05/19/2026
Part 3: “But he doesn’t do it every time.”
And honestly? That’s often a really good sign.
One of the more confusing parts of reactivity is that the behavior may only happen in certain situations, with certain dogs, or in certain environments.
Your dog may walk past one dog calmly and react strongly to the next.
That inconsistency can make people think, “See? He’s just excited.” But reactivity does not have to happen 100% of the time to still be reactivity.
Catching these patterns early before the behavior becomes more intense, more frequent, or more generalized gives us a much better chance of improving it successfully.