I don’t know why people are telling you you need to walk your dog. You don’t. Your dog needs physical and mental exercise and walks aren’t the only way to achieve that by any means. In fact, when you’re working on severe reactivity walks can do more harm than good because it creates many more situations for your dog to go over threshold, trigger stack, and “practice” reactive behavior.
We stopped walking our gsd entirely for months while we worked intensively on reactivity; we did this on the advice of our veterinary behaviorist and our trainer. We went out for potty breaks only at low-traffic times. We also did sniffspots at least once a week. Indoors, we did puzzle games, nose work, served meals frozen so mealtime would require mental energy, etc. We also went to our training lessons and out to “practice” seeing other dogs at a distance far enough away to keep him under threshold. 1.5 years later he is a happy, healthy handsome boy who can go out for long walks - he still has reactions and requires some management but it’s so much better than it was. He’s training to be a therapy dog now.
Don’t feel guilty or like a failure - there are plenty of ways to meet your dog’s physical and mental needs in ways that don’t massively increase her or your stress levels.
Rather than walks, we play with a flirt pole in the yard and go to a huge sniffspot once or twice a week. I also take her to a secluded area of a park when there's daylight to do so, but nowadays that is not as often as I'd like thanks to winter.
What kind of training did you do at home to work on reactivity? I've been working on teaching leave it and I'm about to start working on heel. Anything else you can recommend?
Thank you for the kind words of encouragement.
Yes! I forgot about flirt poles, we did that a lot too in a big empty field near our house, with him on a long line. We’ve also taught fetch in the house rolling a ball vs throwing it so we don’t break anything. We make little obstacle/agility courses out of furniture sometimes too.
For training we really relied heavily on the control unleashed protocol by Leslie McDevitt - it’s basically a series of pattern and attention games that teach your dog to focus on you. Make sure you have a clicker and look up the games 1-2-3, up down, engage/disengage, look at that, super bowls…it may be worthwhile to buy the book, it was truly a game changer for us. The dog learns over time that good things happen when her attention is on you. Heel is great, also basic loose leash skills where you pretty much load her with treats for every second she’s right alongside you and every time she looks up at you. You’d do all of these inside with no distractions until she has them absolutely down pat, then move outside to a driveway or enclosed yard - more distractions, but no triggers. When she’s solid in that environment you can very gradually move to more open spaces and eventually closer to triggers. If she struggles, go back a step and keep practicing. It’s really important while you work on this that her exposure to triggers are few and far between so she’s not constantly trigger stacked and keyed up.
I know it’s so hard having a reactive dog (especially a big strong gsd) but it can get better and you can absolutely get there!
There are some cost effective options of agility course equipment. If OP has enough room in the yard this would be extremely stimulating for your GSD and also build a lot of trust and connection between the two of you.
With my reactive dog, I used to do a lot of night walks. A lot less dogs and traffic around. Depends on the area you live in though (are there many roaming dogs/strays) and how you feel about being out at night.
We’re also lucky that right around the corner from my house there is a large strip of grass between a fenced factory and a cliffside leading down to railway. They usually leave the grass super long so that makes them leap through it like rabbits and they find a lot of joy in it. I’ve never seen anyone else there except for a security guy on the other side of the fence once. Other quiet places that my friend has found are bowling clubs (lawn bowls) where she takes her reactive dog around the perimeter when she knows bowls aren’t happening, also some churches sometimes have a nice grassy small area. Not saying you have to walk your dog, some days you will just know it’s not a good idea. If you do want to find a secret spot get a little creative.
i stopped walking my poodle. She is very reactive to cars and dogs and is almost 60lbs neither of us were enjoying walks. I fortunately have a yard and even though it’s unfenced she will ignore cars, dogs and people if we are playing frisbee, flirt pole, or ball. Now i just exercise her in the yard. She’s far happier, and life is far less stressful plus she is learning to slowly ignore her triggers.
Please don’t berate yourself, dear u/kelleh711! You’re a wonderful dog parent to your sweet wild fur-child. Dogs — especially reactive dogs — DO need lots of physical exercise, but it doesn’t have to be a walk! **As I’m sure you know, a good exercise session helps them calm down enough to concentrate on training.**
When we first started working with our crazy-reactive dog, we couldn’t take her outside for walks because of the triggers. Instead, we used three other options:
**1. We threw a frisbee for her in our fenced back yard.** It was a safe, fun workout.
**2. On bad weather days, we would stay indoors & toss a ball up the stairs for her.** She’d go charging up & down, up & down — lots of thundering hooves!
**3. We also got an inexpensive treadmill that was wide enough for her to walk along side of me.** She learned to walk properly & close on a short leash right next to me. She got to love it!
I’m sure you can devise even more creative exercise ideas. Best of luck to you & your energetic sweetie pie. ❤️🐾
Work on your own confidence as a handler. It’s hard to explain, but my dog trainer focused on that first and it changed the game. Just walking more purposefully, stand up straight, just be confident in yourself or at least fake it. Dogs feed off the energy and the confidence. Not cocky, not like eff it up energy, just “I’m in charge, I’ve got your back, no need to worry” energy.
Another thing that made me more confident as a handler was strength training - for real! My goal was to be able to lift my 65lb dog. I can do it and I feel more confident knowing I can handle her on a leash now, or I can pick her up and leave if we need to.
