Dear Shannon: Reactive Lizzie
Reactivity - to other dogs, strangers, bikes, skateboards. I've worked with her myself, and tried a couple different trainers and attended a reactive dog class, and she isn't as bad as when we first adopted her. But it seems like I mostly just manage it, and muddle through. If we see another dog while we are out walking, she doesn't bark and lunge (I will cross the street to the other side or step 10 feet off the trail so we aren't too close) but she zeroes in on the other dog with the border collie stare and lays down in the border collie crouch until the other dog passes, then she pulls as hard as she can to get to where the dog has been so she can sniff. She is very reactive to strangers, barking and lunging, but once she gets to know them, she is pretty good with them. I have to warn people to never put their face near hers because that really sets her off. We have a neighbor that she did not like when we first moved to our house and he started giving her treats whenever he saw her and now she [...]