Reactivity Is Not a Behaviour Problem (Why Training Isn’t Working)

About this episode

The episode discusses how reactivity in dogs is a brain and body issue rather than a behavior problem, emphasizing the importance of addressing the root causes of these behaviors.

If you’re trying to fix the barking, pulling and lunging whilst the barking, pulling and lunging is happening - you’re already too late. By the time your dog *does* the behaviour, their body has already fired off an entire chain reaction that you did not see. 📈 Heart rate up. 🫁 Breathing quickened. 💪 Muscles primed. ⚡ Stress chemicals dumped into the system. 🧠 Thinking brain already offline. So if you’re trying to stop the behaviour, you’re only reacting to your dog’s reaction (which means you are just as reactive as they are). Reactivity isn’t a behaviour problem. It’s a brain and body problem 📣📣📣 One more time: Reactivity isn’t a behaviour problem. It’s a brain and body problem. What you see on the OUTSIDE (the barking, the spinning, the pulling) is just the END result of everything that happened seconds earlier on the INSIDE. This is why cueing, commending or correcting will only ever be a sticking plaster, and you’ll plateau at your current level, no matter what you try. Stop addressing the end of the chain, and start at the beginning. Press play before you waste another walk trying to fix the symptom instead of the cause. 📈 Dog Walking Diagnostic - Discover Your…

People in this episode

Host: Katie Guastapaglia

Topics covered

• dog training
• reactivity
• behavior problems
• stress in dogs
• dog walking
• canine behavior

Keywords

• reactivity
• dog behavior
• training
• stress
• barking
• pulling
• lunging
• dog walking diagnostic
• canine stress response

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