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Addressing Reactivity
30 Plays1 year ago
Addressing Reactivity starts by diagnosing it.
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Transcript
Introduction to Reactivity in Dogs
00:00:00
Speaker
So today we're gonna go over Reactivity 101, like how we diagnose it and how we address it. And what does it mean? Because you can't really address reactivity if we don't have a definition. So diagnosing and defining reactivity.
Aggression vs. Reactivity: Understanding the Difference
00:00:20
Speaker
Reactivity is just that, a reaction to a stimuli.
00:00:25
Speaker
that similar could vary between each dog's. Babies is a very particular one. She's the one we're gonna be working with today. It's the key chain or an excitable dog, like just very, very specific and or strangers coming into her house, which is understandable. The main question we always have is like, is my dog aggressive or is it reactive? Very thin lines.
00:00:53
Speaker
Right, because a reaction on my good dog could quickly turn into aggressive behaviors if we allow it. And once they really have a taste for that reaction and whatever, then we're really gonna find that pushback.
Managing Reactivity: Diagnosis and Environment Restructuring
00:01:14
Speaker
What do we do after we have diagnosed that our dog is reactive? That is...
00:01:22
Speaker
That's the tough part, right? Because each dog is gonna be different. Sometimes all that dog needs is a no, and that's good. Other times they need a complete
00:01:35
Speaker
restructuring of their lives. Most of the time that I see reactivity, and I'm sure some of you guys will agree, it's just a happy dog who's frustrated that they can't get to another dog. Or something happened that scared them, it spooked them, their owner went, and they liked that feeling. So once we know that, we have to go backwards. We have to go find some obedience, make sure the dog knows
00:02:05
Speaker
Something, right? Come, sit, down, place, heal. Every dog on our boarding train, we don't go, hey, your dog's aggressive? OK, I'm going to bombard it with five dogs, and we're going to walk by it and try and figure it out. No, we come up here in the empty room, and we work on come, sit, down, place, heal.
Training Strategies: Controlled Environment to Distractions
00:02:27
Speaker
And we set clear boundaries, and we give the dog markers that mean yes, no, whatever that is.
00:02:35
Speaker
So we have to start with no distractions and then add depth, right? So I've started in, when we and Liz started this business, we started in a basement room in our house and we would work the dogs endlessly until we felt comfortable with adding stimuli. And then we'd go in the front yard or the backyard depending on what was more
00:03:04
Speaker
or less distracting at the time. Then out in the streets, parks, and depending on what triggered, then public.
Establishing Basics: Commands and Comfortable Spaces
00:03:15
Speaker
So now we can start addressing the issue after we've done those things. So we've added the structure, we've added obedience,
00:03:26
Speaker
and then we're really ready to start attacking the triggers, right? Like hers, we couldn't even fathom getting out of a car with baby when we first started training without her redirecting on us, her just losing it. So how could I start addressing the triggers? But once we had a solid foundation and she knew what cum was and sit, I could start to actually like,
00:03:55
Speaker
get inside of this bubble where she's comfortable, right? Like right now, we've worked it up to where this bubble is fine with humans. Three, four years ago, this was too much. She would have been fully on the leash, like just trying to attack everyone.
Identifying Triggers and Behavior Cues
00:04:19
Speaker
But this bubble,
00:04:21
Speaker
Isn't fine if she came over here and put like went down on his knees into her face. She'd react She would try to bite him Because she's not used to that stimuli and she's not that comfortable yet. So we have to kind of know our dog We have to learn the bubble Baby's like what are we doing? Why are we just standing here? Dad? Baby come come Yes so
00:04:50
Speaker
You know, we really want to start managing that, getting the dog used to being around people, places, and things, and other dogs. So that means, hey, she's comfortable over here, let's work over here. But my goal is to be able to come. Good girl. Sit. Yes. Like shake someone's hand.
00:05:18
Speaker
then I have to work on it. I have to practice that. Come on, baby. That's good. And now, during all this, we're looking for triggers from our dog, right? We're looking, shoot, like, remember the lip licking, the stiff body, the hackles. All of that is how we're seeing if she's comfortable. Just same with like a bow that's showing she's comfortable, a shake,
00:05:48
Speaker
eye contact, relaxed body versus that like tail tucked or alert tail, which we'll get her around, we'll have you probably happy, we'll probably initiate a trigger.