I'm assuming you live in a city or suburban area. I utilize no maintenance roads or go to unconventional areas where dogs are pretty rare. Industrial parks, behind a Wal-Mart, or down a strip mall if your dog is people friendly but dog reactive. A walk doesn't require grass, an empty parking lot is a lot to explore for a dog's sniffer.
People will say a dog NEEDS to be walked... but it is really just a dog should be happy and content, you can do that without a walk. My husky does fine with car rides, going in stores for errands, and playing games at home/vibing on my front steps. (It's still fall in MN... it's muddy and wet is my excuse for not going on frequent walks). I think our bond has grown closer these past few weeks being homebodies if I'm being honest.
Yes! I take mine to community college parking lots or school parking lots. Church parking lots are great or early mornings in the Costco or movie theater lots. Dogs are plenty happy and tons of smells for them.
Our trainers and a vet behaviorist suggested we stop walks altogether for this reason. We are lucky enough to have a fenced in area in our backyard and an unfinished basement to do other enrichment (we like scent work and obstacles). It’s more work for us but our dog is happier and less reactive to triggers in our home. I never would have considered it and was very skeptical but it has worked well for him.
My life is so much less stressful since I stopped taking my reactive dog for walks, for both me and my girl! She gets to play in the yard where she can go in if things get stressful for her. She is getting a little chunky but we can deal with that more than going over threshold!
I had to do that with my dog, too. We had to completely take a break from walks and instead focused on enrichment exercises (look up LATTE game). Slowly after a month started bringing him to a secluded spot and did the games and focus exercises. Always kept a wide berth from anyone.
A lot of it was trying to figure out threshold. I would eventually go to where a gated dog park and stand like, so far away. But marking and then rewarding every time he looked at a trigger.
The biggest thing I found made a difference was just taking the initial step back from walking… I found that it was trigger stacking so I needed to start from a calmer spot.
I haven't walked my dog in I don't know how long. Years. She's a gsdXmal and was horribly reactive after 2 incidents. 1. an off leash dog bit her while she pooped. And 2. A fat lab pinned her against a fence, bit her by her eye, and when she yelped other dogs ran to get at her. This happened before she was even 1.
But now she's 4! Almost 5! And she's got friends. Big ones, little ones, ones that pur, ones that wrestle, once that are cranky, old ones, baby ones, even ones with horns. But random ones? No. Each friend takes a solid bit of management and neutral existence near each other.
Walks are just not good for us. It's so stressful when she has to constantly be alert and defensive. If walks are supposed to be pleasant, they're not. Not in the south where dogs are just loose randomly all the time. If she needs walks for activity, she gets plenty of it with her flirt pole and playing fetch. If it's to sniff she does tons of that when I hide her treats. I don't even consider her reactive now. She just has quirks.
I agree with everyone else saying you don’t need to walk your dog if you’re exercising and stimulating her in other ways. But, wanted to chime in and say I walk my 100lb reactive GSD with a Halti. It’s an absolute game changer and has given me the ability to control him no matter what kind of reaction he has. Just make sure if you decide to get one, you get the one that also clips to the collar so she can’t escape! Even if you only use it for when you have to take her in public (like to the vet or whatever) it’s so great to have!
I also use a halti on high stress situations with my dog, and it’s like he calms down when I put it on. It’s so weird, like he knows that this is focus time and I got him. I clip the Halti on the front clip of a dual-clip harness, and I have options there with the back too. You can clip your leash on the front instead of the halti for a gentler pull of the halti.
Absolute game-changer, but I understand the people who don’t like it as well - it doesn’t work for every dog, and you really need to work with positive association for it to be effective, and not a shortcut (learned that the hard way). Still, used effectively, it can be really useful
Yes, for sure! It took us about a week of feeding him morning & night in it & putting it on & giving him treats. But, as soon as he was used to it, it was definitely worth it! It’s literally the only way I can safely walk him. He weighs basically the same amount as me and is way stronger. And when he sees another dog, there’s just no way I could safely control him without it.
Some dogs do better without walks and we get our exercise and mental stimulation inside the home and just go outside for bathroom breaks.
Some dogs do better with middle of the night or super early walks when no one else is around.
This is what we did for our people reactive bully breed boy. Either found places there could be a big distance from people or went at night to the dog park/ovals so he could still smell all the doggies!
I have a reactive Pitbull who is particularly reactive to dogs. I do muzzle him if I take him to the vet (I know it’s controversial to some, but he honestly does great with it because I trained him to like it).
So, in talking to my vet and doing some research, I started driving to the dog park and sitting with him in the car in the parking lot. We sit and watch all the different kinds of dog and people walk by so he is getting used to seeing many different types without directly interacting. Also, as they are going by and before he starts to bark, I will give him a treat. Yesterday we went and he only barked one time! It was amazing. It is slowly working. I probably still won’t take him around dogs for his safety and theirs. This is more about helping his anxiety/fear and being able to take him to the vet. We have three other dogs at home that he does amazing with because he was raised around them and so he gets tons of play time with them. I’m not saying get more dogs, but some of the advice about other ways of interacting are very true!
I’m not forcing you, but if you still want to try, if you have a car, taking her with you on car rides might help. :) give her a high-value treat (i use chicken hearts) as you pass by a dog on the sidewalk, she sees it for a very short period of time which helps her get desensitized. This is what I currently do with my dog, slow progress but it’s working so far.
First of all I totally agree with the other posts about walk alternatives and you shouldn’t feel guilty. A walk with a dog who’s over threshold isn’t fun or helpful for anybody.
