Leash Reactivity: What Is It And Why Does My Dog Do It?

What Is Dog Leash Reactivity?

Reactivity is a label, it’s not a character trait or a behaviour. Usually the label reactive refers to a suite of behaviours often seen together including pulling on leash, barking, lunging, growling and sometime snarling and sipping. These behaviours are often seen after a dog has noticed particular things in the environment such as other dogs, people, cars, children, cars, scooters etc.

There is a difference between the reactive label and the explanation of what the labels actually means. You can’t train your way out of a label like reactive but we can make behaviours happen more or less frequently. The examples of reactivity above are all observable behaviours, which is really important because if we can observe the behaviours we want to decrease we can implement our interventions and teach our dogs behaviours we like better than barking and lunging and make those behaviours more worthwhile for our dogs.

Why Do Dogs Do This?

Many dog parents spend a lot of mental energy wondering why their dog started behaving this way. You might never know but that’s not what we really need to know to change your dogs behaviour effectively. What we need to know is what NEED you dogs reactive behaviour meets for them and what environmental conditions tell your dog that right now lunging or barking will help them get what they need. 

The biggest take home message is this…if your dog is reacting to triggers regularly it’s because those reactive behaviours are bring reinforced somehow and its important to identify what that reinforcement is for your dog so that you can avoid accidentally reinforcing reactivity so that you can potentially decrease their motivation to react.

What Does Your Dog Gain or Avoid With Their Reactive Behaviours?

All animals including ourselves behave in order to gain or keep good stuff and avoid or escape bad stuff. When we are trying to identify why our dog does a behaviour the most important place to start is usually the consequences of that behaviour. 

What Is Gained? What good stuff (positive reinforcers) might your dog gain after they bark, lunge and pull on the leash?

The most common include;

• Access To Other Dogs - does your dog sometimes get to meet another dog after barking or lunging (occasionally on walks, on the way to the dog park from the car, if you see this bff and you let them go say hi) Even if this only happens rarely and if your dog loves other fogs the reinforcer of access to dogs could be what’s maintaining your dogs problem behaviour.

• Attention From You - Do you only engage with your dog on walk after they react, do you ever pet or pick up your dog after they react?

*I am not advising you to not comfort a fearful or anxious dog, you can’t reinforce fear however you can reinforce lunging and barking as these are behaviours.

• Training Food - Positive reinforcement is the best way to improve animal behaviour however when using a primary reinforcer like food we need to use it wisely. Do you reliably give your dog food after they react? Poorly timed delivery of reinforcement can reinforce barking and lunging and can maintain your dogs reactivity.

• Meeting People On A Walk - What is reinforcing will depend on the dog whether it’s getting to sniff someone, attention or being pet. Just like with access to other dogs, even if pulling and lunging has been only occasionally followed by meeting a new person this could be enough to reinforce those behaviours and keep them alive.

What Is Avoided? What bad suff (negative reinforcers) might your dog escape or avoid after they bark, lunge and pull on the leash?

The most common include;

*If you think your dog is afraid of the things they bark at then pay particular attention to this.

• When your dog lunges at a person or dog on a walk what usually happens? Most of the tine the person or the dog keeps walking or moving away. If your dog isn’t a fan of strangers or unfamiliar dogs then that moving away could reinforce your dogs barking or lunging. From you dogs point of view the barking worked.

• They same is true for anything on wheels, they bark and lunge and the bike, car, skateboard moves away.

• If your dog reacts when people approach them, look at them or reach for them most likely that’s effective in getting them to back off and pull their hand away. This is a really common example of negative reinforcement (the removal of something aversive to the dog) maintaining the behaviour.

Reactive behaviours that are negatively reinforced are particularly challenging because there’s not a lot you can control about other people, dogs, bikes and poorly planned exposures can sensitise dogs further to their triggers. For these dogs modifying their daily routine to avoid reinforcement of reactivity to triggers is especially important.

Respecting Signals: Ignoring a dogs signals of discomfort and need for space may escalate their responses. Growling is a crucial warning mechanism; if it is punished or suppressed, a dogs communication may shift directly to nipping or biting, leaving fewer warning signs.

Take Action - Think about and list what reactive behaviours your dog does, when do they do it and what are the consequences of their behaviour (what need is it meeting for them?) There can be more than one reinforcer keeping your dogs reactive behaviour alive.