Dog has become reactive to other dogs while on lead

[Tattooname]

This issue has developed post-Covid, and seems to be getting worse. Before Covid, we lived in a big city and he was absolutely fine with meeting any other dogs on or off lead. We saw lots of different people and dogs every day, and often stopped to chat. During Covid, we were in an isolated location where we only saw the same few people and familiar dogs for a couple of years, usually off lead.

We've now moved back to a city and he's deeply unhappy about meeting other dogs on the lead - he whines when he spots them, pulls to try to get to them, and growls if they get anywhere near him. He's still fine off lead.

Any ideas about what I should do to combat this? Thank you!

It sounds like frustrated greeting, which can be made worse by a “barrier” ie a lead - however obviously you need your dog on a lead, so it’s something that needs cracking. One of mine was, with the help of a good trainer we cracked it, lots of treats, distractions, turning away from other dogs before bed got the chance to kick off, rewarding when he’d seen a dog but didn’t kick off, lots of engagement throughout the walk - like asking him to touch my hand with his nose, asking them to sit, watch me, etc, and rewarding them checking back of their own accord. Also teaching “let’s go” which essentially was run forward for 2/3 paces to get past things like dogs barking at them, also helpful when they want to eat rubbish and horse poo.

There is no value in lead to lead meetings. It is fraught with problems. I would ask him to walk past nicely with your rewarding eye contact and nice walking and then carry on. If you HAVE to meet dogs on the lead frequently then you'll need to do some LAT training which is easy and very effective.

Personally I never let unknown dogs greet mine on the lead - it has too much potential to go wrong.

Mine can also be lead reactive and I just don't see the benefit in putting him in situations that make him stressed. He doesn't need to meet all these dogs - after all, you wouldn't like it if you were forced to interact with every human you met.

If you want to work on it I would suggest making an in-person appointment with an accredited behaviourist who can identify his triggers and help you work on yours too.

Sounds more like a frustrated greeter than true reactivity.

However, lead greetings can be fraught anyway. The fight Vs flight instinct is highly relevant, and they also can't exhibit the full range of body language they normally would - like giving off calming signals.

Mine is fine off lead and a bit dodgy on lead. To be honest I just don't do on lead greetings any more. We live in an urban area but it's not too hard to avoid.