Having a reactive dog is hard work. I really do understand how challenging it can be. When Rico first came over from Portugal he was the most dog sociable dog I had ever had the pleasure of living with. Fast forward a year or so and he was bitten by a dog 20 X his size! I wish I was joking but I’m not. An Irish Wolfhound cross. A huge, tall, leggy dog compared to my 6.5kg little Kokoni. It was awful, and despite the after care I put in, sadly Rico did develop an aversion to tall, leggy, sighthound type dogs. We worked on it, and at times we still have to revisit that training (particularly if his arthritis is playing up and he is experiencing any pain or discomfort – as this lowers any dog’s tolerance levels). He is far better now than in the months following the incident, but it is hard work!
I understand the worry that comes with going on a walk. The “What if an off lead dog comes over?” the “What if the owner doesn’t recall their dog?” and the “What if I don’t get to safety in time?”. The walks can be filled with stress and dread for you, and your dog.
Often when I am working with clients who have reactive dogs, they have seen information online, or been told information by other trainers that has made them feel that it is impossible in real life to keep a dog under their threshold for reactivity. Their threshold being a distance from their “trigger” (usually a dog or a person) that they can be in without going over that red line and “reacting”. That reaction may be to bark, lunge, growl, snap. It really varies from dog to dog but “reactivity” seems to be a catchall term at the moment for dogs who are potentially frustrated, aggressive or very commonly fearful and worried by other dogs. There may even be a mixture of emotions and motivations driving the behaviour.
Clients have often been told that it is not possible to use reward based training in these behaviour cases. That it will “fail”. They may even have tried and had little success. I wholeheartedly disagree that it is impossible and I have helped many owners over the years to use reward based training with their reactive dogs. Whilst this blog is not a “how to” guide for getting a dog over reactivity (it is often linked to pain so please get a vet check and get 121 behaviour support), I hope it will give you some options for working with your reactive dog with less of the stress and worries and “what ifs”.
1) Adjust the times you walk your dog
One of the best ways to lower the chance of your dog encountering their triggers is to simply change the time in which you walk your dog. Walking at peak dog walking times just really isn’t suitable for a reactive dog. The time when everyone is heading to or from work, or picking the kids up from school should really be avoided. Your reactive dog really is not ready for joining you on the school run. Please leave them at home.
I appreciate that walking your dog very early in the morning, or very late at night is not ideal but I am not asking you to do this forever! I had a wonderful client last year who when they started training with me had already been walking their dog at 4am for several months. I was so impressed with their dedication!
This is simply a way of reducing the number of triggers that your dog is exposed to whilst you are going through training. Less triggers will mean less opportunity for your dog to trigger stack, and therefore reduce the chance of them going over threshold. While avoiding their triggers entirely is a management strategy, it does not solve the problem long term. We need to find enough triggers to practice training at a safe distance from, without finding so many you run out of treats to do your changing emotions training with or have your dog going over their threshold.
The weekends often seem like a prime time to train dogs as you are potentially off work and have more time to dedicate to your training but it is important to remember that so are 30 other dog owner in your neighbourhood and actually a Saturday afternoon at the park is likely to be a nightmare for reducing reactivity training. There are likely to be more children running round, footballs being kicked and off lead cockerpoos flying across to see you. You may find that actually the weekend is a time for having really early walks or walks in a different place entirely.
2) Change where you walk your dog
Which brings me on to tip 2. Change where you walk your dog! There’s many reasons for this, but actually a lot of reactive dogs are worse when they are routinely walked in the same place every day. I have been on body language basics walks with clients and been able to correctly identify which house has a cat or dog living at it, purely based on the dog’s behaviour. This is because dogs will learn and remember things! So if you know that there is a garden you pass which always has a yappy Jack Russell outside that triggers your dog to go over threshold and have a total melt down, why are we still walking passed it daily? You are likely to be getting worried about it on the approach which may well be changing your posture and how you hold the lead which will further add into the picture to the dog that there’s something worth setting off about round the corner.
If your dog is good in the car, then even driving 200 metres down the road to avoid these flash points really is worth doing.
