Hello! Firstly, this community has been such a great help and reading through other people’s experiences has made this feel less lonely.
On to the issue: our cockapoo is about 6 months old. In the past month he has become more vocal and has started barking at things that sometimes startle him, other dogs, and barking of other dogs. This has made walks frustrating sometimes. If we see a dog, we will give him time to see the dog, and a moment to settle. He will sometimes settle but then start barking like crazy and lunging. If he hears big dogs barking from a distance, but not see them, he’ll start barking. We’re training him on the command ‘quiet’ and treat him for being quiet or calm behavior but this rarely works outside. We have neighbors who have dogs that are constantly barking at any noise outside their door but our dog has now learned to ignore them and does not react to them. This does not apply to any other dogs outside.
We tried introducing him to a friends dog and that didnt go the best, but also not the worst. He did his usual bark, growl, lunge but when walking near him he finally ignored him. When we put them back in a closer closed proximity but still with some distance, he started up again with his reactions. Today, a person walking by with their dog allowed his dog to say hi despite our dog’s initial reaction. When greeting each other he did pretty well and we made sure it stayed friendly. When I saw him getting too excited and was being cautious he wouldnt start up growling or barking again, I pulled him away and he started up again but then got distracted because he realized he hadnt said hi to the dog’s owner (he loves people). After greeting the owner, they walked away and he started back up again. I genuinely cant seem to get him to calm down or have some manners and have considered puppy classes to desensitize him but worry that might be too much for him right now.
If you’ve been through something similar, what worked for you?
submitted by /u/TiniTiniBee
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