A Predictable sequence of reactivity looks like this…
Dog sees a trigger – let’s say another dog. He moves forward, hits the end of the leash, and now he escalates rapidly; up on his toes barking and lunging. That causes the other dog to look and see what the fuss is about. The eye contact causes the reactive dog to work himself up into a froth at about which time the distressed owner is dragging their hysterical dog away, with or without verbal harassment and collar corrections, which is making things entirely worse and most certainly not better. And in terms of future reactions? The dog has practiced another round of problematic behavior which makes it more likely to occur next time.
Here is the question I want you to consider. Did the tight leash cause the overreaction or did the overreaction cause the dog to tighten the leash?
I would argue it’s both – those behaviors feed off each other and when you’re looking at a cyclical pattern, you want to break the cycle. Somewhere. Anywhere!
Clearly the trigger appeared. That got the dog’s attention. But in most cases, the vocalizing and complete loss of control occur when the dog is at the end of the leash facing the trigger. That is why I am focused on keeping a loose leash when a dog has a tendency to overreact in public – either from aggression or excitement or frustration or fear or much of anything else.
If I can keep the dog thinking about his body in relation to the leash then I have a much better chance of keeping his emotions from overrunning his brain. Remember that as soon as your dog is pulling on the end of the leash, opposition reflex will kick in and will skyrocket your dog’s problematic behavior, and the more hysterical your dog’s behavior becomes, the harder it is to stop the spiral.
In a perfect world the reactive behavior is not allowed to start because the handler sees the trigger well before the dog and makes decisions to avoid it. But in real life, that’s not how it goes.
So here’s my rule of managing and preventing reactivity:
Train your dog to walk on a loose leash and have a way to make that happen if the dog’s behavior threatens to tighten the leash. The dog must keep the leash loose. There are many ways to do that but that is the goal to hold and to help your clients understand. Keep the leash loose. Make that your focus over all other things. Dog on his toes looking ahead? Tell your client – don’t let the leash tighten and if it does, react immediately to get it loose again.
You can do that with greater distance (go the other way), cookies, prior training, equipment (front clip harness or head halters), verbal interaction, circling- whatever you find to be most valuable. But make that piece happen. A loose leash.
If you doubt this, watch a video of reactive dogs and notice how often the behavior escalates as soon as the dog feels tension on their collar. A lot! Prevent that tension from starting and a whole lot of reactivity dissolves.
When my dog tightens the leash we circle, and since circling is not punishing we circle at lots of other times too – it’s a familiar pattern. We circle when we see horses and squirrels and chickens and sheep and people and dogs and most anything. And you know what? It works. My dogs see something interesting, and while they might initially lunge forward, as soon as they feel the leash tension they remember their job and they stop pulling. They might stand and stare, which is fine IF the leash is loose. But they do not vocalize or lunge because those things are not compatible with a loose leash. And if they forget? Or are too excited to make a good choice? Then we circle as long as necessary, which prevents additional escalation and get them back into their head. And then I wait – when they are ready we can continue on. With a loose leash.
Try it and tell me how it goes for you.
I try my best to do this but what about the scenario: my dog on leash and an off-leash dog comes around the corner of the trail. I turn to walk away, but my dog is already in the cycle and the other dog’s person is nowhere so I have to drag my dog away while she is loosing her – you know.
Only walk on roads where there are straight site-lines? We are constantly practicing our circles, but they fly out the proverbial window in this situation. Thanks.
sadly, there is nothing you can do, except decide if you need to walk in a different place -depends on your dog. I do have good luck in areas with some busy streets – dogs are more likely to be on leash.
The Fenzi Method (circling) is working so well with our dogs. I’ve also noticed a marked reduction In reactivity. So nice to have walks, not grudge matches.
Thank you, Denise Fenzi!
Hey, that’s great to hear! If you find little additions or tips to make it work better, please let me know. I am actively working to improve the method to help as many dogs as possible.
I haven’t had a chance to get acquainted with your system but circling is a part of how I teach loose leash walking in puppy classes and it works like a charm.
that IS the system so I’m glad it’s working!
I have learned so much about managing my environmentally reactive dog through all the Fenzi courses I have taken, but the one problem I worry about is when we are searching in Nosework, out of nowhere, he sees a person move or get too close and he lunges and barks at the person. I redirect him and tell him “ find it” and he goes right back to searching. I have no idea what causes this reaction other than the surprised movement. It has only happened once, but judges don’t like it when dogs bark and lunge at them… should I be able to see this coming? Most of the time I don’t see what he sees. That situation is my only real concern, we participate a lot in Nosework trials and I would like not to have to worry about this happening. Like I said before the Fenzi courses have taught me how to handle him in all the other situations we are in, like Rally classes or walks. Is there some way I can anticipate this behavior or some way I can train for the prevention of it? I still Trial in Nosework, but I did take a year off because I was devastated by the experience. I look forward to trying the circling method of walking for the reasons you have mentioned…thanks for all you do Denise…I think you are just AWESOME! I would be just a lazy old lady if I hadn’t discovered you and your academy.
