Reactivity

So what is dog reactivity?

Dog reactivity is an unwanted and exaggerated response that dogs have when they encounter certain triggering stimuli, such as another dog, other animals or unfamiliar people. These responses typically involve barking, growling, lunging, whining, or even in more extreme circumstances aggressiveness.

While some dogs show only mild signs of anxiety in these situations, other dogs may go into full panic mode during any encounter that sets off their reactive behaviour.

Reactivity is a far more common behavioural problem that many dog owners deal really know, from the over stimulated dog and the owner calling out my dog is friendly and then the oncoming dog proceeds to jum and growl at your dog, or the element on a walk you dread when you turn the corner and come face to face with a trigger that will affect your dog (and you!),

Whether mild or severe, reactivity can make it difficult for owners to take their dog on walks, be around other dogs or around groups of people.

 

What causes dog reactivity?

The causes of reactivity are often complex as the dog’s behaviours can be the result of many different factors including but no limited to:

·       A lack of proper training at any age

·       Continual re-home where your dog can non longer relax

·       unintentional reinforcement by owners, this is where we can give signals even before your dog recognises them

·       genetic predisposition

·       past traumatic experiences

However, pinpointing a definitive cause is difficult because their environment plays such a big part in a dog’s reactive behaviour and if your dog is rescue or rehome, we may never know all the previous triggers they have had to deal with.

 

A dog’s needs to be evaluated before determining the cause, or causes, of their reactivity and how we can build a plan that will help remedy them

In many cases we see, dog reactivity is either learned behaviour, fear-based anxiety, or frustration-driven.

1. Learned Behavior — A dog can learn to be reactive through unintentional reinforcement by their owner. For example, when you and your dog walk past another dog, you hold onto the lead with dear life to get ready in case your dog starts pulling/barking or lunging. with the intention of stopping your dog from reacting. But provides a clear trigger from us before your dog may have even seen the other dog.

2. Fearful Reaction — A dog can use reactivity to create a safe bubble for themselves from a perceived threat. When they bark, growl or lunge, other dogs go away so they believe they’re behaviour is working. Dogs naturally don’t want to fight, so in most cases any barking/lunging is an attempt to create space away from the other dog so they don’t have to react anymore.

3. Frustrated Reaction — When a dog is raised without structure in their lives, especially on walks, they will often display reactivity if that freedom is suddenly taken away. For example, ever since they were a puppy, you have allowed your dog to run up and greet every person and dog they see. When you start trying to hold them back during a walk on leash, they start barking and pulling in frustration.

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Ultimately, reactivity can be caused by many triggers, even unintentional  which means the cause of every dog’s reactivity is different based on the triggers that happen every day and the plans we use work on any situation for the reactivity to manage the situation and support you all as a family.

 

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