08/07/2026
This semester, I updated my curriculum for my Reactive Integration class to allow for a broader spectrum of dogs that react for different reasons. Are they fearful? Frustrated? Simply over-excited and forward facing? There are different approaches depending on the motivator!
We have a wide variety of stimuli or ‘triggers’ being presented that will be worked on in this course! Cats, Bikes, Motorcycles, Joggers, neighbors, dogs behind the fence, dogs or people at a distance, guests in the home, dog to dog in the home, putting on the leash or harness, smells, all sorts of sounds…. It is quite a complex class. We start slowly with bringing down the baseline with enrichment and management then adding in appropriate reinforcement strategies, alternative & incompatible behaviors, various desensitization and counter conditioning protocols, relaxation and predictability and structure. Many of these are integrated together!