How To Stop Leash Reactivity In Dogs
Leash reactivity (a.k.a dogs overreacting towards triggers while on leash) is one of the top 3 behavioral issues we get contacted for.
In fact, our own dog, Zippo, has struggled with his emotional responses towards other dogs as well. This has allowed us to live the “leash reactive pet parent life” and learn so much from it.
The strategies that we will share in this article include our combined experience training with countless leash reactive dogs and living with a leash reactive dog of our own.
We are happy to report that Zippo is doing soooo much better now. In fact, he is our helper dog for leash reactive cases!
So, if you are ready to help your dog overcome their leash reactivity, let’s dive in!
What Is Leash Reactivity?
Leash reactivity consists of fairly common behaviors in dogs where they display overt signs of fear, frustration or excitement towards other dogs or people while on a leash. These behaviors can manifest as barking, lunging, growling, or even snapping at other dogs or people who are in their vicinity.
What does leash reactive mean?
Simply put, your dog may display leash reactive behaviors because they are either:
Feeling fearful of, or anxious about, a trigger in the environment
Feeling excited about, or frustrated by, a trigger in the environment
What causes leash reactivity in dogs?
Leash reactivity can be caused by a variety of factors, including fear, lack of socialization, or past negative experiences. It is primarily exacerbated by 2 key factors: the desire to increase distance from the trigger or the desire to decrease distance from the tigger.
Increase Distance from the Trigger
Your dog is fearful of interacting with another dog, for example, and their reactive behaviors are meant to signal their anxiety around the fact that the leash is preventing them from running away from the other dog. Also, they may have learned that barking, lunging and growling is a sure way to keep the “scary thing” away.
In short, they want to get away (increase distance) from the other dog (trigger), but can't, and they act out accordingly.
Decrease Distance to the Trigger
Your dog is super excited to interact with another dog, for example, and their reactive behaviors are meant to signal their frustration around the fact that the leash is preventing them from interacting with the other dog.
In short, they want to get closer (decrease distance) to the other dog (trigger), but can't, and they act out accordingly.
In both of these instances, it’s difficult, at first, to determine whether your dog is trying to increase or decrease distance to their trigger, largely because the most common leash-reactive behaviors that you’ve probably experienced with your dog, such as pulling, whining, growling, barking, lunging, can look and sound the exact same.
Can you fix leash reactivity?
The good news is yes, we can help the dog overcome these big feelings by desensitizing them to their triggers and replacing the undesirable behaviors with new, more desirable ones.
This takes patience and consistent training though. Here is a simply step-by-step plan to help your dog overcome their leash reactivity:
Step 1: Learn to read your leash reactive dog’s body language
Focusing on understanding your dog’s body language is the first step in reducing leash-reactive behaviors and preventing them from happening in the first place. And the best way to do that is by being able to quickly identify the subtle body language cues that most commonly predict a leash-reactive behavior.
Just like us, a dog's external body language can give us insight into what they are feeling internally and being able to quickly identify more subtle body cues can help in your leash reactivity training.
Here are some cues to be on the lookout for:
Signals that indicate fear/anxiety:
Ears pulled back
Mouth is closed
Can see the whites of the eyes
Curved body
Paw lift
Vocalizing
Body weight is back
Tension in the face
Tension in the body
Tail is low
Not responding to basic manners
Signals that indicate excitement/frustration:
Pulling towards the trigger
Staring
Hair on the back is up
Heavy breathing/panting
Stiff, still, frozen
Ready to pounce forward
Whining/barking
Not responding to basic manners
Taking treats hard
Step 2: Teach your dog alternative skills
Whenever you are training your dog, it is helpful to ask yourself: “If I don’t want him to do X, what would I like him to do instead?” Then, start teaching your dog those skills. Some of the most common ones we use in training are:
Walk with attention on you
Sit and Stay
Come, Touch, Place, etc
Step 3: Learning management skills for leash reactivity
Learning some basic management skills is key to preventing your dog from rehearsing the undesirable behaviors. These are essentially skills to help break your dog’s focus on the trigger so they start to listen to you. Three of our favorite include:
Emergency U-Turns
“Find It” Sniffing Game
Sit in Front of the Handler As a Trigger Walks By
Learn more about these skills, how to perform them, and some really helpful and valuable pro tips in our free 5-day leash reactivity course.
Step 4: Desensitization & Counterconditioning + alternative skills
These are also very important steps in “fixing” your dog’s leash reactivity.
Essentially you want to expose your dog to the trigger (at a Distance, Duration and Intensity they can perceive, without having a strong emotional response) while simultaneously rewarding them for noticing the trigger (looking at the trigger = a reward in this exact order), and for performing those new desirable behaviors around the trigger and eventually, decreasing the distance to the trigger.
It is the critical last stage of your training to ensure long term success but this is also a methodical process that requires patience and the right skills and approach.
A comprehensive digital course on leash reactivity
The above steps are a great place to start with your training plan, but if you’re looking for a more detailed training plan, our “Leash Reactivity Resolved” will help you learn how to manage and train your leash reactive dog with video lessons that you can take any time from the convenience of your own home.
Topics we’ll cover:
Understanding reactivity in dogs
Learning about and understanding your dog’s body language
Key terms and concepts
Dog training equipment specifically for leash reactivity training
The science of positive reinforcement dog training
Management strategies and alternative behaviors
Video tutorials for the emergency u-turn, treat scatter, sit in front, and attention to handler behaviors
Desensitization and counterconditioning trainings including “look at that” game, walk with attention, parallel walking, walking by another dog, and redirecting a reactive dog using touch or come
Reflection time to help you create your own ongoing training plan
You can find the course and watch the first few lessons for free HERE.
With proper training and management, your dog can learn to overcome leash reactivity and become well-adjusted and well-behaved members of your family and community.
Happy training!