Have you ever felt embarrassed? Judged? Have felt like the only way to escape incidents is to get up at 4am to walk your dog? Do not feel bad! You are doing your very best to help your reactive dog!
There is a common misconception, that a reactive dog is an aggressive dog. Lets put the elephant in the room straight to bed and tell you that is not the case at all. A reactive dog, is a dog that has a reaction, an over reaction to some kind of external stimuli. This can be people, dogs, other animals, noises. This is caused by their emotional state, when in the presence of the aforementioned, humans, dogs, noises etc and the emotion is anxiety, fear or frustration.
So lets look at what reactivity looks like. Well most commonly, it is barking, lunging and growling. Firstly, NEVER punish a growl, and secondly, listen to what your dog is telling you. The reactions your dog is giving, is communication. They are not being a pain in the bum, being disobedient or being stubborn, they are telling you, they are unhappy in the situation that they find themselves in.
Sadly, believe it or not, despite being in the 21st century, we still hear the magic words, “let them get on with it” or “they will sort it out themselves” NO, just NO! Keeping a dog in an environment where stimulus is high, where your dog is saying they cannot cope is an outdated, dangerous and awful method known as flooding. Ultimately, this method leads your dog to become so frustrated, that they have no where to go, and will simply emotionally shut down. This can lead to other long term behavioural problems, and like a hidden bomb, where all you can hear is the “tick” you have no idea when the explosion is coming.
Space is your friend here. Or, if we talk about one of the 3 D’s of dog training, “distance” “But I’m just avoiding the situation” – absolutely not! You are listening to what your dog is telling you, creating space, giving them comfort and understanding they need space to decompress.
Now the next statement we hear a lot comes to the amount of food we give our dogs. When we move away, and your dog is showing signs of calming down, now we have removed the stimuli – it is time to start neuro-transmitting chemicals in the dogs brain by adding food. This creates dopamine. Dopamine is “good” for dogs!
When you are told to use a “correction” tug on the lead, snap the lead, think Barbara Woodhouse, you are simply forcing your dog to be compliant in that environment, this is again, an outdated and dangerous method.
Changing your dogs CER (conditioned emotional response) will take time when it is done correctly. It takes knowledge, dedication and a lot of repetition with small changes implemented over periods of time. Lets think of it in the human world. If someone visits a physio for some treatment, after a long term injury, will that person have full fitness and mobility after one session?
Any type of dog training, whether general puppy work, obedience work, competition work, gun dogs etc, all of it should be done slowly, with the dog in mind. I always remember my journey of becoming a qualified dog trainer. It started back in 2018, and I paid a fortune to go on a 2 day course. This was a classroom based learning course, so across 2 days of gaining knowledge about how dogs learnt, guess how many dogs I was hands on with...... You’re right! Zero!
I always remember, sitting at the start of the course, looking around thinking is this for me. Then the wonderful Alun Freeman from the IMDT, once we got started simply said “the quickest way to train a dog is slowly” It hit home immediately, we need to consider how the dog feels when it comes to training.
Lets look at another human analogy. I always like to simplify things. So, for those of you who have children, lets put your 11 year old child into secondary school, teach them for just 1 hour, a lesson on Maths, Science and English, and then we are going to get them to do their GCSE exams.
Sounds a little unfair doesn’t it?
So, when it comes to dogs learning new skills, work slowly, work at the dogs pace and do not set them up to fail.
This is the same for reactivity. Teaching them, that actually, when they see a dog, a human, or hear a noise, there is no need to panic. We do also have to consider that, there may be environments, where a dog has had an incident previously where SEV (Single event learning) has taken place. This could present a challenge in that environment at all times, regardless of how much training we put in. Imagine that all of a sudden, we are put into a situation, where our fear and anxiety grows beyond proportion. I know from experience, that heights are my nemesis. Every time I reach a height my body feels uncomfortable with, I am immediately transported back to the Amazon rainforest in Peru which is where I know my fear of heights first started.
Now, whilst I still have a fear of heights, I have learnt how I can manage them in certain situations, but the thought of returning to the exact site where my fear first started, fills me with dread.
It is therefore vital that in all circumstances, we consider control and management. We will always be the biggest advocate for our dogs, but remember, we cannot control what other people do, so choosing to use enclosed dog paddocks to work on behaviours is a great way forwards. Instead of visiting local country parks, which, whilst are nice, we cannot guarantee there wont be that one dog “who just wants to say hello” that comes charging into our space, and potentially sets us back. So, an overview, and final thoughts of living with a reactive dog.
Is it hard? YES! Will it always be like that? NO.
Hard work, consistency and patience is key!
Do not be ashamed, do not feel like there is no way out. Training can and will help, as long as the trainer listens to you and your dog.
*N.B The content, views and opinions expressed on Blog Posts are those of the Blog author. Blog content does not represent the views of Ely Dog Field. Content is for informational and reference purposes only and not a substitute for professional advice. Please seek professional advice from the Author direct. Under no circumstance is Ely Dog Field liable to the reader or any third party for any loss or damage of any kind whatsoever. Any reliance on the information is at your own risk.
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