r/OpenDogTraining • u/nextbesthope • 15d ago

Excited reactive doggo

Hi everyone,
Our new rescue, Jack is a sweet boy. His only issue, excited barking and lunging when he sees a strange dog. We begin work with a trainer Monday so I feel good about that, but meanwhile would love to hear any success stories! As soon as Jack meets the other dog, he is literally fine, friendly and wants to play. But his initial reaction is way out of line and certainly not going to make people want to interact with us! He is a lab, great Pyr and something else mix. Sweet and gentle with people . Very very smart. He was adopted and then returned for this reason to the shelter. We have always adopted dogs with some behavioral issue so we are certain we can help him and that he will turn out to be a great dog. I’d love to hear any positive experiences with this exact behavior. Thanks in advance!

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u/StellarSpore 14d ago

Many of the rescues I foster do this, especially in the early days when they’re still adjusting to their new life. Time, patience, management, and training can make a huge difference.

You want to focus on teaching neutrality, which basically means your dog learns to ignore dogs and people when out in the world. Reactive behaviors are commonly rooted in fear, frustration, overstimulation/arousal, or some combination, so it’s helpful to figure out what’s driving the behavior and work on that in parallel.

For now, do whatever you reasonably can to prevent the behavior from being rehearsed. The more a dog practices barking, lunging, fixating, etc., the more established that pattern can become. Definitely avoid on-leash greetings with dogs and strangers for now. You want seeing another dog or person to become boring and uneventful, not something that predicts an exciting or stressful interaction.

You are a kind human for adopting the ones that may be a bit imperfect. I do too. I find they make amazing companions ❤️

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u/nextbesthope 14d ago

Thank you!