03/10/2023
My recent post that explained and showed the reactivity escalation sequence in slow motion—what it looks like, and when to correct—got some serious traction from grateful owners who’ve been looking to better understand the process and what to do about it. It also brought some good questions about differentiating between a normal, healthy baseline state of being, and when that baseline state has begun to shift and move into the escalation sequence.
While every dog is different, and all have differing levels of baseline intensity/arousal, as well as how short their fuse/how quick they move through the ES, the best tip is to get a solid sense of what your dog’s baseline state looks like when NO triggers are present. This means getting very clear and tuned-in to what your dog looks like, sounds like, feels like when the environment isn’t offering anything your dog would find triggering or highly stimulating—and your dog is just comfortably existing in the environment.
The eye contact should be soft, relaxed, and casually move from object of mild interest to the next without locking on/changing. The body should be fluid and relaxed, the head shouldn’t be darting around (or locking on), hackles shouldn’t be up, the tail should not be up and flagging (stiff), and there shouldn’t be any speeding up if you’ve taught a solid Heel—and if you have a reactive dog you absolutely should. The breathing should be normal (speed, volume, tone) for the pace, temperature, and activity—and there shouldn’t be any noticeable/dramatic deviations in it.
There’s more, but this is a good place to start. Your first job is to ensure that your baseline doesn’t have any of the above occurring—or as little as possible. (If your baseline is full of these arousal/reactivity signs, you’ve got an unhealthy baseline, and you’ll need to work on these and/or view your dog in a completely neutral environment to get a feel for the desired baseline.)
Your second job is to make the healthy, relaxed, non-aroused baseline state that your dog presents absolutely crystal clear and 100% etched in to your awareness. You HAVE to know your dog’s correct, or desired presentation if you’re going to be able to address the incorrect or undesired presentation. This is key to your success. Most owners have never truly identified the correct, desired presentation, and thus struggle to know what is incorrect, undesired—and thus hesitate due to uncertainty.
But, once you have the the correct, desired presentation clearly identified and the incorrect, undesired presentation clearly identified you’re ready to address any unhealthy deviations the instant they occur, thus addressing your dog as early in the escalation sequence as possible—which any good dog trainer will tell you is the primary secret to success when dealing with reactivity.
PS, what I’ve described here is what’s often ascribed to dog trainers as “good timing.” But the “good timing” isn’t the byproduct of developing ninja-like reflexes (although I wouldn’t say no if offered, lol), the “good timing” is actually the deep (and when practiced enough) seemingly unconscious awareness of what is desired and healthy behavior and what is undesired and unhealthy behavior. Which seems to give the trainer mystical timing, as if they’re correcting before the behavior has even occurred—but it’s really just well-trained “seeing” that enables them to address the behavior so early that it appears to not even have “happened.” Luckily this “seeing” is something that, if desired deeply enough, can be developed the same as any trainer.
