Understanding Leash Reactivity:The What, Why, and How to Help Your Dog Overcome It
Leash reactivity is a common group of behaviors that many dog guardians struggle with when walking their dog on a leash.
The way our dogs spend time with us has changed and evolved over the years. More people have dogs in their homes, more places we frequent have become dog-friendly, and people want their dog to be an active part of their lives.
With nearly 40% of households in the United States having dogs, dogs live in apartments, condos, townhomes, single-family homes, and more. This statistic has risen yearly, which means more and more dogs are out and about with their people. Add the increased prevalence of dog parks, dog daycare, boarding facilities, and even bars designed as dog parks; dog trainers have seen an uptick in leash-reactive dogs.
What is Leash Reactivity
Leash reactivity is a common group of behaviors that many dog guardians struggle with when walking their dog on a leash. Common behaviors include:
Barking
Lunging
Growling
Redirection onto the leash or yourself
Refusing to move
Attempt to flee the situation
Pulling towards the trigger like another dog, car, small animals, or people
Why Do Dogs Become Leash Reactive
This is a multifaceted group of behaviors, but we’ll break it down into major groups we see leash reactivity stem from with the information below. Behavior is a study of one, and your dog might be leash reactive for different reasons.
Health
The first cause of leash reactivity to rule out is health changes. If your dog starts displaying reactive behaviors on walks, a vet check is the first step in their training! If your dog has had recent health changes or isn’t feeling their best, they might deter other dogs from approaching them on leash with the abovementioned behaviors.
Restrictions in Body Language
Dogs communicate through body language. Their body posture and movement send other dogs messages. Dogs often utilize activities like walking in wide circles before greeting or physically touching each other, play bows, head dips, stretching, and even more subtle movements like paw lifts.
Their facial expressions, ears, and tail can also communicate to other dogs how they are feeling. When our dogs see another dog on a leash, they cannot thoroughly communicate or read the other dog’s messages. We often expect our dogs to walk face to face, which is an uncommon way to greet each other off-leash.
Insecurity or Fear
A fearful dog might communicate to the other dog to back off, but if the dog continues to walk toward them with their guardian, it might feel like they have no other choice but to start barking or lunging to tell the other dog to back off!
Over time, fearful dogs might learn that other dogs do not listen to their subtle communication when they’re on a leash, causing them to escalate to leash-reactive behaviors.
Being on a leash prevents fearful dogs from safely avoiding the other dog, car, or person they are afraid of, so their communication escalates to undesirable behaviors like lunging, barking, and growling.
If you think your dog is experiencing leash reactivity due to fear or insecurity, you might see them move away to create space, tuck their tail, or lower their body posture before reacting.
Frustration
Frustration-based leash reactivity is a common occurrence we see when dogs are dog social and interested in saying hi to other dogs. Many people allow their new dog or puppy to meet anyone and everyone when they’re on walks. For a dog social puppy, this activity is hugely reinforcing, and we usually stop this from happening at some point when the puppy gets bigger and starts pulling us to greet other dogs and people.
Frustrated dogs will often start lunging or pulling toward the other dog as the other dog gets closer, and then it becomes more escalated as they cannot say hi.
How To Prevent Leash Reactivity
If your dog walks happily on a leash, continue to prevent leash reactivity with some of these tips:
Avoid On Leash Greetings
Avoiding leash greetings prevents your dog from making another dog uncomfortable. It prevents your dog from getting into an altercation. Keeping your dog feeling safe is much better than allowing your dog to greet another dog on a leash.
Walk Your Dog On Harness and Longer Leash
While this might feel counterintuitive, allowing your dog to walk on a 10-15 foot leash gives them the freedom to sniff and move freely. Short leashes often make dogs feel even more restricted and frustrated!
Corrective collars like shock collars, prong collars, choke collars, and e-collars can increase a dog’s reactivity. They learn that seeing another dog causes pain if they get corrected for pulling or becoming distracted, so they associate other dogs with that feeling and might escalate to keep other dogs away.
Practice Alternative Behaviors
Training sessions for desirable behaviors can make a huge difference. Asking your dog for eye contact, find it, hand targeting, and other fun cues when they see another dog can teach your dog that seeing another dog on walks means an opportunity to train and get reinforcement from you!
Keep Your Space
Allowing plenty of space between your dog and someone else walking can make it much safer for everyone. Advocate for your dog if someone starts approaching with the age-old “it’s okay, they’re friendly and want to say hi” Politely say no thanks and keep walking your dog past them. Crossing the street, moving in the opposite direction, and moving off the path as the other dog passes can make life a lot easier.
