5 Things Not to Do with your Reactive Dog

Does your dog bark and lunge at something or someone? Often this is referred to as aggression, but it's useful to see your dog as “reactive” instead. A reactive dog is a dog who has a strong emotional reaction to something or someone. The strong emotions can be anger, frustration, or fear.

There’s lots of advice out there and dog trainers disagree about the root causes of your dog’s strong feelings. It's important to take action, but, trying the wrong intervention can cause long term problems! Here’s 5 things you should NOT DO, no matter what approach you take.

1. Don’t Go to the Problem Area and Challenge your Dog. 

2. Don’t Expect your Dog to “Just Get Over It”. 

3. Don’t Look for a Single Solution. 

4. Don’t go into Reactive Situations without Super Solid Basics.

5. Don’t Ignore Your Dog’s Signals.

Don’t Go into the Problem Area and Challenge your Dog. 

• Practice makes perfect and if you help your dog practice being upset over and over again, this will make the problem worse!

• Your dog does not have the right skill set to tackle a difficult problem! You need a tool kit for approaching problems.

• If you’re not prepared, this can be unsafe. Use barriers like distance, a muzzle, a leash, and/ or chain link fence to ensure safety.

• Also, consider a break from working on your dog’s socialization. Your in it for the long-haul, so enjoy your dog without other dogs around and build feelings of safety and bonding.
  

Don’t Expect your Dog to “Just Get Over It”. 

• That’s not how it works. Even if you go a long time without seeing the problem, unaddressed reactivity can pop up when you aren't expecting it.

• If they are ok with one reactive situation, they may not be ok with another. “Maybe this time they’ll be ok” is a common thing owners with reactive dogs say.

Don’t Look for a Single Solution. 

• Reactivity is a complex problem. It is often created by one to several intense events (like a puppy being overwhelmed by an adult dog or a dog attack). But it can also be genetic.

• Reactivity usually involves several types of triggers. Addressing one trigger will not address them all. For example, socializing your dog (who perhaps barks at other dogs) in a doggie daycare does not solve barking at other dogs on the street.

• Like wise, one product (like a particular harness, collar, or special treat) won’t change your dog’s strong emotions. They will need repeated safe exposures to feel calmer.

• Allow for an open ended timeline.

Don’t go into Reactive Situations without Super Solid Basics.

• Basics include: a solid reward marker and high value treats.

• An attention- getting cue (like “look” or “watch me”) and a move away cue (like let’s go or come). 

• The human should also know how to use a “treat magnet” - a bribe/distraction to get your reactive dog through a situation that would normally cause lunging and barking.

Don’t Ignore Your Dog’s Signals

• Dogs have their own set of body language that lets us know what they are feeling. Knowing these subtle signs lets you know whether to proceed with an activity or back away. You need to know: a look away, lip lick, body tension, and that the length of looking at a trigger tells you how upset your dog is.

• A wagging tail is not necessarily a sign of friendliness. It is a sign of excitement. A quick wagging, high tail with strong eye contact and tense muscles is not a signal to approach.
  A wag that is at body height, slower, and accompanied by a look away is friendly.

• Adjust your method based one what your dog is saying, not what you think they’re saying.