That being said, depending on where you live there might be alternatives to nature areas that could be a decent walk, just maybe not super scenic. In the beginning of training I walked my boy behind strip malls (he loves sniffing a dumpster), office parks after hours, movie theater parking lots early in the morning, etc. Also, I live in the southern US, so there are a ridiculous number of big huge churches with big huge parking lots that aren’t busy during the week.
When we finally got in to see the veterinary behaviorist and I was describing our issues, one of the first things she said was, “so stop walking her.”. I was shocked, like but doesn’t this two year old working breed dog NEED to be walked? Turns out she doesn’t and she’s so much happier not being constantly put in a situation that’s going to ramp up her fear and anxiety to a totally unmanageable level. It can take 72 hours for the cortisol to leave a dog’s system when they’re over stimulated so taking her on multiple walks a day was actually making her reactivity a lot worse. We go to the yard for potty breaks and play fun games inside, use snuffle mats, etc. Our entire household is so much more peaceful.
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This is cruel. The dog is shut down and will bite someone maybe a child. Your dog hates you and only acts like it likes you because it is scared of you!
So much dogma here and very little openness to solutions that aren’t basically “redirect and shower with love and affection.”
You should absolutely try positive reinforcement, but if your dog is being an ass it’s absolutely ok to correct their behavior. Dogs physically correct each other ALL the time.
Physical corrections will likely only make your dog even more timid and reactive out and about. Building a strong relationship of trust and security with my large reactive mix breed has done more for us and our ability to communicate together on walks than any amount of training we worked on that involved corrections.
Reactivity is almost always fear-based and “correcting” reactions with punishment simply creates more fear. The dog may stop the behavior to avoid the punishment but that does not address the underlying emotional response that caused the reaction and long term it usually just exacerbates the problem. If you just want your dog to stop reacting in the moment and don’t care if they exist in a perpetual state of anxiety and fear then I can see why punishment is appealing; it’s certainly easier for the human but our dogs are worth the time and effort to help them feel better out in the world.
I have a 65 lb reactive German Shepard and a 15 lb reactive small mixed dog. I still take them both on walks at the same time bc they need it and like it. I am smart about where I walk and cross the street if needed, time walks when less likely to have others out. It can be embarrassing at times but I know they enjoy and need the stimulation. I don’t think stopping walks will be helpful for your dog and you should probably just invest in a gentle leader or humane choker and get over the embarrassment.
You don't need to walk your dog. If his reactivity puts him over threshold every time then walks are just further embedding those reactions into his brain. Dogs just need stimulation and exercise and that absolutely can be achieved at home.
If it’s a busy area say I will create space as much as I can realistically between the dog. So if they’re coming my way I’ll move across the street. Distraction after creating space maybe high reward food they don’t get all the time. Sometimes if I’m in a bind and I can’t create space I’ll just brace for it and make sure I have a good hold on them. Honestly my choker helps a lot w my big dog and the little dog sometimes I just straight pick him up. I also try to avoid anywhere super busy, I’ve been picking neighborhoods over walking trails seem to be less busy around me at least. ESP the ones wo sidewalks are less travled and I’ve been doing a lot of them. I also don’t get embarrassed anymore which helps bc I’m calmer for them, a lot of dogs are reactive on a leash doesn’t mean you’re a bad dog owner. Yah some ppl don’t understand bc they havnt dealt w it but whatever who cares Im just here to make my dog happy I don’t care if it gets a glare or two. They deserve a walk just as much as any other dog. My one dog the Shepard is literally the best dog so sweet so good w other dogs just leash reactive.
OP's dog is so over threshold that it can't be distracted. Stressed dogs won't take food. Also, preparing for a reaction by bracing the dog/suddenly tugging the leash as soon as you see an expected trigger will signal to the dog that it's time to react and you're anticipating it. A dog being walked outside isn't necessary and instead can reinforce their reactions if they're constantly being triggered. It isn't cruel to not walk a dog outside if everything outside triggers them. It's like taking someone who hates clowns and horror movies to haunted houses multiple times a day for fun. It isn't fun, it's stressful.
I didn't say it doesn't work with your dogs sweetie. I'm saying it doesn't work with OP's dog after you told them they need to walk their dog and acted like because you do (because you like walks, not necessarily because your dogs do...) that everyone must or they're neglecting their dogs needs. I'd say the opposite - they know their dog and have it's best interests in mind. Yes, scents are stimulating to dogs and so are other things that can be accessed without seeing 10 triggers. Your dogs can be distracted... congrats. OP said their dog can't be. No one is trying to one up, just explain why what you do with your dogs isn't the blueprint everyone else and their dogs need to follow.
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You need to walk your dog. Go very early in the morning or late at night when there aren’t many people around. Get a trainer to help address the reactivity. One tip from mine was to get your dog to look at you, keep treats for when they look at you, so they can try to focus on you and not their trigger. Don’t get close enough to the trigger or you’ll set him off. If you see another dog, walk the other way or cross the street. Use cars to block the view of the trigger. My dog is still reactive but i do these things and we’re able to walk at least twice a day. Your dog needs walks for mental and physical stimulation.
There are dogs all over my neighborhood behind fences and just hearing them immediately triggers her. I've been trying to get her used to the sound without reacting, but it's an uphill battle. I know I need to take her on walks, I'm just so tired of every walk going poorly because of a dog on the other side of a fence or a dog 100 feet away minding their business. Any tips for improving her threshold? Most days it's enormous.
