Managing Reactivity

I've talked a lot about dog behavior and potential causes that may lead to reactivity over the past few weeks. Now it's time to learn how to manage your dog's reactivity. I want to be clear, each dog is different and the information I offer here may or may not work for your dog's specific behaviors and needs. It's always best to consult with a trainer one-on-one if you are struggling with your dog's behavior and/or reactivity.

Managing a dog with reactivity isn't always simple, nor easy, but it can help you and your dog alleviate some stress from your life. First and foremost, it's important to identify the specific triggers that cause your dog's reactivity. Some examples are:

• Sounds outside of the house: barking, talking, cars passing or honking, knocking, etc.

• Other dogs and/or animals: size, color, other dog's gender, etc.

• People: age, gender, height, clothing or accessories they are wearing, etc.

• Objects: skateboards, bikes, mailboxes, cars, decorations, etc.

• Sounds in general: are they loud, continuous, a hum, etc.

In the middle of a training session, some dog's outside started barking and howling. My dog is reactive to outside noises, especially when other dogs bark. This whole event lasted about 2-3 minutes. Towards the end of the video, you'll see me get up to shut the window. The dog's will still barking and howling, but limiting how much he could hear it helped him be able to focus on sniffing out his kibble. I was not prepared for this to happen, but my dog handled it very well. Within about a minute of shutting the window, we were back to training.

This is a short list of all the possible things that may cause your dog to react. It's important, to keep track of all the situations that elicit a reaction from your dog. Be as detailed as you can when taking this notes. Include things like weather conditions, who or what is around, location, distance, time of day, type of physical and mental exercise you dog had prior, as well as when they last ate.

You'd be surprised how useful this information is to a trainer when determining the best path forward to assist you in managing and training your dog. The more details and history we, trainers, have about your dog prior to training can significantly change how we move forward. Determining the root cause of the trigger and/or behavior helps us, trainers, determine the least invasive approach when we start a training program. Once you determine what triggers a reaction from your dog, it's time to avoid and re-evaluate.

When it comes to avoiding the triggers, this can look like avoiding walks, outings, certain people or animals, and so on. Keep in mind, we only start out avoiding the triggers and with the right training, you should be able to do integrate the avoided triggers back into your lives. We do this to set up situations for your dog to succeed around a trigger. During training, if you continue taking your dog around the things that cause a reaction, and they continue to react, they are never going to learn how to react differently to said trigger.

Now for re-evaluating, we are looking at your and your dog's daily routine to see what has or has not working in the past and what is or is not currently working. One of the goals for teaching our dogs how to react differently to something that upsets them, is making sure they know they have a choice in the matter. Dog's don't get to decide many things in their life. It's important that we, as their owners and teachers, allow them to have a choice in their daily lives. This can look like choosing what toy to play with, what chew they want to snack on, letting them lead the walk, and most importantly, letting them decide when they are uncomfortable and when it's time to leave a situation.

If you're ready to start your dog training journey and take on your dog's reactivity and/or behaviors, check on my Relaxed to Rowdy in 6 Weeks Training Program. If you have a new puppy and want to prevent reactivity, check out my Chaos to Calm in 6 Weeks Training Program. Learn how I can help you and your pup live a happier, more peaceful life!

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