From Chaos To Calm: A Guide On How To Deal With A Reactive Dog Like a Boss
Owning a reactive dog can be an enlightening journey filled with a range of emotions. Learning how to deal with a reactive dog can be a frustrating process and as someone who has had to deal with a reactive dog, as my first dog, I know the frustration too well, so I wrote this guide for other owners who may be going through the same motions.
Understanding Reactivity
Your dog isn’t giving you a hard time, your dog is having a hard time
The first thing in the list of how to deal with a reactive dog is to understand the issue. Having a reactive dog is tough! There’s nothing easy about it unfortunately. As someone who has struggled with reactivity for years I know how hard it is. The emotions, the frustrations, the shame, the heartbreak – these are just a few of all the emotions that constantly ran through my body when it came to walking Jasper.
What is reactive behaviour?
We’ve all seen reactive dog behaviour before, when a dog sees something and just snaps for no apparent reason.
In simple terms, a reactive dog is a dog that overreacts at their triggers.
Overreactions can include:
- Pulling toward trigger
- Barking
- Hard staring
- Growling
- Lunging
- Urination
- Baring teeth
- Redirecting to owner
Triggers can include:
- Dogs (breeds, size, whether the dog knows the other dog and gender may be factors here)
- People (males are more common but also strangers and children)
- Cars (traffic is a common trigger and also things like the garbage truck)
- Bikes (and skateboards are popular triggers to dogs)
Causes Of Reactivity
There can be many reasons why reactivity may come about in our dogs, too many to write about here, but some of the most common I’ve seen and have looked into are the following:
#1 – Adoption
Even though adopting/rescuing a dog is a noble deed it is also at a time where the possibility to draw a short straw when it comes to a reactive dog is pretty high.
I’m not the only that looks at dogs at rescue sites at times right? How many of them say that the dog can’t live with other dogs or can’t be in a home with children? I feel reactive behaviour is now a major thing when it comes to rescuing dogs which is something to look out for if this isn’t something for you at the time.
#2 – Bad breeding
Just as rescuing a dog can be a risk, so can going to a breeder, maybe more if anything.
The thing is yes, some dogs can be raised to be dangerous by their owners, but some dogs are born with behavioural issues and can be unstable and this can be passed through breeding.
At the time of writing this, the XL bully is being banned in the UK come February next year and a lot of people are saying that âit’s all about how you raise the dogâ right? But let’s forget about those that got these amazing dogs as a sign of status, to instill fear, that had no intention of training their dogs.
Let’s think about those who have these dogs and give their dogs a life full of love, the proper training and all the bells, don’t you think they hate that phrase? I always turned my nose up to anyone who said it when Jasper would react.
#3 – Bad/no socialisation
This can come from both adoption and breeding but if it is something that is overlooked from the owner as well, this can actually develop into a dog having reactivity.
Socialisation is one key factor on how to deal with a reactive dog, it is never too late to start!!! This will involve taking your dog to new places and getting comfortable with being out in public around everything.
A lot of people think socialisation is introducing their dog to people and other dogs and that’s it BUT that can cause problems down the line. In fact, constantly introducing a new dog or puppy to people and dogs can cause reactivity because as the dog grows older and you disallow the behaviour now, they will overreact to get what they want.
Socialisation should really include hanging out with your dog in new environments so they can get comfortable, letting them sniff, explore, play, relax, watch the world and just understand that the world is not a scary place.
In my opinion socialisation should be letting a dog be dependent and curious in a new environment as mentioned above but you also want to engage or play with your dog in these sessions too to show regardless of what’s going on around, you’re there with them.
#4 – Leash reactivity/barrier frustration
Something I found crazy is the concept of barrier frustration. The concept is simple, something stops the dog from getting what it wants and so they react. You may have seen this when a dog is barking from behind a gate but then the gate opens and the dog stops and just doesn’t know what to do. The same thing goes for some of our dogs when on the leash as well, these are normally the ones that take less work to help.
#5 – Fear
We’ve all heard of fight-flight-freeze right? This is a primal safety mechanism our bodies go through when we’re in high stress situations (and by high stress situations I mean running from sabre tooth tigers, not answering emails). Dogs and many other animals go through the same.
Sometimes a dog has so much fear toward a trigger that it kicks their fight or flight system in. At this point in time a dog’s body releases plenty of hormones that prepares their body for a threat any time they see this and can lead to reactive behaviour.
#6 – Pain
Pain can create a dog to be or become reactive. Sometimes we can’t tell our dog is in pain, even though they may be giving us slight signals we just don’t see it.
