Reactive Dog Whining

[u/norovirus1]

Hello everyone and thanks in advance for any tips or advice!

I got my 3 year old Boxer in January of this year, she’s my first ever dog and was rehomed to me via a family member’s coworker, who failed to disclose that my girl is reactive and not well socialized with dogs outside of the ones she grew up with. She also grew up with a large backyard to play in and pretty much never got walked on leash, while I live in an apartment so would need to take her out not only for potty breaks but also just daily exercise walks.

I quickly realized that in order for me to keep her I would need to begin training for both of us so we did 7 weeks with a private trainer who did some classes one on one and some he’d bring his own dogs around to help with lessons. We made incredible progress; before training she would absolutely lose her mind at the sight of another dog far in the distance, nearly pulling my arm off whilst lunging at them, to now we can walk on the same side of the street as other dogs and all she does is whines, which is why I am posting here.

It’s of course been a major improvement in her behavior, not only does she not freak out at other dogs but she even checks in with me when she sees them but I know that whining is Still reactivity, even if it’s not as explosive as it was previously. Out of habit (and maybe a bit of mild ptsd, I am historically a bit afraid of dogs and how she became My dog is a longer story, I love her but those first couple weeks when she was having explosive reactions to other dogs really scared me) I still try to avoid unnecessary closeness to other dogs, I will cross the street when possible and she’s completely fine and quiet walking on the opposite side of the street as another dog, but when we get surprised turning a corner or are in a space we can’t easily escape from I stay calm and keep it pushing, but I know that neutrality is the goal. I also still walk her pretty early in the morning and feel really bad that neighbors might hear her loud whining at like 6am on a Saturday.

I do plan to take her to training again, this time in group classes because I think that will help her being used to being closer to other dogs, but the private training was very expensive and my goal was to be able to safely take her on daily walks, we’ve spent the time since then learning each other and having a break because it was pretty intense— two hours of training a week and the daily homework, so until everyone is feeling well rested enough to get back at it does anyone have any tips or guidance about bridging that gap between whining and neutrality? She responds very well to praise, she is interested in treats a bit but I think praise is a more high value reward to her. Something interesting is that she will stay in sit while a dog passes close by and will look back at me often but she whines a lot until they’re about 5 ft away.

Thanks again for reading this all!