The "Jerk" Dog Explained

​Our dogs are more integrated in our lives than ever before. They have moved into our homes, vehicles and sometimes even work places. More and more places are becoming “dog-friendly”, meaning many people are taking their furry friends to public places. With our dogs being exposed to more things, people and pets than ever before, we are noticing a higher incidence of reactivity among our canine companions. Much like people with social anxiety, a reactive dog’s brain is on HIGH ALERT at all times. So, you may ask, what does reactivity look like? Reactive dogs tend to speak before they think… we’ve all known a person like this right? The dogs are labeled as "jerks", or "bad dogs", but theres much more to it than that. They overreact by barking or lunging at whatever stimuli is “setting them off”. Their triggers can range from different noises to people or other animals (strangers or friends and family). They can also startle easily when they hear a loud or unexpected noise. They are essentially on edge and are more tense than other dogs.

So what can be done for these dogs? Identifying and managing your dog’s anxiety is crucial for dealing with reactive behaviours as most reactive dogs generally have some sort of underlying anxiety, creating a perfect recipe for multiple behaviour problems. I firmly believe that restructuring your own relationship with your dog serves as a great foundation for treating reactivity. 

For example, ​Dr. Sophia Yin's Learn to Earn program is a wonderful way to have your dog focus on you and let you do all the decision making.  More detailed information is in her book, Perfect Puppy(it applies to dogs of any age). Adequate exercise is important to manage anxiety. Having a routine, especially in regards to exercise and play, will also help with managing anxiety. An important thing to remember is when you use punishment in any way, your dog will either subdue the emotional reaction and it will be worse in the future or it will increase aggressive behaviour, anxiety or reactivity. Reactivity is an over-exaggerated emotional response and punishing that will just create fear-stress and anxiety to build whether you see it or not.

​The first and most important thing we need to as owners is to identify the dog’s triggers. Once we know that something is a trigger, we need to figure out the at exactly what intensity we see a response from the dog. For example, a dog may overreact when a strange dog is less than 10 feet away. That means the trigger is a strange dog 10 ft away. Knowing this can allow you to work with conditioning the reactive dog to associate the strange dog with good things by using a high valued reward (for most dogs that’s food but some would rather a ball or toy). 

Making sure the dog doesn’t reach its reaction threshold is extremely important for success. If a dog is allowed to practice a reactive behaviour, it becomes more difficult to change that behaviour. ​

For example, the most common trigger is another dog. Having a Gentle Leader will make this training exercise much easier. When you encounter another dog while walking on leash, begin give rewards continuously (food is the easiest reward in this situation) as soon as you notice the dog. If your dog stops focusing on you, have them sit with their back to the approaching dog and continue to give rewards. You must be fast paced with the rewards so you remain more interesting than the other dog. If your dog continues to lose focus on you, you will need to create more distance between your dog and the approaching dog by moving off the path. Ideally, your dog will only pay attention to you and ignore the other dog all together. You must do this every time you encounter your reactive dog’s trigger. Over time, he or she will learn to associate the strange dog with a reward. 

​Creating an environment for learning is an important step. If you are not in a training session, avoiding the trigger is key so that your dog does not have the opportunity to exhibit the reactive behaviour. A useful tool during training sessions is a Gentle Leader made by PABA. Once a person becomes proficient using the Gentle Leader with their pooch, it allows for greater control than any other harness or collar can provide. Having this control prompts your dog to look to you for cues and commands instead of falling back on reactive or anxious behaviour.  

Conditioning you dog to change its behaviour takes a lot of time and patience, but in the long run is well worth the effort. Once you address the dog's underlying anxiety, you and your furry companion can begin to work together towards a full life of experiences. If you have a reactive dog, speak to your veterinarian for tips or medications that may be helpful to your training process.