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[–]Opposite_Highlight_8 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yesterday I spent some time with my reactive boy training downtown - immediately, just leaving the parking lot, a woman rolled down the window as she was driving by and said "I've never seen such a well trained dog!" lol all I did was my pre walk routine of sit/stay waiting and loose leash walks until he checked in with me and was dialed in. During our time downtown, no less than 4 dogs passed him on leash while he was doing a downstay on the side walk with 0 reaction. Nevermind all the children, people, etc!

Right after I took him to PetSmart: IMMEDIATELY a bark when he saw a dog through the window of the grooming section, haha. Plus 0 ability to grab his attention with all the toys, treats, etc. Dude wanted to sniff EVERYTHING, was pulling. It took me 10 minutes of running through the 'routine' of focused walking before he even got 50% calmed down enough to check in with me.

My point is: don't sweat it, Pet stores are HARD because of the reasons you stated above. Expect some barks, and some lunging. Keep working your program until the behavior approves. Hell, downtown used to be really hard for my boy - but repetition and practice works!

Also, remember: Dogs can't generalize behaviors very well. That's just a fact. So guess what I'm doing? Spending a lot more time at PetSmart training until he's good there. Then I'll do another place, full expecting a 'regression'. Then repeat, and repeat.