nervous / lead reactivity

[thefootofourstairs]

Had my little dog about 7 months , hes 2.5 years . I was told when i got him that he is fine with other dogs , people etc .
After walking him and him pulling towards every other dog or barking at any stranger that tries to interact with him i took him to a behaviourist .

She said that he isn't pulling towards other dogs because he likes them but rather that he is scared . I did wonder as he has been fine with my sister in laws dog when she has visited us .

I think the previous owner had him mostly off lead , so maybe he is better off lead with other dogs ? but , i'm a bit worried about testing that theory . He is ok off lead when its just me and him .

So , i have spent 6 months giving him treats every time we see another dog , ( counter conditioning ? ) crossing the road to create distance etc as advised .
He spends alot of time just standing still on walks , refusing to budge whenever there is a person with a pushchair or a strange noise or whatever in the vicinity , which is frustrating and I have just taken him on the periphery of the local park and wished i hadn't . He is absolutely no better .

What am i doing wrong and is there any hope that he will improve ?

It sounds like your behaviourist has had you practicing the CARE protocol, though they may not have called it that it certainly has the hallmarks of it careforreactivedogs.com/ It's good in theory, but I find it very hard in practice because my dog's main remaining trigger is motorbikes, and we can't step outside the front door without seeing several whizzing by at close quarters, and as I don't drive we can't avoid them.

I've found the Reactive Dogs (UK) facebook page to be a great source of information (and reminders that I really do have quite a good dog overall!) www.facebook.com/groups/1633448230248202/

With regards to letting him off the lead - it depends on whether or not your dog is what could be termed a frustrated greeter - he may be, or he may be truly reactive. Mine is / was a frustrated greeter and when he saw another dog but couldn't get to it at 100mph what he considered an appropriate speed, he would start barking etc., but he was fine if he could get to the other dog. It seemed to cure itself over time with lots of exercise (he needs to be walked to the point of exhaustion each and every day) and doggy social contact.

It's not really talked about, but I do suspect that a lot of reactive dog owners get into an understandable but ultimately vicious circle where they take the dog out less because it's reactive, so the dog has more pent up energy, so the dog becomes more reactive etc. If you're concerned about his behaviour when off lead, the responsible thing to do is to muzzle him (must be a basket style muzzle) until you are confident that he is not going to cause problems with other dogs.