Recipe for Treating Reactivity

Dogs who are reactive display aggressive symptoms for 1 of 2 reasons:  fear or frustration.  Sometimes, it's a combination of both.  Usually, the issue is primarily on-leash, not off-leash.  Why?  Because the dog's fight or flight response is inhibited by being on-leash.  They cannot go after what they're excited to see, nor can they run away from what they're afraid of.

Terminology review:

• Trigger:  the person, place, or thing your dog reacts negatively to.
• Threshold:  the space between the dog and the trigger required for the dog to remain in control of themselves.  For sounds, the threshold is not so much space as volume.  We always want to work on the dog's triggers under threshold, below the point at which the dog is upset.
• Trigger stacking:  allowing the dog to experience distress from multiple triggers in a short period of time.

When we meet to address your reactive dog's behavior issues, my solution will be customized to you and your dog, based on my observations in the first session.  However, these are my go-to behaviors to train for reactive dogs:

• Emergency U-Turn.  In order to be successful, dogs must remain under threshold.  The number 1 tool in your toolbox for your reactive dog is space.  However, the dogs will often lunge and pull toward the trigger and not want to get away initially.  The emergency u-turn teaches the dog it is highly valuable to voluntarily walk away with you.  I use the cue "Let's go."
• Mat + relaxation protocol.  I will teach all reactive dogs to go to a mat, lie down, and stay until released.  Then begin Dr. Karen Overall's Mat Relaxation Protocol.  Once you're up to level 6 or so, we're ready to take it outside and begin using the mat as a safe zone for dealing with triggers.  By providing structure, you give the dog a way to tolerate their triggers in their space, and also give you polite cues of permission for closeness.  If the dog breaks the mat stay, you know the trigger is too close.  There is no need for aggression.
• Leave It.  Especially for dogs who are frustrated, this behavior is essential.  By being able to keep themselves from going for something they want, the dogs learn how to cope with that sort of stress in a positive way.  Start with something only kind of valuable, and work up to something that really gets your dog going.  Add duration (how long they have to look at you and leave the temptation alone before being rewarded).  I use Leave It & Get It in tandem with toys, or Leave It and reward with something else with food.  That way, the dogs can experience the relief of getting what they want, or understand it's just as valuable to never get the initial temptation.
• Watch Me.  This is absolutely essential.  Reactive dogs are often hyper-vigilant, constantly scanning the environment for triggers.  This does no one any good, and increases the stress level in the dog.  By teaching the dog to default to focusing on the owner, we give them an alternate behavior to fill the void scanning leaves behind.  We also teach the dog good walking manners by building duration with Watch Me and adding motion.  A dog pulling on the leash and forging ahead cannot comfortably look at their owner on a walk.

If your dog is frustrated, please consider investing in a flirt pole, or at least playing tug frequently with your dog.  This is the best way I have found for most dogs to vent their frustration.  If your dog tends to redirect onto the leash by biting it when triggered, consider using a braided fleece tug leash.  Muzzling the dog and preventing their biting does nothing to vent the built up frustration.  I only recommend muzzling if the dog is a threat to themselves, their owner, or other animals.

I like to give dogs a detox period prior to starting work.  For at least 1 week, avoid all scenarios that may trigger your dog.  One major incident can release the stress enzyme, cortisol, into your dog's system that will stay in their bloodstream for up to 7 days.  So if your dog got really upset on Thursday and our session is on Friday, we'll be attempting to combat that day's stresses and Thursday's as well.

Please avoid trigger stacking as much as possible.  Never try to tackle a dog's fear of the vacuum, frustration around other dogs, and wariness of strange people in hats all in the same session.  Focus on one trigger per session.