Stressor to Signals for Reactive Dogs
Our last few blogs built the foundation for what can be the most powerful, effective and simple type of behavior modification training. Turning stressors (triggers) into signals (cues) to DO something. Let’s break that process down a bit.
Anxiety is the worry about the unknown that might be coming.
It’s stress about something that hasn’t yet happened - but is out there, possible. Anxiety is an understandable response in dogs. Their world is so far outside of their control, and sometimes things they perceive as scary *do* get too close. They have very little agency in their day to day life. They go out when we open the door. Eat when we feed them. Walk the directions we choose. And go to the park or on hikes on days that work with our schedule.
The more we can teach dogs to make productive choices, even small ones, the more confident and less anxious they’ll be.
Of course dogs can’t make all the choices - they’re dogs, and they’re living in our human world. Going out to play fetch at 10pm isn’t an option, that’s past my bedtime. Sometimes we do have to make stressful vet visits. That’s life and it’s our job as humans to ultimately make all the choices for our dogs’ health and safety. Giving them the ability to choose isn’t to remove our best judgment - it’s to show them they can make choices that ultimately help them feel better about situations *without* us micromanaging and telling them what to do each step. It’s the same as letting a toddler choose apple or orange juice with their lunch. We’re not letting them choose an IPA here.
So when your reactive dog learns that other dogs they see are a CUE to Check-In with you - it opens up a huge new window of confidence.
When Check-In’s, or any skill, have a +CER (positive conditioned emotional response), and are something your dog loves to do on a fundamental level, just the act of doing those skills releases feel good hormones and boosts their emotions. When we can add on praise, a food/toy reward, and movement - wow! Jackpot!
Just like teaching an automatic sit at the door (see last month’s blog!), we can teach an automatic Check-In from other dogs by getting the timing and pairing right.
There’s only one difference - we first need a dog who can think. This might take some time of Counter-Conditioning training, desensitization or neutral movement. (Reach out so we can build a plan that fits your dog’s needs!) If they are in Fight/Flight/Freeze mode, no constructive thoughts or learning can happen. So first, we need a dog who is reasonably holding it together and able to engage, after some foundational behavior modification training.
Once they are a bit more relaxed, we pair the new cue (another dog) with their Check In cue (usually their name). If this happens within 2 seconds, your dog starts to learn “wow, every time I see that other dog, I Check-In, and get the fun times.” Now another dog starts to become the most salient (obvious) cue to Check-In, and we start fading how obvious our prompts are, until we aren’t needed.
Goose the husky pup learning to confidently hang around and be neutral with other dogs
When your dog starts to really get it, it’s a striking light bulb moment that changes how they see other dogs. They now suddenly have agency to make a choice that makes them feel better. It relieves the stress of feeling like they have to bark, lunge or react to make the trigger go away.
The fear of the unknown dissipates, since they know they can do something.
And best of all, it doesn’t rely on distracting your dog away from other dogs. So if a trigger pops up before you notice, it doesn’t make a difference! Your dog can act to make good choices without you. The snowball of them building their confidence can keep growing as we reinforce their good choices, and set them up for success.
It does take careful setups while they're learning. Remember, dogs aren’t good at generalizing! Our job is to show them all of the potential variables, and help them work through understanding it’s the same cue, even if something has changed. They’ll need help around different types of dogs, different distances, environments, dogs suddenly appearing vs. already out at a distance, different energies, etc.
But it’s so worth it. Archer, my younger Dutch Shepherd, was anxious about strangers from puppyhood. His ability to hike off leash is because he knows that new people = Check In with me. He’ll notice people long before I can by smell or hearing. And he’ll freeze mid trot to think. Then make his way back to me for a piece of cheese. Instead of a panic moment and potentially making a not-so-good decision about a trigger coming, he knows the next steps have nothing to do with that potential trigger - its a cue to come back to me. Once he’s feeling neutral, he can pretty quickly switch into social mode. Which is such a relief for a dog who really just wants to be pet by everyone all the time!
If we’re always micromanaging our dog’s lives, they don’t learn how to feel confident in themselves. Anxiety is a feedback loop that grows. Simply remembering feeling anxious about something, causes us to remember that stress, and feel it even more each time. Now there is something to worry about! We need to give our dogs enough support to navigate the world successfully, and guide them when things maybe just too much to handle. This is never leaving them out there to feel like they have to take on a potential threat by themselves - but to move beyond just trying to override their emotions with obedience, and even beyond building better associations with Counter Conditioning, to giving them opportunities to feel successful working as part of a team with us, not just working for us.