# Dog Reactivity: Always Negative or Sometimes Appropriate?



## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

I think a dog that lifts its lip, growls, (and maybe 'air snaps') and warns another dog that it is in her 'space' is very appropriate! It's the dog that gives no warning signals that you need to be wary of, and that doesn't sound like Mia at all! I'm with your currant trainers!!!
If Mia also 'reads' other dogs in an appropriate manner too, that counts!


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

A lot of the "reactive" behavior I see is just boundary-setting between dogs, like you described with Mia. When I think of a reactive dog, I think of a dog who freaks out at all other dogs no matter what, not one who makes noise when their boundaries are crossed. How severe or unreasonable those boundaries are is something to look at, though.

With Mia, I'd say how you view her behavior depends on what you want to be able to do. If you want to be able to throw Mia into any mixed group of dogs without much fear of trouble (like if you plan to use group daycare a lot or board her with people who aren't dog trainers), then you'll want to really work on getting her to have looser boundaries. Or if you're in a community where Mia's likely to get approached head-on a lot and you'd rather she'd just learn to deal with it. If you're OK with screening her choice of dog buddies and prepping other owners before allowing a greeting, then she's fine as-is. 

It sounds to me like she has a good sense of her boundaries and knows exactly how much to enforce them, so if you decide her boundaries are acceptable then your only concern would be making sure she doesn't play with dogs who aren't good at handling corrections. Some dogs will react to a dog correction with a lot of reactivity or aggression, and you don't want her to spend time with those dogs and get into a dicey situation. That's where the fear around letting her greet unknown dogs comes in, IMO. For dogs with strong boundaries and clear corrections, meeting the wrong dog can sometimes be explosive.

I always think it's good to have some information you can let other owners know before letting two dogs meet, at any rate. For Archie, I'll tell people, "He's pretty enthusiastic and he can be too much for shy dogs." So if they have a shy dog, that gives them an opening to discourage the greeting without a lot of awkwardness. Maybe with Mia it's just a matter of understanding what kinds of dogs she does and doesn't mix with, so you can do a quick screen before letting her loose to play.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Good point about 'boundaries' lisagirl! I've always liked my dogs to have a large amount of tolerance and to be pretty bomb proof! LOL!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I think Mia's behavior sounds socially appropriate and that as long as she responds appropriately to disengagement by the other dog that is just fine. Lily does exactly the same. If another dog ignores her calming signals she gives a reactive lifted lip, growl/snarl and air snaps if needed. 

As lisasgirl noted I guess you do need to really think about what your expectations are in terms of what you want to work on, but unless you expect her to spend her days in a room full of ill mannered dogs I wouldn't be too bothered about this.

And when I meet people who don't have good dog handling knowledge who want to let their dogs approach too closely or quickly I tell them the dog is working and cannot greet.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

My pack have always given warnings, kept each other in check all day long, and I find it normal and appropriate.
I am sure that if an experienced dog trainer judges that her behavior is appropriate it is.
I have had an interesting time watching Teaka and Timi teach Trulee the rules of appropriate dog behavior this past week, and yes there was plenty of growling snapping, and pushing down involved in the initial stages, but it is becoming less and less frequent as she learns the rules.


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

That sounds like fairly normal dog reaction to me. I gather your concern is maybe over a seeming ferocity of her 'correction'. And that can be an issue.

At our park these loud blurs of a scuffle are mostly over before any owners get to the dogs. But with our normal group there, nobody really fusses over them. We time-out one or both of the dogs and carry on... wiser now. That dog and that dog maybe don't get on. So lets keep an eye on them. 

The only thing you can do is to alert other owners to a possible reaction from Mia. You'll find them... there are a lot of owners who know that dogs will react, and deal with it calmly. 

And I would say that the only place where she will learn to deal with her reaction to other dogs will be with other dogs. So isolating her would be the worst thing you could do with her, IMO.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

All of what you're describing is pretty typical for dogs who are reactive. Fine around other dogs unless they seem "out of control" and/or approach head on and ignore the distance increasing signals being offered by the reactive dog. 

I think it's not so much a matter of it being negative/bad vs appropriate as it being a clear sign to you that certain things make Mia uncomfortable. Rather than worrying about it being "bad", I would focus on teaching Mia more appropriate behaviors (sniff the ground, pick something up, etc.) in place of the reactivity (overreacting by barking, lunging, snarling). I would also work on desensitizing her to the presence of other dogs so that you might be able to change her emotions as well as her behavior.

You do want to avoid putting her in situations where she is over threshold and practicing reactive behaviors. Learn which methods of management work best for her. IE - take her out around other dogs, but watch for any signs of her becoming overaroused and immediately increase the distance between her and the trigger until she is no longer approaching or over threshold. Reward her for looking at a trigger and then disengaging.


