So I've been working really hard with my girl since we had her at 9 weeks. So a little background. I started training with my girl from the minute we had her with basic commands. We signed her up for puppy class once she had her second injections. The first session went well though she was a little shy. The second session a cockapoo barked at her and lunged which nerved her a bit. The third session the minute she saw the other dogs she reacted barking and lunging and the trainer did nothing to help me and she barked for ages. The trainer then told me to go in a corner out the way. From this minute on the trainer seemed to not spend as much time with my dog, just gave me basic commands to practice which my dog already knew. The last session we had was recall and all dogs had a turn off lead. Trainer didnt want her off lead but was happy for the snappy cockapoo to be off lead who ran straight to my dog. We let mine off and she came straight to me no issue at all, then the same cockapoo snapped again and my dog growled and barked and the trainer basically blamed my dog! I guess because she was the biggest there. I came out of that class in tears and never went back.
We found someone who deals with this breed and within seconds of meeting him my dog was under control. He took her to built up areas with barley a bark. He said shes not aggressive just slightly unsure and reactive and rather than letting her greet dogs and people to have her leave it and walk past. If we see someone we know to stop, have her sit and wait. So I've been working so, so hard on this and she's got so much better. She sometimes will bark but I stop, have her sit and wait. She's so much better with people but not a fussy dog she would rather sit and wait than have a fuss. She goes to work with my dp and gotten to know the people there and loves them. She sometimes even barks at people she knows well. She's still not 100% on dogs and will bark if they stare or run towards her. We have another dog aswell and she loves her, we have rabbits which she adores and is so gentle with. I dont leave her unsupervised with them so please dont worry. People shake their head, cross over or snap at me when out walking. Some people praise me for the work I put in. I would like to have her greet different dogs but because of the way she acts when the dog gets close, noone is willing to help me really. I have her off lead when no one is around, her recalls fab and she loves a ball so no matter what dog is around she will not leave my side but on lead she's different, as my trainer said she's more restricted on lead so has no where to run if feeling threatened. She's quite protective of me aswell. I've read in the news that people can report dogs if they see them as dangerous and this scares me. I don't want people to see her that way. She's such a good, highly intelligent dog and would hate to think someone would report because they don't understand her or how much effort I've put into training. She doesn't like strangers coming in the house so will bark and sometimes growl but she backs away and after seeing them a few times she'll go for a fuss. Hes never bared teeth or truly growled in a nasty way. If someone comes in the house shes unsure of she barks, slightly growls, sbiffs then runs to find a bone or toy. She's currently in the window watching workmen as quiet as a mouse when normally she'd be barking so my training is paying off in most ways. All the news regarding dogs recently has put me on edge because I don't want people think that of her. My other dog has no issues. I do walk them separately so I can concentrate on the training 1 to 1. Ive had many dogs successfully in the past but none were reactive. Im fully aware having a big dog bark at you can be scary, ive had it myself and been the one to judge unfortunately because i assumed these owners couldnt be bothered to train their dogs but now i know different. Little dogs in the street bark all the time but people find this cute and coo over them but when mine does it, its a different reaction. Any advice thanks and sorry for the long post just wanted to add as much as possible.