Reactivity

Author: Denise Partlow

Instagram: @modernk9 Carolinas

There could be a few reasons but we’re going to narrow them down to either excitement or fear.

Some dogs just really love other dogs and when they see one, they don’t know how to control their excitement. Typically, dogs are impulsive and so if they see something they want to go to, they automatically go to it. But when attached to a leash this makes it very difficult for the dog to follow through with his wants. And even though he just wants to say hello and play, that excitement turns into frustration which then turns into aggression. I find these types of dogs are a little bit easier to work through but nonetheless still a challenge.

Some dogs are nervous or scared around other dogs. So when they see one, they are most likely reacting because they’re trying to take care of business and keep that dog away before anything negative happens. Even if you had no intentions of going up to that other dog and greeting it, your dog feels that this is a necessary reaction to keep that dog away. For some dogs, they feel this way just simply because they have a leash on and now we have removed their option to “flight” but without a leash they wouldn’t react at all. Sometimes the handler lacks proper leash skills and this can also add to a dog’s frustration which will result in a reaction.

For many dogs, their typical greeting patterns would be to charge up to the dog, sniff for a few seconds to determine right then and there whether that dog is friendly or a threat. When we remove this option from our dog’s routine via the leash, it can become frustrating. Even if you feel your dog just wants to play, there could still be a level of uncertainty in your dog. It is possible your dog can be a mixture of both excitement and fear.

Monday we will talk about why my first step in working through dog reactivity starts within the home.