Reactivity: Can It Be Overcome?

In a word, yes.  But it is not an easy road.  

Reactivity  refers to a dog’s exaggerated response to a certain stimulus.  While  some level of reactivity is normal, excessive reactivity can be  problematic.  If not addressed in a positive way, it can lead to  numerous behavioural issues, straining the hound-human relationship and  quite often landing the hound in a rescue or rehoming centre…where no  one will adopt them as their behaviour continues to worsen.

Reactivity  is a challenge, even for the most dedicated hound parents.  It can have  a profound impact on your own mental health, and as there is no quick  fix despite what self-proclaimed ‘behaviourists’ on social media portray  through the use of archaic training techniques.

The  problem is there is no one size fits all way to address reactivity, as  there is so many reasons for the behaviour.  Behaviour that quite often  involves lunging, barking, screaming and acts of aggression.  
As  we have discussed in many posts, no dog behaviour is without  motivation.  All dog behaviour is rooted in some form of emotional  response, be it anxiety, stress, fear, or any other, which will all have  come about because of something in the dog’s environment either past or  present.

Reactivity quite often  comes about through a lack of appropriate training, socialisation and  exposure to a variety of environments, people, and animals.  Though on  that same hand, reactivity can come about from too much exposure, or  negative socialisation.  It’s a fine line between socialising and  overwhelming your hound and creating a negative association.

Greyhounds,  and other sighthounds that may have come from coursing and hunting  backgrounds, spend their formative years in kennels or other atypical  situations.  Their understanding of the world is quite limited until  they either retire or are rescued, depending on their situation.

By  nature, they are quite sensitive souls anyway, and when they go out  into the great wide world with their adoptive families, those initial  weeks and months play a crucial role in shaping their behaviour.  It’s  akin to raising and socialising a puppy, as they are experiencing in  exactly the same way, experiencing everything for the first time, but  unlike a puppy, they aren’t a blank slate.  They have years of  experience and familiarity with one way of living, and they need to  relearn all they know about the world.

It’s a lot.

So,  if new owners are not careful, new owners can create reactivity through  doing too much too soon with their hound.  Leading to fear and anxiety,  that trigger reactive responses, toward what they feel is a threat.  
These  reactions are a self-fulfilling prophecy, as for your hound to have  reached the point of becoming reactive, each time they are then reacting  thereafter is just compounding the stress and negative association with  that trigger, preventing them from overcoming it.

If  you have a newly adopted hound, it’s not that uncommon for some fashion  of reactivity to develop in the first 3-4 weeks if you aren’t sensible  in how you introduce them to the world.  Things may go so smoothly for  the first couple weeks that you think you have the best behaved hound in  the world.  You haven’t had one single issue, they’re an angel, you  couldn’t have asked for better…then your whole world comes crashing  down.

This is because you  believed that your hound was coping, that they were okay, they were  taking everything in their stride.  Sadly not, chances are you misread  their lack of reaction, or complete disinterest toward triggers to be a  good thing.  You do too much.  You take them to the beach, you take them  to the pub, you go for a hike, you visit that nature reserve you’ve  been meaning to go to, you take them to a dog show and craft fair…and  all the way through it, you’re amazed at just how perfect they are.

Until they’re not.

One  day you go to take them for a walk, and they freeze.  Or they go  absolutely ape shit barking at the neighbours labrador that they have  met numerous times.  They’re jumping when cars go past.  They’re lunging  toward small dogs.

Your hound  is completely overstimulated, they’re stressed, they are feeling some  really big emotions and don’t know what to do with them.  All this time,  their stress bucket has been filling and filling, until they can’t cope  anymore, and they go into meltdown mode.   Their cortisol (stress  hormone) levels are through the roof, and you don’t know what to do.   

This  is called trigger stacking, and in this situation, this is a tipping  point.  If handled correctly at this stage, you can usually reel things  back, decompress them, start over, and very gradually reintroduce them  to the world and, theoretically, not go on to have any more issues.  But  if not handled correctly, you will continue to have reactivity issues  that can escalate to the point where it is ingrained and incredibly  difficult to manage and reverse.

This is just one example.  Some hounds may be reactive from the get-go, instantly overwhelmed and stressed…which is not ideal!

There  are obviously so many other situations that can lead to reactivity such  as past trauma, abuse, and neglect, which exacerbate the feelings of  stress and anxiety, and fear, in response to triggers.  Be those other  dogs, strangers, traffic, noise…it can be anything.

