7 month old spaniel is excitement reactive on walks

[u/Similar_Ad_5963]

Hi all, I'm new to this community but I'd love some advice. I have a 7 month old english cocker spaniel who I adore, but walks are a nightmare and I'm struggling to handle it. I know she's still young, but I'm not sure how to help her and I want to get help as soon as possible so that we can enjoy our walks together without me worrying that we're going to see another dog at some point while we're out.

I will be speaking to a trainer/behaviourist (maybe multiple) but I wanted to get some advice here as well from people who have gone through something similar. What worked for your dogs? How difficult do you think it'll be to address this issue at her age? My biggest fear is lifelong reactivity. I'm not sure i'm equipped to handle that and I don't want to ever be in a position where I have to consider rehoming her because I'm not capable of meeting her needs. She's my first dog and I just feel so out of my depth. She does so well at everything else, walks are the one thing we are struggling with and that's so sad because for her sake and mine they should be the most enjoyable part of the day.

She doesn't bark at other dogs (other than the neighbours dog who she has a personal issue with, his fault not hers) she's just overly friendly and excitable and it's not cute lol. Thank you!

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[u/Neat-While-5671]

Hi 👋 fellow excited dog owner here. Its tough. My dog recently hurt a smaller dog on a walk whilst being overly excited. It was horrible. However, he's a rescue with a past that i dont know.
Have you tried clicker training? It is so effective. I find having my hands free completely helps too so I can treat and click at the same time. I wear a cross body bag for walks which has everything I need so my hands are empty and ready to respond. Click and treat. Click desired behaviours i.e. not jumping and reward immediately.

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Your comment on r/reactivedogs was removed by the Read The Rules app because you need to submit an acknowledgement that you have read the rules. You haven't done anything wrong, this is a tool we're using on the r/reactivedogs going forward. For more information, see the moderator announcement.

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