13/05/2024
How Complicated Is Reactivity?
I have mentioned in previous posts that ‘reactivity’, and by that I mean specifically the ‘reactivity’ that physically manifests as ‘aggressive’ behaviours, such as lunging, growling, barking and showing teeth, is possibly the hardest emotional response to understand and explain to clients. And I believe that as it is so difficult to understand, it is a behaviour that makes it hard to inspire empathy for.
On Friday I was invited to an evening BBQ. I took the precaution of checking with the host if any other dogs would be there, other than his own gorgeous 14 year old female that Majo (my dog) has met before and gets on well with. I was reassured to hear that no other dogs were attending. I was glad to be able to take him to a social event and not have to feel A) Guilty I have left him at home B) Feel stressed that he is with me but I have to keep a close eye on him.
We arrived and I let Majo off the lead to greet his friend as I know that he struggles with leads - both being on one himself but even if he is off lead and the other dog is on lead.
He says hello to his doggy companion but is just as happy to explore his new surroundings and have a good sniff. After 5 minutes some more neighbours arrive with their recently adopted chihuahua cross, who has to be kept on lead until their recall has been trained.
I will admit my heart immediately dropped as I realised that Majo would now have to be kept on lead too. I dutifully clicked him on lead, a moment later his original friend who he had been happy socialising with only a few minutes before sauntered pass, nearly 6 feet away. Majo was lunging and barking at her within seconds - I was so disappointed and felt the usual embarrassment at being in front of friends and strangers and mine being the only dog to cause a scene - especially being a dog behaviourist.
There was only one thing to do - the walk of shame home.
As I was leaving, my friend said he had a stake I could tie Majo to - I thought it was worth a try as I didn’t really want to leave the party, we had literally been there for 10 minutes. We installed the stake and Majo, he continued to give the other dogs stink eye for a while longer but then settled and seemed quite happy with the arrangement and the other 2 dogs. By the end of the evening the inauspicious introduction of Majo to the other guests was forgotten and Majo had everyone laughing with his more likeable antics - until he eventually passed out like a baby as soon as I tucked him under a blanket, much to my relief.
I write this post to highlight the complexity of emotions triggered for Majo, by the simple act of being restrained. There can still be an assumption that dogs have a limited emotional range but being the guardian of a reactive dog teaches us that their emotional repertoire is just as complex as our own, they just can’t tell us in a language we are fluent in. I also write this to show the gamut of emotions for the guardians of reactive dogs - so please, when you pass a dog that is barking and lunging, spare a moment to call upon the gods of empathy, for both the dog and their human.
We are all just trying our best and sometimes it looks a bit messy.