Where Can I Take My Leash Reactive Dog
The world might seem very small if your dog is working through their leash reactivity, especially if you don’t have access to a backyard for stretching their legs. (More on that below!) avoid places you’ll see your dog’s triggers unless you’re planning to do some training, even if this means you stop walking on your regular route.
Sniffspots
Sniffspots are a haven for reactive dogs! You can rent outdoor spaces for your dog to roam, walk, and play without the issue of seeing other dogs.
If you don’t have access to Sniffspot in your area, ask friends and neighbors if you can utilize their yard for stress-free playtime.
Cemeteries
Cemeteries are often dog-friendly but not commonly used place people walk their dogs. Check to ensure your dog is allowed, keep them on a leash, and be respectful of the space and the other people visiting. There are great opportunities for visual barriers and open space.
Secluded Trails and Parks
Do research to find less used trails and parks in your area, or go during off-peak times. Finding spaces like this can be tricky, so scope out the area during the day and time of the week you would like to bring your dog for a walk.
Quiet Neighborhoods
Again, this might take some research, but it’s worth it! Ask friends, family, and coworkers if their neighborhood has heavy foot traffic or dog walkers. Drive around to see if there are quiet, low-traffic streets for your dog to explore safely.
Increase Mental Exercise
Increasing mental stimulation can often answer fewer walks for many dogs! Feeding meals in interactive toys, frozen enrichment, puzzles, playtime, hide-and-seek games, and training can meet a dog's needs without clipping on the leash.
You can find some suggestions HERE
If your dog is overcoming leash reactivity, increasing their mental stimulation can help them feel better adjusted if walks are part of their daily routine.
How To Start Training A Leash Reactive Dog
Understanding the what, why, and how of your dog’s leash reactivity will help you know there is no quick fix for these behaviors.
Teaching your dog through their leash reactivity is challenging. This is why we recommend working with a professional dog trainer. You can start the search for one in your area HERE
Start Leash Reactivity Training in Your Home with the ABCs
If you’ve gotten this far, we trust you are genuinely invested in helping your dog overcome their leash reactivity. We’re going to break down the process for you.
Behavior follows this model:
Antecedent: what happens before the behavior
Behavior: what your dog does in response to the antecedent
Consequence: what happens in response to your dog’s behavior
We aim to change your dog’s behavior because we can’t change many antecedents. Your dog will see other dogs sometimes!
Okay, that’s as nerdy as we’ll get!
Old Pattern:
Your dog sees another dog or their trigger
Your dog pulls, lunges, growls, etc
The other dog avoids you, or the trigger passes, reinforcing your dog for their behavior
New Pattern:
Your dog sees another dog or their trigger
Your dog does alternative behavior like looking at you, hand targeting, etc
You mark and feed your dog for calmly hanging out next to you!
Start training inside and teach your dog to practice an alternative behavior around a distraction like a crinkly bag of treats, a toy, or another enticing item.
You can have a helper or place the item on the ground, out of your dog’s reach and far enough away to not be frustrating to your dog.
Your dog will be on a leash, and you will have delicious treats! String cheese, shredded chicken or salmon, or deli meat are excellent places to start.
As soon as your dog looks at the distraction, say a marker word (we like the word “Yes!”) and deliver food to your dog. Using a marker word will communicate to your dog the behavior you marked is why they’re getting the food.
We want your dog to be comfortable and confident with this training, so practice in short, frequent training sessions.
When ready, move to another location like an apartment hallway, driveway, secluded park, or backyard. Continue marking and feeding your dog for looking at your distraction, but start varying the distance. Walk towards, away, and parallel with the distraction.
When your dog eagerly looks back at you when they hear the marker word, we’re ready to get started with real life.
Start where you can add more physical distance if needed. You’ll probably need more treats and space than you think!
Our goal is to prevent any reactive behaviors they were displaying before. You’re too close if your dog reacts the way they used to.
Start marking and feeding your dog to stay calm when you see the trigger. We suggest staying stationary for the first couple weeks of training to keep your dog safe and comfortable.
As you progress through the training, you’ll notice your dog start to look back at you when they see the trigger, that’s great!
As you continue the training, you’ll see your dog needing less distance from the trigger, and their ability to handle more intense situations should increase, too!
If you need professional support, contact us here