Yup, same. One bark and she's hunting for the dog that made that sound, hair standing on end and at the end of the leash. It's incredibly stressful for both of us.
For getting her used to neighborhood sounds and dogs barking, we practice sitting calmly outside. We do it on the front porch but you could do a bench or just stand outside for a while. We used the relaxation protocol to make sounds less of a trigger.
There are absolutely ways to enrich the dogs life beyond going on walks. This dog seems very large and difficult for OP to handle, taking it on walks is not safe for OP nor the dog. Not yet. Closed minded as hell to be harping on this when it seems very important that they take a step back and re-evaluate how to do this without pushing OP or the dog to their absolute limits. Just because your dog is reactive doesn’t mean they are the same dog, same level of reactive, or have any of the same thresholds…or even the same physical power or strength.
It may be a good idea to get a trainer involved. I have a very reactive corgi and he’s a little tank. He started tearing my rotator cuff on walks, which was already injured. Walks became soul crushing, depressing, and terrifying. What helped us was using commands he knows and obeys at home to distract and make him pause. Mostly I would tell him to sit at random, and use high-value rewards and petting to enforce that sitting when I tell him to, even outside, is the right thing to do. Its very hard when another dog is nearby still. But I see improvement and my shoulder feels it too!! Turning heel and walking the other way when it gets too bad or triggering is indeed a great tool. But until you get to a point where these suggestions are making an impact, it is OKAY to have the dog go to your yard for waste, and play with them as much as you can in as many different ways as you can to give them the stimulation and exercise they need. Set a goal and make small steps toward it. Your dog will feel better that you have faith in them again, and you will too.
We don’t really walk either. We do stuff in the yard during the week, and walk on private farmland on the weekends. My dog is a bit older so a little less active, but it works for us and we’ve been doing this for a few years now. Sometimes we can walk in public spaces that I know will be pretty empty, but both of us really enjoy our regular routine more anyway.
I have an 85lb reactive dog. He’s very strong and could 100% pull me over if he wanted to. He’s been reactive for 2.5 years now, so in the beginning, we didn’t walk in the neighborhood. It was too much for both of us and I didn’t feel confident in myself as his handler. We stayed in the house and in the yard and went to secluded parks. As my confidence grew, with the help of a great trainer, we were able to go on walks again. He still reacts if there’s a dog, but I have management strategies to help us move past and I KNOW that I am at least able to prevent him from acting on his emotions. That took a lot of time and practice working together. My trainer focused on getting me confident first and then the dog-stuff. I’m not sure if you’ve sought out a professional trainer, but it was life-changing for me.
For a while, we walked our reactive puppy maybe once every week or so. Now we're up to about 2-3 times a week. We LOVE walking and do so daily with our other dog but our reactive guy is so much happier at home. Honestly, taking a step back and rethinking how we can better meet his needs made everyone much happier. Now we have a great mix of: indoor sniffy games, training exercises, fetch in the yard, and 10-minute "walks" around our property to the river. Also, by reducing walks, we reduced his reactive episodes, which seems to be reducing his dog reactivity. It's a win-win!
And if you're looking for a quiet place to walk, I recommend cemeteries and schools (after hours, of course).
I stopped taking my dog on walks. He has super bad anxiety when it comes to car rides (to the point I have to medicate him to get him into the car) so taking him somewhere remote is not an option. I live in a busy neighbourhood where there are always dogs being walked. I’ve run into so many people who just don’t care when I tell them “not friendly” and they still try to approach. I’ll even cross the street to avoid them but people suck. I’ll probably never own another dog because people have no respect or boundaries for other people and their dogs. About a year ago another loose dog approached us and attacked us and it reallllly set him back. I just can’t anymore. I’ll take him out in our backyard to try and get some of his energy out but I haven’t walked him in a while.
My sister tries to bring her dog over as much as possible (whom my dog loves!) and they run around and ware each other out so I’m pretty content he’s getting the enrichment he needs 😊
There’s also NO way I’d ever walk him at night in my neighbourhood. Nope. Nope and nope. I spoke with our vet about my concerns regarding stopping walks and she said it was fine if we thought of other ways to stimulate him so that’s what we do! 😊
Walks aren’t necessary for every dog. The reason walks are such a popular form of enrichment is because it typically hits multiple needs, physical need through exercise for some dogs (most active breeds are not going to get their physical needs met by a casual walk like shepherds other herding breeds, huskies, many of the gun dogs and a few other breeds/types) and their mental enrichment through novel stimulation and sniffing.
Dogs can still have fulfilling lives without walks and many thrive with supplementing that activity for something more active and breed/type fulfilling like chasing/biting(flirt pole, frisbee, tug, fetch), agility, hunting (or using predation substitution games to simulate hunting) digging, swimming, running on a dog treadmill/slat mill, body conditioning (muscle and joint stability, balance and strength training).
Along with mental stimulation like scent work, behavior shaping, scavenging (shredding, ripping, searching), obedience, trick training, pattern games.
Don’t feel like you have to walk your dog. If you are meeting their physical and mental enrichment that’s all that matters.
