How I Went from Managing to Thriving with My Reactive Rescue Dog | Episode 28

If you’re listening to today’s episode, you might just be the owner of a reactive dog. Maybe you are way in over your head with your dog, maybe you knew exactly what you were getting into - just like me, or maybe you know a reactive dog and this just piqued your interest.

What does the term “reactive dog” really mean?

Well I polled my Instagram followers to find out what the term “reactive dog” means to them and this is what they had to say:

“Aggressive”

“A dog that reacts (lunges, whines, barks etc.) to certain environmental triggers”

“A dog that is aggressive when certain stimulus is in their environment”

“A dog that reacts to anything more than necessary for any reason”

“Many assume dog reactivity is negative or aggressive but it could just be a new environment, to me it means a dog that reacts more than docility - it doesn’t have to be aggressive”

You guys weren’t way off, aggression and reactivity ARE different things.

There’s a few factors that can cause your dog to overreact to something in their environment:

FEAR

FRUSTRATION

PAST EXPERIENCE

GENETICS

Be sure to listen to the entirety of the episode to find out what influenced my rescue dog Rory’s reactivity. I’ll share how I went from merely managing my reactive dog to thriving with her using the four approaches below.

Advocating for your reactive dog

Managing your reactive dog’s environment

Counter-conditioning

Consistently pivoting

If your dog has leash reactivity, find out the exact steps I took to go from embarrassed to confident with my reactive dog via my FREE Tools, Aids & Techniques to Walk Your Dog with Confidence Video Course .