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Training Tips for Fear and Reactivity on a Walk

- by MarkW2002 - 41 Comments.

Training Tips for Fear and Reactivity on a Walk – Do you have dog who can be fearful or reactive on a walk who reacts when you try to talk to other people while out and about? Even if it is just to say "Hello" or "Good morning?" If so I suggest you watch this video. This video explains how you can condition the way you talk to strangers or talk in an emergency to create a positive emotional response in your dog.
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41 Comments on “Training Tips for Fear and Reactivity on a Walk”

  4. Haha, these sorts of exercises are great, even though my neighbours probably already think I am insane. Usually with my sensitive border collie, I ask people if they can do me a favour and talk to me and I explain that he dislikes eye contact. Hovering and staring is very uncomfortable for him. At a distance it’s harder to explain this to them though and so in that case I’ve had to sometimes get up and leave (if I’m at an outdoor cafe for example). My eldest (very friendly) dog died in July and so my sensitive dog is getting more unwanted attention. I think I have to practice some responses as you have suggested here. I also I notice that if I am seated with my friend, her reactions also can trigger reactions from him. So she may have to be in on some new strategies as well. I notice that if her tone sounds nervous or bothered that will also escalate a reaction from my boy. Sensitive dogs can be tricky!

    1. Yes. Honestly the greeting has helped a lot with my youngest. Especially because when you say good morning first, usually they say good morning back, and then the dog is like “hey! They know the good morning game!”

    2. Dog Training by Kikopup  haha 🙂 Gotta love the sensitive dogs. They teach us so much. I think of my boy as an educator to the public that all dogs are not “friendly”. (Yes, he’s friendly to people when introduced correctly, but he doesn’t appreciate strangers touching him without invitation.) I’ve really learned through him how the general public really does not understand dog body language and that most children are not trained in dog safety. I’d like him to be calm and happy all the time, but sometimes that takes a bit of cooperation from others.

    3. The Dog Vlog My GSP mix is very anxious, especially with new people. If we are out, people seem offended if I tell them not to make direct eye contact with her. I explain that it makes her feel very nervous and has been known to bark at strangers for it but unless they are people who understand dogs well, they just seem uncomfortable and want to end the interaction.

    4. Alyssa Good  A lot of people have been cooperative with my boy – I’ll ask them to please do me a favour and talk to me and toss some treats. People seem more than willing to do that. I’ve only had 2 incidents where people (both men) wouldn’t listen to me. One reached right over my lap and I had to hold my dog by the muzzle because it was way over his fear threshold. It set him back a bit and he had a seizure the following day (he reacts to stress). The other time was a guy that stuck his German Shepherd (who was showing nervous posture) right in front of my dogs and asked if they could visit. I said no that my dog needed more space. He stomped off saying that dogs should be socialized. Yup, but not in a way that terrifies them. His lack of reading his own dog’s body language was a big cause for concern. But like I said, most people are happy to participate in small training games. The ones that aren’t, oh well, they miss a chance to learn something about dogs.

  5. I used to think only my dog needed these kinds of strategies. It is so encouraging to get these great tips along with the feeling my dog and I are not uniquely crazy!

    1. Lol. No, its a pretty common problem 🙂 And if the dog isnt fearful or reactive, they can get over excited by greetings so this game is actually great for dogs who are overly friendly 🙂

  6. Hi Kikopup! I’ve been doing clicker training with my dog for a little while now, but I’m having a problem. He’s anticipating the treat too much, sometimes leaving his position to get it or accidentally biting me. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong or how to fix it. He’s a black lab neutered male about 4-5 years old (he’s an adopted/rescue dog, so it’s kind of a guess). Could you help? Thanks for your time!

    1. Both of my border collies were too. It is handy even for dogs who react before you greet a stranger, because if you work on the greeting before you start talking to strangers, its almost like you are saying “good boy!” to your dog as you say “good morning” when your dog is ready for that step. I have a video on demand on working with fear and reactivity, on my website dogmantics.com also I have a section called “free videos” on my website that has other tutorials for dealing with reactivity.