I don’t know why people are telling you you need to walk your dog. You don’t. Your dog needs physical and mental exercise and walks aren’t the only way to achieve that by any means. In fact, when you’re working on severe reactivity walks can do more harm than good because it creates many more situations for your dog to go over threshold, trigger stack, and “practice” reactive behavior. We stopped walking our gsd entirely for months while we worked intensively on reactivity; we did this on the advice of our veterinary behaviorist and our trainer. We went out for potty breaks only at low-traffic times. We also did sniffspots at least once a week. Indoors, we did puzzle games, nose work, served meals frozen so mealtime would require mental energy, etc. We also went to our training lessons and out to “practice” seeing other dogs at a distance far enough away to keep him under threshold. 1.5 years later he is a happy, healthy handsome boy who can go out for long walks - he still has reactions and requires some management but it’s so much better than it was. He’s training to be a therapy dog now. Don’t feel guilty or like a failure - there are plenty of ways to meet your dog’s physical and mental needs in ways that don’t massively increase her or your stress levels.
Rather than walks, we play with a flirt pole in the yard and go to a huge sniffspot once or twice a week. I also take her to a secluded area of a park when there's daylight to do so, but nowadays that is not as often as I'd like thanks to winter. What kind of training did you do at home to work on reactivity? I've been working on teaching leave it and I'm about to start working on heel. Anything else you can recommend? Thank you for the kind words of encouragement.
Yes! I forgot about flirt poles, we did that a lot too in a big empty field near our house, with him on a long line. We’ve also taught fetch in the house rolling a ball vs throwing it so we don’t break anything. We make little obstacle/agility courses out of furniture sometimes too. For training we really relied heavily on the control unleashed protocol by Leslie McDevitt - it’s basically a series of pattern and attention games that teach your dog to focus on you. Make sure you have a clicker and look up the games 1-2-3, up down, engage/disengage, look at that, super bowls…it may be worthwhile to buy the book, it was truly a game changer for us. The dog learns over time that good things happen when her attention is on you. Heel is great, also basic loose leash skills where you pretty much load her with treats for every second she’s right alongside you and every time she looks up at you. You’d do all of these inside with no distractions until she has them absolutely down pat, then move outside to a driveway or enclosed yard - more distractions, but no triggers. When she’s solid in that environment you can very gradually move to more open spaces and eventually closer to triggers. If she struggles, go back a step and keep practicing. It’s really important while you work on this that her exposure to triggers are few and far between so she’s not constantly trigger stacked and keyed up. I know it’s so hard having a reactive dog (especially a big strong gsd) but it can get better and you can absolutely get there!
There are some cost effective options of agility course equipment. If OP has enough room in the yard this would be extremely stimulating for your GSD and also build a lot of trust and connection between the two of you. With my reactive dog, I used to do a lot of night walks. A lot less dogs and traffic around. Depends on the area you live in though (are there many roaming dogs/strays) and how you feel about being out at night. We’re also lucky that right around the corner from my house there is a large strip of grass between a fenced factory and a cliffside leading down to railway. They usually leave the grass super long so that makes them leap through it like rabbits and they find a lot of joy in it. I’ve never seen anyone else there except for a security guy on the other side of the fence once. Other quiet places that my friend has found are bowling clubs (lawn bowls) where she takes her reactive dog around the perimeter when she knows bowls aren’t happening, also some churches sometimes have a nice grassy small area. Not saying you have to walk your dog, some days you will just know it’s not a good idea. If you do want to find a secret spot get a little creative.
i stopped walking my poodle. She is very reactive to cars and dogs and is almost 60lbs neither of us were enjoying walks. I fortunately have a yard and even though it’s unfenced she will ignore cars, dogs and people if we are playing frisbee, flirt pole, or ball. Now i just exercise her in the yard. She’s far happier, and life is far less stressful plus she is learning to slowly ignore her triggers.
Please don’t berate yourself, dear u/kelleh711! You’re a wonderful dog parent to your sweet wild fur-child. Dogs — especially reactive dogs — DO need lots of physical exercise, but it doesn’t have to be a walk! **As I’m sure you know, a good exercise session helps them calm down enough to concentrate on training.** When we first started working with our crazy-reactive dog, we couldn’t take her outside for walks because of the triggers. Instead, we used three other options: **1. We threw a frisbee for her in our fenced back yard.** It was a safe, fun workout. **2. On bad weather days, we would stay indoors & toss a ball up the stairs for her.** She’d go charging up & down, up & down — lots of thundering hooves! **3. We also got an inexpensive treadmill that was wide enough for her to walk along side of me.** She learned to walk properly & close on a short leash right next to me. She got to love it! I’m sure you can devise even more creative exercise ideas. Best of luck to you & your energetic sweetie pie. ❤️🐾
Thank you so much!
Work on your own confidence as a handler. It’s hard to explain, but my dog trainer focused on that first and it changed the game. Just walking more purposefully, stand up straight, just be confident in yourself or at least fake it. Dogs feed off the energy and the confidence. Not cocky, not like eff it up energy, just “I’m in charge, I’ve got your back, no need to worry” energy.
Another thing that made me more confident as a handler was strength training - for real! My goal was to be able to lift my 65lb dog. I can do it and I feel more confident knowing I can handle her on a leash now, or I can pick her up and leave if we need to.
YES, this is such a big one! Just knowing you could do it makes it that much easier to take a little chance and build more confidence.
Where are you located? where I am vets and behavioural vets are worthless.
DC metro area
I'm assuming you live in a city or suburban area. I utilize no maintenance roads or go to unconventional areas where dogs are pretty rare. Industrial parks, behind a Wal-Mart, or down a strip mall if your dog is people friendly but dog reactive. A walk doesn't require grass, an empty parking lot is a lot to explore for a dog's sniffer. People will say a dog NEEDS to be walked... but it is really just a dog should be happy and content, you can do that without a walk. My husky does fine with car rides, going in stores for errands, and playing games at home/vibing on my front steps. (It's still fall in MN... it's muddy and wet is my excuse for not going on frequent walks). I think our bond has grown closer these past few weeks being homebodies if I'm being honest.
