07/09/2026
Not every small reactive dog is scared. 🌶️
And Albion is a really good example of this.
He can bark. He can lunge. He can look like he wants absolutely NOTHING to do with another dog.
But then you see moments like this.
No one is making him approach that collie.
He has the option to move away.
Instead, he chooses to slowly get closer, have a sniff and find out a little bit more about them.
Because reactivity isn’t a diagnosis.
Barking and lunging tells me what your dog is doing.
It doesn’t tell me why they’re doing it.
And that’s the bit I’m interested in.
Because if we decide every reactive dog is scared and needs more and more distance, we might completely miss what that individual dog actually needs.
Sometimes they want space.
Sometimes they want information.
Sometimes they want access.
And sometimes they’re a complicated little fu**er who wants a mixture of all three 😂
Your dog’s behaviour makes a lot more sense when you stop trying to fit them into a box.
Got a small dog that barks and lunges? Follow me!