    2. @Dog Training by Kikopup ooh, good point. I never thought of that. Can you switch between good morning and afternoon or should you only focus on one at a time at first?

      My dog is a border collie cattle dog mix and she seems to have so much anxiety. She wasn’t socialized properly as a puppy since she was a farm dog. 🙁 we are using positive reinforcement and prozac, but some days are still really hard. She is especially reactive to little kids so I try to visit parks a lot to get her exposure. She will jump, lunge and bark at people if they are closer than 10 feet and will not stop unless they or we leave.

    3. Honestly, Wish my youngest was terrified of dogs and people, sights, sounds and SMELLS, with an extremely anxious personality. I feel like anxiety magnifies everything. I kind of played it down online because I didnt want any “advice” from others. Now I can walk in the park and have people come and say hi to my other dogs and she is comfortable with that. Some people she will want to meet in a friendly way, others she wont want to go to them, but looks up at me to tell me she doesnt want to. With some dogs, trying to train them that stuff happening out and about is “normal” is too hard a step… They can be doing fine one day, then something unexpected happens and sets the dog back 50 steps in training. What I suggest with my clients and what I have done with my own really reactive fearful dog, is to focus on training set ups. Where for example, you have someone come and help you that can stay for over an hour… That way your dog can learn to relax around them, and you have control over the situation. Use common sense- have the dog in a secure equipment on a leash, and in a muzzle if necessary for everyones safety (this advice is for anyone reading this) but that the helper shouldnt get into the space where the dog can reach. I suggest not bringing your dog to watch kids. I suggest working first on teaching your dog to feel comfortable with the most normal of all adults- adults that are similar looking to you in their appearance. Then when your dog starts to feel comfortable around these new friends, they can start doing things that kids do that are so crazy. I would treat kids as the last step. With clients, after their dog has had set ups with 10 people, their dog usually starts making the connection that people aren’t threats. I have a protocol that I use you can find it here- https://dogmantics.com/protocol-for-emotional-and-behavioral-modification/

  11. You should make a video on dogs who are leash reactive, specifically to other dogs on leashes! I am a dog walker and I see leash reactive dogs all the time and would love to know the best way to handle it.

  12. hi! how about squirrels!?😓😥😰
    my dog-niece is a very rambunctious 84 lbs who’s barely starting to learn to pay attention(because her humans are finally learning how to help her do that), and her walks have become better, but when she spots a squirrel then that’s it,!!
    she gets laser focused and trying to hold back 84lbs of súper excited very strong four legged being is very hard to do…
    she’s very territorial at home, when out of home she’s ok with humans and she loves other dogs specially small dogs; i think some sort of maternal instinct kicks in when she sees small dogs..

  13. Don’t forget to show your love and give a THUMBS UP if you think the video deserves it 🙂 We appreciate it greatly as it helps the video to reach more people and their dogs.

    1. I also worked on the “angry voice” with my dogs being a cue to come and get treats. and it might have saved my little dogs life, the other night a coyote came out of the bushes in my yard from 20 feet away, and I yelled in an angry voice, all my dogs came to me and I walked them into the house and shut the door, then went and chased the coyote.

    2. Yessssss!!! another phantastic idea!!! I must admit, that quite often I lost patience with my dog, when he behaved so unmanageable 🙁 Maybe thats a way to make him forget about my angry voice being a threat to him. So I can try to undo the mistakes of the past.

  15. You are a genius! I have 5 month old puppy golden retriever and every time we go near another dog or another dog approaches him, at the dog park or on walks, he goes belly up. How can I help him with this? TY!

    2. @Dog Training by Kikopup Great!! I’ll try that for sure. And for people i don’t plan on saying
      Hi to, it’s a little harder I guess, since I just have to train the presence of a person to draw a check-in

    3. On a separate note, would you recommend a trainer in the bay area (silicon valley, CA) who adhere to similar principles, philosophies like you? I truly believe in your training method but it’s hard to find trainers who I can look to for help in specific areas that I could use help. Appreciate any pointers you may have.

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