Reactive dogs

[adlfelix]

It seems like there are a lot of dogs that Victoria trains who are reactive on leash. My dog started leash aggression towards other dogs about a year ago and we have been working with a trainer and doing a lot of work on our own. This seem to be a big problem with dogs today. Would there be a specific cause for this? In last weeks episode Victoria said the more excerise a dog gets the less reactive the dog will be. Why...is it because they would be to tired to react? We have been walking our dog everday now anywhere between 5-10 miles a day and it has been huge. PJ is now wagging his tail wanting to go meet the dogs.

Andrea

[Bama]

This is just my opinion, and I am not an expert. But I think by taking your dogs on walks, it gets them more used to different things and experiences.

Each walk is going to be different, even if you are taking the same path everyday. It could be different weather, meeting different dogs, passing a spot where another dog has been, etc.

When a dog is put in situations to learn to expect differences, it helps the dog adjust to changes faster. So the dog learns that change is good and not something to fear.

[arloew]

I have a wheaton terrier which are very friendly dog and like to be very social. As you will see on an up coming episode my dog reacts to everything when we are on walks mostly jumping on people. I agree with the other person who posted that the more you walk your dog the more comfortable they become with different environments also is safe a dog park is great. I also put my dog in a puppia harness. The harness is easy to put on the dog, they can be left on all day long, and the harness allows me to control the walk in positive way while not pulling at the dogs neck or using a choke chain.

Adam Loew