Reactive Teenager! Advice needed!

Hi all,

New to the forum!

I have a 6-month pup (Emily) who is reactive to people and dogs. If either come within 10m she will lunge at them. Never barking or showing any signs of aggression.

This is despite daily socialisation since 8-weeks where I have been doing engagement training (mark and reward eye contact and some food retrieval games) around neutral dogs/people. She's never had any bad experiences with dogs/people and I don't let her say hello to random dogs/people when we are out.

She is quite a submissive dog but rarely gets scared or shy.

I have been religious with her training. Socialisation walks 1x/day with additional training sessions 2-3x/day.

Is this a case of persisting and keeping her below threshold untill she matures and learns to acccept the correct way to behave? I haven't used any corrections other than a verbal "no", as she is a puppy but if this persists into adult hood would a leash pop be justified?

More than happy to answer any questions and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

Hi & welcome.

It's almost certainly over excitement, especially as she isn't barking or growling. If that's the reason then she may well grow out of it, but it might be worth getting a behaviourist involved just for a bit of advice (non aversive behaviourist only!) on how to cope/direct her.

Thanks for the reply.

I was afraid a behaviourist will be needed! I completely agree, it does appear to be excitement related.

Anyone got any recomendations for a behaviourist online or in the Kent area? Reached out to a few but they haven't replied!

This is a useful article to read - it may help you choose.

https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/dog-advice/understanding-your-dog/finding-behaviour-and-training-support

Checking through some of the Kent behaviourists, this one looks good...

https://www.specialistdogtraining.co.uk/

Bear in mind that the good ones will be busy so you may have a wait! However, it's possible that you may be able to overcome the problem with training advice rather than a full behavioural consultation, so it's worth phoning and explaining the problem first.

Thanks very much