How To Improve Leash Reactivity In Your Dog
What do you do when taking your dog for a walk was supposed to be relaxing, enjoyable, a way to de-stress for both of you, but in fact it has become a stressful, frustrating, and embarrassing event because your four-legged friend at the end of the leash can’t stop barking. lunging, and ‘losing it’ every time he sees another dog or person? When that otherwise sweet dog of yours, who loves to give kisses and cuddle with you on the couch, suddenly turns into a demon-like monster you don’t recognize?
If you have a small dog, like me, who SCREAMS and lunges whenever a cat or dog or person comes too close, it can be extremely annoying. When he barks at visitors, even people he knows, it becomes tiring having to ‘go through it’ every single time. So, if you have a reactive dog, I sympathize completely!
If you are a dog trainer, like I am, you will know how double embarrassing it is! Dog trainers are ‘supposed to have well-trained dogs’, right? Just like Psychologists/Psychiatrists are ‘supposed to have well-adjusted kids - kids who are balanced, happy, and in-tune with their emotions - who knows what to do about it if they are faced with adversity’, right?
The sad truth is, and I can only speak as a dog trainer of course, that although I have all the knowledge of what to do and so many great tools to choose from, to work on the problem, I am too busy training other people’s dogs. Whenever I do have some spare time, I get busy with all other dog related things, like reading, writing, studying, answering emails, etc. Meanwhile, my dog is able to practice the reactive behavior. And I know how problematic that is. The more a dog gets to rehearse a given behavior, the more of an expert he becomes at it. The behavior becomes self-reinforcing to him because it works.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not just sitting back letting him ‘lose it’ - I do what I can to try to avoid the situations I know are his triggers. I try to manage his behavior in every context the best possible way I can. Because I know that is important when you can’t do anything else. His behavior has gotten somewhat better because I am managing his environment and because I have used some Positive Reinforcement techniques on a couple of occasions - but not enough. I know I have to commit to working with him on a daily basis.
Variables Affecting Behavior - Beyond Our Control: Genes And The Coronavirus
I also know that his genes are hard to combat. They are a huge part of who he is - something he cannot help. My dog is a Miniature Schnauzer. His name is Finn. He is 16 months old. He is a terrier with a big T. He goes nuts over critters! This is something I cannot change, it is his DNA. As a dog trainer, I know what technique is the best to try to work with his DNA, not against it because that is pointless. I also know what techniques to use with his reactivity to people. I have so many wonderful tools in my ‘toolbox’ - So why am I not just ‘getting on with it’, you may be wondering? Because, if I am anything like most people, it is hard to find the time to commit…
One could argue that the pandemic has been the perfect time to ‘get on with it’. With so much time spent at home with your dog, what excuse could there then be? The pandemic has put us all in a whole new situation, of which we have little control. However, especially in the beginning of “life with Covid-19”, I think we were all ‘frozen’ and incapable of responding and take appropriate actions in any area of our lives. We simply did not know how to cope with the stress of this very peculiar and hopeless situation.
The pandemic has also been a big change for our dogs, which is why trainers like me are seeing an increase in aggression cases and dogs who have problems being left alone all of a sudden. Intra-house hold aggression and resource guarding are also on the increase because we are at home with our dogs and providing them with more treats and attention, more to compete over, during the day where they typically would sleep when we were at work. Our dogs of course can also be reacting to our increased stress levels, which is very common.
We also do not have as many visitors to our homes as before the pandemic, so it can be hard to have the opportunity to practice behavior modification techniques with dogs who react to dogs or humans coming into the home. As a result of the social distancing we have been practicing during most of 2020, your dog, who perhaps was ok with guests before, may suddenly begin to bark at strangers coming to visit.
Aggression is caused by stress, in both humans and canines, so when stressors are building up over days, weeks, months they can spill over into reactivity in many varied forms, also on walks. If you got a new puppy this year you may not have been able to socialize him/her as much as you would have been able to in our ‘old normal’. Lack of socialization, as we know, is one of the most common predictors of future behavior problems.
Some breeds are genetically pre-dispositioned to display aggressive behavior in certain situations, and if not socialized proper as a puppy, the likelihood of the dog choosing aggression to resolve conflict is potentially higher in these breeds.
