Context: my 11 month old terrier puppy (not neutered) goes to daycare 1-2 times a week. Besides daycare, we do not do on leash greetings nor let others pet him. We live in an urban area. We've done the group puppy classes and is now with a R+ private trainer for some additional help setting a good foundation.
My dog's biggest struggle has always been walking nicely on leash with other dogs present. He's the kind of dog that is curious and likes to observe and watch. We've been implementing engage disengage, 1-2-3 pattern game on walks and so far, we are able to get him moving on walks past dogs with him looking back after they pass and we move forward most of the time.
This week, the trainer came for a visit where we are not present to desensitize him to the city noises and a common pedestrian tunnel walkway (also path to daycare).
The trainer said he was very overstimulated near the tunnel so they didn't proceed forward but my dog met a man and then one of the trainer's clients and their dog wanted to chat because they happened to see the trainer. Apparently my dog wasn't reading the other dogs cue and lunged and vocalized. The vocalization shocked me because he's not a barker at all (I've only heard him bark 3 times since he was 12 weeks old, his breed is not known to bark as well). Apparently when they got back to my house, another neighbor's dog was heading out for a walk and my dog did the same thing.
I know his hormones are probably peaking but we've been doing everything to mitigate this behaviour. I'm genuinely a little shell shock because my previous dog was reactive so I feel like I took a proactive approach this time with my puppy.
Did any of you notice a similar trend in your teenage puppy? Just trying to distinguish if this is within the realm of normal teenage behavior or a more serious underlying issue.
I'm still a firm believer in R+ trainer and maybe this trainer isn't right for us and misread things? How do you find a good trainer?
submitted by /u/Orangebin
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