How to practice: dog reactivity

So Tucker has reached the point where he can walk by dogs on walks without reacting, so long as I feed treats, with like 99% success. I don't even have to try super hard, just sprinkle treats on the ground and if he starts to look at the dog instead of trying to find treats I drop some on his head and he's back to treat hunting. The only time he almost went off was when I was walking him and Phoebe together and the dog walking by started flipping out. Even then he only charged and growled before I was able to get him back under control. So we've gone a few months with that being the only actual reaction.

So I'd like to really try and work on the reactivity to see if we can progress further. I've been getting super bummed that I can't do anything with him, especially now that the weather's not super hot. I want to go on trails or bring him to the town common but I can't, we can't go anywhere with him. It's like I have another cat. My biggest issue is lack of practice. On our walk we see like maybe two dogs a week, at most. So I've started taking longer walks to try and increase our chances of walking by a dog (and because I love fall). But I'm wondering if there is a better way to go about getting some practice in? I sort of feel like I should hang out outside a pet store or a dog park but I'm not sure if that's just asking for trouble or is inappropriate, people might just assume he's friendly since we're near the store/park.

Any thoughts?

Are you not able to just continue doing what you have been doing (with the dropping of treats) on the trails or at the common area? Maybe start on a weekday afternoon when it will be less busy?

When Frag was young and very reacrive, we went to the dog park and worked in the parking lot, pet stores in the parking lot, etc. until we could go in safely. Worked great for us. No one ever said anything and I kept a safe distance so I wasnt being innappropriate.

Helped, too! He isn't reacrive anymore.

Hugo has a similiar problem and we've been using the dog park. At our park it's really spread out so it's pretty easy to control how close/far he is from other dogs. And usually when people see him on a leash they assume he's training and just smile and tell me good luck. He doesn't lunge or anything though, we're just working on the idea that not every dog is OMG MY NEW BESTIE. I think overall people are understanding. I've only had one incident where another dog that wasn't under control sprinted up to play and got Hugo all riled up.

With trails I'm afraid of getting trapped basically. Someone passing us on a trail would be WAY too close right now, I don't think he'd be able to ignore the dog and sometimes it's not possible to get off of the trail. I might be able to take him to the common if it's a short visit or not busy, I've been thinking about trying it. I'm just afraid there will be multiple dogs there and it won't be a quickly passing by situation like on a walk but a situation where he has to deal with the dog being visible for an extended period which he's never had to do before. I just don't know if he's ready. On the other hand if it's not super busy I should be able to put some distance between us and the dog so that in itself could provide a way to practice.


Good to hear it's worked/working for the two of you! We don't have a legit dog park at the moment (they are in the planning stages of one though) but we do have a park that is very popular among dog folks, I used to bring Tucker there when he was dog social and they have a group of regulars that are there almost every day. They have a small parking area and the surroundings are all quiet residential streets so I thought maybe we could walk around the perimeter. I wouldn't bring him in though, I haven't been impressed with the level of voice control most people have over their dogs there. And he will get nasty if a dog comes up to him, plus it would set us back.

The pet stores are a bit trickier because both of the busy ones are in high foot traffic areas and he's not people friendly either so I'm not sure if it'd be a good idea. But there would be a LOT of opportunity to practice, dogs go in/out every few minutes.

Could you take him to the pet store but stay in your car?

Ulysses and I have been stalking people at the dog park lately as we work on his dog reactivity. We also go to the trails and stick to open areas where we can get way off the trail. It helps a lot to think of these as training outings for Uly rather than for myself, so I don't feel so bad if we end up sprinting down the trail away from other dogs. We're also trying BAT right now, which is a new experience for both of us.