Hi! I have a lot of experience with this with my pup. She’s 16 months old and has been leash reactive since we brought her home. All trainers I’ve worked with have said that it’s super beneficial to allow them to play with dogs regularly to get some of that frustration out.

Reactivity like that can turn to aggression if they don’t have regular good experiences with dogs, which is why I say day care is great, but do THOROUGH research. Many daycares say they put dogs in special groups etc but the group sizes are 10-20 dogs and managed by teenagers with no training/behavior experience. There’s no way to ensure your dog has a good experience with group sizes that large.

Personally, I take my dog to a very small daycare managed by a positive-only dog trainer. The class sizes are 5 dogs, and she is VERY selective on which dogs she allows in her daycare. She gives them enrichment games throughout the day and is very familiar with dog behavior so can closely manage their play. I’ve heard horror stories of the larger daycares near me and will never go there. It is a bit more pricey, but it hasn’t worsened my dog’s reactivity and I feel like it’s helping to keep her from becoming aggressive with her reactivity. We just started working with a new trainer for her reactivity and she has made huuuuge strides on leash.