What Is a Reactive Dog?
For the purposes of this article, a "reactive dog" is the untrained dog that responds
excessively to specific
environmental elements with seemingly "out of control" vocal and physical behaviors such as highly animated
barking or howling, lunging, jumping up and down, dashing side to side, and the like. Some of the more common situations
that evoke reactive behaviors are other dogs walking, running, or engaging in physical activities; other
animals (such as cats or squirrels); pedestrians, especially joggers; bicyclists or skateboarders; passing vehicles; etc.
Many of the highly reactive dogs are biologically hard-wired to react to visual stimulus. The herding breeds are top
on this list, where substantial prey drive is required and expected if the dog is to fulfill its respective breed standard. With
the higher drive herding breeds especially, there is tremendous ignorance, confusion, and unwarranted
misdiagnosis of "serious behavioral problems" by those who lack fundamental knowledge of the respective
breed standard for temperament and behavioral characteristics. A great number of
reactive dogs branded with the mark of "bad temperament" are exhibiting nothing more than
drive-fueled exuberance and excitement, with the outbursts of immature, less experienced candidates typically compounded
when their expectedly high but poorly directed and conflicting play, prey, pack, and hunt drives are overly stimulated.
Being "reactive" does not necessarily mean that a dog is fearful. Many an inexperienced and immature dog that is
not genetically fearful will react to a stimulus with an impressive demonstration of boisterous barking
and escalating physical gymnastics. Consider that a profoundly fearful dog is likely to ultimately recoil
from and attempt to avoid a psychologically overwhelming environmental stimulus.
Nor does being "reactive" necessarily mean that the reactive dog is "aggressive." There are a number of different
subtypes of behavioral aggression, and just because the dog barks hysterically at other dogs does not mean
the dog is "dog aggressive," nor does it mean that a dog is "aggressive toward children" if it lunges and barks at a
10-year-old whizzing by on his skateboard. Consider that the truly aggressive dog rarely announces
to the world that it intends to aggress by leaping, thrashing, barking, yodeling, and generally creating
an unholy scene. The truly dangerous aggressive dog typically doesn't advertise its intent; the
predatory dog learns that silent stealth achieves more bites than does hysterics.
Being "reactive" also does not necessarily mean that the reactive dog is "poorly socialized." Owners who are
reporting reactive behaviors in their dogs are doing so after observing their dogs in social environments
with associated stimuli. The problem is, the more the reactive dog is exposed to environmental stimuli and
allowed to indulge in reactiveness without alternate behavioral modification or training, the worse the
reactive behaviors become over time, and the more difficult it becomes to manage the dog in public, and
the more likely the owner refrains from taking the dog out and about in public.
“Things do not change; we change.” – Henry David Thoreau
By far the biggest component of managing your reactive dog is changing your reactions to your reactive dog.
When you learn consistent management strategies and practices, you quickly become
increasingly more clear, confident, and skillful in your overall management and leadership. This directly
influences your dog and its behaviors.
The foundation for behavioral modification is laid with incremental, focus-based learning and training
in a distraction-free environment for both you and your dog.
The behavioral issues presented by the environmentally reactive dog can be a training challenge for the dog owner. If you would like to learn how to modify your dog's reactive behaviors and effectively teach desired behaviors when out and about in public, consider enrolling for Online Dog Training with a supplemental telephone consultation.
