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?
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?