Reactive behaviour in dogs is often displayed as barking and lunging, but it can also take many other forms such as jumping up, or what appears to be over excitement, running away, freezing, ‘over’ sniffing or even excessive scratching. Much of this behaviour can often referred to as the 6 F’s – fight, fidget, flirt, flight, freeze or fiddle. Any of this behaviour can have a basis on stress, anxiety or even fear.
There can be several reasons for this behaviour and the first to consider and rule out or treat, is any underlying or undiagnosed health or pain concerns, with full health check and discussions with your vet.
If your dog has a clear bill of health, and/or been successfully treated, there could be other reasons behind the behaviour such as: experiences when very young – breeding background; experiences during crucial development periods - lack of, or unsuitable socialisation; or one time or past learning from a negative experience.
Reactivity is a behaviour that can significantly impact a dog’s life, often making it challenging for them to navigate the world around them, which can limit positive life experiences and therefore affect their overall wellbeing.
Owners of dogs with reactivity can suffer too, often feeling embarrassed, frustrated, and sometimes helpless. This can create a sense of isolation for both dog and owner, as it becomes difficult to engage in everyday activities such as walks, socialising with other dogs/owners or even having people visit the home.
However, there is hope!
First, It is essential to understand that dogs showing reactive behaviour are not bad dogs, not silly/stupid/naughty dogs, and they are not aggressive dogs, they simply react to certain triggers in the environment.
The behaviour shown is an immediate response by the brain to circumstances or environment, mostly out of a dog’s control and there can be all manner of involuntary or voluntary physical reactions.
To help over come reactive behaviour being displayed by your dog will require a comprehensive understanding of the causes surrounding the behaviour.
These causes can often be ‘hidden’ and the unwanted behaviour being displayed can just be the ‘tip of the iceberg’:
Building an appreciation of what may be going on ‘under the water line’ and possibly affecting your dog’s behaviour will allow you to support them towards acceptable behaviour.
An outline to causes of interrelated topics that will need consideration and assessment:
Stressors and triggers
Environment
Body language
Thresholds
Training support
Lifestyle considerations
Handling
Stressors and Triggers.
When a dog becomes stressed, their brain can release hormones that are responsible for preparing or activating the body the deal with these stressors, often known as triggers, many of these you may already be aware of:
Dogs, Unknown or unfamiliar people, New or novel environments,
Traffic, including cyclists,
Physical discomfort, Lack of predictability or change of routine, Sounds/noises/smells, Lack of, or inappropriate exercise or enrichment opportunities (this can include too much),
Handling techniques or equipment,
Rest or relaxation problems,
Some dogs can have concerns with just one item on the list, some dogs a few and some dogs many!
The level and severity of a dog’s reaction to any one of these triggers can differ too, from mild to extreme.
Dogs can also become trigger stacked, when a few mild irritations can build up throughout the day, causing a seemingly unexplained extreme behaviour ‘explosion’.
Identifying your dogs’ stressors or triggers and aiming to avoid or manage them, with environmental controls and positive training, will prevent them from building up, and help towards keeping unwanted behaviour under control.
Environment.
Offering support in the form of environmental controls can help to keep your dog’s stress levels lowered and make it is easier for them to respond in a more suitable manner.
Once you've identified your dog's trigger(s), you need to work out what exposure they can cope with, as in distances or timings.
Most dogs can cope at a distance. The distance required for each dog can vary greatly.
For some dogs each colour range distance may vary and can be from 1 foot – 100’s of feet.
For other dogs it can be also time – they can cope viewing for a few seconds, but not any longer.
For some dogs it depends on what the trigger is or how their day has been stacked.
Putting environmental controls and support training into place can prevent your dog starting to shows signs of stress.
Stress in dogs is shown through body language. Learning and responding appropriately to your dogs body language will help you to recognise this.
Body language.
Dog ‘communicate’ how they are feeling all the time and every little movement of tail, ears, eyes, mouth can tell us something different.
Stress can be shown in many subtle ways such as a closed mouth, blinking more, lip licking or yawning.
Barking or lunging is at the more extreme end meaning “GO AWAY! BACK OFF!” , and there has likely been the more subtle signs building up to this.
Always try to be your dog’s guardian and observe them for any body language signs of stress and be proactive in spotting scenarios that may push your dog too far and remove them from the environment if required, this includes circumstances at home.
More in depth details surrounding dog body language can be found on this website - https://www.silentconversations.com/dog-body-language/
Thresholds.
A dog’s threshold is the point where they can no longer control their behaviour and it will be difficult to implement any training or support.
It's crucial to respect distances or time limits, so your dog can stay under threshold and are able to think clearly and respond to training support.
These tactics can be known as Behavioural Adjustment Training or BAT, which is a protocol to help dogs stay below their threshold of reactivity – green/yellow zone.
Training support.
Offering positive training support involves pairing something pleasant, such as treats, toys/play or praise/attention with something your dog finds worrying or stressful.