Reactivity  is ultimately a communication, a coping mechanism, stating clearly,  they are not happy with the situation or trigger.  A lot of the time  it’s used to communicate that they want the trigger to go away, for  instance, a dog walker and their dog.  Your hound is barking and  lunging, ultimately telling that other dog to get the hell away from  them.  

This is a severely  anxious response through fear, a lack of socialisation or a past trauma  (they may have been attacked by a dog before).  

The  other dog walker will normally swiftly retreat from the situation,  which in turn creates a reward response in your hound because their  behaviour has resulted in them leaving…which is why reactivity can  become a vicious cycle very easily, because the behaviour is being  reinforced.

But this begs the  question, how can you socialise them without seeing other dogs?  How do  you get them used to new environments without taking them to new  environments?  How can you get them used to any trigger if you have to  avoid the trigger to avoid the reaction that makes the triggers worse?

This  is why reactivity is so frustrating.  Overcoming reactivity is a  complicated process.  You have to completely change your approach to dog  ownership.

Establish positive  training techniques, teach your hound focus and attention exercises,  engage them in impulse control games, have very structured walks often  at antisocial times to avoid triggers, research everything there is to  know about reactivity and how to understand body language, learn about  enrichment and how to decompress your hound, how to provide other  stimulus than going for walks.  It’s a lot.

Depending on how severe the reactivity is, and the root cause of it, you will most likely have to hire a behaviourist to assist.

And  we mean a proper one, with proper qualifications and understanding of  sighthounds.  Not one of those social media charlatans that swing a dog  around by a prong collar on its neck, and then show how the reactive dog  is no longer reactive after 30 seconds.  We can’t possibly imagine why!   Though we’re pretty sure that if someone strangled us every time we  looked at something, we’d learn pretty bloody quickly not to look at it  for fear of immediate pain, distress and suffering.

There  is some truly ridiculous advice on the internet, and from ‘dog  trainers’ on how reactivity should be rectified.  But if you use fear,  intimidation, and pain, all you are doing is masking the behaviour, not  helping the dog understand that there is nothing to fear and that they  are safe.  Negative training techniques compound the issue, leading to  far worse behavioural issues down the line.

Without  question, reactivity should be addressed in a positive and calm manner,  in a way that your hound responds to.  It won’t happen overnight, in  fact it can take months, even over a year or more to overcome  reactivity.

You need to identify  the triggers, create safety for them both in the home and on walks,  advocate for them, give them space when they need it, and utilise  positive reinforcement techniques to encourage a calm response to  triggers as you gradually increase their tolerance threshold.   

By  very gradually exposing them to triggers, at a safe distance that you  will slowly reduce, while reinforcing them with treats, praise and toys  they will become desensitised and come to understand that seeing the  triggers results in something good.  His is called counterconditioning,  changing their emotional response from fear and anxiety to happy,  relaxed, and positive.

This can  only be achieved with consistency and patience.  With a reactive hound,  you never have a day off from training.  Any lapse in your consistency,  any negative response from you to their reactivity, can set them back.   Behavioural modification takes time.

But  this can put so much strain on you as an owner.  Owners of reactive  dogs often really struggle with their mental health, their own tolerance  thresholds, and days where their love for their hound can tested.  
For  owners of truly reactive hounds, regardless of the reason why they’re  reactive, many experience burnout, many give up, many more think about  giving up.  This is because at some stage or another, you go through a  mourning period.

Not because  they’ve died, but because the dream of what your life would look like  with your new hound has died.  What you wanted, and what you got, are  two very different things and you will grieve that.  You will battle  with that for a long time, and you won’t always win that battle.  It’s  completely understandable that people give up and surrender their  hounds.

It is not easy by any  stretch, but from the dogs perspective, that commitment to helping them  overcome their fears creates such a strong bond, such loyalty, reliance  and love with you as their owner.  You are their safety net, and every  time they have a breakthrough, reach a milestone, and have little  wins…it all becomes worth it.  The relationship you have with a reactive  dog is so important and you will never forget it for the rest of your  days.  

You will love them so  fiercely and celebrate every win and cry with them at every set back.   But one day, one day it will all come together.

But,  you may not have gotten that far.  You may have been one of the people  who gave up…and that’s okay.  You will never get any judgement from us  for that.  Not everyone can adjust their entire lifestyle and approach  to dog ownership to accommodate a reactive hound, and that’s okay.   Anyone that tells you otherwise is a (words that aren’t social media  friendly).

Reactivity is a very  big subject, and we’ll be discussing trigger stacking and the stress  bucket analogy in more detail in future posts…so make sure to follow us  so you don’t miss out!