Reactive dogs: why it happens and how to help

Reactive dogs: why it happens and how to help

 

Is your Boston Terrier reactive? We can help you to understand what it means, why it happens, and how you can help your dog.

 

Dogs are often described as reactive if they bark, lunge and pull towards other dogs, people or things outside. Many people think reactive dogs are aggressive dogs, but that’s not always true.

Reactivity can develop when dogs feel:  

  • worried
  • frustrated  
  • excited
  • overwhelmed.

Their behaviour is a noisy and visual expression of how they feel. Over time, their reactions can become learnt habits. The good news is that habits and emotions can be changed. With the right training and support, walkies with your dog can feel better for everyone.

 

What is reactivity in dogs?

Reactivity in dogs describes a heightened emotional response to something in the environment. This might be another dog, person, object or noise. This isn’t your dog being “naughty” - it’s a sign they’re struggling to cope emotionally. They might be frightened, frustrated, overwhelmed, in pain or unwell.

Reactivity can look different depending on how the individual dog feels and how they’ve learned to cope. For some dogs, this may show as barking, lunging, growling, or snapping. That’s why reactive behaviours are often perceived as aggression.

 

What does reactivity look like?

Behaviour is specific to the individual dog. There are lots of things that influence behaviour and no two dogs will react in the same way. Even the same dog may behave differently on different days.

Reactivity signs

Your dog could be considered reactive on walks if they:  

  • lunge, bark, growl or snarl at another dog or person
  • bounce around frantically, maybe trying to get out of their collar or harness
  • grab their lead between their teeth and rag it back and forth
  • grab your clothing or body and shake it
  • nip another dog they’re being walked with
  • try to hide behind you, or between your legs
  • try to jump up into your arms
  • pull away.

Early warning signs

Reactive and aggressive behaviours rarely happen without warning. Understanding your dog’s body language will help you to recognise how they feel and how they’re likely to behave. Once you know this, you can step in and guide them back to calmness.  

If your dog sees something when on a walk that worries, frustrates or overwhelms them, you’re likely to see changes in their body language and facial expressions. 

For example:

  • first, you might see subtle signs of fear and anxiety like lip-licking, yawning, pulling ears back and turning their head away
  • attempts to hide, move away, create space or avoid the situation
  • showing they’re no threat by cowering, tucking their tail or rolling onto their back with a tense body
  • stiffening, freezing or staring
  • no longer taking treats or responding to you
  • panting.

After-effects of reactivity

When dogs show reactive behaviours, it’s often a result of an intense emotional reaction. Both you and your dog may experience heightened stress as a result. The effects may be short term or longer term depending on the individual dog and how severe the issue is.  

For your dog:

  • It can take 48 – 72 hours for the levels of stress hormone to drop in their body. During this time, your dog might be agitated and more sensitive to triggers. Their tolerance for frustration may be lower and there’s a higher likelihood of trigger stacking.
  • Increased stress levels, fear and anxiety can make it harder for dogs to relax and settle. They may appear alert or restless.
  • Your dog’s confidence may be reduced, needing support to build it back up.
  • Even without physical conflict, reactive behaviours like lunging, jumping and spinning, can cause physical injury to both owner and dog. If you’re concerned about injury, please speak to your vet.
  • Your dog’s feelings and reactions could get stronger over time. For example, if they acted out of fear, the situation could reinforce that there’s something to be afraid of.  
  • The more your dog practises reactive behaviour, the more likely they are to use this response again – especially if their behaviour was successful.


For you:

  • In the short term, you might feel stress, embarrassment and worry for all concerned.
  • Over time, constant stress, anxiety and the fear of judgement from others can take a heavy toll. Managing reactivity is draining and, when incidents happen, feelings of shame and failure are common-even when you’re doing your best.
  • Lifestyle changes like walking at anti-social hours and in remote places can lead to feeling isolated.
  • You might feel sad and grieve the ‘normal life’ you’d hoped you’d have with your dog. This can lead to feelings of resentment towards your dog and feelings of guilt.  

 

Positive outcomes:

 

It may seem odd that there can be positive outcomes from unwanted behaviours. But, thankfully, there are.

