We did not flip out on the leash today!!!

[Leigha]

Bruiser used to be fine on the leash, then out of nowhere became really leash reactive. Whenever he sees another dog, he goes into psycho dog mode--lunging, his horribly loud growly bark thing and just in general being unpleasant. I'm pretty sure it's something I did or didn't do at some point, but we're working on fixing it.

Well, today we went on a walk and wouldn't you know as soon as we walk out our door and onto a porch there's a lady walking her dog, so I got his attention, walked him to the opposite end of the porch, stood between him and the other dog and clicked and treated for him looking at me. He kept looking at the other dog, then looking back at me YAY! He got a little antsy and kind of shifted in his seat and made a little throaty noise, but nothing horribly embarrassing. So Yay #1.

While we were walking he figured out if he'd walk a little ahead of me and then checked back in by either looking at me or Jason I'd click and treat, so he would walk a little bit, then turn and come back and check in. I was a human pez dispenser for 30 minutes, but I'm fine with it since it's what I asked for. While we were out we walked by 5 different houses that have barky dogs in their backyard and everytime we walked by he pretty much ignored them and looked back at me. He definitely heard them because his ears perked up and he was trying to figure out where it was coming from, but he wasn't anywhere close to as bad as he used to be. Yay #2

He was a little bit uncomfortable with the strange man we passed who was trying to fix his car, but again it was just a little whine, then he refocused on us as soon as we asked and we were able to walk away with him as opposed to dragging him as he continues to lunge at whatever he's focused on. He even ignored the little old lady in her front yard (I was terrified he was going to bark and be ugly to her). Yay #3

Might not be a big deal for some, but I'm SUPER proud.

[Noobs]

This is HUGE. Congrats!

[Mattie]

Well done, all your hard work is now paying off.

Isn't it a lovely feeling when you see such a big improvement like this? It is a very big deal.

[Nettle]

Ah, BRILLIANT

[jacksdad]

this is huge, well done. as someone struggling with similar issues I know what it's like when your dog flips out on leash. Enjoy the moment.

[***Melissa***]

That's awesome!!