10/05/2024
Let’s talk about reactivity!
What is it? Reactivity is when a dog has really big feelings about certain triggers in their environment. These can be anything such as cars zooming by, kids on skateboards, etc, but the most common triggers are by far other dogs or people. Dogs with reactivity will see a trigger and suddenly it’s like you don’t exist. They don’t know how to regulate their big emotions and “blow up” this reaction can show as barking, lunging, growling or other negative behaviors.
There are two types of reactivity, fear based and frustration based.
Fear based reactivity happens when a dog is scared of their trigger and has learned that this type of behavior gets them distance from the scary thing. Either the owner pulls them away, the scary human turns in the other direction from the “aggressive” dog, or a combination of the two.
Frustration based reactivity happens when a dog is SO EXCITED to see their triggers that they just don’t know what to do with themselves other than loose their minds! Have you ever been so happy or laughed so hard you cried? Maybe jumped up and down with excitement? That’s kind of what’s happening with these dogs except they don’t have the ability to calm themselves down and behave appropriately in a situation when their trigger is around.
Both types of reactivity can be very difficult problems to deal with and very dangerous if not managed appropriately.
Cru came to us frustration reactive. His triggers are people and dogs. He is so super friendly that he wants to be best friends with every human and dog he sees! When he first got here he couldn’t see a person or dog no matter how far away they are without “blowing up”. He would stand on his back legs pulling on the leash, screaming at the top of his lungs and flop like a fish because he was SO frustrated that he wasn’t allowed to bulldoze into the other dog or human at full speed.
With a LOT of time and effort we have come to the point in his training that we were able to introduce him to one of his foster siblings living in the same house! It has been a very slow process to overcome this issue and Cru still has a lot of work to do, but he is well on his way to becoming a well behaved member of society without any more blow ups😁
Everyone has some faults, and we think the right home could potentially work with Cru on this to help him be the outstanding pet we know he’s capable of. If you’re interested in adopting Cru or would like more information, please email us at [email protected]
