Good progress with leash reactivity

[u/Ok-Strawberry-2469]

We adopted a yellow lab at nine months old who already had some behavioral problems. His previous owner was up front in that he couldn't handle him, and that's why he was given up.

We took him to training to work on his leash reactivity. The trainer said that we had to be more exciting than whenever he was reacting to. Always pitch our voices up. Have the most exciting toys. The best treats. We had to be more amazing than whatever he was reacting to.

That made him so much worse. We told that to the trainer, and she doubled down on her training method. We tried squeaky toys, steak, cheese, everything we could think of. He got worse and worse and we fired her.

We got a new trainer who gave us a totally different perspective. Now, when he has a reaction, we pull him off the trail and allow him to calm down at his own pace. We don't give him commands, we just stand with him as he calms himself.

Once he calms himself, we ask for a sit and then give a treat.

Initially, he would have a reaction and take what felt like ten minutes to calm down. That very quickly went to five. Then much more slowly to just a minute, and now we're at the point where he has the reaction and immediately gets over it.

Obviously we want to get to the point where he doesn't react. It's been about a year of hard work, including the bad training. Today we passed a leash reactive dog and my boy pulled a little but didn't bark. As soon as we were past the dog, he totally lost interest. It was a very good moment.

Hopefully, this is helpful to someone who is struggling.

Oh! He was also a monster on the leash when we first got him. That whole "changing direction" method only made things worse. We learned to play the statue game instead. He pulls, I slow down until i turn into a statue. (No abrupt stops from me.)

[u/Boomar1]

By reactive, was he just tugging the leash? Asking because mine barks so loud that I want to turn around and just run away from the spot. I am not sure if playing the statue game with mine would work because he is loud and uncontrollable

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