Balancing Correction and Rewards
00:06:06
Speaker
And then we really just work on it, right? Like we have to have a clear, hey,
00:06:12
Speaker
No, we don't do that. And then, but it can't just be no, no, no. Cause then your dog's just going to be like shut down. Um, and we really want to get to extinction. Um, so that doesn't happen if we're just no, no, no, it's no off is what we all say. And then come. Yes. Good girl. Sit.
00:06:39
Speaker
We got to give her some sort of reward, some sort of something that she likes for coming and showing her what to do instead of only worrying about what not to do. Because if we're just no, no, no, no, no, your dog's going to hate you. Your dog's going to hate working for you.
00:07:01
Speaker
And that's not a fun place to be. Almost everyone I know has been there with a dog before. I've told them no. We've all met our clients that are like, I've been pulling my hair out with this dog. But see, they don't listen. Off. Off. They don't listen. Off. Yeah, I'm not going to listen to someone who just yells at me. Those teachers that were just like, no, no, no, no, no. OK, finally, I'll just shut up and not listen. I won't participate.
00:07:31
Speaker
and I need participation in life to get what we want.
Ongoing Management of Reactivity
00:07:36
Speaker
So extinction is kind of that end-all we hope to get there with every dog, but it doesn't mean we can or will. Each dog is different, right? We all have different problems as humans, and not all of our problems are solved in this lifetime. So sometimes we can't.
00:08:00
Speaker
extinguish a behavior. Her reactivity towards those specific triggers is a lifelong thing that we're managing and getting better with. You know, four or five years ago, I couldn't have guessed over at my house. You know, she tried to bite my mom, who I like to call my wife's mother-in-law.
00:08:23
Speaker
But after that, you know, like we got over it and practiced. And now I can have 10 plus people in my house. And if we all follow the rules, then we're good. And she's got rules and they've got rules, right? People aren't allowed to. Hi, I can. She's my dog. But if strangers did that to her, she's going to freak out.
00:08:51
Speaker
She's not gonna like it. So we have to make sure she's comfortable as well. We have to advocate for our dogs with their space given. And that's why like, shoe, if we're ever out in public and you're working like a, eh, sometimes it is okay to cross the street to not pass that stimuli. If we know that that trigger is too high for the dog, it's okay to be like, hey, nope, you know you can't pet my dog. We're working on something.
00:09:19
Speaker
And we try not to put the dogs in those situations that much, but we have to in order to get better at things. But we don't get to extinguish without working on
Real-life Scenarios: Structured Interactions
00:09:32
Speaker
it. We can't just manage an issue. So we have to correct and reward for the behaviors we want. I think that gets lost in it of like, hey, if I just put my dog on place and I tell no one to look at her or touch her,
00:09:47
Speaker
She won't react. But how realistic is that? Every person that walks into my house is like, she's so cute. Oh, I just want to pet her. And she's like, yes, I am cute. And I want her to at least be able to navigate through that without freaking out and losing it. Because then I get freaked out. And then I'm like, hey, whoa, hey. But you know?
00:10:17
Speaker
We've practiced, my brother-in-law Anthony comes into my house, sometimes not really announced, not unannounced, but not really like, hey, I'm coming in, and baby's got to deal with it. At first she's like, ooh, hey, off, come, good girl, break.
00:10:37
Speaker
And then she can go greet Anthony. And then she jumps on him because now they have a relationship that she loves that guy. So just thinking about someone else loving baby is insane. If you've known baby, she's not a greeter. She's not a fun-loving dog unless you get to know her and break down those barriers. So with all that said, I think I want to bring another dog up and let's work
00:11:08
Speaker
work her through it. Not all of it's going to be pretty. We're going to correct her. She's not going to be happy about it. We're going to do some things to protect ourselves. I'm probably going to switch to a shorter leash to give her less freedom. She's got all of her gear on except her muzzle, which is going to go on here in a second. We have a prong, flat collar.
00:11:31
Speaker
Flat collar and prong are carabiner together, so if the prong fails, she's still connected to her leash, she's got her e-collar on, and she'll have her muzzle. And all those things are to protect her and to protect us. Sometimes when you have a reactive dog, it's less like they're usually not gonna be able to get to that thing.
Safety for Dog and Handler in Reactive Situations
00:11:53
Speaker
And when they do, they can get frustrated and come back at you. So we have to make sure we're, as the handler, protected too because we don't want to get hurt as well.