Understanding and Addressing Reactivity

Let's go through the basic framework to be sure you understand reactivity and the Nordic Way of handling reactive behaviors. 

Step One: Consider the Root Causes of the Reactivity

Emotional Triggers: Fear, Stress, Frustration

• Some dogs are nervous and very afraid of whatever trigger they are reacting to--common triggers include other dogs, unknown humans, cars, bikes, children, loud noises, dogs behind fences, etc

• If your dog is already experiencing a lot of daily stress then the added stress from a trigger can easily push them into a reaction. This is often referred to as "trigger stacking."

• ✅ What to do: Consider if your dog has had early experiences that may have contributed to fear of their trigger. Identify their triggers and brainstorm ways to possibly reduce your dog’s overall stress load. Watch our Helping Dogs with Fear and Anxiety Lesson to understand how to support a fearful or anxious dog. Watch our Home Environment Lesson to revisit the basics of how your dog's home environment can affect their emotional well-being and day to day stress. Watch The Power of Choice Lesson to help you evaluate how often you are offering your dog meaningful choices in their day to day lives. 

Physical Pain or Discomfort

• A lot of the "problem behaviors" we see are due to underlying pain and discomfort. When a dog is already uncomfortable at a baseline, they are highly sensitized to the world around them and can have what seem to be outsized reactions to triggers

• There is a lot of research backing this: here is just one study that showed strong correlations between chronic pain and increased fear frequency, slowed recovery from stress, and behavioral withdrawal—all hallmarks of heightened reactivity

• ✅ What to do: Rule out pain or physical conditions before proceeding with training. Consider a vet check or professional gait analysis for chronic or subtle issues. And make sure to check out Monica Allaire-McMahon's Masterclass on Identifying Pain & Discomfort. 

Hormonal or Developmental Factors

• Young dogs have a higher level of testosterone which is not all that conducive to learning! Please be patient if you have a younger dog whose brain and body is still very much in the developmental phase

• ✅ Your goal will be to: Adjust expectations for adolescent dogs and learn what they are experiencing internally. Focus on safety, structure, and patience during this stage. If your dog is between 4 months and 22 months of age, watch our lesson on Adolescent Dogs to get more clarity.

Learned Behavior and Reinforcement History

• If your dog is reacting regularly, he's essentially becoming an expert at it. Each time he reacts and the trigger moves away, he’s learning, “This works!” and that his barking, lunging, or growling has made the thing disappear. Over time, this builds a strong reinforcement loop and the more he practices it, the more automatic it becomes. Remember, what gets rehearsed gets repeated!

  ✅ Your goal will be to: Prevent and interrupt the cycle before the reaction happens as much as possible. Try not to allow the behavior to “work” again and again.

Bad Early Experiences

• If your dog has been attacked by another dog, spooked by a strange person, scared by a loud truck, etc... that is going to reflect in their behavior. We see this especially for events that have happened during sensitive developmental phases in a dog's life.

•  ✅ Your goal will be to: Work on rebuilding positive associations through gentle, controlled exposures at a safe distance.

Suggested Nordic Dog Content 👇

These are some of the other lessons we mentioned above that might be helpful for you to review!

Step Two: Rethink Walks

•  Ask yourself this: Is the walk enriching for my dog or is it just triggering stress? If most of your walks are stressful, they are only going to set you and your dog back.
• ✅ Remember: You and your dog should feel fulfilled and calm coming home from a walk--not the opposite!

Every Dog Deserves Their Perfect Balance

•  Don’t be afraid to rethink walks! Every dog is unique, and it’s important to adjust walks to your dog’s individual needs. Make sure your dog gets the right balance of physical exercise and mental stimulation, tailored to them. If your dog struggles with high stress or anxiety, be mindful and avoid walks that might be overwhelming.

• Similarly, if you have a dog who is having reactions indoors, see if you can get creative about removing (or limiting) their exposure to the trigger. Some possible ideas are: using privacy film on windows where a dog is visually seeing something that triggers them, using a white noise machine or box fan to drown out a noise that triggers them, or rearranging furniture to create more distance between your dog and an entryway or window where triggering activity tends to occur.

• ✅ Try: Some reactive dogs may benefit more from sniffing games, food puzzles, or backyard exploration than from an overstimulating neighborhood walk. Explore enrichment activities tailored to your dog's specific needs. You'll find a whole section on Enrichment in our Turid Rugaas Webinars section and you can also review Anne Lill's Webinar on Nosework!

Choose Environments Wisely

• Urban environments can pose huge challenges for reactive dogs. It can be hard to find a peaceful place to walk if your neighborhood is filled with other dogs, other humans, loud noises, etc etc. As long as your dog tolerates car rides well, don't be afraid to go scouting for better walking locations!

• As Lisbeth says, "You don’t have to move out of the city. You just need to adjust training to your reality."

• ✅ Try: Driving to a peaceful, low-traffic space like:

  • Cemeteries (please be respectful!)

  • Parking lots (great for visibility!)

  • Office parks/Industrial areas (weekends or evenings if your dog is human-sensitive, but you aren't likely to encounter other dogs here!)

  • Parks/sports fields during off-peak hours

Step Three: Setting up for Success on Walks

As Always, Avoid Punishment

• Remember: Punishment will not help. You cannot punish a feeling, so this will have absolutely no effect on your dog's reactivity and will only damage your relationship and your dog's trust in you as their guardian. 

