I'm sure every reactive dog owner has had this shouted at them at some point at least once.
It's so frustrating. I think I have probably invested significantly more time, money and mental energy into training than your average dog owner.
We've been to two puppy schools, teenage class, agility, and have worked with several private trainers.
George's "training" is strong. Obviously he is toilet-trained. He doesn't chew on the furniture. He doesn't steal food. He is generally obedient in the house. He knows loads of cues - he can sit, down, paws up, spin, touch, watch…many more.
But through no fault of his own, he finds two things really scary - the outside world and being away from me in the house.
He finds it really difficult to listen to me outside of the house - he's on high alert. We are working on it but it's slow progress.
I think what a lot of people don't understand is that when he's reacting - barking and lunging - it's like a panic attack. It has nothing to do with training. You can't train an animal out of a survival response.
Similar to when he's left alone - the "training" which works for dogs without separation anxiety just isn't going to cut it.
I didn't know this either to be fair. I'm ashamed to say that if I saw a dog barking and lunging in public in the past, I would have thought that dog is aggressive, and you need to train your dog.
So I don't blame people for thinking that. But I don't think I would have ever aggressively shouted my view. Not least without not knowing the facts.
I understand a lot more now of course. And I speak to many people about George which hopefully spreads that understanding.
Lesson learned - you never know what someone is going through.
So please refrain from shouting "Train your dog" if you see a dog struggling. Most of us are on a knife edge, trying our best. Training our dogs is pretty much all we do.