How to fix frustration reactivity in dogs?
Oscar Hammes
2025-07-22 05:11:13
Count answers
: 13
The methods that have received the best results for managing frustration based reactivity involve teaching the dog to turn and look away from their trigger before reaching/approaching their threshold. You are giving them access to something else rather than the approaching dog. The best way to do this is to reinforcing calm/wanted behavior with play or treats. For Odin, I alternate between playing tug and treats. Showing them that you can be more fun or cooler than the dog across the street can help them to be less frustrated when seeing another dog. They will think that even though they do not get to go see the other dog, they still get to play with you. But this needs to be done before your dog reaches threshold. Overtime, you should be able to decrease the distance between your dog and the trigger.
Set-Ups are very important for frustration based reactive dogs. Treating and managing reactivity goes much faster if you can arrange a set up with your dog. You can increase and decrease the distance between the dogs at will. Learning an emergency U-Turn is also helpful for both frustration and fear based reactivity. You want to use this when you un-expectantly run into another dog. The key to a successful U-Turn is to do a quick pivot and keep you composure stress free.
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