The first thing that is always recommended when dealing with any behavioural issues is to check with the vet first for any underlying pain (this is important if you have a new dog).
Underlying pain can cause reactivity and can stem into behavioural issues too and is often overlooked by owners who end up wasting time when it’s an easy fix and can end up making things worse if allowing the dog to repeat the behaviour.
Basic 5 Step Reactivity Guide On How to Deal With Reactive Dogs Like A Boss
Below is my basic 5 step guide that you can start with right away to help you deal with leash reactivity with your dog.
This is a basic guide and I will work on making it more complex but these 5 steps are your basics:
#1 – Get A Clean Bill of Health
The first thing is first, when thinking how to deal with a reactive dog, or dealing with any other behaviour issues is if you have got your dog checked out recently, if not then it’s probably worth starting with a check up.
This helps rule out the probability of it being a medical issue. The last thing you want is to overlook this step and actually fester the reactivity in your dog to become something worse than it is, something worse than it needed to be.
Your vet may recommend you a trainer or a behaviourist in your area to help with the issue, they may be able to give you some advice as well, but once we’ve figured out it isn’t a medical problem, the goal is to get on a management plan as quick as possible and then into more of a training plan.
#2 – Identify Your Dogs Triggers
Knowing what triggers your dog is going to be beneficial. Now some of you might just be thinking âmy dog doesn’t like other dogsâ and yes, I get that, that’s what I thought at the start. You’ve got to look deeper into it.
If your dog doesn’t like other dogs do they react differently to larger dogs? Small? A certain breed? Colour? On leash? Off leash?
Same thing goes for people too. Male or female? Tall? Hats? Umbrellas? Canes?
Get to know your dogs triggers and how much they’re likely going to react.
#3 – Identify Your Dogs “Safe Zone”
When it comes to reactivity every dog has a safe zone. Consider this a bubble that your dog feels safe in but if anything walks into that space, your dog will react.
A dog may be able to deal with dog 10ft away but anywhere closer to that can cause a reaction. This can be even further than that, as mentioned above, this is an automatic response and just as long as they see the trigger, if it is in the safe zone they’ll react.
Knowing both your dogs safe zone and their triggers will ease the anxiety you feel on walks so much. Write them down, stick them on your fridge, fully understand your dog.
You can discover more about zones and reactivity warning signs with my dog reactivity chart.
#4 – Management
Management is the phase before our dog gets fully trained in what we are trying to teaching them.
This is the phase where we have to take the reigns and reduce the chances of unwanted behaviour.
Make sure to check out my reactivity freebie for 20 reactivity management tips that can help you have a better walk today PLUS my 5 day stress detox to help reduce and eliminate stress from your dog to help allow them to think clearer and make better choices!
#5 – Proper Training
So once you’ve gone through management and you’ve built up trust back in yourself and your dog is engaged and ready to go, the next thing on how to deal with a reactive dog is finally getting into the training phase.
Getting a dog trainer is always recommended, whether it be at the start of your journey, or during it. It doesn’t have to be for your whole journey, in the time I’ve had Jasper I’ve only seen a dog trainer a handful of times. A trainer can break everything down, show you how exactly you should be doing things, give you feedback and be able to see how your dog is developing.
If you want to start the process of training your dog by yourself then there is plenty of information out there from short videos to tutorials in YouTube, blogs, social media, books and courses. You have to find the right information for you and your dog and a format that appeals to you. Start by learning the four quadrants of dog training and then explore into your markers and so forth.
Looking into counter conditioning and socialising in the training phase will help your dog start to learn to associate their triggers as something positive instead of something negative.
This is a long process and one you can only move at the speed of the dog because if you move too quickly and try to progress too fast, you can push your dog too far and cause a slowdown in your progress.
You can find some more information on how to walk a reactive dog in my blog post here.
Making sure you understand counter conditioning and socialisation will help you with training your dog to over come reactivity.
Final Thoughts
Ending up with a reactive dog can feel like a rug being pulled out from under your feet. The anxiety I used to feel on a daily basis 30 minutes before taking Jasper out and throughout our walk wasn’t healthy and I’m sure Jasper could sense it as well.
Its no joke dealing with reactivity but if you do all you can to learn how to deal with a dog with reactivity it is possible to overcome the issue. I’ve been dealing with Jasper’s reactivity for over 3 years and it’s been a journey but we’re almost at the end.
Things can get stressful with a reactive dog but if you follow a plan and find a reliable source for help you can overcome so many challenges, you and your dog will be different by the end of it.
Do you struggle with a reactive dog? What are their triggers? Leave a comment to show you aren’t alone!
