Mastering Reactivity: 10 Tips On How To Walk A Reactive Dog With Confidence
Does your dog struggle with reactivity? Learning how to walk a reactive dog can feel like an overwhelming challenge, but with the right strategies, you can make the experience more manageable. In this post, Iāll share 10 practical tips from my personal journey with my reactive dog, Jasper. From understanding your dogās pace and body language to teaching essential skills like leash pressure and basic maneuvers, these tips will help you build confidence on walks. Plus, Iāll dive into socialization techniques and how creating positive experiences at safe distances can help your dog become neutral to their triggers over time.
Dealing With Reactivity
Having a reactive dog can be a massive struggle for people especially if they have to go through it alone, every walk can be a rollercoaster of emotions.
I’ve been dealing with Jasper’s reactivity for a good few years now, we’ve made incredible progress but the journey has been difficult nonetheless.
The journey of reactivity varies in length and difficulty, some may have an easy journey, others not so much. Either way I believe that dealing with reactivity has a basic structure that if followed can make things a hell of a lot easier.
Below in this blog post I’ve given 10 tips on how to walk a reactive dog. Hopefully you’ll be able to take away one of these tips to help you on your journey.
10 Tips From Our Journey With Reactivity
#1 – Go At Your Dogs Pace
First thing is first, go at your dog’s pace. This doesn’t mean in speed but I mean through progress. With leash reactivity a common issue and a mistake I’ve made is rushing the process. Thinking that your dog is making progress (which they may well be) and pushing them too far reverting back to previous stages.
When dealing with reactivity the goal is to avoid the repetition and rehearsal of reactive behaviours so you want to make sure you are setting your dog up to win.
Reactivity isn’t a race, in this case slow and steady really will win the race.
#2 – Learn Basic Dog Body Language
Imagine if before your dog reacted there was a sign that warned you, how useful would that be? Well there is but you have to be looking for it, this signal comes from our dogs.
Dogs communicate a lot through body language including signals when they are starting to feel uncomfortable or before reacting.
Things to look out for can be fixation, raised hackles, slow movement, stiffness is posture including tail and ears.
Understanding these warning signs can help you keep your dog under threshold, from reacting and allowing for your to work on the issue from there.
You can discover more about these warning signs in this dog reactivity chart below to help prevent reactions before they happen.
#3 – Advocate For Your Dog
Another one that’s missed is advocating for your dog. Whether you dog is dog reactive or human reactive, there may be time where we get unwanted interactions from our dogs triggers.
Whether an off leash dog or over friendly person, we’ve been in positions where we really haven’t taken charge of the situation and put our dogs in positions they’d rather avoid.
The act of advocating for your dog can simply help build trust. A lot of us react badly in these situations or don’t react at all and that is also contributing to the reactivity. Our dogs just need someone to take control of the situation and show them they’re safe.
#4 – Make Sure You’re Training The Issue
One thing I do want to mention is avoiding getting stuck in the management phase. With the majority of behaviour issues, you will be required to manage your dog until you teach them what you want and what you don’t want.
A lot of people may get to a point where they think everything is fine just through management but without actually training the issue and changing how the dog feels about the trigger you won’t make much progress.
Getting stuck in the management phase is so easy, sometimes we’re burned out and other times we’ve made progress and ignore the rest of the training.
#5 – Don’t Rush When Walking
A common issue and again one that I’ve gone through as well is rushing walks. When you have a reactive dogs sometimes walks can be a difficult part of your day or sometimes after your dog reacts you just want to get home.
Rushing around is going to do nothing more than stimulate your dog even more, especially if they’ve had a reaction, they will stay on that level.
One of the best things I learned when it comes down to how to walk a reactive dog is to start being calm on the walks. It is hard but when you slow down and keep calm and composed your dog will start being able to look to you more.
Stay calm, walk at a good pace and even when you see your dogs triggers stay calm and guide them through the situation.
#6 – Teach Leash Pressure
Leash pressure can be a great addition tool in your toolbox not only for reactivity but for general obedience too.
