Living with a Reactive Dog: Training the Humans
Having a dog with big emotions and reactions towards other dogs makes going out into the world difficult. Walks become stressful when you aren’t sure whether your dog will pull you towards other dogs, bark, lunge, or totally ignore you. In these moments, embarrassment sets in when you are trying to manage the situation and guilt can take over when you feel like you’re falling short for your dog. These behaviors can affect your daily life, maybe pushing you to adjust your walks to early in the morning or avoiding walks all together.
When we began working on Grimm’s reactivity, I identified his triggers and became hyper aware of the environment. I worked on my timing to capture moments of engagement before he started focusing on other dogs and developed skills that allowed us to manage his excitement levels. Ultimately, I had to assess myself as a handler, how I communicate with Grimm, and how I contribute to his reactivity.
Body Language: I would find myself tense, arms ready to brace, and the leash pulled tight. In these moments, I was signaling to Grimm that something is about to happen, putting him on alert, and contributing to a reaction. As a handler, we need to be aware of how we carry ourselves and how that translates to our dogs. While you begin working on your handling, it is essential to relax your body and aim to have a loose leash while walking your dogs.
The Leash: The leash can be a source of frustration to our dogs, holding them back from other dogs or people. This can lead to our dogs lunging and barking as they want to get to others or maybe they want to scare others away. Dogs quickly learn that these behaviors can get results and become reinforcing to them. So, it is important that we prevent the buildup of frustration. By building engagement and working in a low distraction environment, you can set the foundation for proper leash handling.
Environment: While working through reactivity, you want to ensure the environment sets your dog up for success. This means taking mental notes of distractions from people and other dogs, managing arousal levels, and maintaining appropriate space from distractions. Unfortunately, if an environment appears to be too much, you may need to reassess your training goals for that session and consider finding a new spot to train.
Biological Fulfillment: We can easily forget that our dogs were once bred for a purpose. For example, herders were meant to herd livestock and work all day, terriers were bred to bring down game and fight, hunting dog were used to search and retrieve animals, and guardian dogs were meant to be independent and protect their herd. As a result, proper outlets are needed for our dogs and a walk around the block may not be enough. Dogs need both physical and mental exercise. Ensuring you are meeting you dog’s unique needs is vital to giving them balance.
Having a reactive dog is not easy, but we can work together with our dogs to build our relationship, communicate efficiently, and become a team.