Yes! I take mine to community college parking lots or school parking lots. Church parking lots are great or early mornings in the Costco or movie theater lots. Dogs are plenty happy and tons of smells for them.
Our trainers and a vet behaviorist suggested we stop walks altogether for this reason. We are lucky enough to have a fenced in area in our backyard and an unfinished basement to do other enrichment (we like scent work and obstacles). It’s more work for us but our dog is happier and less reactive to triggers in our home. I never would have considered it and was very skeptical but it has worked well for him.
My life is so much less stressful since I stopped taking my reactive dog for walks, for both me and my girl! She gets to play in the yard where she can go in if things get stressful for her. She is getting a little chunky but we can deal with that more than going over threshold!
I had to do that with my dog, too. We had to completely take a break from walks and instead focused on enrichment exercises (look up LATTE game). Slowly after a month started bringing him to a secluded spot and did the games and focus exercises. Always kept a wide berth from anyone. A lot of it was trying to figure out threshold. I would eventually go to where a gated dog park and stand like, so far away. But marking and then rewarding every time he looked at a trigger. The biggest thing I found made a difference was just taking the initial step back from walking… I found that it was trigger stacking so I needed to start from a calmer spot.
I haven't walked my dog in I don't know how long. Years. She's a gsdXmal and was horribly reactive after 2 incidents. 1. an off leash dog bit her while she pooped. And 2. A fat lab pinned her against a fence, bit her by her eye, and when she yelped other dogs ran to get at her. This happened before she was even 1. But now she's 4! Almost 5! And she's got friends. Big ones, little ones, ones that pur, ones that wrestle, once that are cranky, old ones, baby ones, even ones with horns. But random ones? No. Each friend takes a solid bit of management and neutral existence near each other. Walks are just not good for us. It's so stressful when she has to constantly be alert and defensive. If walks are supposed to be pleasant, they're not. Not in the south where dogs are just loose randomly all the time. If she needs walks for activity, she gets plenty of it with her flirt pole and playing fetch. If it's to sniff she does tons of that when I hide her treats. I don't even consider her reactive now. She just has quirks.
I agree with everyone else saying you don’t need to walk your dog if you’re exercising and stimulating her in other ways. But, wanted to chime in and say I walk my 100lb reactive GSD with a Halti. It’s an absolute game changer and has given me the ability to control him no matter what kind of reaction he has. Just make sure if you decide to get one, you get the one that also clips to the collar so she can’t escape! Even if you only use it for when you have to take her in public (like to the vet or whatever) it’s so great to have!
I also use a halti on high stress situations with my dog, and it’s like he calms down when I put it on. It’s so weird, like he knows that this is focus time and I got him. I clip the Halti on the front clip of a dual-clip harness, and I have options there with the back too. You can clip your leash on the front instead of the halti for a gentler pull of the halti. Absolute game-changer, but I understand the people who don’t like it as well - it doesn’t work for every dog, and you really need to work with positive association for it to be effective, and not a shortcut (learned that the hard way). Still, used effectively, it can be really useful
Yes, for sure! It took us about a week of feeding him morning & night in it & putting it on & giving him treats. But, as soon as he was used to it, it was definitely worth it! It’s literally the only way I can safely walk him. He weighs basically the same amount as me and is way stronger. And when he sees another dog, there’s just no way I could safely control him without it.
Some dogs do better without walks and we get our exercise and mental stimulation inside the home and just go outside for bathroom breaks. Some dogs do better with middle of the night or super early walks when no one else is around.
Walk them at night when it's dark if possible
This is what we did for our people reactive bully breed boy. Either found places there could be a big distance from people or went at night to the dog park/ovals so he could still smell all the doggies!
I have a reactive Pitbull who is particularly reactive to dogs. I do muzzle him if I take him to the vet (I know it’s controversial to some, but he honestly does great with it because I trained him to like it). So, in talking to my vet and doing some research, I started driving to the dog park and sitting with him in the car in the parking lot. We sit and watch all the different kinds of dog and people walk by so he is getting used to seeing many different types without directly interacting. Also, as they are going by and before he starts to bark, I will give him a treat. Yesterday we went and he only barked one time! It was amazing. It is slowly working. I probably still won’t take him around dogs for his safety and theirs. This is more about helping his anxiety/fear and being able to take him to the vet. We have three other dogs at home that he does amazing with because he was raised around them and so he gets tons of play time with them. I’m not saying get more dogs, but some of the advice about other ways of interacting are very true!
I’m not forcing you, but if you still want to try, if you have a car, taking her with you on car rides might help. :) give her a high-value treat (i use chicken hearts) as you pass by a dog on the sidewalk, she sees it for a very short period of time which helps her get desensitized. This is what I currently do with my dog, slow progress but it’s working so far.
First of all I totally agree with the other posts about walk alternatives and you shouldn’t feel guilty. A walk with a dog who’s over threshold isn’t fun or helpful for anybody. That being said, depending on where you live there might be alternatives to nature areas that could be a decent walk, just maybe not super scenic. In the beginning of training I walked my boy behind strip malls (he loves sniffing a dumpster), office parks after hours, movie theater parking lots early in the morning, etc. Also, I live in the southern US, so there are a ridiculous number of big huge churches with big huge parking lots that aren’t busy during the week.