When our dogs are fixated on a trigger and fully locked in, hearing commands can be hard (they are in a fight or flight response and at this point hearing is selective). Teaching our dogs to follow leash pressure can help in these situations.
By teaching our dogs that following the pressure of the leash can bring reward you can find manoeuvring your dog so much easier out of these situations.
#7 – Teach Basic Manoeuvres
This sort of falls under leash pressure but basic manoeuvres include being able to turn around and have your dog follow, starting and stopping, turning into the dog etc.
By teaching these to your dog (outside of the situation preferably in low distraction environments with high rewards) you will be able to use these to escape reactive situations.
#8 – Acknowledge and Reward the Little Things
One thing we have to realise is that every little win helps on the road of reactivity. A lot of us are quick to stop rewarding calm behaviours or miss small opportunities that our dogs give that are rewardable.
The key to reactivity is to reward the right behaviours you want which can be as little as eye contact, or sniffing the grass, breaking fixation etc. Many owners miss rewarding these behaviour changes which are powerful moments where the dog is making the right choice.
Keep an eye on your dog, reward for things consistently to start and then reduce the rate of reinforcement. This will also help build up engagement over the duration of the walk as well.
#9 – Practice, Patience and Consistency
I cannot give you an exact timeframe on how long this is going to take but all I can say that if you want to learn how to walk a reactive dog with confidence it will take practice, patience and consistency.
The journey can be super frustrating but remember your dog is also having a hard time too and at the end they are still your loveable companion. Imagine how great life is going to be after the journey, you just have to keep going.
As long as you can make sure you’re practising the essentials and making steady progress that’s all that matters. Just remember to go at your dog’s pace!!
#10 – Get Help if You’re Really Struggling
If you really are struggling with how to walk a reactive dog and dealing with their behaviour then do not feel afraid to seek help.
When I was really struggling with Jasper I had to get a trainer because I had hit a wall even with everything I’d learned. They simply showed me a few things that I was doing incorrectly that changed everything.
Getting a trainer doesn’t have to be for those of us that are really struggling, some may just want to see if they’re heading in the right direction.
#11 – Sniffari Dog Walks
Something I recommend for a majority of dogs but especially those with high stress levels such as reactive, anxious and high energy dogs, is sniffari dog walks.
Sniffari dog walks are a great way for dogs to decompress plus they come with a bunch of other benefits such as increasing confidence.
I highly recommend throwing in 1 walk a week where you and your dog focus on having a Sniffari. For more information on this concept, the benefits and how you can get started, check out my blog post on sniffari dog walks.
Understanding Your Dogās Thresholds and Socialization
While working to improve your reactive dogās behaviour, understanding their threshold is crucial. Every reactive dog has a limitāwhere their tolerance to triggers is overwhelmed, causing them to react. Learning where this threshold lies is key to preventing reactions before they happen.
Observe your dogās body language closely. How close can they get to a trigger before their behaviour shiftsātensing up, lip licking, or intense staring? This distance marks their threshold. Gradually work below this point, rewarding calm behaviour, so your dog learns to manage their emotions better.
Once youāve identified your dogās triggers and thresholds, socialization from a distance becomes a powerful tool. When done slowly, positively, and at a safe distance, socialization can help your dog become neutral to their triggers. Over time, youāll be conditioning your dog to see these triggers as neither threatening nor exciting. The goal is neutralityāto reach a point where your dog notices the trigger but remains calm and focused on you.
This gradual exposure in a controlled manner is essential for reactive dogs, helping them build confidence and manage their emotions better in the long run. For more detailed strategies on how to socialize a reactive dog and turn triggers into non-events, check out my post on socialization for reactive dogs. You can also download my FREE Reactivity Starter Bundle for a step-by-step socialization checklist and guide to follow!
How To Manage A Reactive Dog Like a Boss!
If you’re struggling with reactivity you can gain extra tips in my FREE reactivity ebook. Packed with information about reactivity and 20 tips to help you manage it better.
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Final Thoughts
Hopefully one of these 10 tips will help your journey on how to walk a reactive dog. It is a struggle but remember that you are not alone.
If you have any comments, questions or just want to share your journey with reactivity comment below! šš¾
