Fear & Reactivity

Fear, reactivity and aggression go hand-in-hand. If your dog is afraid of something, they typiclly react either by showing what we think of as fear (ie: cowering, shaking, moving away from the scary thing) or they will react to it by putting up a scary display of their own in attempt to make the scary thing move away from them. This is what we think of when we discuss reactivity.

Dogs can react to a whole host of triggers, in many environments or in very specific contexts. Our job is to help the dog become more comfortable and confident in those specific situations and around their triggers. There are different techniques and approaches to accomplish that depending on your dog’s current level of rear/reacticity, your own lifestyle and your goals.

If your dog is worried about other dogs and/or people out on walks, we can develop a training plan that includes building  foundation skills. Then we move on to the Behavior Modification process where we begin working around your dog’s specific triggers. This is a very systematic process of working at a distance and gradually moving closer while continuing to build the new desired response. This process may take many months of daily practice, patience and consistentcy.

If your dog has general fear of new people, dogs and environments, Nose Work may be a good option for them to build thier over all confidence while giving the a fun outlet for sniffing and mental exercise.

You can see our full Program Overview for more details!

You have likely found this page because you have a fearful, reactive or aggressive dog. We can help! Please fill our our form on this page to have someone call you to discuss things with you.