All reactivity is tied to your dog’s high energy, excitement, and triggering level.
Why Call It “Reactivity?”
An immediate improvement to calling your dog’s behavior “reactivity” is simply to start describing the individual physical behaviors. The reason why this works has to do with the way dogs communicate.
“What Dogs Do” Is What They Say
We don’t think about it like this, but since a dog doesn’t have words, they communicate (“Talk?”) through their behaviors. Fortunately, that makes sense. A dog that’s had its tail caught by the screen door will avoid the screen door. The dog that notices its owner-leader walking through the garage entry door will sit by the door when the garage door opener sounds. Most dogs that hear the letter carrier at the front door will start barking at the front door.
When “Reactivity” Is Used to Replace the Dog’s Behavior
When an owner says, “My dog is reactive around the front door when mail is being delivered” they never acknowledge the physical behavior their dog did: they woke up, they barked, they ran to the door. Waking up is a behavior. Running to the door is a behavior. Barking is a behavior. “Reactive” or “reactivity” is not a behavior, and that’s the problem.
Crossing the Line from Behavior into “Reactivity” Is a Disconnect
Until I point it out to anyone, most owners don’t notice the importance in the line they’re crossing. It’s something that remains unconscious until it gets pointed out. “You can’t un-know it” becomes the standard phrasing. Once an owner has become aware of the importance of calling their dog’s behavior their behavior, it makes sense. “Making sense” is the owner’s connection to Nature, and that’s the thing that starts the process of being better connected to their dog, and their dog more easily submitting to them.
What to Do When Your Dog Is Displaying “Reactivity”
Start explaining exactly what their behavior is. Once you begin identifying their bad behaviors — the one’s that are making you label them as “reactivity” — the sooner you’ll be on the way to addressing the bad behaviors. If you leave the behaviors hidden behind a cloak that makes you call it “reactivity,” you’ll always be at a loss in identifying what it is that needs to be changed.
It’s hard to grasp. It’s elusive. But once you get it, you’ll never forget it.
Here’s a Big Hint — Talk about It
Don’t read about it, TALK WITH OTHERS ABOUT REACTIVITY. It’s another hidden component of dog ownership. It’s a phenomenon that — until you experience it — you won’t understanding it. But once you begin to learn the importance of talking through its understanding, you’ll never forget it. Reactivity points to the things that need addressing — it is not a thing itself to be fixed.