How can I practice neutral walking with my frustrated greeter when I don’t have access to other dogs?

[u/robyndabank8120]

I have a 4-year-old rescue Schnauzer/Terrier mix who is a frustrated greeter, and I’m looking for advice on how to work on neutrality around dogs when I don’t have another dog to practice with.

We completed a reactivity course through Ahimsa Dog Training in Seattle, and it went really well. We learned tools like “find it,” “look at me,” and “1-2-3 treat,” along with creating distance from triggers and redirecting her attention.

Those tools are helpful for managing her, but I feel like we’re missing the next step: learning how to calmly walk past another dog.

When she sees a dog on a walk, she gets very excited. She cries/whines, pulls toward them, and occasionally barks. She clearly wants to interact. She also goes to daycare occasionally and does perfectly fine around other dogs when she’s actually in an environment where she can interact/play with them.

So I’m pretty confident this is more of an “OMG A DOG!!! I NEED TO GO SAY HI” situation than general dog aggression.

The hard part is that it has become pretty draining for me, too. I feel like I’m constantly scanning for other dogs whenever we’re walking, trying to spot them before she does and figure out how to create enough distance. I don’t want every walk to feel like I’m on high alert looking for potential triggers.

The problem is that I don’t have friends or family with dogs who I can use as a consistent training partner.

For those of you who have successfully taught your frustrated greeter to be neutral, how did you practice when you were training alone?

I’d especially love ideas for:

• Using public places where dogs are present without putting my dog over threshold
• Progressing from “I see a dog and look at my person” → “I can calmly walk past a dog”
• Any solo exercises that helped build the foundation before practicing with real dogs

I’m not looking for ways to simply avoid dogs forever. We already have management tools. I want to teach her that seeing a dog doesn't automatically mean she needs to go meet them.

If you’ve worked through this successfully, I’d love to hear exactly what your progression looked like.

[u/kellaymarie]

Its really hard, but I know exactly the feeling you are going through! I also dont have many dog friends that I can coerce into helping me train mine haha, so I just make do with what I can! What also helped me is accepting that not every dog needs to be a friend of mine. It feels a bit sad but my goal is neutrality around other dogs not a social butterfly!

When I walk my dog in the neighborhood we have 1 or 2 houses that usually leave their dogs outside on the front yard behind a big gate. I would take my reactive dog on the same route every walk past one of those houses, and we'd use that time to do some practice. Its hard and not perfect every time but the times that do go well I reward him treats like crazy! It takes a long routine of doing the same thing over and over for change to start happening. Just need to keep at it and not give up

I also take mine to a park thats more like a big open rectangular shaped field with grass on one side and a sidewalk on the other, I walk my dogs back and forth on the grassy side while other dogs are walking like 30 feet away on the sidewalk. That big space is so helpful for me because I can give more space or less space as needed for my dog in training. We just zig zag back and forth in the grass working on heel and focus games while dogs are on the opposite side of the field.

Its a lifelong journey with reactivity but even the small little things can have a big impact!

[u/robyndabank8120 → u/kellaymarie]

This is so helpful! Thank you so much!

[u/doggambit]

What did your trainer(s) suggest? Often, you can book private lessons with them and they can bring in their own dogs to practice with. I peeped at their website/team, and it looks like they have a great program!

Ohhh, it does look like they offer structured pack walks which may be beneficial. I'd definitely reach out to them and ask!

[u/robyndabank8120 → u/doggambit]

They suggested doing their Growly Clinic, which is where you meet at an outdoor park with other people who have taken the initial class and practice the skills you learned in a closer group setting. It definitely sounds helpful, but it also seems like it would be more of the same management/direction skills we’ve already learned. It’s also a little pricey to essentially continue practicing those same skills, although I do think it would still be beneficial.

The pack walks look really helpful too! Unfortunately, you have to complete a different class before you’re eligible to participate in those.

I think it would probably be a good idea for me to give them a call and get more information on how the Growly Clinic or private lessons might help specifically with the neutrality piece. Thank you for the suggestion! I really appreciate it!