It happened in a hardware store. My Great Pyrenees puppy, Mosey, was 6 months old, had been there several times and had always been comfortable with unfamiliar dogs. But this time he barked — a big, scary bark — at a golden retriever at the end of the aisle minding its own business. And thus, we started down the road of reactivity training.

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Most guardians who come to see me for dog reactivity — a term we use to describe barking, lunging, growling, jumping, etc. at someone or something that’s out of line with the threat posed by the thing — were similarly caught off guard. Their formerly social puppy became a menace on the trails, usually between 6 and 18 months. They were caught in a cycle of hiding behind cars and embarrassingly saying, “He’s really very sweet, and he’s

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