Yes, I have a semi-reactive dog who only barks when he meets some, but not all all, larger, also reactive dogs. After many years, I've narrowed down the list of possible dogs he might be triggered by: usually labradors/goldens/GSD type dogs who are also reactive. He can walk by a calm Great Dane or Great Pyrenees without a hitch. He usually ignores howly hounds. He's great friends with small dogs.

My dog is always on leash and we walk by quickly if he starts to jump about, lunge and bark. That's all I can do, OP. "Training" can't do more than that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious - of all of you complaining about "poorly trained" dogs, do any of you have rescues, or do you all have bred dogs?

Yes, I rescued a 1 year old German Shepherd/Husky mix, and he was hard as hell to train. I spent thousands and used three trainers, but now I don't have to worry about him being troublesome with humans or other dogs. It was worth it.

Some people don’t have those resources, especially to spend on a problem like barking at other dogs. I know your response is that “you shouldn’t have the dog then,” but really, that’s not how life works in practice. You like the dog, the kids like the dog, and he’s otherwise not dangerous and well behaved.

Fine, don't train the dog, but then please drag it away when it starts barking like crazy at other dogs. No one, dog or human, wants to listen to that. And if your dog sits in the window and barks at passing dogs, don't let it sit in that window--move it to the back of the house. Finally, I'll just say that a barking dog is not a happy dog. S/he might need anxiety meds.

I have never seen someone with a barking dog that just stands there and lets it go crazy on the sidewalk. Also, a dog that barks at dogs or people approaching the home is pretty much… just being a dog??? And you want to medicate it??!?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have seen large reactive dogs on walks in my neighborhood and the owner is doing absolutely nothing to stop the behavior.

All they need to do is get the dog to sit, distract them / block their view of the passer by who they're barking at and reward them for sitting still.

We did this with our dog and it worked. And he was huge and strong. It's like these owners don't even know the word "no" and aren't willing to try it.

Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t. Dogs are not robots, they aren’t going to be perfect all the time or react the way you want them to all the time.

Hence training. Do it til it works.

I think this response reflects a lack of understanding about dog behavior. Also, dog training does not happen overnight. Who is to say the dog is not being trained but is still in progress?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious - of all of you complaining about "poorly trained" dogs, do any of you have rescues, or do you all have bred dogs?

Yes, I rescued a 1 year old German Shepherd/Husky mix, and he was hard as hell to train. I spent thousands and used three trainers, but now I don't have to worry about him being troublesome with humans or other dogs. It was worth it.

Some people don’t have those resources, especially to spend on a problem like barking at other dogs. I know your response is that “you shouldn’t have the dog then,” but really, that’s not how life works in practice. You like the dog, the kids like the dog, and he’s otherwise not dangerous and well behaved.

Fine, don't train the dog, but then please drag it away when it starts barking like crazy at other dogs. No one, dog or human, wants to listen to that. And if your dog sits in the window and barks at passing dogs, don't let it sit in that window--move it to the back of the house. Finally, I'll just say that a barking dog is not a happy dog. S/he might need anxiety meds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious - of all of you complaining about "poorly trained" dogs, do any of you have rescues, or do you all have bred dogs?

Yes, I rescued a 1 year old German Shepherd/Husky mix, and he was hard as hell to train. I spent thousands and used three trainers, but now I don't have to worry about him being troublesome with humans or other dogs. It was worth it.

Some people don’t have those resources, especially to spend on a problem like barking at other dogs. I know your response is that “you shouldn’t have the dog then,” but really, that’s not how life works in practice. You like the dog, the kids like the dog, and he’s otherwise not dangerous and well behaved.

Anonymous wrote:I have a very small 4 pound chihuahua. He is terrified of bigger dogs. I get so annoyed when neighbors approach us with their bigger dog. So it goes both ways. Stay back.

If by approach, you mean, encounter while walking on the sidewalk in a normal manner, as one does, then no, you scoop up your dog. I agree that no dog, large or small, should be allowed to rush up to another dog, but your dog's fear does not preempt the mere existence of large dogs in the world

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have seen large reactive dogs on walks in my neighborhood and the owner is doing absolutely nothing to stop the behavior.

