12/03/2024
Why genetic temperament is so important to training– extinguishing reactivity in one session
We recently had a new client reach out who was experiencing reactivity on walks, with her dog standing on her back legs and barking at the end of the leash at the sight of other dogs.
Three days after we did one session with them, we got this update:
“No reaction to other dogs as of yet, and we have had a few walks and passed a number of dogs.”
Our biggest question going into the session was the motivation behind the behavior, as there are a number of different reasons a dog might display reactivity towards other dogs, and this helps determine how we handle the case.
We knew ahead of time the dog was a brindle “hound mix” from a rescue with loud dog reactivity. Plott hounds are pretty rare so while one option was an excited hound dog baying to regroup with other dogs (a genetic hound behavior), another option was an often misidentified breed with a similar muzzle shape that can be brindle and quite noisy on leash around other dogs: the American Pit Bull Terrier. In the case of an APBT, the “yodel” has a very different motivation, as they have a genetic predisposition for dog aggression. The best way to handle each of those cases would look very different due to the differences in the dog’s genetic motivations.
One look at her long pendulous ears when we arrived, and we knew she was a Plott hound, but investigated further to confirm the motivation in her behavior just in case. When we tested her with nonreactive dogs and gave her space on a long to make her own choice, she ignored them and moved away to sniff instead with no reaction.
So, how did we coach the owner to resolve the reactivity immediately after they’d been struggling for months?
We agreed with the behavior she wanted to choose on her own. We took tension off the leash (tension is often the cause of dog reactivity), used food to create paths for her to sniff, and helped the owner create a cooperative routine of doing it together when other dogs pass by.
So much of the dog training industry these days seems focused on forcing dogs to comply and perform obedience and listen to us at all costs no matter what regardless of why they’re doing something or how they feel about it. What if, instead of all that correction and punishment and micromanagement, we could build lifestyles with our dogs that encourage the behavior we want from them naturally? Where we’re always on the same page but not because we’re holding an ecollar remote? Because we understand each other and being a team is the most rewarding thing.
Not that we don’t say no when we need to. Of course some things are nonnegotiable. But what those things are and what that looks like needs to be specific to each dog and each situation. Just like humans, dogs are individuals who need different things at different times and different supports to make their best decisions.
Understanding temperament and genetic motivations for behavior is the first step on that path.
