Barking, lunging dogs on leads

Is your dog barking and/or lunging at other dogs when outside of the home on a leash? The blanket term for this is lead reactivity. When a dog is exhibiting this behaviour, they look ferocious and aggressive and both the owner and other dog owners can find it frightening and confronting. To be able to have a positive impact on this behaviour, it’s very important to first understand it. In many cases of lead reactivity, the emotional state of the dog is that of fear rather than aggression. There are other emotions which present as lead reactivity but I’ll focus just on fear based reactivity in this post.

When a dog is reacting out of fear, they are viewing a strange dog from outside of their pack as a huge threat to their survival. Research shows that 85 percent of deaths in free living canines are caused by their own species so if we assume that even a small part of instinct remains in our domesticated canines, it’s easy to see why they might be fearful of strange dogs. When a dog is on a lead and the instinctive method of survival - the flight response, is inhibited by the lead the intensity of the situation becomes elevated. An important aspect of raising a well adjusted dog who doesn’t harbour fear of unknown dogs is to provide them with appropriate socialisation during their critical socialisation period which occurs between approximately 4 and 16 weeks. This can help to override these natural instincts and helps them form positive associations with other dogs. Unfortunately even with the best of intentions, dogs may still develop lead reactivity. It may be a result of inappropriate socialisation where the dog didn’t have positive interactions with other dogs eg over zealous play or it may have been a single bad experience with another dog that left them scared and overwhelmed. This is of particular concern if it happens during the critical socialisation period although it can have impact at any age. For this reason, it’s important to be cautious of badly run puppy classes and dog parks. When I was walking my dog this morning, I was reminded that lead reactivity can occur on a less intense scale in dogs who are seemingly neutral with other dogs usually. I use the term situational reactivity as it is entirely dependant on their situation at that time. For example, my dog will walk down a busy street with dogs scattered everywhere and she won’t bat an eyelid. Yet if she was in a place where she doesn’t usually see a dog and one suddenly pops up (as happened this morning) she can exhibit behaviours that look much like lead reactivity. That’s because she interprets the difference and the unexpectedness in the situation as dangerous and her fear response activates. This can also occur with dogs who are neutral to most dogs but will intensify their reaction towards dogs who give off a certain kind of energy that can be interpreted as dangerous. My girl will sit in a training class full of dogs where she knows she’s safe but will sometimes react to an energised dog giving off a high intensity energy, as she perceives them to be a threat.

Unfortunately the challenges of the last couple of years has created a surge of reactivity cases. Many puppies spent their formative months isolated from the world. This, along with the usual cases which occur even in normal times is seeing many owners seeking answers from dog trainers. As much as I would love to buoy up prospective clients with tales of an easy fix, I find myself erring on the side of realism. It is absolutely possible to get improvement but it requires patience, effort and consistency over varying periods of time. It’s vitally important to understand that working with reactivity is nothing like general dog training. Teaching a dog to sit or lay down or even teaching them more complex tasks required for service dog work involves the dog learning that there’s a positive outcome when they offer a certain behaviour. When we are working with fear based reactivity, we are trying to convince the dog that their life is not at risk. Fear is a very strong emotion in both humans and dogs and not easily overcome with distractions or treats.

It certainly isn’t overcome by instilling further fear into the dog with the use of harsh punishment. The owner needs to be the grounding force for the dog, not adding stress and aggressive confusion to the situation. It’s also important that the dog sees the owner as a good decision maker. They need to be able to trust their human to make decisions that result in higher chances of survival. Working at a level where the dog can process their thoughts and fears is far better than throwing them in the line of fire where they must wonder what on earth the humans are thinking. Take the instance where you are asking a dog to sit while the danger comes walking towards them. The dog is not going to think this is a good decision when their natural response would be to get as far away from the danger as possible.

Treats can certainly be helpful in reactivity modification but only when we are taking the whole situation into account. The solution to improving reactivity involves a multi faceted and well planned approach. If you are struggling with your dog, feel free to get in touch and we can chat about how your dog will be best helped.