Reactivity & Redirection

Have  you got a reactive hound? Have you ever had it happen where they are  having an absolute meltdown over something, and end up redirecting all  that aggression, frustration or overstimulation onto you, or onto your  other hound?  

While not every  reactive hound will display this behaviour, it is not uncommon.  It is  referred to as ‘redirected aggression’ or ‘displaced aggression’ and it  is exactly what it says on the tin…but to understand why it happens, we  first need to explain the basics of reactivity.

Reactivity  is, in essence, a dog’s exaggerated response to certain stimuli.  They  could be reactive to just about anything, but the most common triggers  are other dogs, unfamiliar people, traffic, cyclists, joggers and noise.   

There are numerous reasons for  why reactivity might develop in a dog including lack of socialisation,  over socialisation, negative or traumatic experiences, punitive training  methods, pain, and even genetics.  All of which can manifest in various  emotional states when triggered.

In  seeing, or hearing, one of their triggers, they may respond by barking,  growling, lunging and varying other displays of distress and agitation.   This can be as a means of defending themselves from a perceived  threat, in being overstimulated and overexcited, or even in frustration  in not being able to get to what they want for instance, their prey  drive has been triggered.  Sometimes, albeit incredibly rarely, their  behaviour is through genuine aggressive intent.

These  behaviours become reinforced, and ingrained, because their behaviour is  often inadvertently rewarded.  Particularly when their response is  response to fear, their reactivity means that the perceived threat  starts moving away or goes out of sight.  

For  instance, if your hound is fearful of other dogs.  They are reacting  toward them as a means of protecting themselves and their space.  The  reward to this behaviour is that other walker, and dog, swiftly move  away…therefore your hound has gotten the space they wanted, and the  behaviour is rewarded!

Reactivity  is a self-fulfilling prophecy and without careful management, it will  only escalate into even more of a vicious cycle…and when reactivity gets  out of hand, it can have knock on behaviours in other aspects of a  hound’s day to day life…but we’ll open that can of worms in a future  post.

Today we’re going to  discuss the rarely spoken about redirection behaviour...an unfortunate  side effect of reactivity both mild and severe.

Let’s  be honest, walking a reactive dog is challenging enough and  unsurprisingly most dogs that present with any form of reactivity are  generally returned to the rehoming centres because people don’t want to,  or can’t, dedicate the time to helping them overcome it.

Having  a reactive dog can be immensely stressful, especially when they throw a  curve ball…for instance, it can be terrifying when your 30kg hound is  jumping up at you barking and snapping, potentially even biting you.  

Redirection  aggression occurs when your reactive dog is unable to reach the  stimulus that has triggered them.  Doesn’t matter what the trigger is,  in being unable to interact or escape the trigger, your hound is having a  strong emotional response to it, and all those big feelings need to go  somewhere.  
So, it redirects all that frustration onto whatever is closest, which is quite often you as the owner.

They  can also quite easily choose to redirect onto your other dog, if you  have one, onto the lead (if you are lucky) or whatever else is closest,  which could be a child (if you are very unlucky!)

Often,  they will redirect in other fashions first, such as trying to pull  away, frantically thrashing around to escape their collar or harness,  grabbing at and biting the lead and grabbing at your clothing, but it  can escalate quickly into more aggressive behaviour such as vocalising,  lunging, jumping up and snapping.

Please  do bear in mind that this behaviour does not occur because of a poor  relationship between owner and hound.  Reactive dogs often operate at a  very high level of stress and overstimulation, and when they are in this  state, their ability to process information and exhibit self-control  diminishes, making redirection aggression more likely.

And  when you’re there trying to take control of the situation, stop them  reacting or escaping their collar, while they are trying to get control  of a situation they are uncomfortable with, you are putting yourself in a  position to get hurt…and they aren’t trying to intentionally harm  you…even if it can feel that way in the moment!  

But then this begs the question of how you avoid redirection behaviours.

This  behaviour is a direct result of reactivity, so to address one is to  address them both…and successfully overcoming reactivity, depending on  the severity, is not something that will happen overnight.

Firstly,  get your hound checked out by a qualified veterinary physiotherapist  (and a vet as needed) to assess them for pain.  Pain is a leading factor  in complex behavioural issues…and yes, your hound may very well be  doing the zoomies around the garden right now and love going out three  times a day for hour long walks, but that’s the frustrating thing about  greyhounds.

They can be in  chronic pain and won’t say a word.  A lot of the time it goes completely  unnoticed.  Yet a leaf touches their foot, and they scream like the  world is ending.  They enjoy being contradictory.

We  once consulted for an owner who adopted a beautiful big black boy that  needed help and advice due to increasingly severe behavioural issues,  reactivity on walks and aggression toward the child at home.  He had a  very occasional limp.

In  discussing his exercise routine, the owners explained he had been having  three very long walks per day and had been since they had adopted him.  They had not been given any information suggesting he had an injury by  the rehoming centre and was not advised to limit his exercise.

The immediate concern with this situation was over exercise and overstimulation, resulting in pain and reactivity.

On  examination, it was found that his back was out in several places, was  very tense and painful in his lower back/pelvic area that when pressed  caused weakening of the back legs. In tracking down his origins and  speaking to his original trainer, we found he had sustained a serious  injury to lower back/hip.  He was sent for rehoming straight away, and  was adopted in such quick fashion, that the injury was never  appropriately rested, treated, or exercised because the family were not  made aware. Then the extensive exercise he then underwent in the home,  from day one, caused a lot of pain which led him to become reactive and  defensive.