• ✅ Always: Use kindness and consistency. Teach your dog that you can be trusted to keep them safe and they can always come to you for help with big feelings. 

Use Distance to Keep Your Dog Calm

• Keeping distance between your dog and their trigger is a great way to keep them calm. Think of it this way: A huge spider would be very scary up close and you would probably immediately run away (maybe screaming), but if you saw one at a great distance or on your TV then you could still manage your emotions a little better. 

• ✅ Try: If your dog is beginning to focus or stiffen—that’s your cue to act. Curve away, cross the street, or just head home. Help your dog to understand that you will notice when something is too much for them to handle, and you will keep them safe by increasing distance until they are feeling safe and regulated again. 

Use Curving to Promote Natural Behaviors

• Dogs do not naturally walk straight towards other dogs... They know that’s impolite. You can use curving to show your dog (and other dogs) that you know how to approach dogs in a polite way while keeping distance.

• It's very possible that your dog missed the memo on curving (very common if a dog is removed from its litter young or just doesn't have much dog socialization history). In this case, it will be a learning curve 😉 for both of you!

• ✅ Try: Curving! Give leash length and support your dog in choosing a natural arc rather than forcing head-on approaches. Here's a practical example of Curving.

Teach the Attention Sound

• You don't want to approach a trigger when your dog isn't ready or it's too close, so teaching an attention sound is perfect because that way you can get their attention and help them begin to create distance so you can show them what's coming next and lead into a curve.

• Remember: The Attention Sound does not, under any circumstances, mean that your dog has to look you in the eyes! Eye contact is also not very naturally occurring in the dog world and can feel strange to your dog.

• ✅ Try: Teaching a neutral sound that prompts your dog to orient toward you so you can change direction or increase distance. Watch this video to see an example of the Attention Sound!

Pass Other Dogs as Calmly as Possible

• If your dog reacts to other dogs on walks, review our practical examples on how to pass other dogs calmly! This will be the eventuality you are working towards. 

Always be Looking for an Exit

• As you walk with a reactive dog, always be looking for an exit in case a trigger is approaching too closely and you need to increase distance to avoid a reaction. Sometimes that will be turning around, using someone's garage, hiding behind a car, or something else creative!

• You can also move away and try throwing some tiny treats around you to distract your dog, so they are sniffing for treats instead of focusing too much on the trigger

Act Quickly to Set Your Dog Up for Success

• As Lisbeth always says, “If you wait and wait, the reaction will happen. And like I said, then you can't do anything and there's no training in it.” Remember that once your dog is reacting there is nothing you can do except stand still quietly and wait for it to pass. 

• ✅ Remember: Prevent what you can prevent and act quickly to remove your dog from situations where they cannot be successful!

This is a good lesson to watch if you'd like to get Lisbeth's perspective on leash walking and cultivating a good walk!

Step Four: Changing Your Dog’s Associations

Keep Your Dog Calm to Promote Learning

• As mentioned previously, when your dog is already reacting, that is not an opportunity to teach them anything. A dog who is barking, lunging, or freezing is in survival mode and cannot learn anyway, so just keep them safe and get them outta there.

• ✅ Remember: If your dog is calm, engaging with the environment appropriately, and able to notice things at a distance without losing connection with you--that’s a good sign they’re ready to start learning.

Use Positive Associations

• We want to turn seeing a trigger into something that is nice for the dog. That doesn’t always mean using treats! Many dogs respond well to verbal praise--telling your dog he's a good dog in a calm, encouraging tone can be very effective. If you do use treats, just use a small amount. In some cases, treats can actually interfere with the learning process. So once your dog understands the attention sound, we strongly recommend phasing out the treats to avoid becoming dependent on them.

• ✅ Try: Praising your dog for calmly observing triggers. When your dog sees a trigger from a safe distance, let them look at it for a second or two , do not say anything, so as not to interfere with your dog’s observation and learning, then calmly move away (you can use the attention sound). You can calmly say ‘good boy/girl’ after having moved away, only if there has been no reaction, to avoid rewarding and reinforcing the unwanted behavior.

Use Splitting to Reduce Social Pressure

• If a situation starts to feel tense—whether around other dogs, people, or unexpected triggers—you can use splitting to de-escalate and support your dog.
   
• ✅ Try: Calmly stepping between your dog and the trigger using your body as a soft, visual barrier. Turn your side toward your dog (not your front), and move slowly and casually. You can also use the hand signal to show them that you are in control of the situation. Splitting helps relieve social pressure and shows your dog you’re helping them navigate the situation.

Parallel Walking with Known Calm Dogs

• If your dog is reactive to other dogs, then parallel walks are something you can work up to and will help change your dog's association with seeing other dogs. Learn more about Parallel Walks here. 

• ✅ Remember: This should help dogs practice calm behavior while being near others—without pressure to interact. If it becomes stressful then pause this too!

Step Five: Don't Stress about Setbacks!

No dog is perfect, no human is perfect--setbacks are always going to happen.

Revisit some of the basics if you need to, but trust yourself and keep going!

And as always, feel free to post in our Ask a Dog Professional forum if you'd like help in your journey or clarification on any of these steps. Remember to let them know what you've already watched, what you're working on, and exactly where you and your dog are stuck so you can get the best advice possible. 💛