Should I keep taking my friendly-reactive dog to group classes?
Friendly-reactive dogs often lose focus, lunge wildly on the leash, and ignore treats around other dogs. Staying in class risks constantly rehearsing the lunging behavior, but practicing through the over-excitement can eventually help some dogs settle down and focus.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Working one-on-one with a desensitisation trainerDid this help you?
- 2Trying to move further away from the group to give the dog distanceDid this help you?
- 3Switching to private obedience classes or alternative activities like scentworkDid this help you?
- 4Using separation boards or visual barriers in group settingsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“he's quite friendly-reactive for example lunges at other dogs when he's on his lead.”source ↗
“he immediately 'loses his ears' around other dogs and doesn't listen or respond to treats at all, and lunges like crazy.”source ↗
“I worry I'm making his reactivity worse by rehearsing the lunging over and over again.”source ↗
“My dog-excited herder got way better with practice in group classes—he’s a year old and after he settles down he’s really focused and not trying to greet other dogs.”source ↗