A Reactive Dog is a dog that barks, lunges, or pulls when they see another dog.  Often the owner believes the dog wants to play but the behavior is normally motivated by frustration or fear.  Suppressing a behavior is like suppressing a ball down in a pool of water.  Eventually it’ll slip through your hands & pop out of the water.  More than likely, it’ll pop up even higher than if you weren’t suppressing it.

A+ Dog Training offers private training sessions along with obedience classes in one program.  If you change the root problem (the dog’s emotional state) you will change the symptom (barking/lunging).  First, we work with owners on the root of the problem through personalized private training sessions.  Once the dog & owners are comfortable, we encourage them to attend our Elementary dog obedience class.  This is a five-week class that teaches dog’s basic obedience (e.g. Sit, Down, Leave It, etc.).  Sometimes our clients will attend the class each week but start from their parked car & work their way towards the class with their reactive dog.  We’ve given them the tools to work with their dog (during private training sessions) so that they can practice it as we train the class on obedience.

If you feel that you have a reactive dog but would enjoy taking trips with your dog in the future, call A+ Dog Training at 209-985-7898 to develop the right strategy to accomplish your goals at one of our free consultation appointments.