r/reactivedogs • u/Away_Yogurt_6321 • 14h ago

Advice Needed I don’t know how to help my reactive dog

for context i have a two year old male german shepherd who’s severely reactive, even from a distance all he can focus on is the other dog, and if we’re close he’s lunging and growling a and trying to get to the other dog. i simply don’t know how to help him, ive taught him different focusing commands but all of that goes out the window as soon as he sees another dog, i want to give him an exciting life but instead we’re stuck doing neighborhood walks and playing in the yard because he’s so reactive. he’s also still intact which i dont know if that plays a role and if he’ll get better once he’s neutered but i don’t know how to fix this. i was walking him today and i thought i gave us enough space from this other dog but he lunged suddenly and dragged me across the payment,i just want to help make him better

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u/Lumpy_Physics3101 14h ago

this is very common adolescent GSD behavior. find a trainer who has trained 1000 GSDs and they can help you fix this dog's behavior.

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u/apri11a 13h ago

find a trainer who has trained 1000 GSDs

^ ^ ^ This. Find a trainer who has trained 1000 GSDs... and who has proven results. Lots of trainers will say they can train or have trained GSDs, but did they get results? With an effective trainer it should not take too long to change this behaviour.

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u/Lumpy_Physics3101 11h ago

A trainer with breed experience is also going to be able to help you understand what kind of breed-specific exercise/enrichment/fulfillment activities you can do with this dog, that can give him appropriate outlets for his energy.

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u/Away_Yogurt_6321 12h ago

do you have any tips on finding a trainer like that? how do i know if they’re able to produce results

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u/Lumpy_Physics3101 11h ago

breed associations, working dog clubs, even GSD rescues (though rescues can be hit and miss w/r/t training advice) might be able to give you some names. As far as how you know if they're able to produce results: same as any trainer, ask to see some dogs they've trained, ask them what results you can expect, and ask them to put you in touch with some of their clients.

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u/kerfluffles_b 13h ago edited 13h ago

Find a trainer to work with. Also, idk about you, but neighborhood walks can be more stressful than other walks. Can you go somewhere more remote than your neighborhood for walks?

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u/Away_Yogurt_6321 13h ago

we rarely ever see any other dogs on our neighborhood walks so he doesn’t get stressed on those walks