All they need to do is get the dog to sit, distract them / block their view of the passer by who they're barking at and reward them for sitting still.

We did this with our dog and it worked. And he was huge and strong. It's like these owners don't even know the word "no" and aren't willing to try it.

Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t. Dogs are not robots, they aren’t going to be perfect all the time or react the way you want them to all the time.

Hence training. Do it til it works.

Anonymous wrote:Just curious - of all of you complaining about "poorly trained" dogs, do any of you have rescues, or do you all have bred dogs?

Yes, I rescued a 1 year old German Shepherd/Husky mix, and he was hard as hell to train. I spent thousands and used three trainers, but now I don't have to worry about him being troublesome with humans or other dogs. It was worth it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a reactive German shepherd and no inclination to apologize. He’s a rescue and overall an excellent dog. If I had raised him maybe he wouldn’t have been like that but I don’t know. Getting him over his anxiety of other dogs has been a long process. Deal with it!

A reactive GSD is not an excellent dog. It’s dangerous.

Says you, he is only dog reactive and very gentle with people. All he does is bark at other dogs, which is not a crime the last time I checked. Would you prefer he be put down?.

If you can’t control and train him, you shouldn’t have him. Period.

A dog-reactive GSD is a nuisance at best.

So, your preference is that he be put down. Got it. Who else is going to adopt an older dog reactive German Shepherd in the dmv? No one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have seen large reactive dogs on walks in my neighborhood and the owner is doing absolutely nothing to stop the behavior.

All they need to do is get the dog to sit, distract them / block their view of the passer by who they're barking at and reward them for sitting still.

We did this with our dog and it worked. And he was huge and strong. It's like these owners don't even know the word "no" and aren't willing to try it.

Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t. Dogs are not robots, they aren’t going to be perfect all the time or react the way you want them to all the time.

Co-sign. Do humans always behave perfectly?

Anonymous wrote:I have seen large reactive dogs on walks in my neighborhood and the owner is doing absolutely nothing to stop the behavior.

All they need to do is get the dog to sit, distract them / block their view of the passer by who they're barking at and reward them for sitting still.

We did this with our dog and it worked. And he was huge and strong. It's like these owners don't even know the word "no" and aren't willing to try it.

Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t. Dogs are not robots, they aren’t going to be perfect all the time or react the way you want them to all the time.

Anonymous wrote:Too many people get dogs without the slightest idea how to handle them. Dogs need to be socialized to other dogs and people from a very early age.

And my small breed dog socialized with lots of other dogs and humans as a puppy. He as very friendly and loved all other dogs until the day he was attacked by a big dog. He didn't suffer any serious injuries but from that day on, he is sometimes reactive toward big dogs by barking and acting tough. Due to his small size he's not going to do any damage, and yes, we have tried trainers, but the best we've been able to do so far is to get him to NOT react SOMETIMES. We keep him on a short leash and try to maneuver him away whenever we see big dogs, but sometimes big dogs will come out of nowhere...god forbid we see one who looks like the one who attacked him.

Too many people get dogs without the slightest idea how to handle them. Dogs need to be socialized to other dogs and people from a very early age.

I have seen large reactive dogs on walks in my neighborhood and the owner is doing absolutely nothing to stop the behavior.

All they need to do is get the dog to sit, distract them / block their view of the passer by who they're barking at and reward them for sitting still.

We did this with our dog and it worked. And he was huge and strong. It's like these owners don't even know the word "no" and aren't willing to try it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious - of all of you complaining about "poorly trained" dogs, do any of you have rescues, or do you all have bred dogs?

I have a breeder Mastiff. I’m not sure why you ask, but rescues should not be held to a lesser standard of behavior. They’re just as dangerous when reactive.

[OP]

What do you propose we do with these poorly behaved rescues? Put them down? Should only perfectly behaved dogs be allowed to live in your opinion? Certain reactive dogs are never going to become totally comfortable in a public setting. Sometimes it cannot be trained out.

If nuisance or threatening behavior can’t be “trained out,” you shouldn’t have the dog.

This isn’t difficult.