Have you taken the classes “Dealing with the bogeyman?” and also “Noise sensitivity” with Amy Cook? if you substitute the word “noise” for “unexpected movement” you can apply the same principles.
I use food to train my dog that the right response to the trigger is to come to me for a treat (and I say “here” to reinforce that. It has really started working with my current and most reactive dog. When she makes a good choice (see it and turn to me) she is rewarded. Then we can circle. change direction, or wait behind a parked car to block her view if available. Thanks for the tips.
So glad to see this !! My dog is 2 1/2 yrs old and has three issues – this reactive one and when people greet her with an open hand ( if their hand is face down, she sniffs it and all is fine ( open hand and quick movement she acts aggressive but doesn’t bite ). Also, she seems afraid of children – I take her to a children’s play area and sit on the ground with her; keeping her head in my control and let children pet her back – then she relaxes – but I don’t let her interact with the children because I don’t want her to scare them. Any suggestions ? She is an Awesome dog and does well as a Therapy Dog, Agility and Rally
In general I will not give advice over the Internet when the potential for aggression is involved unless I see what’s happening. I just feel that is too high risk, and what you are describing and what I am visualizing in my head may not be the same thing. I strongly suggest working with a trainer in person to get some ideas and have a plan in place.
When I give advice regarding reactivity online, I always assume there is no potential for the dog to get to the trigger. Anything beyond that is a completely different matter.
Is the circle method akin to doing pattern walking without the auto-correction of the collar?
I don’t know what pattern walking is so cannot address that but it is not a pattern – simply when the dog pulls you walk in a circle with the dog on the outside! If you are an FDSA alumni, there is a lot of information and video on the Facebook Alumni list if you’d like to see it in action.
Our pup reacted badly to another dog today and we were on a narrow path that has only one way out. How does circling work on a narrow path? Going the other direction is not an option because the road ahead on the other direction is blocked.
If the path is so narrow that the dogs can get to each other and interact, then nothing will work – in that case just get past as quickly as possible with a short, tight leash or cookies and keep your dog on the side of your body far from the other dog. Or pick your dog up if you can. Or block your dog and hold the collar/head if your dog is antagonizing the other dog and let them get by as peacefully as possible.
Circles are designed to train the LLW and to manage reactive triggers but they do assume an environment that will allow for the training. If you are forced to get closer and closer to the trigger just to finish the walk then you’re 100% in the territory of management until you’re out of that situation and able to create a workable training plan.
Do you think circling will help if the dog has already lunged? I’ve been dong circling when I can catch her in an alerting behavior and it has helped but sometimes she lunges in the middle of the circle. I’ve tended to pull and go the opposite direction at that point but maybe continuing to circle would work better. I guess I’ve answered my own question. I should try it. In general the circling is improving her behavior when on walks as well as counter-conditioning did. Another tool in my toolbox! Thanks for that.
I agree with your assessment. I find the circling to be extremely helpful in calming the dog down and helping them recognize that there’s actually nothing to get upset about.
The Dealing with the Bogeyman and Noise sensitivity courses ? how do I go about doing those online ? I am in England. Thanks
https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/13929
That link is to the noise sensitivity course. You’ll want to do some reading on this website to get you up to speed. After you look around for a while I think it will become more obvious how it works. It’s not an issue that you live in England.
I do circles with my 2 y/o MC malamute frequently for excitability (positive but ill-mannered) toward people on neighborhood walks. Things were going well until he started melting— he started to throw all his weight behind laying down in the middle of the sidewalk, often rolling on his back and just waiting until someone gets within jumping distance. It’s been a heck of a reinforce, and I haven’t had any success yet with food, toys/games, or upping my speed to keep him moving. Any thoughts? And thank you!
I would shorten up the leash and wait him out. Ask people to stay back so he cannot get to them. Then…wait. Eventually he’ll be ready to move on. I wouldn’t even bother with the toys, food, etc.
My dog is very good at LLW. I am feeding him a fantastic treat as soon as I know he sees the oncoming dog (ears perk up). I generally never let him escalate to the point of hitting the end of the leash since by then I would have done an emergency U-turn and just gotten out of there. I am interested in incorporating a circle after I treated him as a way to help him disengage and giving him something to do similar to turning away to sniff as a calming signal. Sometimes I feel my dog doesn’t know what to do when he sees another dog except to attack. I am hoping maybe that a circle used without hitting the end of the leash would be a good behavior he could do. Hoping this is doable.
I hope you are able to attend the reactivity webinars at the end of the month. You may get some new ideas to allow you to progress to passing the dog rather than leaving.
I live in Thailand and have a gorgeous rescued street dog. She is 18 months now but was a baby when we got her.
She is reactive to other dogs, but the problem here is that most dogs are unleashed and territorial street dogs. We have scoped out the areas with street dogs and avoid those, but sometimes they pop up out of nowhere.
Obviously the goal is to move out of there as quickly as possible, to leave the territory of that dog, and we do that with a short leash and treats. Would you recommend another way?
That’s a hard situation but it sounds like you are on the right track if you really think she’d be aggressive if she interacted. Best of luck to you.