Increasing dog reactivity?

*sigh*

So we had a run in with an off leash boxer that was posturing and really set Mia off on Friday (she was leashed and freaked, to be honest, I was nervous too about this dog's behavior). I detailed it in the venting/musing thread.

Since then we've had three cases, one saturday and two yesterday where Mia reacts to dogs that are well away from her and are paying her no mind. Leash lunging, sounding like cujo, etc. Please tell me this will get better. This is not normal behavior for her.

What should I do when this happens next time? We've had off leash dogs run up before and not had an issue but this one seems to have really scared her and worried her.

Not sure if it's the "right" thing to do, but with a dog that small I would pick her up if a dog charged over (as long as being held doesn't make her more reactive). My friends' reactive dog is quite calm if he's being held around other dogs - I guess he feels secure and like his person is handling things. They don't do it often, but if they have to pass very close to a dog he doesn't like, it's a good way to get through a bad situation for them.

For dogs at a distance, I would do the typical LAT and trying to distract her with other behaviors and treats.

Chemicals released into the body during stressful situations linger for days after the stressor is gone. It lowers a threshold and tolerance for frustration and makes a dog (or a person) more likely to have another stressful episode. Then the cycle begins anew.

Give Mia a few days or a week to calm down before getting too concerned. Other than that, LAT, plenty of space between her and triggers and working on her self control will help.

It should be easy to get her a few days of resting. Looks like we'll be stuck inside the next week if the weather keeps up.

I've always just never done anything differently after events but I have also never seen her go off on a dog like she did with the boxer. Anyways, I kept up our usual class schedule so we had classes on saturday and one yesterday and that's where she reacted.

This--cortisol. I'd lay low for a while and then revisit training.

Interesting stuff.

Stress is fascinating. The response to stress will vary dog to dog (and person to person) but the after effects of stress are usually predictable. Especially with dogs that are usually on edge.