What is Leash Reactivity?
My definition of a leash reactive dog is any dog that is lunging, barking, growling, or snapping at the end of the leash. Some dogs start reacting as soon as the leash is on but in most cases the reactive dog will start “reacting” when some type of distraction has entered the environment. That distraction might be a squirrel, a car, or another person or dog.
What causes leash Reactivity?
In my experience most cases of leash reactivity come from dogs not knowing how to follow on a leash. Owners of puppies or newly adopted dogs pop a leash on a collar and go about trying to walk their untrained dog. When this happens most puppies and dogs will start pulling against the leash. This causes the person at the end of the leash to move in the direction the puppy or dog is pulling. It only takes a few repetitions for the dog to realize that if they want to get somewhere when on leash pull in that direction.
This is where dog owners have a choice. They can teach their dog how to respond correctly to reaching the end of the leash, or they can buy a harness and make it more comfortable for the dog to pull on the leash. Unfortunately, a lot of folks not fully understanding positive reinforcements buy a harness and positively reinforce the pulling all over the neighborhood. I find leash pulling extremely annoying as do a lot of my clients but leash pulling isn’t the end world. If you watch random dog owners at the park or in the neighborhood it would seem most folks are cool with getting pulled along on their walks.
The trouble really starts when the dog that has been taught (most of the time unknowingly by the owner) that they can pull towards things sees a distraction that their owner doesn’t want them to have. Here is when the “reactivity” starts. The dog has been successfully getting what it wants by pulling and now you are stopping progress. This is very frustrating to the dog maybe he wants to go play or maybe he wants to go fight either way one of two things usually happen. If your dog is friendly, they get rewarded by being allowed to pull to the distraction to say hi. If your dog is anxious or fearful they are rewarded by the stimulus/distraction going away. Over time your dog learns (harness or not) that if they want something while on leash or if they want something to go away while on leash they should act out by barking, lunging, and carrying on at the end of the leash.
What do we do to stop leash reactivity?
First let me say each dog is unique, so keep in mind I’m trying to speak in broad terms. I’m explaining what works for me currently and what I have found to be most effective over the past fifteen years. With most dogs the most effective way to deal with leash reactivity is to first teach the leash reactive dog how to follow on a leash. In many of the cases teaching proper leash manners (overtime) fixes the problem entirely. Over the course of a week, month, year the formerly reactive dog is no longer rewarded for or allowed to react at the end of the leash there for he does not do so.
Some dogs will still react on leash after being leash trained. In those instances, dependent on the dog, I’ll either spend time counterconditioning the dog to the stimulus or introduce an unwanted consequence(punishment) for being reactive at the end of the leash. Much of the time I’m using a mix of both methods depending on the dog.
The progression goes like this. First, I must teach the dog how to behave on leash without distractions present. Second, I must gradually start practice walking on leash around the stimulus that causes the reactivity. During this phase I am coercing and rewarding the wanted behavior around the stimulus. Next, after being rewarded for the correct behavior enough times that it rivals the number of repetitions the dog was unknowingly rewarded for the unwanted behavior, only then would I recommend introducing consequence or punishment to the dog that is still reacting. The punishment can come in many forms but the one that works best is the punishment you must use the fewest number of times to leave lasting results.
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