A Bit More on Reactivity

I have had so many new clients approach me for help with their "reactive" dogs.  I find this interesting because using that terminology to describe a dog's behavior really wasn't a thing until just a few years ago. Now, however, I hear it batted around and used quite frequently to describe dogs who do everything from bark at the TV to biting the neighbor!  It seems that many owners with aggressive dogs prefer to use the term reactive, thinking that this will make the problem seem less serious.  This is troubling because an aggressive dog has a very different problem than a dog whose barking has become an issue. 

By definition, reactive just means responding to a stimulus or acting in response to a situation.  Well, you know what?  We all do that.  The doorbell rings and you jump up and answer the door.  Are you reactive? Yes, because you acted upon a stimulus you received.  Now, I'm not trying to be difficult here; I simply want everyone, dog owners included, to think about the words they use to describe behavior. If your dog is afraid of sounds, then he's noise sensitive.  If your dog barks at the neighbor's dog at their shared fence line, then he's territorial. If your dog charges at guests, biting at their pants leg, then your dog is aggressive. And yet, all three of the dogs I just described came to me with the label "reactive." I do want to help all three of these dogs, but helping them means helping you, and you can help me by telling me what's really going on. I'm not going to judge your dog parenting skills, I just need to know exactly what's happening. Was is really a nip?  Or was it a bite?  Is the barking just at the fence, or is your dog barking at the TV, your kids running in the yard, and on walks? And those noises that set your dog off; are they barking dogs on the TV screen, the garbage trucks in your neighborhood, or the sound of your ice maker?  All of these details are important for diagnosis and treatment, and way more important that any labels.

So, while I agree that noise sensitive dogs, barking dogs, and aggressive dogs are all anxious dogs at the heart of the matter, I don't think calling them reactive helps at all.  All of these dogs have the capacity to learn a different behavioral response to their triggers.  Getting frustrated and labeling them disobedient or stubborn won't help either.  What they are is anxious and their anxiety is keeping them from hearing you.  

OK.  Hopping down off of my soap box now and calling back that dog owner that left me a message this morning about their reactive dog.  I know one thing for sure, their dog is anxious.  Now, I just need to figure out if he's afraid, obsessive, lacking physical or mental exercise, or aggressive.  Or some combination of all of those things.  But, you know me. I'm on it!

As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.

Here's my sweet granddog, Westley.  Westley doesn't like the sounds made by garbage trucks, city buses, and street sweepers.  Does this make him reactive?  Well, yes, he's reacting to a stimulus and responding with fear.  Is he anxious?  Absolutely, but we've worked hard with him to understand the safe spaces in our home, and he now goes there when he hears a triggering noise.  He is less anxious overall as he's in control of the outcome.  That's the key with treating anxiety.