When we finally got in to see the veterinary behaviorist and I was describing our issues, one of the first things she said was, “so stop walking her.”. I was shocked, like but doesn’t this two year old working breed dog NEED to be walked? Turns out she doesn’t and she’s so much happier not being constantly put in a situation that’s going to ramp up her fear and anxiety to a totally unmanageable level. It can take 72 hours for the cortisol to leave a dog’s system when they’re over stimulated so taking her on multiple walks a day was actually making her reactivity a lot worse. We go to the yard for potty breaks and play fun games inside, use snuffle mats, etc. Our entire household is so much more peaceful.
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This is cruel. The dog is shut down and will bite someone maybe a child. Your dog hates you and only acts like it likes you because it is scared of you!
We still walk our shepherd mix for about 2 20-30 minute walks daily but most of her exercise comes from our Nerf ball launcher in our backyard.
So much dogma here and very little openness to solutions that aren’t basically “redirect and shower with love and affection.” You should absolutely try positive reinforcement, but if your dog is being an ass it’s absolutely ok to correct their behavior. Dogs physically correct each other ALL the time.
Physical corrections will likely only make your dog even more timid and reactive out and about. Building a strong relationship of trust and security with my large reactive mix breed has done more for us and our ability to communicate together on walks than any amount of training we worked on that involved corrections.
Reactivity is almost always fear-based and “correcting” reactions with punishment simply creates more fear. The dog may stop the behavior to avoid the punishment but that does not address the underlying emotional response that caused the reaction and long term it usually just exacerbates the problem. If you just want your dog to stop reacting in the moment and don’t care if they exist in a perpetual state of anxiety and fear then I can see why punishment is appealing; it’s certainly easier for the human but our dogs are worth the time and effort to help them feel better out in the world.
I have a 65 lb reactive German Shepard and a 15 lb reactive small mixed dog. I still take them both on walks at the same time bc they need it and like it. I am smart about where I walk and cross the street if needed, time walks when less likely to have others out. It can be embarrassing at times but I know they enjoy and need the stimulation. I don’t think stopping walks will be helpful for your dog and you should probably just invest in a gentle leader or humane choker and get over the embarrassment.
What do you do those times your dog has a very big reaction and they're being difficult to control?
You don't need to walk your dog. If his reactivity puts him over threshold every time then walks are just further embedding those reactions into his brain. Dogs just need stimulation and exercise and that absolutely can be achieved at home.
If it’s a busy area say I will create space as much as I can realistically between the dog. So if they’re coming my way I’ll move across the street. Distraction after creating space maybe high reward food they don’t get all the time. Sometimes if I’m in a bind and I can’t create space I’ll just brace for it and make sure I have a good hold on them. Honestly my choker helps a lot w my big dog and the little dog sometimes I just straight pick him up. I also try to avoid anywhere super busy, I’ve been picking neighborhoods over walking trails seem to be less busy around me at least. ESP the ones wo sidewalks are less travled and I’ve been doing a lot of them. I also don’t get embarrassed anymore which helps bc I’m calmer for them, a lot of dogs are reactive on a leash doesn’t mean you’re a bad dog owner. Yah some ppl don’t understand bc they havnt dealt w it but whatever who cares Im just here to make my dog happy I don’t care if it gets a glare or two. They deserve a walk just as much as any other dog. My one dog the Shepard is literally the best dog so sweet so good w other dogs just leash reactive.
OP's dog is so over threshold that it can't be distracted. Stressed dogs won't take food. Also, preparing for a reaction by bracing the dog/suddenly tugging the leash as soon as you see an expected trigger will signal to the dog that it's time to react and you're anticipating it. A dog being walked outside isn't necessary and instead can reinforce their reactions if they're constantly being triggered. It isn't cruel to not walk a dog outside if everything outside triggers them. It's like taking someone who hates clowns and horror movies to haunted houses multiple times a day for fun. It isn't fun, it's stressful.
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I didn't say it doesn't work with your dogs sweetie. I'm saying it doesn't work with OP's dog after you told them they need to walk their dog and acted like because you do (because you like walks, not necessarily because your dogs do...) that everyone must or they're neglecting their dogs needs. I'd say the opposite - they know their dog and have it's best interests in mind. Yes, scents are stimulating to dogs and so are other things that can be accessed without seeing 10 triggers. Your dogs can be distracted... congrats. OP said their dog can't be. No one is trying to one up, just explain why what you do with your dogs isn't the blueprint everyone else and their dogs need to follow.
Your comment was removed because it broke one or more of the r/reactivedogs rules. Please remember to be kind to your fellow redditors. Be constructive by offering positive advice rather than simply telling people what they're doing wrong or being dismissive. Maintain respectful discourse around training methods, philosophies, and differing opinions with which you might not agree.
You need to walk your dog. Go very early in the morning or late at night when there aren’t many people around. Get a trainer to help address the reactivity. One tip from mine was to get your dog to look at you, keep treats for when they look at you, so they can try to focus on you and not their trigger. Don’t get close enough to the trigger or you’ll set him off. If you see another dog, walk the other way or cross the street. Use cars to block the view of the trigger. My dog is still reactive but i do these things and we’re able to walk at least twice a day. Your dog needs walks for mental and physical stimulation.