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## Poodlemanic (Jun 27, 2016)

Our two standard poodles are totally non-aggressive and non-reactive, but we did have a Blue Heeler who was, like many in her breed, a bit reactive. Our vet actually told me she was a "bad" dog and I'd regret owning her. However, we are a very social family and had that dog with our family everywhere we went, as Countryboy advised, exposing her to all kinds of situations. She lived a long, happy life and never bit anyone or any other dogs. I believe it was due to her being exposed to so many new situations, other people and dogs. So I'd take the first trainer's advice with a grain of salt. There are many different trainers, with all kinds of different viewpoints, but you can set Mia up for success by working with her a lot...but I would make sure you always choose very stable calm dogs for her to be around until she's reliable.


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## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

Sounds like a dog who doesn't like dealing with fools. 

One of my favorite articles about dog reactivity vs a normal reaction is this:
"He Just Wants to Say 'Hi'" | Relationship Centered Dog Training by Suzanne Clothier

Snip:

"Sitting quietly on the mall bench beside my husband, I was minding my own business when the man approached. I glanced up as the man sat next to me. He was a bit close for my comfort, so I edged a little closer to my husband who, busy reading a book, ignored me. Still feeling a bit uncomfortable with the strange man so close, I then turned my head slightly away from him, politely indicating I was not interested in any interaction. To my horror, the man leaned over me and began licking my neck while rudely groping me.

When I screamed and pushed him away, my trouble really began. My husband angrily threw me to the ground, yelling at me "Why did you do that? He was only trying to be friendly and say hi! What a touchy bitch you are! You're going to have to learn to behave better in public."

People all around us stared and shook their heads sadly. I heard a few murmuring that they thought my husband should do something about my behavior; some even mentioned that he shouldn't have such a violent woman out in public until I'd been trained better. As my husband dragged me to the car, I noticed that the man who had groped me had gone a bit further down the mall and was doing the same thing to other women.

This is a silly scenario, isn't it? First, anyone who knows me knows that I would never be in a mall except under considerable duress. More seriously, no rational human being would consider my response to the man's rudeness as inappropriate or vicious. By invading my personal space, the man crossed the lines of decent, civilized behavior; my response would be considered quite justified.

That my husband might punish me for responding to such rudeness by screaming and pushing the offender away is perhaps the most ridiculous aspect of this scenario. If he were to act in this way, there would be no doubt in the minds of even the most casual observers that his ego was of far greater importance than my safety or comfort, and that he was sorely lacking even rudimentary empathy for how I might be feeling in this situation.

Fortunately for me, this scenario is completely imaginary. Unfortunately for many dogs, it is a very real scenario that is repeated far too often. Inevitably, as the owners who have allowed their dogs to act rudely retreat from the situation, there are comments made about "that aggressive dog" (meaning the dog whose space had been invaded) and the classic comment, usually said in hurt tones, "He only wanted to say hi!"

End snip.
This wonderful article goes on from there and makes perfect sense. If a rude dog gets in your dog's personal space and is acting like a jerk, then it's normal behavior.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Sounds like normal dog behaviour to me too, but I suspect that more and more we expect dogs to behave like angels, rather than normal dogs. Just as we have had to adapt our own behaviour now that more and more we live in crowded environments, so we need to help our dogs deal gracefully with the inevitable canine fools and idiots that they meet. I would accept that she does not want rude dogs anywhere too near, and step in to avoid it turning into a full blown snarlfest, or escalating to embrace all dogs just in case they may be rude. I would step between Mia and any approaching dog that she shows the smallest sign of reacting too, face the oncoming dog and if necessary body block it. If possible, I would move her away before it comes close, calmly praising her for being so sensible. If it is necessary to pass, take as wide a curve as possible, keeping between her and the other dog. I would avoid situations where she is off leash with a lot of strange dogs, at least until she has learned that the safest place when in doubt is behind Mum! She is quite right to tell obnoxious dogs to keep out of her space, but I found when walking my neighbour's terrier that being pushed to respond in this way left her jangled and stressed for the rest of the walk, and much more likely to react harder and faster next time. Best to avoid the situation, and set up as many happy meetings as possible to counteract the bad ones.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

fjm you make a very good point about the crowded world becoming a place where it is harder to maintain personal or canine space. I also agree that it is unrealistic and frankly rather ridiculous to expect all dogs to like all other dogs. We don't expect ourselves to like all of the people we meet, why should we set a different standard in this area for our dogs. We certainly should do what we can to make sure that we don't subject them to reactive circumstances needlessly and that we help them learn effective coping mechanisms, but expect them to love everyone and everything, I think not.


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