# Leash Reactivity!



## 2andahalfwolves (Sep 7, 2017)

I know this topic has probably been discussed before, but new here and definitely would like some help if you guys found solutions that worked for you  

Who experiences it? What helped you fix it? What strategies did you use? Do they just "grow out" of it? 

Niko is 6 months old at the moment. He is the gentlest giant and every weekend we go have brunch at a local cafe where many kids and people pat him and come up to him. He's always cool, calm and collected when this happens. He has puppy play dates, and he plays with many dogs of different sizes when they visit our place or when we go to theirs. We walk off leash by the local lake where he always responds to recall and his name. 

BUUUUUUT ? when he is on a leash and we meet another dog, that's a whole other ball game. He barks, lunges and growls at the other dog. ? I know he just wants to say hi but with his big boy bark, he's anything but approachable to others. It's embarrassing to start with, and terrifying when it happens. 

SUGGESTIONS PLS! We have tried to keep walking past the dogs, we have tried to walk away in the other direction, and we have also tried to make him sit while rewarding him to let the other dog go by. But he's not very food orientated to begin with so this doesn't work well either! 

Should we work with a professional dog trainer? Or can we save some $$$ and work with him from home? Since his trigger is other dogs, and we don't ALWAYS bump into other dogs on our walks, do I borrow a neighbours dog to work with? 

Open to any ideas!


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

These threads have many good suggestions:


http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...h-reactivity-still-what-am-i-doing-wrong.html

http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...611193-leash-reactive-getting-worse-time.html

http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...610-still-reactive-leash-nothing-working.html

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/training-theory-methods/299346-training-dogs-reactive-dog.html

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/general-information/682865-leash-reactivity-aggression.html


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

2andahalfwolves said:


> Since his trigger is other dogs, and we don't ALWAYS bump into other dogs on our walks, do I borrow a neighbor's dog to work with?
> 
> Open to any ideas!


Aww well ...before ... I actually understood how much progress I had made with my American Band Dawg??/ I had a neighbor offer to help me with him! 

But I said ... thank you but No! I have no idea ... what he know ...but at that time I was just willing risk his dog?? Looking back ... I could have used a muzzle! And we would ... forget the meet and greet! Freaking rescue ... tried the nose to thing with a Boxer I wanted to retrieve ... that approach ... did not go so well! 

Apparently the rescue ...knew they would try that and they said .... "Don't take your dog!" But I thought, hey ... what do they know??? That was many, many years ago and yeah they were right! Shelter tend to luv the nose to nose thing?? But you know with a Band Dawg ... that crap is not gonna happen! 

But if you have a neighbor that wants to help you??? Use a muzzle ... assuming of course that they know there dog! And ... just walk ... no meet and greet ... really! Just walk ... at some point you will be able to drop the muzzle and walk the dogs together. 

I got more on teaching your dog to ignore other dogs ... but not here, so PM required.


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

each of my dogs went to a good group class when they were a bit over a year old. I told the instructors that my dogs already knew basic OB and needed practice working near other dogs, focusing on me. It worked out well for us and was worth the $$. It was a good controlled place for my dogs to learn that they were not going to expect to go see, challenge or greet other dogs just because they could see each other. 

As far as food rewards go, give them AFTER a successful pass. If your dog is focused on the other dog, food won't trump that. Or you can bring a tug toy. A little tug right after calmly passing another dog can work very well. It helps release some of that energy and excitement.


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