Reactivity on Leash
Does your dog bark, growl, and lunge on their leash when they encounter a person, dog, or some other object? There are some simple things you can do to make your dog more comfortable and also give you a sense of confidence. Tim Steele from Behavior Matters Academy provides clear and effective solutions to owners whose dogs are reactive.
Leash Reactivity
By Nikki Phillips
Does your dog bark, growl, and lunge on their leash when they encounter a person, dog, or some other object? There are some simple tools you can use to make your dog more comfortable and give you a sense of confidence.
Tim Steele, based in Florida, has helped hundreds of dogs on five continents. Through his work at the Behavior Matters Academy, he provides clear and effective solutions for owners with leash reactive dogs.
Leash reactivity is the behavior a leashed dog exhibits that may look aggressive toward other dogs or people. This typically happens because the dog is afraid, frustrated, or exhibits gameness.
| Pro Tip: To decipher which of these three your dog is feeling, ask yourself one question- “How is the off-leash play?” |
If your dog plays well with others while off-leash, they are probably feeling frustrated while they are leashed and cannot play. If your dog does not play well off-leash, then you may be seeing a fear or gameness reaction.
Good news, leash reactivity can be addressed in a positive way to redirect the undesired behavior.
Fear
A fear reaction from your dog may involve snarling, growling, and barking. They are likely feeling as though they want to drive the other person or dog away. Your dog is actually telling you they are uncomfortable with the situation, so they need you to move away. When this works and you move because of the snarling, you have taught your dog the reaction and response. The dog will snarl or growl again because it achieved the desired result or moving away.
Keeping your dog safe and fear-free is a great goal, but we can train them to communicate their need clearly and without aggression. First, figure out their safe distance, which is how close can you get to another dog/person without your dog demonstrating a fearful response? This distance could be as big as a football field, or a small as the width of a car. This requires a trial-and-error process.
| Pro Tip: Steele mentions trying this before mealtime so reward treats are especially enticing. He is not suggesting starving your dog, but he makes the point that doing this right after they eat may make the treats less enticing for some dogs with a full belly. |
When the scary object/dog/person moves in sight- treat galore. Steele suggests you dispense treats, even if you get a negative reaction, this is not rewarding bad behavior. Instead, you are focusing on creating good associations. This is about paying attention to what your dog is thinking, not doing, which changes the association. When the object moves out of sight the treats stop. Over time, the dog will associate the object that caused fear with something good happening like getting a treat.
When your dog gives you happy body language (wiggles and tail wags) you can decrease that initial distance little by little. Eventually, you should be able to walk past the dog/person without a negative reaction from your dog.
Frustration
Frustration may look similar to fear, the slight difference is how your dog acts with other dogs when everyone is off-leash. To help your dog with this feeling you again want to work at a safe distance. When your dog sees another dog you can offer a treat only after your dog has looked at you.
This is different than fear where we treat the dog no matter what their behavior may be. With frustration, we want to teach them a different behavior. In this case, the goal is to train the dog to think,
“Hey, if I see another dog, then look at the person on the other end of my leash, something good will happen!”
You dispense the treat and wait for your dog to look at the other dog and then back at you. Offer another treat. You do this over and over until the other person or dog is no longer visible. Then, when your dog is reliably looking back at you can you get closer to the other dog and proceed with the training.
Gameness
Gameness is genetically-influence intent to fight with and injure other dogs. Steele indicates this is rare and says we are very unlikely to come into contact with a game dog. If you truly believe this may be the case for your dog, the first prudent course of action is to muzzle-train the dog. There are safe, comfortable options available. Then as always work at a safe distance.
Finally, work with an experienced trainer. You should avoid using or introducing anything the dog finds painful or scary because those items will likely make the situation worse, not better.
Walking your dog should be a positive experience for you both, so pack your pockets full and treats and find a safe environment to work on positive leash behavior.
This information is intended solely as a general educational aid and is not a substitute for medical or other professional advice.
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Thank you!
Thank you to Tim Steel and Behavior Matters Academy (https://www.behaviormatters.academy/) for contributing excellent training resources to Wag Workshops (https://wagworkshops.org).
A special thank you goes out to Maddie’s Fund (https://www.maddiesfund.org). The Maddie’s Fund Foundation has awarded over $265 million in grants toward increased community collaborations and live outcomes, pioneering shelter medicine education and establishing foster care as a standard across the U.S.
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