Checked August 2026 · prices drift, treat them as indicative

ThresholdDog vs SpiritDog: which one for separation anxiety or leash reactivity?

SpiritDog sells structured video courses, including a dedicated leash-reactivity bundle around $49 — good value, and generic by design. ThresholdDog sells a written plan built for your dog's specific triggers and history, reviewed by a person, for $99 or $149. If you have not yet learned a reactivity method and are comfortable applying it to your own dog yourself, SpiritDog is the better buy. If you have already watched the videos and the problem is deciding what applies to your dog, that decision is what a plan is for.

around $49 for the reactivity bundle

What SpiritDog is genuinely good at

Good-value structured instruction if you learn well from video and want a method to follow start to finish. The reactivity bundle in particular is a real, affordable way to learn an established approach without hiring anyone.

What it is not built for

Anything personalised. A course teaches the same method to everyone who buys it — that is what keeps it at $49 instead of $99 and up. It cannot tell you what your dog's specific triggers are, what distance to start at, or what to do the week the plan stalls.

When SpiritDog is the better buy than us

  • You have not yet learned a reactivity method and are comfortable applying it to your own dog yourself — a course is the right tier for that, and SpiritDog's bundle is cheaper than a plan.
  • Budget is the deciding factor and a $49 one-time purchase beats a $99-149 one-time purchase.
  • You learn better from watching video instruction than reading a written document.

When a personalised plan is the better buy

You have already watched a course like this, you can name a few things it told you that contradict something else you read, and what's missing is someone making the calls for your dog specifically — which distance, which protocol, what to do the week it falls apart.

Neither of us is the right tool for these

None of this applies if there is a bite history, self-injury, or anything that looks medical — those belong with a veterinary behaviourist or an in-person professional, not any app, course, or written plan. We refund and refer those cases rather than sell into them.

Common questions

Is SpiritDog good for separation anxiety?
SpiritDog's best-known product in this category is a reactivity bundle around $49; it is a course, so it teaches a method rather than making decisions for your specific dog. That is true of separation-anxiety instruction too — good if you have not yet learned the method, not built to tell you what applies to your dog.
SpiritDog alternative for reactive dogs
If you want the same affordable, self-paced format, SpiritDog's reactivity bundle is a genuinely good option. If you have already tried a course like it and are stuck deciding what to do with your specific dog, a personalised plan reviewed by a person is the alternative built for that gap.
ThresholdDog vs SpiritDog
SpiritDog teaches a method through video for around $49; ThresholdDog builds a week-by-week plan for your specific dog for $99-149, reviewed by a person. Buy SpiritDog if you have not learned the method yet. Buy a plan if you have, and the problem is deciding what applies to your dog.

Find out which one your dog actually needs.

The free read routes the cases that need a vet or a behaviourist straight to the directories, with the questions to ask when you get there. It costs nothing and it will sometimes tell you not to buy from us.