How much correction would he take? If he is becoming fixated and not listening at all, then you might have to be quite firm in breaking that fixation to ensure he and your horses do not get hurt.

ETA - not ruling out a praise-based training system, IE reward the dog with food/praise whatever when he is calm and passive, but sometimes the fixation is so strong it has to be broken before the reward can be offered.
 
He is one to get quite fixated to be honest (his obsession with balls is something I've only seen in collies before).
It's hard to explain really....if Twiglet is in the stable, I'll have Doodle outside. Will open the door, Twiglet will normally mooch over and stick his head down to say hello....Doodle will initially go forward, then bark in Twiglet's face. If Twiglet continues to 'pursue' it, Doodle will get more panicked and will make to snap - although has never actually tried to bite. I tend to praise Doodle being quiet (ie, just standing at the door with no barking) and ask him to be quiet when he barks, and when he snaps he gets reprimanded (tap on side or raised voice).
If the other horses are in their stables and are looking over/banging doors (which a lot do when there's a barking dog in their midst!), he'll get a bit more stressed and bark at them all.

Once he's not near them he'll be his normal self and be bubbly and friendly as always. It's a real shame because he obviously enjoys going there!
 
OK, he loves his ball. Take his ball with you. When he starts to look interested (once he's started barking, staring, zoning out, it's too late) whip out the ball and start getting animated.

Try a sharp lead check to break the fixation before it starts, rather than voice or gesture, it's more impersonal (us people can put all sorts of intonations in our voices without meaning to, which can wind the dog up further) and if you must speak, a very long, low, growly, NO or LEAVE, nothing exciteable, then praise when his attention returns to you or show him the ball.

Never give the ball until he is displaying the behaviour you want.
 
That's the other weird thing actually...in the past he's got into fields with the horses, and dropped his ball at their feet, like he wants a game? Which doesn't really fit with his being so horrible to them!
 
Dafty probably thinks they are big dogs :p

Get one of those ball on a rope thingmys, they are excellent and it means you can tease and tempt him with it and have a little rag with him without actually letting it go and him tanking off with it. Or get two, so he has to bring one back in order to get the other one.
 
Well that's what I thought?! And he's intimidated because he thinks they're just massive dogs! Think I'm going to give it a go in the school on Saturday, with Doodle on lead/with ball and Twiglet loose...although knowing Twiglet he'll want to be in on the game too!
 
I am going through the same issue with my re-homed pug. Given that he spent the first five years of his life in a quiet gated community, I don't think he'd encountered a horse until he moved to NYC. (There are more horses here than you'd think; we live close to the police stables, and there are hacking groups/lots of carriage horses in Central Park.)

Anyway, I've been using food. Every time Prince screams at a horse (it's a pug thing), I get him to look at me, and once he's quiet I give him a treat. He's overcome his giddiness with the carriage horses, and now we're working on getting him to ignore the horses at my riding school, which he does until they start cantering and jumping. It's a work in progress. Like your labradoodle, I think my pug is fearful of horses.
 
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