How do you stop a reactive dog from reacting?
Renee Wunsch
2025-08-06 22:18:13
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Stopping a dog from lunging at people is all about making sure the dog feels comfortable and confident. If the dog’s handler manages the situation by helping the dog move away from things before it gets startled or fearful, it is essentially practicing not reacting to strangers. This is a version of something called BAT or Behavior Adjustment Training and its a great way to help a dog who lunges at people. Sniffing is a displacement behavior that can calm down many fearful or anxious dogs, so green space is important. Once your dog has learned to search for things hearing the “find it” cue, you can preemptively stop your dog from barking or lunging at people by tossing the treats away from whatever it is you know your dog’s going to react to. They key is to do this the instant your dog starts to feel anxious or uncomfortable. Before the lunge, dogs will usually give a number of indicators that they are uncomfortable; freezing, breathing heavily or holding their breath, staring with a closed mouth, going from an open mouth to a closed mouth, burying teeth, growling or trying to move away. If you spot a dog offering any of these indicators, immediately play the find it game or call them away from whatever it is they are looking at. If necessary, you can pull them away on the leash, but this should be your last resort. Tossing the treats on the ground is a great way to stop dog from acting aggressive to people because they often sniff for other things that they detect on the ground when they’re looking for the treat.
Anabelle Smith
2025-08-01 12:19:10
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We support the LIMA approach to dog training. We work hard on shifting focus. When I check the Internet on how to handle a reactive dog when it reacts, all the articles talk about the work that you have to do that the dog doesn’t react. I need to handle the situation better when it happens.
Major Bechtelar
2025-07-22 21:49:12
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Dogs can be reactive to a range of triggers and it’s important to recognise which ones your dog is particularly reactive to. Recognising your dog’s threshold around the specific trigger is important, threshold means the distance at which your dog can remain non-reactive away from the trigger. You can work out your dog’s threshold by monitoring their behaviour. As your dog starts to approach their threshold, you may start to notice more of these subtle behaviours before they begin to react. Recognising these signs will help you to manage your dog and move them away from the trigger before they start reacting. Once you can recognise your dog’s triggers and their threshold levels, you can begin to limit their exposure to the triggers. This will stop them from practicing the behaviour and help with training. You can avoid triggers by choosing alternative walking routes or times of the day you take your dog out. To help keep your dog calm and manage their reactivity, consider teaching them a ‘this way’ cue, this will help by giving your dog a call out cue that will essentially remove them from the area around the trigger.
Gloria Stamm
2025-07-13 12:39:33
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They don’t approach head-on and make hard eye contact unless a fight is about to start. Their forced body language, and our own, tell our dogs that we want to fight with one another. Most dogs don’t want to fight, so they display a number of behaviors designed to prevent it. These distance-increasing behaviors includes barking, lunging, or growling — anything to make the threat go away. A tight leash tells your dog you're stressed, making your pup more stressed in return. As a result, both dogs may start barking, switching from their flight instinct, to fight. Adult dogs, while patient with puppy antics, will usually start to discipline puppies once they reach 5-6 months. The discipline isn’t violent and usually takes the form of a bark or growl.
Norma Kassulke
2025-07-13 11:32:38
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: 17
If your dog feels fearful or anxious around other dogs or people, they may try to hide or get away from them.
If you encounter a trigger, calmly move your dog away, avoiding adding extra tension to the lead.
Try luring them away with a tasty treat or favourite toy to play with.
Reward calm behaviour.
Practice focus training to help them pay attention to you.
Learn to recognise your dog's body language, this will help you understand when they're feeling worried or frustrated.
Consistently use reward-based training methods and keep them on a lead when needed.
Choose quiet places and times for walks, when possible, to avoid triggers while you’re working on changing their emotions.
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