Foundations and Management
It’s all about feelings and associations
Overall our goal is to help your dog feel relaxed and neutral around other dogs. We’ll be focusing on their emotional response to other dogs, and teaching new skills for them to do around other dogs, instead of reacting. The obedience skills we teach will help so we can have clear communication to guide your dog when needed, but overall we want to help them learn how to make good choices and feel good out and about, so we don’t need to micromanage behaviors long term.
Why focus on emotions?
Reactivity is an emotional response to a trigger that is bigger than we’d ‘normally’ expect. In our dogs it usually shows up when they are on leash or behind a barrier as a display of staring, stiff body language, whining, pulling, barking, or lunging.
The vast majority of reactivity is fueled by fear, frustration, or a mixture of both emotions.
Rather than focus on the exact motivating emotion at the time (is it fear? Or frustration? Or…?), Let’s acknowledge that our reactive dogs are over-aroused. This state of over-arousal has them flooded with adrenaline and cortisol. Their heart rate is high. They are on high alert. And they’ve crossed over their threshold - they aren’t in a good place to learn or think clearly.
There is some real neurobiology happening here. Being over threshold triggers our limbic system and amygdala to prepare us to respond quickly to a threat (think: fight/flight!). Our heart rates go up, muscles tense, and adrenaline and cortisol flood the system. This is an entirely different part of the brain that can make clear, conscious decisions. We simply can’t think with our cortex, so we can’t make rational decisions or listen to instructions.
We can build a new association and rewire our (and our dogs’!) brains to be calmer and able to make a better choice
What causes Reactivity? A few scenarios to consider:
The “Oh no, they’re coming for me!”
Picture walking back to your car at night. You’re in an alley and a stranger comes from around the corner walking straight towards you. They’re staring you down, squared off, and you have nowhere to flee to. This isn’t the time when you are able to think clearly about how to finish your taxes! Your brain is wondering if you should fight, run or…or…freeze? If you don’t have the option to move away (such as a dog trapped on a leash), you might yell to scare them off. If it works, it’s a behavior you’ll try again next time. Often our dogs encounter rude behavior from other dogs that isn’t intended as aggressive, but intense staring and a direct approach can make them feel uneasy. They might growl or bark out of discomfort, asking for space - and the other dog leaves. Of course, that other dog was going to leave and continue on their walk anyway - but now our dog has learned that there are some scary dogs out there, and the best way to get them to leave - is to react.
The “Wow, that was rude and really awkward”
You’re standing in line in Costco, and a stranger walks up from behind you and gives you a big bear hug! Sooo excited to see you! The first time you might take this just as an odd one-off and let it go, be it a bit uneasy. But after it happens every time you’re in Costco, you’ll start to be on edge, prepared for something uncomfortable to happen. This is not much different than our dogs being rushed by other dogs without getting an appropriate time to ‘say hi’ at a distance, or having to meet on leash where they can’t show normal, socially appropriate body language.
The “Ahhh, I just can’t wait!”
Frustration is another very common reason for a reaction. When a dog is chasing a squirrel, they’re quiet. As soon as that squirrel runs up a tree and is still - they start barking to get it to move. Let’s get that fun chase/play game going again! Like a toddler who isn’t able to eat every cupcake at the bakery and has a meltdown, dealing with frustration for young dogs is a hard emotion to regulate. Many dogs need to learn how to manage these emotions and work with us to get the things they want over time with training at home.
Reactive dogs have big feelings. Dogs are emotional beings, they are in the moment.
They experience their world differently than we do. What and how they see is different. Different dogs can perceive the world differently than the next. Some are very attuned to body language, to movement, to sudden changes or appearances of things in their environment, to smells or to our emotional state. These differences are normal, and often rooted in part of their genetics or what they were bred to do as their job.
Reactivity usually starts to show up in dogs between 1-2 years old. Around this time they shift from seeing every other dog as their best friend (like a toddler saying hi to everyone at the post office), to shifting into maturity when they realize that some dogs might not be friendly. Reactivity is also ‘contagious’ - after enough experience passing by dogs lunging and barking at them on walks, they start to respond sooner with a reaction themselves in an effort to keep some space from those threatening dogs.
For all of us - humans and dogs alike, of any age - dealing with conflicting, intense emotions is very difficult.
This mix of fear, frustration and confusion about knowing what to do in these high stress, heart pumping situations is not something we’re born with. We all need to learn these emotional regulation skills - and it’s our job to teach it to our dogs.