What is it like to have a reactive dog?! How much work is involved in owning a fearful dog?!
Friend of the Active Outlet, Diesel, got his mum to write a blog post about what it is like to be his mum. In 2017 I brought home a 4-year-old Staffy Cross. According to previous owners he was fine with other dogs - after all, he was with a staffy on the property when I first saw him! I was excited to introduce him to my friend and her senior white shepherd and bearded collie. I brought him into the house first and then later let the two bigger dogs in. It didn't feel right, and he ended up jumping up and nipping the shepherd on the ear. We took them for a walk, but they seemed to walk together ok? Then a few months later I was out of town visiting my parents, and we took him to a park with other dogs off leash. I was a bit nervous after the incident with my friends' dog. We played fetch and he seemed ok. But when another dog ran from the other side of the park directly at him, he dropped his ball and almost instantly attacked it. He did let go before I got there, but it was done. The owner of the other dog ran straight past her dog and kicked Diesel in the tummy with all her might. This was so traumatising for both Diesel and I, and I never really got over that. He was never very pleasant to walk on lead - always has to be out front and pulled like a tank. It didn't matter how much training I did with him, whenever we were out walking, he just would not walk next to me, or at a slower speed. The next 12 months were such a struggle. Literally blood, sweat and tears were shed. His destructive behaviour in my house when I went to work, with not being able to settle - all day (I installed cameras in the house). I was desperate and reached out to some trainers. We did 2 x Feisty Fido courses and learned some management skills when encountering other dogs. I was learning more and more about something called reactivity, fear aggression, signs of a fearful or anxious dog. It appears that Diesel is the rarest sociability type for dogs (~10%). He is Dog aggressive. Little to no tolerance of other dogs, and it will always result in an aggressive response if the dog gets within about 30-40 meters. This requires extra management of him, and my head to be on a swivel when I am out with him. Because of this side to him, I am unable to take him to off-leash areas / dog parks, or just anywhere there could be a remote possibility of running into an off-leash "friendly" dog. And sadly, this includes "On Leash Only" sports fields. I live next to a sports field and almost every day there are people there with their dogs running around off leash, and most of the time, they have no recall. But because "It's ok, he's friendly", they think it is fine for their dog that lacks manners or social skills to come bowling up to my boy. Then in 2022 after only being in the other room on my spin bike which makes him go nuts, I finished my session 50 minutes later to find he had chewed through a door frame and some of the door, then later jumped on my bed and ripped my duvet cover. That was the last straw - I was at my wits end with this type of behaviour. I contacted Lucy Scott, from Veterinary Behaviour Services NZ. We talked all about the struggles I've had with him, and she recommended I take him to the vet and ask about medication. We ended up coming away with some Fluoxetine. 3-4 weeks later he is a different dog! He no longer pulls like a tank on walks, and he is way more relaxed at home when I go out. It has not solved his feelings towards other dogs, but he is not in a constant state of fear and anxiety. It dawned on me that the reason he pulled so hard during walks was because he was incredibly anxious and fearful, which made me so sad. I have learned his body language and responses pretty well over the last 4.5 years and know that his aggressive response to other dogs is purely to make himself seem all scary so the other dog will go away. Even if that means running straight towards it to try to attack. There are some occasions that if the dog is far enough away, he will pull to run in the other direction. He will still do that now while on medication, if the other dog is close enough, but I now know that this is a huge internal struggle for him. When we are at home, he is the most loving, affectionate and obedient boy you could ask for. If you sit on the floor, he will 100%, be in your space looking for cuddles or sit/lie down next to you leaning all over you. He is the same with my partner, and my parents. With anyone he gets to know, he just wants your cuddles (once he knows you are a safe person that isn't going to hurt his mama or him). He loves to play and like any dog is so overjoyed to see me when I get home. Sometimes I am sad that he can't socialise and be around other dogs safely, but then, he shouldn't have to be! He deserves to be able to be left alone to just sniff and experience being out when we are walking. It's not socially acceptable for humans to run up to a stranger and introduce themselves and get in their personal space, so why should we allow this to happen to our dogs? I just wish people at the very least would follow council laws and be courteous to other people and their dogs. It is just not ok to let your "friendly" dog run up to another dog they don't know. Especially when they are on a leash. Apart from not being tolerant of other dogs, they could be recovering from illness/injury, in training, or just plain nervous.
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Dog Sociability
Puppies generally love dogs. Every single dog they meet. Everyone is their friend and they love being social but this doesn’t last forever. Dogs have a spectrum of sociability and very few of them are friendly with every single dog they meet. So yelling “Don’t worry he is friendly” has zero relevance. Your dog may be friendly but that doesn’t mean he will get along with every single dog he will meet in his life. There are essentially four types of dogs in terms of sociability. Sociability is not a fixed trait, it changes as they mature. Social maturity occurs around 12 – 36 months depending on the breed. Larger breeds develop later. Once a dog goes through social maturity you will have the dog that you’ll have for life barring any super negative experiences. On the other hand well managed social interactions can help improve dog’s sociability to a certain degree. Dog Social – this is where most puppies start but after social maturity only about 10% of dogs fall in to this category. They enjoy seeking out other dogs and are tolerant of poor or rude behaviour. A true dog social adult dog is quite rare. Dog Tolerant – These dogs, approximately 40% of all dogs, get along with most dogs. They have good communications skills and are fairly tolerant about poor or rude behaviour. They may be playful or neutral. They do require some supervision. This group of dog tends to do quite well on lead around other dogs. Dog Selective – This group of dogs is equally as common as Dog Tolerant so approximately 40% of all dogs. These dogs have a selection of approved dog friends. Disagreements tend to break out quite easily as these dogs may have a short fuse. Dog selective dogs will have a certain style of play and will get upset by types of play they don’t like – often get described as “fun police” or the “instigator” because they often set the rules for a play session. These dogs tend to not cope well being on lead around other dogs and require supervision and a lot of positive direction. Dog Aggressive – This is an extremely rare trait to see in puppies and is fairly uncommon in adult dogs at about 10% of dogs. This dogs have a very limited circle of friends or none at all. They have very poor social skills and can be quite reactive on lead. Dog aggressive dogs need a lot of supervision, support, and patience while relying on a lot of direction from their owners. I don't think these dogs are all necessarily aggressive by nature. However, anxious or fearful behaviour in a high stress situation may be shown as aggression as a mechanism of self protection. It is important to remember that sociability isn’t a fixed trait as dogs mature they become less social and tolerant just like us! This is just one factor on whether your dog will get on with others. Sociability will change depending on experience. It is easy for a dog to slip down from being Dog Social to Dog Aggressive with a few negative experiences but it is harder to get a down to move up the sociability scale to become more sociable. Now imagine that your dog is running toward a dog on a lead and you are yelling “It is ok he’s friendly!” The best case scenario is that the other dog is Dog Social but the likelihood that it is, is pretty slim. If it is Dog Selective that unwanted interaction could push the other dog to become Dog Aggressive in the future. The other dog could be Dog Aggressive and the owner is out walking their dog abiding by the law and controlling their dog, trying to make it clear that they don’t want any interaction with other dogs such as keeping their dog on lead, having a yellow ribbon or a give me space vest on their dog and you just let your dog run up to them. You are putting your dog at risk. You are letting your dog down. Regardless of where your dog falls on the dog sociability spectrum it is up to us to set them up for success. #dogsociability #yellowribbon #yellowribbondog #dogs #respectfordogs #controlyourdog #itsnotok #idontcareifheisfriendly #dogsdeservebetter |
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