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Hi, my 4 yo dog Cali (Lab/Cocker), male, castrated, is good 90% of the time but occassionaly for certain triggers becomes extremely reactive and starts barking and lunging at anything that moves (cars etc included). I have him on a lead with a collar and so when he gets like this all i can do is hold him back which obviously is choking him and is not nice for either of us. These are a list of the triggers, but they dont always trigger, sometimes he will ignore them completely. Skateboards/scooters Dogs barking somewhere that he cant see Certain neighbourhood dogs Dogs on the other side of the road that he cant say hi to. Dogs where the owner pulls them aside so they cant say hello. I list them because they may not all trigger for the same reason, but the result is the same. Cali will start lunging and barking at them, and once they pass he continues to lunge and bark at everything nearby. Signs that it is about to happen include whining, or just his head turning and once it has his attention it seems impossible to snap him out of it. Once it has happened, i need to restrain him on his lead and collar, which is choking him as he lunges, and i try to get his attention, lead him to the side of the path and get him to sit and eventually lie down. But even when he does this he is still looking over his shoulder constantnly in apparent fear and anxious. We continue once he gets to a certain level of calmness again. He is very good on pack walks, he is a bit barky in the garden or when visitors come, but he is never agressiven just excited. He is food driven and any advice you can offer would be appreciated, thanks. 🙂

Hello all, I would love some advice. My 1 year old cockapoo is so reactive to everything! It’s like she’s on high alert so the tiniest sounds and she has to go investigate, or in the park she wants to chase / greet every dog / bird / squirrel etc! She also struggles to settle in new places so if we visit a holiday cottage she won’t settle, or even in other peoples gardens she won’t settle. If anyone had any advice I’d be so appreciative!! Thank you x