  • Increased knowledge. Caring for a reactive dog is an opportunity to learn new things and grow alongside them. While the learning curves are steep, they are rich in knowledge that can help both you and your dog in future.
  • The wins are huge. There are many challenges living with a reactive dog. Training plans can take time and setbacks can be upsetting. When you make progress though, few things are more rewarding.
  • Stronger bonds. With the right support, reactivity can be significantly improved. Each step forward on your reactive dog training journey will feel amazing. But the bonds strengthened by taking this journey together last a lifetime.

Why dogs become reactive

  • Fear and Anxiety
  • Overarousal
  • Frustration on the lead
  • Past experiences
  • Pain or health issues
  • Owner tension

 

How to help a reactive or aggressive dog

Dog reactivity can be challenging to live with. It can cause deep upset to us, and a lot of stress for our dogs. We always recommend seeking support from your vet and a clinical behaviourist for help with resolving aggression or reactivity. There are three key steps when managing reactive behaviour in dogs:

 


1. Understand your dog

 Learn to recognise how your dog’s feeling by reading their body language and facial expressions.

 

2. Identify triggers

Work out what your dog reacts to and in what situations. Keeping a diary of interactions and incidents can help you spot patterns.

 

3, Avoid triggers

Where possible, avoid situations that make your dog react or use aggressive behaviours. This helps keep everyone safe and prevents them from practising these behaviours. It’s unrealistic to avoid triggers completely. But thoughtful management can reduce stress and support your dog while you work on longer-term training.

 

 

Managing triggers out and about

 

Here are some ideas to manage your environment and avoid triggers out and about:  

 

  • Keep your dog on a lead or a longline to prevent them from running off and getting into trouble.
  • Walk in quieter places and at quieter times. For example, an industrial estate after hours. Places where dogs are not allowed to be off lead will limit the risk of dogs suddenly appearing. Avoid taking narrow paths. For example, canal towpaths.
  • Try to walk in places where you have good visibility for a long way so you can see if anything’s coming. Bonus points for lots of exits.
  • Bring small, tasty treats with you on walks. Reward your dog for any positive behaviours they show. For example, paying you attention and walking nicely on lead or seeing a person or dog in the distance and remaining calm.
  • Use trees, parked cars and other stationary items to block your dog’s view of a trigger.
  • Help your dog by giving others a wide berth if you spot someone approaching. For example, by crossing over the road, if safe, or changing direction. Try to do this before your dog starts to react.
  • Encourage your dog to move away with treats, praise, toys and positive encouragement.
  • Advocate for your dog. Don’t agree to them being stroked if you know they don’t like it. Ask owners to call their dog back if it’s off lead and worrying yours. It doesn’t always feel natural to do, but it can avoid a negative interaction.
  • Consider hiring a secure ‘dog field’ so your dog can burn energy and exercise off-lead, without the risk of coming across other dogs or people.
  • Consider muzzle training your dog as an additional safety measure.
  • If you have more than one dog, it can be easier and safer to walk them separately.

 

Daily habits that make a difference

 

  • Consistently use reward-based training methods. Avoid any training methods that use fear, intimidation or pain which could decrease your dog’s confidence.
  • Reward calm behaviour when you see it. Especially if your dog is calm and quiet when you’d expect them to be reactive.
  • Allow choice. Ensure your dog can move away from things they’re worried about. Making them “face their fear” could make matters worse.
  • Take your dog to the vet to rule out underlying medical conditions.
  • Seek support. In cases of aggressive behaviour, it’s important to get expert help.  For more in-depth support refer to our support section for more info.
  • Ensure your dog’s needs are met. If a dog’s needs for mental and physical stimulation are not met, there is a risk of them becoming frustrated. This increases the likelihood of reactivity.
  • Stick to routine. Dogs do best when they know what to expect and when. Consistent and predictable schedules help them to feel safer.
  • Advocate. Be your dog’s advocate and speak up when they’re worried. For example, saying no to people who want to stroke them if they’re not relaxed.
  • Reduce stress. Allow your dog time to de-stress as needed. This might mean having a day or two with more enrichment, play and napping. Especially if they’ve had a challenging day.
  • Plan your route ahead of time to ensure that paths are wide, exits plentiful and that you have good visibility to see triggers coming. Visiting areas without your dog before you take them there can help, especially if you go at different times of the day. This can help to know when bin day is, for example, or at what time the post tends to come.
  • Stay calm. If conflict occurs, avoid telling your dog off as this could make things worse. Aim to be reassuring, steady and gentle instead of tense, sudden and loud.
  • Practise focus training with your dog to encourage them to pay attention to you on walks.
  • Practise engagement games like “find it” to build confidence and provide distractions during walks.