This is a behaviour modification technique that replaces a negative emotional response to a positive emotional response and is known as counter conditioning.
UR - Unconditioned response, US - Unconditioned stimulus CS - Conditioned stimulus, CR - Conditioned response.
These techniques are modeled with support at the 'Social club for Unsociable' which is a 4 week course that runs 4 times a year - https://www.politepoochesessex.co.uk/event-details/social-club-for-the-unsociable-2025-03-01-09-30
When introducing these training techniques, it is important to work out what works best for your dog in each scenario, and what distances and exposures they can cope with.
It can work best to introduce a cue word when supplying treats and you will need to practise at home when there are minimal distractions, so they are able to learn and respond appropriately.
Once your dog has a reliable response to positive training support you can slowly, over time, in small increments, start to decrease distances and increase exposure as they are able to stay under threshold.
This technique is known as desensitisation, which is gradual expose in a controlled manner, so your dog only experiences the trigger at a level they can cope with.
You must take care not to rush this process, if you overstimulate, scare, or force your dog, it could make things worse. You want your dog to slowly become comfortable and associate the trigger with something positive. This can only be done by being patient and observant of your dog's reactions.
Gradually over a time scale that suits your dog, you will be able to decrease treats and just offer verbal praise as your dog becomes more positive and confident that only good things will happen.
Lifestyle considerations.
At home support positive emotions, this will help your dog to be calm and confident, that can then cope better when out in the world.
Make sure their enrichment/training/games are suitable for breed type, age or ability
Freedom to display natural doggy behaviour
Suitable safe haven for quality rest and sleep
Teaching and supporting relaxation and impulse control
Teaching general independence, with positive separation support and some predictability to routines
Allowing your dog to have choices with attention from others - people and dogs
Management of any environments that trigger unwanted behaviour
Suitable diet
Handling.
Calm, confident, and consistent handling, will be required from everyone involved in your dog’s life.
Remaining calm can be a challenge in difficult circumstances, especially when out on walks. Whenever possible assess and manage the environment as best as possible, to avoid your dog becoming stressed.
Don’t blame yourself if a walk has not gone perfectly, being the owner of a reactive dog can be challenging and is not a reflection of you as an owner. It is essential to prioritise your own well-being, managing a reactive dog can be emotionally and physically draining – take time out, avoid walks if you need to and offer enrichment at home instead, seek support from like-minded owners or friends/family.
Your dog can pick up on your emotions, and if you are not confident in any given scenario, this can be reflected in your responses. You may become stiffer/rigid, tighten the lead, your tone of voice may change. Just remove yourself and your dog to somewhere you feel safer and more in control.
Consistency is key, everyone in the family or in contact with your dog should use the same support, otherwise your dog may be confused. Consistency also means always rewarding the desired behavior (which can mean when nothing is actually happening) and try to avoid inadvertently rewarding undesired behavior.
Sum up.
Reactivity is not something that cannot always be completely cured, for some dogs it can be hardwired, but with consistent support and well managed exposure, many reactive dogs can learn to manage their reactions.
Every dog is unique and finding the right approach for your dog to match their personality, experiences, family lifestyle or just what works best for them, may take some time.
It is crucial to be aware that progress may be slow, and setbacks are common.
Recognise and celebrate small victories and focus on gradual improvements, rather than expecting quick results. Months or years of unwanted behaviour will take time to undo and rebuild.
If you feel you would like guidance or support understanding your dog and the best way forward - I can offer a full behavioural visit;
I will visit you in your home and listen to your concerns, obtain a full history surrounding your dog, whilst observing and interacting with your dog, (as they are comfortable with) learning about their personality.
This will allow me to offer immediate practical advice and suitable tasks, working with you and your dog together, in consideration of your lifestyles.
You will be supplied with a written report covering everything discussed and observed, which will cover possible reasons behind your dogs behaviour, advice and strategies how to safely manage your dog and support them towards wanted behaviour.
You will receive telephone and email support for the lifetime of your dog.
If you feel you have cracked it a home, but you or your dog would still like some guidance on walks – I can offer you 1:1 walk support;
I will visit you at your home and accompany you on a walk route familiar to you and your dog, observe behaviour and offer practical solutions to support a more positive experience.
You will be provided with a written report detailing behaviours observed, with explanations of what is likely driving the behaviour and solution support strategies.
Telephone and email support.
If feel you have sussed it but want some real life practice – I run a Social club for the unsociable, 4 times a year;
This is a 4 week course offered in an understanding, safe, supported and controlled environment.
There will be a few other dogs and owners present, all working on similar support with their dogs.
All dogs are always kept on lead and kept at suitable distance, safe havens are available, and each dog has individual entry and exit times which are strictly controlled.
The venue is on a private farm so there will be no other dogs or people present apart from the dogs and owners who are participating in the club.
After each week’s session you will receive an email that is personal to you and your dog, with what we covered or discussed and how to move forward with any training and support tactics, which may include general welfare considerations.
Clare
07979 44 88 49
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