How to Improve Reactivity in Your Dog
Reactivity is mostly born out of fear, a fear of the unknown, but is intensified by the build up of stress (also called ‘trigger stacking’) From the dog’s perspective, this fear is translated into a threat - the unknown is potentially a threat to the dog’s survival. Threatening situations present significant prediction and control problems for fearful dogs. If there is no way to escape from the threat, reactivity is the only way to respond to try to make the threat/trigger go away. In other words, we are dealing with the dogs’ emotions when faced with a fear or threat.
To change these emotions requires patience, commitment, consistency, repetition, and lots of positive reinforcement using behavior modification techniques like:
Counter Conditioning: Pairing the appearance of an aversive stimulus (to the dog) with something the dog REALLY likes (like, meatballs, hotdogs, cheese, something that smells and tastes good and can compete with a high distraction). Basically, this means every time the dog sees/notices* the scary stimulus (another dog or person) he or she will be fed lots of high value treats.
*Important note: This process has to be implemented in the correct way, or you end up reinforcing the wrong behavior! Therefore, follow this step:
Make sure your dog SEES the trigger FIRST (wait for him to notice/look at the trigger). Ideally mark with a clicker (one click) or marker word, like “YES!” every time your dog looks at the trigger. It is more effective and communicates precisely to your dog WHAT he.she is being rewarded for!
THEN you feed him/her a treat.
REPEAT these two steps continuously every time your dog LOOKS AT the trigger = “Click FIRST for looking at” - then feed!
This process is also referred to as “Open bar/closed bar” = the bar opens as soon as the dog notices the trigger and closes as soon as he/she is not looking at the trigger.
After practicing these steps for a long time, your dog should begin to CHOOSE to disengage from the trigger and look at you instead = this is exactly what you are aiming for.
When that happens, you begin to wait for him/her to “Look at you” to get a click in THAT moment instead - and then a treat!
This process has to be implemented in combination with:
Desensitization: The process of working UNDER your dog’s threshold at all times at a distance (from the trigger) where your dog is alert (seeing the trigger) but NOT reacting (barking, lunging, growling, etc.) -The reason your dog reacts when over threshold is that the trigger is too close so, ultimately, the function of the behavior is to create more distance from the trigger.
That is why this process has to start at a far enough distance from the trigger that your dog is not reacting, but is able to notice/see the trigger.
Then, gradually, in small steps, you begin to move a little closer to the trigger, as long as your dog is still under threshold!
What is crucial to success in implementing the above techniques is that your dog is not able to practice the problematic behavior at any other time. This can be a problem to many clients because it means using management strategies such as:
If your dog barks and lunges at the fence in your yard, you will want to call him/her inside, or distract with a game/toy any time he/she engages in this behavior.
On walks, you need to become proactive and scan the environment for your dog. Any time you see a trigger (person/dog, etc.) ahead, either walk down a different path/road, walk to the other side of the road and distract your dog or use cars as visual barriers - do anything you can to avoid a situation where your dog gets the chance to practice the reactive behavior.
If your dog has a ‘window view’ of passers-by and tends to bark when sitting looking out the window, you will need to completely BLOCK this view by preventing your dog from looking out (like closing the blinds/curtain or removing his favorite chair). Combine this with asking him for an alternative behavior, like ‘go to your mat/place/bed, for example.
In conclusion, teaching your dog another way to act/feel about triggers takes time and effort. Practice the techniques above as often as you can (ideally daily, or at least 3 times a week, for 15-20 mins at a time) and manage the behavior at all other times the best you can, to prevent rehearsal.
There are of course many other successful techniques you can use. Teaching your dog basic skills and the ability to relax on a mat (impulse control) with distractions is extremely helpful in lowering reactivity, alongside working on the techniques above.
If you feel motivated to work through this yourself, you can purchase our soon-to-be-released online self-paced course on how to implement a behavior modification program for leash reactivity. It is expected to be released in early 2021. In the meantime, if you feel you need professional help, contact a Positive Reinforcement trainer or behavior consultant to help you improve this behavior.
-Vivi Myslik Jorgensen, KPA CTP is the owner of VivaPaws Training & Behavior, Charleston’s Aggression & Fear Specialist. Vivi works EXCLUSIVELY with aggression, fear, and anxiety in dogs.
Originally posted on our other website vivapaws.com on December 7, 2020. The post will be permanently deleted on our other website. VivaPaws Training & Behavior has changed name to The Dog Walker per August 20, 2021.