 

Building confidence over time

Some dogs are naturally more confident than others. Lots of things can influence how confident they feel. For example, what they have or haven’t experienced in life. Dogs that have lower confidence may find life more difficult, so it’s important to help them overcome their anxieties.  

Tips to build confidence in your dog:

  • Understand their body language and signs of anxiety This will help you work out what scares them so you can respond appropriately.
  • Keep your distance. The further away you are from the thing that worries your dog, the easier they’ll find it to cope.  
  • Keep walks short and fill the day with the things they love the most, like enrichment. In the short term, this is better than longer walks with more exposure to triggers.
  • Make sure to add fun activities to the walks you do have. For example, gently playing tug when out or using enrichment like a snufflemat when you arrive.
  • Give your dog opportunities to de-stress with lots of time for rest at home. Especially if they had a challenging day the day before.
  • Be your dog’s advocate. Encourage them to move away from what worries them and decline interactions if other humans or dogs bother them.
  • Allow them the choice to end interactions, even with you.
  • Most importantly, celebrate those wins. Even the small stuff. Praise and reward them when they’re brave or investigate things.
  • Never force an interaction. This includes coaxing them with a treat into a scary situation. There’s a risk that your dog suddenly realises what’s happening and tries to defend themself.
  • Go at your dog’s pace. They will grow in confidence more quickly this way.
  • Using reward-based training isn’t just the most effective way to train according to science. It’s also a great way to build confidence. Being rewarded for making the right choices helps dogs to feel more confident in their abilities.  
  • Avoid punishment or methods that use fear and intimidation. This is likely to make your dog feel worse. Equally, avoid making your dog ‘face their fear’. This can also make the situation worse.

 

Tools and equipment

Believe it or not, what your dog wears out and about can really make a difference to their behaviour. 

Here are our top tips:

  • Make sure all equipment is the right size, shape and fitted correctly. If it’s too tight, it could cause tension or pain, making things worse. Too loose and it could lead to an escape.
  • For maximum support and comfort, consider a Y shaped, fixed-size harness.
  • A harness with two points of contact (with a D ring on the back and another on the front) can give the user extra control. You’ll need a double-ended clip lead.
  • A long-line can be helpful for allowing your dog to have a bit more freedom without being off-lead and potentially unsafe. They must always be attached to a harness.
  • Muzzles are useful for dogs that might lunge or use aggressive behaviours. A basket muzzle will allow your dog to pant, take treats, drink and exercise. A muzzle can give you peace of mind and act as a visual signal to others to give your dog space. However, a muzzle won't change the way your dog feels about a particular situation or trigger. Even with a muzzle on, it’s important to try to avoid situations that make your dog feel worried. A qualified behaviourist will be able to support you in changing the way your dog feels.
  • Make sure your dog is always wearing a collar and ID tag in public and that microchip details are kept up to date. This is law in the UK.
  • Don’t forget that using new equipment means that you need to train your dog to help them feel relaxed and comfortable in it. If they’re worried about the equipment, they’re more likely to be reactive.

 

What not to do with a reactive dog

 

  • Avoid telling your reactive dog off. They may become more afraid of the trigger, which could intensify their behaviour. It can damage your bond as they may become worried of you as well as the trigger. If you tell your dog off for growling, they may stop, but will still be scared. This effectively removes your warning system that something is wrong. They might feel they have no option but to lunge and bite next time.
  • Avoid triggers where possible. The more a dog practises reactive behaviour, the more likely it is for the behaviour to become a default response.
  • Don’t force interactions. This is likely to overwhelm your dog and others and increases the likelihood of an incident happening. Behaviour change needs to happen at the pace of the individual.

 

 

Source: Dogs Trust - Please click here for more detailed information.