Prevention Series: Dog Reactivity
This is probably the number one issue we see with the dogs that come to us for training. Almost everybody is dealing with this to some degree or another. Some dogs get mildly excited by other dogs while some are extremely over stimulated and some look like Cujo at the end of the leash, and we strongly suspect they may kill another dog if they were able to get to it.
The thing is, all of these scenarios can result in less than enjoyable walks and impede your ability to take your dog places. It might be mildly problematic or it might ruin your life. So nobody likes this behavior, and pretty much everybody wants to avoid it.
So, how do you do that? When do you do that? Does doggy daycare help? Do positive interactions help? What if you aren’t able to “socialize” your dog? You can relax! You don’t actually need ANY of these things. Have a listen!
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Minute-by-Minute Breakdown
- 00:00-00:59 – We do it all and we do puppy training too.
- 01:00-01:59 – dog.
- 02:00-02:59 – Like dogs are not either aggressive or not aggressive.
- 03:00-03:59 – Like those things change from dog to dog.
- 04:00-04:59 – because they’re a dog, right?
- 05:00-05:59 – It’s all reactivity.
- 06:00-06:59 – Everybody’s, oh, socialization, gotta socialize my dog and take ’em to the dog park and take ’em to puppy class and take ’em to socialize and, uh, gotta…
- 07:00-07:59 – What patterns are we creating?
- 08:00-08:59 – So your dog sees another dog, you go out the window, the excitement
- 09:00-09:59 – And then we see all the behaviors that we don’t like, start to develop the lunging, the pulling to get over to see the other dog.
- 10:00-10:59 – You always get to play with the other dog, right?
- 11:00-11:59 – This is about your life with your dog.
- 12:00-12:59 – And your dog’s meeting all these strange dogs that you don’t know and you don’t know how they’re treating your dog, right?
- 13:00-13:59 – Or maybe your dog learns to do that to them.
- 14:00-14:59 – So they see your dog coming down the street, they see your dog starting to fixate and get super aroused.
- 15:00-15:59 – And that’s not rules and boundaries, that’s not socialization and that’s not learning.
- 16:00-16:59 – Think.
- 17:00-17:59 – They’re getting bullied or they’re bullying other dogs.
- 18:00-18:59 – so tired, right?
- 19:00-19:59 – Like they’re not gonna be as bad, right?
- 20:00-20:59 – As so many owners do.
- 21:00-21:59 – Um, but she was reactive from the time she was a puppy.
- 22:00-22:59 – Did it?
- 23:00-23:59 – This is more just more fuel for the reactivity.
- 24:00-24:59 – And not knowing what you should actually be doing does not help.
- 25:00-25:59 – Because even if you have a very sensitive dog, even if you have a very small dog, even if you have a little puppy, you should be using…
- 26:00-26:59 – That’s what your leash is for, right?
- 27:00-27:59 – Socialization can be valuable if your dog is getting the proper feedback, but they’re not.
- 28:00-28:59 – Your dog doesn’t need to do that.
- 29:00-29:59 – They’re gonna be scared of other dogs, they’re gonna be nasty with other dogs.
- 30:00-30:59 – If you would like to be able to have a dog that can just walk by other dogs and it’s not a big deal, they’re not scared, they’re…
- 31:00-31:59 – If that’s what you want, then that’s what you should go do.
- 32:00-32:59 – teach your dog.
- 33:00-33:59 – right?
- 34:00-34:59 – So you can take your dog into any environment you want and rather they’re interacting with other dogs or they’re just hanging out around other dogs, or they’re…
- 35:00-35:59 – That is a good thing you did.
- 36:00-36:59 – And a lot of dogs just don’t like it.
- 37:00-37:59 – right?
- 38:00-38:59 – His dog is a pity, um, and beautiful dog.
- 39:00-39:59 – But this dog is highly, highly quote unquote reactive, right?
- 40:00-40:59 – And so he’s barking, he’s pulling, he’s lunging, he’s growling, his hackles are up, right?
- 41:00-41:59 – Um, and so it is upsetting, but so we take this dog who’s extremely reactive toward other dogs, right?
- 42:00-42:59 – And we’re gonna work, we’re gonna do stuff, we’re gonna learn stuff.
- 43:00-43:59 – And if he started to stare at those dogs, leash pop, don’t stare at the dogs, nevermind the dogs pay attention to me, right?
- 44:00-44:59 – That’s not what I’m saying, right?
- 45:00-45:59 – with your puppy, with other dogs around instead of go see the other dogs, right?
- 46:00-46:59 – right?
- 47:00-47:59 – And that’s just normal.
- 48:00-48:59 – Um, that’s not what you wanna rehearse with your dog.
- 49:00-49:59 – They’re not getting any meaningful feedback.
- 50:00-50:59 – So both, right?
- 51:00-51:59 – We don’t do that.
- 52:00-52:59 – And we see dogs all the time that were socialized, socialized, socialized, right?
- 53:00-53:59 – So it’s not all about you, it’s not all about your training.
- 54:00-54:59 – No you don’t.
- 55:00-55:59 – Right?
- 56:00-56:59 – com via email.