"It's ok, he's friendly ......."

"He just wants to say hi ......"

"But he loves playing with other dogs ......"

AARRGGHHHHHHH!!!!!

These phrases are so frustraiting!

I've owned a few reactive dogs.

First, was Kara. She was 4 years old when I adopted her and she would bark and jump & down like crazy at the sight of another dog in the distance. It took me over a year to be able to walk her near other dogs. She was never "cured" and she never wanted to play or be friends with other dogs but that was ok. She wasn't scared of them anymore and was able to be close to them without reacting so that was fine

Next, came Kurt. He was hugely reactive when he first moved in. Doing sommersaults at the end of the lead, barking & lunging at every dog he passed and he had a LOT to learn! I had to walk him in a head collar because he was far too strong for me to hold. 18 months later I was finally able to get him into a harness and now, a year later he has come full circle and he is now my trained Stooge Dog who comes to work with me to help other dogs relax. He is the LEAST reactive dog in the world now and will often just flake out & fall asleep in the middle of a lesson!

And then theres Emily. My little Shih Tzu who is reactive towards little dogs & puppies and mostly only when she is on the lead - she is fine off the lead. Emily is work in progress - we only adopted her a few months ago and she is still in training

I understand exactly how lonely & frustraiting it can be to try and walk your dog but you dread the thought of leaving the house. Everyone is looking at you. Judging you. They think you're a "bad" dog owner. They blame you for not training your dog .... Little do they know that you have been trying for weeks / months / years. They think their dog should be allowed to run up to everyone it meets and they don't understand how this affects your dog. How this makes your dog feel so anxious & frightened and how your dog can't help it if he's scared