Do I have a reactive dog or is this teenage behaviour?

[nikster76]

I have a 21 month old male Golden Retriever. This is our first dog and it's not been easy at all.
At 6 months my dog started resource guarding but we got this under control with a drop and swop technique and now he 'retrieves' items for a treat.

At 1 year, he started lunging at traffic and reacting to all traffic. Again we are managing this with the help of a Behaviourist and this is slightly better but....wait for it....the anxiety / nervousness has now transposed to other dogs. He barks and lunges at 1 out of every 4 dogs we meet- usually young males.

Today I took him out for a walk and he barked and lunged aggressively at a black lab. We then met another GR who is a male, 2 years old and they have played together off lead before. They were both on lead this time and started playing but my dog became agressive and pinned the other GR down and was really nasty - he could have bitten him.

We are working with a Behaviourist but I just feel so upset, stressed and worried all the time about taking him out on a walk. It's actually starting to affect my mental health and I must be transposing my feelings to him too. He's sweet in the house and is super friendly to all humans.

My question is, is he likely to grow out of these behaviours as he matures and we keep doing the training or is this abnormal and I've got a reactive dog?

Thank you so much. I'm a first-time owner and I really appreciate the support.

The subtleties of this situation would be easy to miss. I would be asking your behaviourist for further help.

The issue with the other on-lead retriever sounds like lead reactivity to me. My beagle can be similar on lead but he's perfect off.

It is upsetting and it will need work and help from a behaviourist.

You dog is showing stress and anxiety in several situations so it does seem you have a dog that needs to be treated with care and understanding.

Do not force your dog into situations it finds triggering and do work with a qualified behaviourist to help you understand the subtle signals your dog shows before you dog needs to kick off lunging and barking.

Your dog will not grow out of this without help. Do not get your dog castrated.

Echo what others have said. Get advice from a behaviourist and also look up trigger stacking. It is teenage years but that's when things regress so you need to get it back on track and it's great you've got help.
Is the behaviourist registered with a force free industry body? Like PACT
I wouldn't ever let a dog greet an on lead dog. The body language will be all off and that can cause reactivity. Get him to have fun with you!

On lead reactiveness is soooooo common. I don’t know many dogs that aren’t a bit of a knob on a lead tbh.

I taught “look at me” at home - holding a treat near my eyes and when my dog gave eye contact he would be treated. We practiced this constantly in small doses. Then I worked up to look at me when there are distractions at home - someone stroking him, the doorbell, post coming through and getting him to sit and look - loads of treat and praise.

Then on walks I would preemptively get him to sit and look as a car went past. High reward treat (cheese, hotdogs etc) and then whenever I saw a dog coming again would look and treat.

It got to the stage where he would see something that used to trigger him and he’d stop and look on his own! You can eventually wean off the treats and just give lots of praise. Worked a charm but does take LOTS of practice and avoiding dogs/triggers whilst you’re training if you can.

This is about the age reactivity tends to show itself and so not entirely unexpected in a dog that was already struggling with anxiety and reacting to cars.

TBH I'd be a bit disappointed your behaviourist hasn't spotted the signs it was coming and warned you. There will have been micro behaviours before he got to the barking/lunging stage.

All dogs are different but as a general rule reactivity can be helped but not cured. Your very best chance is to stop all forced interaction with any other dog right now. Walk where they are not. Give masses of space (100m or more) when you see another dog. Never ask him to go closer than he's comfortable with and if he's interested in the other dog , he's too close.

Then get in person behavioural help to work your way through it. That might be your current behaviourist or another.

Thanks all for the advice. The ironic thing is that he is actually super friendly and really wants to say hi to all these dogs. He has a habit of lying down when they approach and if he knows he's not going to get to say 'hello' , he does a scarey ' leap and lunge' at the other dogs. This can cause a scuffle or a decent play but I am aware it's rude. I'm not sure how to lead him away from other dogs and stop the lying down (anchoring). Is this just another form of reactivity?
I say he's friendly but yesterday he was barking and lunging at a bigger lab across the street and then the GR on lead incident which alarmed me.

Today he was off lead and met 3 dogs in the woods with no problem; practically ignored them. It's so confusing. But I do agree with @Ostryga that it could be trigger stacking. I do get him to ' look at me' in the face of traffic and squirrels but other dogs trump this big time and he's not interested in my offerings.
Thanks all

Over friendliness can lead to frustration, which is an unpleasant feeling and so can lead to worry about seeing another dog. (see 'Frustrated Greeting').

It's an easier one to help with than out and out fear of other dogs but still please do get real life assistance to help you work through teaching your dog how to ignore other dogs/stay clam when allowed to greet.

The start is still the same as fear reactivity: you need to stop your dog getting close enough to other dogs that he reacts like this. Everytime he does it, it gets a bit more ingrained and the safest thing to do right now is stop him getting the chance to.

This sounds more like he's a frustrated greeter with poor manners than an aggressive, reactive dog to me. Both are equally upsetting to deal with as an owner, but the former is much easier to "train" than the latter.

My beagle is exactly the same - but if I distract him with a treat, he's absolutely fine. DH, on the other hand, doesn't bother taking treats and then comes home and complains because he's been barking and lunging at other dogs

When he's off the lead, he's absolutely perfect with other dogs - loves to play but respects boundaries and he's never shown any aggression - it's just frustration because he can't go and say hello as he's stuck on a lead, lol.

I'm having similar issues with my new 11month rescue... he has seen very little of life and is anxious, confused and excited by other dogs on lead. .I literally don't know if he is going to hide, squeak and play or lunge and growl on any interaction. I'm going right back to basics, treating him like a new puppy but with caution and understanding it will take time. At the moment I am just encouraging him to sit nicely or keep walking with no interacting. He has absolutely no interest in ANY treats or toys at all.. work in progress !

I've learnt that if a dog I am approaching with my dog stops and lies down, it is going to be reactive.
Southend dog trainers on Facebook and tik tok have some great free training videos for reactive dogs and you can subscribe for more in-depth training and help which isn't overly expensive. Worth checking them out.