Reactive Dog Classes

Looking to help your anti-social, reactive, or aggressive dog behave better towards other dogs or people ?

We have just what you need.


Helping your dog to overcome reactivity is all about providing clear communication and strong leadership. In this class, we will help you strengthen your relationship with your dog to ensure that your dog not only loves you, but also respects you and looks to you for guidance and support. Regardless of why your dog may be acting this way — fear, dominance, over-excitement, etc — leadership is critical when working to eliminate reactivity or aggression towards other dogs or people. If you aren’t driving the bus, your dog will be forced to hop into the front seat and take charge so that we don’t crash!

In this class, you will advance your skills and understanding of:


  • How to build a relationship with your dog built on trust and respect for your authority as the leader, and why this is so crucial in inhibiting reactivity and aggression
  • The importance of good timing of your communication — When and how to reward social, appropriate behavior most effectively, and where to draw the line with regards to inappropriate behavior towards others.
  • How to best set your dog up for success so that he is able to feel more relaxed around dogs and people and make good choices.

How is this class different from our other class options?


  • You can work through your dog’s reactivity issues without feeling added pressure or judgment from those around you — we are all in the same boat!
  • The information we cover is specifically geared towards reactivity and/or aggression, so you’ll get exactly what you need to help your dog be successful.
  • Everyone in this class has completed some level of training with us before, so we can move more quickly into hands-on exercises with the dogs.
  • You’ll receive “real-world” practice in a more controlled, predictable, and safe environment, which will help your dog to be successful and therefore learn the skills at a faster rate.

reactive dog intensive class package

  • 2 private lessons 
  • 1 month of Reactive + group training classes (30 days begin after first class)

Your Investment = $567

*Note: Our group training classes are a recurring membership, billed $147 monthly. You can cancel anytime. This monthly charge will occur every month after your initial package investment.

meet riggins

"We adopted Riggins when he was 3 months old and took him as many places as we could. Around his first birthday, seemingly out of nowhere, he started reacting to dogs when he was on leash. It started in a store once, then progressed to the point that I couldn’t take him to the park for our usual runs because he reacted so severely to dogs who simply looked at him. If they didn’t look at him, he stared them down seemingly challenging them to look. It was sad because we had been taking him to dog friendly events and different parks, and suddenly one day all of that stopped. He was great off leash at daycare but on leash was impossible.


I heard good things about the Paws and Possibilities reactivity class, and I knew what I was doing wasn’t working, so we decided to start the training. 


Within two weeks of starting (and with doing our homework), I saw a difference in Riggins. Slowly but surely, he started making better choices when he saw another dog. We purposely started taking walks at times when a lot of dogs were out, and eventually we got to the point of having a full walk with no reaction. We then attended the basic obedience classes, where dogs are in closer proximity than reactivity classes, and Riggins stayed calm and relaxed the whole time. He focused on me and making good choices instead of focusing on the dogs around him. Fast forward to tonight, only 2 months after starting our training, we attended the dog-friendly Lights and Leashes event at Lights on the Bay in Annapolis. There were hundreds of dogs in close proximity. Riggins was calm, relaxed, and did not react at all. We were even rushed by a loose dog and I started to panic, but Riggins kept his cool. I couldn’t be happier with the training and the outcome. Thank you so much!"

~ Ciera H. + Riggins

Reactive Class Graduate