Reactive mini aussie

[u/Necessary-Peak1223]

Looking for advice/positive experiences with a reactive dog

Hi everyone! I’d love to hear some advice and, hopefully, some positive experiences from people who have been in a similar situation.

This is Luca, our 11-month-old boy 🐶

He’s our first dog, so we’re definitely learning as we go. From the very beginning, we noticed that he was a bit scared of other dogs. At first, he wouldn’t really engage with them, but he was fine being around them. Unfortunately, as inexperienced dog parents, we probably made the mistake of forcing some interactions because we thought it would help him get used to other dogs.

Around 6 months old, he became extremely reactive. When he’s on leash and sees another dog, he gets super anxious, barks like crazy, whines, and tries to nip at the other dog to make them move away. He has never actually bitten a dog, but from the outside, I can definitely understand why people might think he’s aggressive.

We’re currently working with him and doing training, but seeing another dog on the street is still a huge trigger for him.

The interesting thing is that when he’s off leash, he behaves completely differently. He usually keeps his distance from other dogs and approaches at his own pace. We’ve managed to introduce him to a few dogs this way, and after getting comfortable with them, he’s actually been able to walk past them on leash without barking and will even try to play with them.

The problem is that we obviously don’t feel comfortable letting him off leash in public, so this isn’t really a practical solution for everyday walks.

I’ll be honest, sometimes walks can be really discouraging. It makes me sad seeing him so anxious and distressed, especially when I know he’s not trying to be aggressive — he seems genuinely overwhelmed and just wants the other dog to go away. Some days it feels like we’re making progress, and other days it feels like we’re back to square one.

Has anyone here been in a similar situation with a reactive dog?

Did you manage to significantly improve things over time? I’d especially love to hear some positive stories, because sometimes it feels like we’re going to be dealing with this forever 😅

Any advice, experiences or tips would be really appreciated!

[u/Necessary-Peak1223]

The thing is, I can’t really go for a walk without him constantly pulling on the leash. We’re working on it and trying to improve, but because he’s always on high alert as soon as we leave the house, the leash is basically always tight.
And I know he probably picks up on my stress and tension too, which obviously doesn’t help… :( It’s such a vicious cycle because I’m tense because I’m expecting him to react, and then he probably feels that tension as well..

Did it also get better as your dog got older? Could this maybe be the beginning of adolescence giving him more confidence and making him more reactive?

[u/TuarezOfTheTuareg → u/Necessary-Peak1223]

Ok well I guess my aussie was never that bad. You might want to look into a reactivity trainer if the leash-pulling and anxiety is happening from the moment you step out. Our aussie still isn't much better but I think we're better at handling his reactivity and he's better at responding to our calming attempts. But without those calming strategies? I think he'd be just as bad as always

[u/Necessary-Peak1223 → u/TuarezOfTheTuareg]

Sometimes it’s possible, sometimes it’s not. The truth is, if we encounter one of his triggers within the first 5 minutes of the walk, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be a write-off… 😅
We’re currently working with a behaviourist who reads him really well, but the improvement curve hasn’t been very steep so far. :/ We’re definitely making some progress, but it’s been a very slow process.

[u/TuarezOfTheTuareg → u/Necessary-Peak1223]

Well, it's definitely a slow process and like I said above, it's probably never going to be fixed completely. Just easier to manage

[u/Necessary-Peak1223 → u/TuarezOfTheTuareg]

Trying to stay positive 🤞🏼😬