What is reactivity? Ask three trainers and you’ll get three answers.
Is it aggression? Is it arousal? Is it out-of-control friendliness and frustration?
Most of these answers center around the underlying motivation, which we are certainly free to guess at, but if we just look at it as a behavior it can be pretty reliably summed up as “my dog is barking at something and lunging at the end of his leash at it!” Regardless of why he’s doing it or what it is, that’s what he’s doing, right?
And it makes him pretty difficult to take anywhere! You don’t know whether the thing that triggers him to do this is going to show up unexpectedly, and you don’t know what to do if it does. Frankly, you just want him to not do this at all so…what should you do?
Read the full article on Denise Fenzi’s blog for Pet Dog Owners >>
