13/02/2022
We will be LIVE later today for a Q+A at 2pm Pacific Time. We’ll start with this, very common question:
"My dog is reactive around other dogs (either all dogs, or specific types of dogs) when we go on walks, how do I resolve this?"
Reactivity is a tricky problem. Usually, when your dog is scared of something, we would recommend you use classical conditioning and their daily allotment of food to help them form a more positive association with the scary stimulus.
But when that scary stimulus is another dog, using food can be risky as it might attract the other dog. It’s still possible to use food, or other things your dog enjoys to classically condition your dog to feel more at ease around other dogs, but one of the best things you can do is teach your dog to perform a handful of skills reliably, so you can easily redirect their attention in the presence of other dogs.
Teach your dog to Come to you, Sit, Stay and Watch you and you will have the tools to manage encounters with other dogs.
Practice these skills in an easy training environment to start, then add more distractions, until you’re ready to start practicing these skills in the presence of another dog.
Start with a single, familiar dog, at a distance. Then, try practicing repeated walk-bys, to troubleshoot the experience of walking by another dog on the sidewalk.
Once you can walk by this one dog on the sidewalk, and maintain sufficient control that you can get your dog to Come, Sit, Stay, and Watch you at any time, you’re ready to try with another dog.
Build your core social group of other dogs that your dog is comfortable with, one at a time.
Then, take your dog to the dog park and instead of going inside, stop where you can see the other dogs from outside the park and try practicing these skills until they are reliable.
Now you’re ready to go into the park. Practice the skills the moment you go in and don’t let your dog off-leash anytime soon. Try to keep your dog focused on you and keep practicing their skills until they are reliable in the park as well.
When you are ready to let your dog off-leash at the park, do so at a mellow time, when there aren’t many dogs, and the dogs that are there are friendly and familiar.
As you do all of this, you should talk to your dog. When they are upset and reactive, you should calmly comfort them. Tell them they have nothing to worry about and that they are being very silly with the way they are acting.
When they are not being reactive, even in the presence of another dog, praise them wholeheartedly! Your praise MUST be better and more reinforcing than the calm comforting you gave them when they were reacting. Your dog will not understand all of your words, but they understand emotion and inflection. So when your dog is acting the way you want, tell your dog you are so proud of them for being so brave and confident.
Your voice is the most powerful tool you have for resolving reactivity. Ignore your dog when there are no other dogs around, calmly comfort them when other dogs are present but your dog is out of control, and when other dogs are present and your dog is behaving well, really reinforce your dog with heartfelt praise.
And make sure, when other dogs are present, you don’t act scared yourself. If you are worried when you see other dogs, your dog will pick up on that and it will make them worry even more. You have to actively PRETEND you are comfortable, especially if you aren’t FEELING comfortable. You can do this by acting and talking to your dog in a manner that is playful and silly. If you’re acting playful, it will be a powerful signal to your dog that they can relax, and that there is nothing to worry about.
If you want to learn more, you should join us for our Live Q+A later today (Wednesday Feb 9 at 2pm Pacific) where we’ll start off by talking about dog-dog reactivity.
Of course, if you want to learn even more, you should join the Top Dog Academy, where you’ll find tons of videos, webinars and workshops about resolving dog-dog reactivity.
And if you sign up before February 16th you’ll also get ongoing access to personalized email support:
https://dunbar.info/legacy