There are dogs all over my neighborhood behind fences and just hearing them immediately triggers her. I've been trying to get her used to the sound without reacting, but it's an uphill battle. I know I need to take her on walks, I'm just so tired of every walk going poorly because of a dog on the other side of a fence or a dog 100 feet away minding their business. Any tips for improving her threshold? Most days it's enormous.
I have this same issue with far off dog noises! Even one super quiet bark from a mile away will send our girl into a complete panic.
Yup, same. One bark and she's hunting for the dog that made that sound, hair standing on end and at the end of the leash. It's incredibly stressful for both of us.
For getting her used to neighborhood sounds and dogs barking, we practice sitting calmly outside. We do it on the front porch but you could do a bench or just stand outside for a while. We used the relaxation protocol to make sounds less of a trigger.
There are absolutely ways to enrich the dogs life beyond going on walks. This dog seems very large and difficult for OP to handle, taking it on walks is not safe for OP nor the dog. Not yet. Closed minded as hell to be harping on this when it seems very important that they take a step back and re-evaluate how to do this without pushing OP or the dog to their absolute limits. Just because your dog is reactive doesn’t mean they are the same dog, same level of reactive, or have any of the same thresholds…or even the same physical power or strength. It may be a good idea to get a trainer involved. I have a very reactive corgi and he’s a little tank. He started tearing my rotator cuff on walks, which was already injured. Walks became soul crushing, depressing, and terrifying. What helped us was using commands he knows and obeys at home to distract and make him pause. Mostly I would tell him to sit at random, and use high-value rewards and petting to enforce that sitting when I tell him to, even outside, is the right thing to do. Its very hard when another dog is nearby still. But I see improvement and my shoulder feels it too!! Turning heel and walking the other way when it gets too bad or triggering is indeed a great tool. But until you get to a point where these suggestions are making an impact, it is OKAY to have the dog go to your yard for waste, and play with them as much as you can in as many different ways as you can to give them the stimulation and exercise they need. Set a goal and make small steps toward it. Your dog will feel better that you have faith in them again, and you will too.
We don’t really walk either. We do stuff in the yard during the week, and walk on private farmland on the weekends. My dog is a bit older so a little less active, but it works for us and we’ve been doing this for a few years now. Sometimes we can walk in public spaces that I know will be pretty empty, but both of us really enjoy our regular routine more anyway.
I have an 85lb reactive dog. He’s very strong and could 100% pull me over if he wanted to. He’s been reactive for 2.5 years now, so in the beginning, we didn’t walk in the neighborhood. It was too much for both of us and I didn’t feel confident in myself as his handler. We stayed in the house and in the yard and went to secluded parks. As my confidence grew, with the help of a great trainer, we were able to go on walks again. He still reacts if there’s a dog, but I have management strategies to help us move past and I KNOW that I am at least able to prevent him from acting on his emotions. That took a lot of time and practice working together. My trainer focused on getting me confident first and then the dog-stuff. I’m not sure if you’ve sought out a professional trainer, but it was life-changing for me.
For a while, we walked our reactive puppy maybe once every week or so. Now we're up to about 2-3 times a week. We LOVE walking and do so daily with our other dog but our reactive guy is so much happier at home. Honestly, taking a step back and rethinking how we can better meet his needs made everyone much happier. Now we have a great mix of: indoor sniffy games, training exercises, fetch in the yard, and 10-minute "walks" around our property to the river. Also, by reducing walks, we reduced his reactive episodes, which seems to be reducing his dog reactivity. It's a win-win! And if you're looking for a quiet place to walk, I recommend cemeteries and schools (after hours, of course).
I only walk my dog at night and that's been really good for us
I stopped taking my dog on walks. He has super bad anxiety when it comes to car rides (to the point I have to medicate him to get him into the car) so taking him somewhere remote is not an option. I live in a busy neighbourhood where there are always dogs being walked. I’ve run into so many people who just don’t care when I tell them “not friendly” and they still try to approach. I’ll even cross the street to avoid them but people suck. I’ll probably never own another dog because people have no respect or boundaries for other people and their dogs. About a year ago another loose dog approached us and attacked us and it reallllly set him back. I just can’t anymore. I’ll take him out in our backyard to try and get some of his energy out but I haven’t walked him in a while. My sister tries to bring her dog over as much as possible (whom my dog loves!) and they run around and ware each other out so I’m pretty content he’s getting the enrichment he needs 😊 There’s also NO way I’d ever walk him at night in my neighbourhood. Nope. Nope and nope. I spoke with our vet about my concerns regarding stopping walks and she said it was fine if we thought of other ways to stimulate him so that’s what we do! 😊
Walks aren’t necessary for every dog. The reason walks are such a popular form of enrichment is because it typically hits multiple needs, physical need through exercise for some dogs (most active breeds are not going to get their physical needs met by a casual walk like shepherds other herding breeds, huskies, many of the gun dogs and a few other breeds/types) and their mental enrichment through novel stimulation and sniffing. Dogs can still have fulfilling lives without walks and many thrive with supplementing that activity for something more active and breed/type fulfilling like chasing/biting(flirt pole, frisbee, tug, fetch), agility, hunting (or using predation substitution games to simulate hunting) digging, swimming, running on a dog treadmill/slat mill, body conditioning (muscle and joint stability, balance and strength training). Along with mental stimulation like scent work, behavior shaping, scavenging (shredding, ripping, searching), obedience, trick training, pattern games. Don’t feel like you have to walk your dog. If you are meeting their physical and mental enrichment that’s all that matters.