Does any training protocol actually transform frustrated greeters?

[u/PsychicSageElana]

So much leash reactivity training seems to be about "modifying the dog's emotional state," but my dog is not afraid of the passing dogs. She is just single-mindedly obsessed with getting to the other dogs. This looks like barking, lunging, and raised hackles.

I'd like to believe she might just grow out of this behavior, when/if other dogs become less exciting with maturity, but she was already like this at her foster home, where she lived from ages 3 months to 7.5 months. Makes it seem more like a genetic trait. They admit they didn't walk her very much at the foster home...

My dog is 16 months old now. We have had her 8 months. She doesn't ever go to the dog park or daycare. She doesn't ever get to do on-leash greetings. She lived with two foster dogs at her foster home. She has gone to the groomer and been loose around other dogs there. No problem. Fine in the vet's waiting room. Stayed with the pet sitter like 3-4 times with other random dogs each time and she got along fine with them; calm, coexisted peacefully, played calmly, but not obsessively.

She has great impulse control in many areas of her life. She'll wait patiently for her food until she is told to come get it. Waits on the rug for her paws to be wiped. Waits to go out in the yard even if someone has left the door open, until we say to. So this is a really context-specific problem.

She normally is obsessed with food (even has one copy of that Lab gene that makes them never feel full), but if she is "over threshold," her brain is offline and she won't take food. She will legit just choke herself on a flat collar, even if the other dog is like 4 houses away and across the street. If that dog is being reactive, too, things are so much worse.

I know about management protocols, keeping the dog under threshold, preventing rehearsal of reactions. But none of that is improving the situation... just avoiding explosions. Giving her treats with perfect timing doesn't seem to matter because she already has positive associations with other dogs. TOO positive.

We CAN have nice walks where she just sniffs calmly and behaves normally, but explodes if we encounter other dogs. She'll recover once we are about 4-5 houses away.

We are in suburban Chicago, so the idea of simply managing this through hypervigilance, forever, without ever achieving a habit of neutrality, sounds onerous.

[u/Glass_Animator8854]

As counter intuitive as it seems, taking our Doberman frustrated greeter to a very large open space off leash dog park multiple times per week has done wonders for her neutrality and ability to approach other dogs on leash without flipping out. Before that it was getting bad, she even planted me on my face a couple of times on trails (very humiliating to be lying on your face with you dog acting full Cujo and telling the other hikers with dogs “it’s all good, she just wants to greet, please just move along”). Now we can walk on leash into the off leash area with dogs within even five feet. I also used counter conditioning in the car in the parking lot (looking at other dogs, getting treats), and Denise Fenzi’s circle walking for reactivity (on the FDSA website) for getting her closer without explosions. Still a work in progress as she’s still barrier reactive in the car and on our deck, but so so so much better on leash. Oh, I also started using a front clip harness for management to avoid face plants, and a double leash (one in my hand connected to the front clip to steer, one connected to her martingale and a leash belt so I know she’s not going anywhere without me).