In drastically  reducing his exercise, going onto pain medication, and receiving  physiotherapy, he became a calmer, happier, and a much more relaxed  hound who overcame his reactivity.

While  none of us want to see our hounds in pain, this is actually the better  option as pain can be addressed, and managed, far easier than  behavioural reactivity.

So, if  investigations with the physio come to no anvil and your hound is not in  pain, you need to take steps to identify and avoid all your dogs’  triggers.  

Keep a journal of all  the circumstances that lead to incidents of reactivity.  We aren’t  talking the specific interaction like an off lead labrador invaded their  space.  We’re talking as much information as possible, such as specific  locations, times of day, how long you were on the walk before the  behaviour occurred, all the things you saw on the walk, how busy was the  traffic.  Basically, a diary describing the walk, even things you  wouldn’t think are relevant.

This  may sound a bit dramatic, but some people really struggle to narrow  down why their hound is reactive, and what they’re specifically reactive  to because they can have some walks where they aren’t reactive at all,  while others they are a menace to society, and you feel like cracking  out the tequila shots at 8am after your hound tried to start fights with  half the neighbourhood.

These  notes will help narrow down the specific environmental causes or  individual triggers that have led your hound to become reactive.

For  instance, one of our hounds is quite an anxious hound at the best of  times but she is passive.  She would never hurt anything; she’s even  caught birds but then dropped them when told to let it go.  
But,  due to her anxiety, she can be reactive.  It isn’t all the time.  We  call her ‘part time reactive’ because it’s very changeable.

On  her normal walking routes at 5am, no traffic, barely see any dogs or  people, all very peaceful…she thoroughly enjoys her walks, will interact  with dogs politely, regardless of whether they are 10 minutes or an  hour.

However, if we go on that  walk at another time of day, there is more traffic on the roads, we’ll  see a few dog walkers, a couple of joggers, she becomes a ticking time  bomb.  We must be back at the house within 40 minutes, or she will very  quickly go over threshold and become reactive, particularly to joggers  and off lead dogs.

This time  frame is also very changeable, as if it’s particularly busy for dog  walkers and runners, or an 18-wheeler or bus comes past her, her stress  levels will spike much faster and can become reactive within say, 10  minutes.

Or, if we go for a walk  in an unfamiliar environment, she can become reactive immediately due to  already being in a heightened state of stress from the drive and in  having to cope with the new environment.

These  are things we have learnt about her, and in identifying all her  triggers, we can avoid them as much as possible as means of avoiding  reactivity and redirection while ensuring that she has a positive and  enjoyable time on her walks.

When  it comes to managing reactivity, identifying and avoiding triggers is  the first step.  If that means getting up and walking your dog at 5am  every day, then so be it.

You  need to de-stress and decompress your hound, build their confidence,  associate walking with positivity, freedom and lots of good sniffing and  make sure they are of calm mind before you start introducing effective  management strategies in which you are going to modify their behaviour  in a safe way.

Early morning or  late evening walks, taking your hound out into the countryside and  having regular stress-free sniffaris without any societal expectations  and even not walking your dog at all intermittently or for an extended  break from outside stresses can go a long way in reducing your hounds  stress levels.
All the while you can build up their  training and understanding of certain cues and rewards in the house or  garden, using treats or their daily kibble, as motivation.  So that when  it comes to using them out on walks, they should understand what they  mean even with distraction.

Then, once you have your hound decompressed, listening and responding to you can start desensitising them to triggers.

Now,  this is a long-term strategy.  You should not rush this.  If you try to  force them to overcome their triggers through aggressive or punitive  training methods, they are going to go into a shutdown state where it  may appear like they’re coping…but in reality you have just supressed  them, and you’re likely to have the behaviour come back ten-fold down  the line…usually in addition to a whole load of other issues!

Our  strongest recommendation is to very very gradually expose your hound to  what triggers them, at a distance that they are comfortable with, while  using positive reinforcement.  

Overtime,  it will help them change their emotional response to seeing triggers,  and then in seeing them moving forward, they should make the decision to  look to you for reward rather than reacting toward the trigger.

In  addition to this, you will want to implement rest days where you don’t  walk your hound or otherwise reduce how much you are walking them so  they have time to decompress between stressful outings.  In lieu of  walking, you want to provide other forms of stimulation such as games in  the garden and various enrichment!

This  is not something you should rush, and if you aren’t confident in taking  steps to manage this process, you should absolutely seek the assistance  of a qualified positive behaviourist.  

Additional,  should your hound’s behaviour be particularly severe you can consult  with your vet to discuss different anti-anxiety or sedative medications  to help them relax enough to take in, and retain, the training.

We  would also impress upon people to have their hound muzzled if they are  reactive, likely to redirect, and are undergoing training.  Using a  double ended lead on a collar and appropriately fitted anti-escape  harness is also very beneficial in maintaining control.  

Stay  vigilant on walks, keep your distance, change directions as needed to  avoid triggers and body block them as needed.  Advocate for your dog and  reward calm behaviour.

And  through it all, make sure that you have supports in place for yourself.   Having a reactive hound is exhausting, it’s mentally draining.  Not  only are you forever reminded, and are mourning, the life you thought  you were going to have with your dog, for every step you take forward it  can often feel like you’re taking ten back.

The  reward of helping a hound overcome reactivity is like no other, but it  is a long process and it’s okay that you’re frustrated and upset.  You  can never have a day off, everything has to be kept consistent and  routine, every day is a training day.  You must be on top form every  time you step outside of the house.

It is a lot.  So, make sure you aren’t alone, and seek help if you need it.