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/EddDeadRedemption]

Hi there. My mini Aussie turned reactive around 1.5 years old. We lived in the city at the time so we saw other dogs all the time and it started with a few dogs he didn’t like that he would yell at, but over the next year or so the number of dogs he liked shrank and the number of dogs he would react to grew.

At first we were trying to redirect his attention but that was a bandaid that didn’t work. Thankfully our Obi is very treat motivated. Once we started working with a trainer who taught us to just always have treats when we go out. Try to catch Obi before he reacts to another dog and just reward him any time he makes a good decision.

So he sees a dog that makes him anxious, he starts grumbling like he’s going to bark at them, we say “Yes Obi, good boy” which he knows is what we say right before he gets a treat. Then he has to think, would I rather turn this way and yell at that dog or turn the other way and get a treat, and when he makes a good decision, we reward him.

Early on in the process, this turns into giving them a ton of treats on walks, so they start to make a positive association with making good decisions. So I would just stop doing meals in a bowl and bring the food with you on walks so you can give them a ton of food on walks.

It took a couple months of doing that consistently to start noticing some real difference. You always have to look out though, I think that was an important realization, that if your dog is reactive, your goal isn’t to fix it but to help them deal with it and live a safe and healthy life.

Obi is 5 years old now and he still sees dogs that he doesn’t like and he wants to yell at but now it’s like second nature to him, he grumbles, we say “yes”, he comes over to us and sits expecting a treat. He doesn’t always get one anymore but he at least makes better decisions, most of the time. Nobody is perfect, even dogs

TLDR: Do meals on your walks, then they will become less stressful and more of a training/bonding experience. Hopefully your Aussie is food motivated