So to help reactive dogs we want to get really good at Classical Conditioning and Desensitizing.

In the Sound Sensitivity workshop we talked a lot about desensitizing. And when dealing with visual reactive triggers we want to employ some of these principles to our Classical Conditioning, with the main difference being timing. With desensitizing we are bringing triggers in at a very low level, which generally with visual triggers translates to a LOT of distance. So the trigger is far enough away the dog notices but is not heightened. Then when we see our dog notice the trigger we start giving reinforcement to pair the trigger at a big distance away with the presence of rewards.

The number one mistake people make in reactivity training is beginning their training much too close to the triggers. So the dog starts already heightened and you then spend the entire session just trying to keep them from blowing up. Early reactivity work should feel easy, or you are probably way too close. You should like with our Sound Sensitivity, not even be sure if they notice the trigger. We start there, and then we gradually move closer systematically and slowly.

I get it, the reality is that it is incredibly difficult to find the proper training locations to find those perfect distances, and it can feel like it is taking forever and you are getting no where as you work tediously on conditioning and desensitizing. But this is the boring work it takes to fix reactivity. Because we are trying to change that baseline feeling of being around triggers. And we want to be creating something new in it’s place.

A typical reactivity training session for me looks like a regular training session, I am just doing them where we see dogs at a distance. You don’t see fancy flashy edgy training videos on my socials, because I am never close enough to bring out those explosive reactions until my dog is ready to be close and be calm. So I grab all my reinforcements, I take my dog and I drive to the best training locations, I set up nice and far away, and I start training the basics (sits, downs, stays, recalls, leave it’s, etc) all on leash in my typical fin engaged way. Then when a trigger comes into view, I let my dog see it, the moment they see it, I mark and reward, and I keep rewarding them for watching it quietly. Then when the trigger leaves we go back to training. I know I am ready to move a little closer when my dog sees the trigger and after the first reinforcement I give, they don’t look back at the dog and stay engaged with me. (note the training I am doing is engaged and fun so ideally it quickly becomes more interesting then a trigger at that big distance).

During my reactivity training session I will give the dog sniff breaks, I will sometimes scatter some treats for them to find after watching a trigger, so they can snuffle and calm. So it’s not all training. But I also don’t just sit there waiting for triggers. In total my training session is usually 15-30 minutes depending on the dog and how they are doing with the triggers. If a trigger surprises us and comes in close and my dog gets very close to threshold or goes over threshold then I am going to end that session.

Remember the reinforcement you give when the dog sees the trigger is not dependent on any behavior. They just get a treat for seeing a dog. Make sure they see the trigger first as we don’t want to have it be the other way around, they get a cookie and then a trigger shows up, as we don’t want the reinforcements to become a cue that something scary is going to happen. It needs to be the other way around.

If your dog has many triggers, start with the easier ones if possible. Like if dogs are their worse trigger, but they also react to bicycles, work on that first so you can get your techniques down on the easier triggers. Also fixing the easier triggers then can help prevent as much trigger stacking if the easier ones are eliminated as triggers.

Aim for 2-3 sessions per week if you can. Three 15 minute sessions a week is more effective than one 1 hour session. But if that’s all you can do, that will work too, just not as quickly. The days between those sessions offer a lot of decompression activities.