You’re on a walk with your dog and you see another dog coming your way, your heart rate quickens, you tighten up your leash to weather the storm of barking, lunging, screaming, rearing up on hind legs and yodeling, spinning, thrashing the leash, maybe turning and attacking you. Maybe you have been pulled over and dragged by your dog, maybe your dog has been in a fight. Sound familiar?

So you got a new puppy and you have heard of the importance of socializing them. What exactly does this mean? Should you take the puppy everywhere right away? Should you wait til after they have all their vaccines? We will go into detail ahead.

This article is about Over Reactive dogs who desire more space from other dogs, not dogs who want to greet other dogs. Sometimes dogs are both, they want distance but they also want to go investigate. Behavior is complex. The examples used in this article are specific to on leash reactivity but can be applied more broadly to other situations with over reactivity.

Stays and Releases; To have a reliable stay you must have a clear way to indicate to the dog that the stay is over.