Does your dog react to certain things, people, creatures, by barking and lunging at them? Does your dog stare or refuse to keep walking? Or is your dog clearly bonkers excited to meet a new potential best friend every time they see one?
We can teach your dog to relax.
Not only do I work with a lot of reactive dogs, I have had the experience of living with my own. I understand the emotional toll that comes with being the guardian of a reactive dog.
I can provide you with a plan to help you feel more comfortable and in control.
Whether your dog is aggressive, fearful, or excited, your reactive dog can learn to mind their own business and return their focus to you instead of fixating on their triggers.
Counter Conditioning
Under your dog’s behaviour is an emotion. If we address the emotion, their reactions will reduce in intensity, and they will be able to think in the presence of their triggers. We can then get them to make different choices.
Correcting your dog for reacting does not teach them to manage their emotions, it just teaches them to suppress them. This usually leads to a dog that requires a lot more micromanaging by the handler.
Counter conditioning leads to a dog that is more comfortable with their triggers and so they eventually need less direct handler input to manage their environment.
Relaxation
Most reactive dogs struggle to “mind their own business”. They are constantly scanning the environment looking for threats or friends. Some of them won’t even eat treats when in the presence of their triggers.
Or maybe you have a dog who seems fine until they suddenly aren’t. You can walk past six dogs and on the seventh, they lose their minds. It’s like the straw that broke the camel’s back.
These dogs need to learn how to relax.
Their nervous systems are used to being in an adrenaline-based state and nervous systems prefer familiar states even if they are uncomfortable or unhealthy.
Well-Rehearsed Skills
You will learn a few skills to help you check in with your dog, allow them to communicate with you more clearly, and get you out of tricky situations.
- Find It
- U-turn
- Settle
- Look At That
My goal is to keep things simple but effective. We don’t need a ton of skills to help our reactive dogs navigate their environments but the skills we do need have to be well-rehearsed!
It’s hard to do things when excited or panicked. Practicing in a calm environment is critical for reactive dogs.
It starts with a 60 min Consultation for 125$ CAD. We will discuss your dog’s reactivity, your home environment, and management strategies to get you some immediate relief. We will go over the basics of counter conditioning, relaxation, and cover some core skills. You will also get my written training plan for reactivity.
Then we get to continue our work during lessons (125$ CAD). After every lesson, you will get a summary of your progress and my observations, what you are working on between lessons, and what the next steps are.
Ideal lesson spacing is every 2-4 weeks in person.
Make no mistake, you are the one who will be doing the bulk of the work with your reactive dog. I can only see them for one hour every two weeks. You see them every day. Success in this program is dependent on dedication to the exercises and the homework.