Is it an inconvenience? Yes. I appreciate that, but is it enjoyable to be dragged passed your neighbours house daily as your dog goes to face his nemesis? I’ll let you decide which is better for you!
It is also worth considering the locations you are walking. Residential streets are often highly populated with dogs. While you may have cars to hide behind, you may not be able to get the distance from other dogs that you need in the early stages of training for your training to be successful. Open grassy areas can actually be better for working on reactivity as you can see triggers from a distance and keep space more easily. With that in mind, while our canal paths around Nantwich and Whitchurch are lovely, they really are not reactive dog friendly. The last thing you want is to be going along the canal and be in a face to face Mexican stand off with another dog only to find you can’t do an about turn as another dog has snuck up behind you. Last thing you want is to end up in the stinky canal water while trying to avoid another dog. Think about alternatives. It is not glamorous, but cemeteries and graveyards work really well. They tend to be really quiet and the dogs who are there should be on lead. Some of them are actually very pretty with interesting ruined buildings in, so it is worth considering.
A photo of Rico (kokoni) and Maisy (Jack Russell cross Pug) taken in a cemetery by Photography.Framedit.
3) Don’t walk your dog!
This one really riled up some people on Tik Tok over the weekend! But I am serious. Just don’t walk your dog.
I’m not talking about never walking your dog ever again, but if you have a really bad experience where you dog goes over threshold, or an off lead dog flies over, or very sadly your dog is attacked by another dog then the best thing you can do is not walk your dog. Give them plenty of enrichment opportunities and use scent work to help them to decompress but give them a good 2-3 days without a walk and exposure to their triggers. Studies have shown that blood cortisol (stress hormone) levels can stay elevated for up to 3 days. What that means is that even before you have left the house your dog is closer to reacting, so the chances of your training being successful are already lower. We know that when we are stressed we don’t learn and retain information well (that last minute cramming before GCSE/A level exams was probably pointless!) and the same applies to dogs. In that emotional state they will not be learning so you’re better saving your time and energy for another day.
If you feel like your dog needs an outlet for energy then look at hiring a private hire field where you know there will only be your dog and no others around to lete them burn off steam and also give you an enjoyable time with your dog without scanning the environment for potential triggers. We are lucky to have a whole host of these in our local area which I covered in this previous blog.
4) Go to dedicated Reducing Reactivity classes.
When working on reducing reactivity we cannot hide from triggers forever. You need safe, controlled exposure around other dogs in order to work your dog free from the worry that an off lead dog, or a dog on a flexi lead may come flying over.
I run regular small group training sessions at Unleashed at Wrenbury Hall Woods for exactly this reason.
With a maximum of 5 dogs (usually 4 but if they are from the same household I will take 1 extra!) there’s plenty of space at the wonderful venue for the dogs to be able to work at their own individual threshold distance.
As the venue has a large lake, if any of the dogs start to struggle there is an opportunity for them to increase distance further by going for a walk around the lake to have a good old sniff break (it really works, sniffing releases dopamine a calming chemical and lowers heart rates!). Over the sessions we work on being calm around other dogs, and gradually getting that distance down. How long it takes depends on the individual but below you’ll see an image of two wonderful big lads – Gus and Buddy who’s owners have worked so hard to get them to this stage:
Gus the Golden Retriever and Buddy the German Shepherd at the end of our Reducing Reactivity Class.
Up coming dates are:
Friday 15th July at 5:30pm
Monday 18th July at 4:15pm
Tuesday 26th July at 5:30pm
Monday 1st of August at 1:45pm
Sessions cost £20 for an hour of training or £15 for those on behaviour packages. To ensure everyone’s safety and the progression of their training please note these sessions are only open to clients who have had a 121 training or behaviour session with Nose to Trail previously. To book please email info@nosetotrail.co.uk
The road to reducing reactivity is not necessarily straight forward or smooth but I hope these tips help you to navigate the journey with your dog. If you need any help with your training, then please do get in touch.
If you have some other examples of how to keep your dog from going over threshold when working through a behaviour modification plan for reactivity, then do feel free to share them in the comments. You may be helping another dog owner on their journey to a happier, calmer pooch!