Dog Aggressive – VS – Dog Reactive

What is the difference between these two dog terms?

Why do people interchange these identifiers when describing dogs, like people do with socks?

It’s all the same thing right?

The long answer is No…

Coincidently, the short answer is also no.

When a dog shows characteristics of being dog aggressive, they actively want to go after an approaching dog. The size of the other dog doesn’t matter. They are pulling at the leash, they are lunging at the dog, they are signaling to the other dog with their drooling bark that they will be in their personal space soon. And that the other dog needs to be prepared to be submitted. Once they can get away from their human. Much of this happens when a dog is on a leash. The dog is trying to be protective of their human and they usually believe they are leader of the pack. It’s an over the top response.

I always smile when I see a small dog who believes they are the biggest dog on the block. We need more of this in our everyday lives with the underdogs at the workplace, in the business industry, and those trying to make a humanitarian difference in this crazy world.

A dog that shows characteristics of being dog reactive would like nothing more than to not be in any other dog’s personal space, but they are ready for the fight. Many dogs are dog reactive and not dog aggressive. Growing up, they weren’t introduced and conditioned to being around other dogs so they are responding out of the fear that they know. Which is they don’t know what to expect, they want to stay hurt free, but they are ready to fight if they have to because they won’t be submitted.

I really like these kind of dogs because they remind me of all the people out there trying to do the right thing who generally want to mind their own business. These types of people have zero issues of stepping in if they have to when they see someone or something being hurt or mistreated.

One of the questions I get a lot are; can you make an aggressive dog stop being aggressive?

My immediate answer is; I can train your dog to want to stop following their initial drive to go attack when they are out with you and start having polite manners when they see a dog nearby. I do that often with my trainees off the leash.

I also like to follow up by asking them to think about a toddler playing in a toy store. Most toddlers playing in a toy store believe that the toys they see belongs to them. And they want to play with all the toys before nap time. If you took a toy away, that toddler is gonna throw a fit because all the toddler knows right now is they were playing with a toy and now the toy was taken away. Once they are taken to more toy stores, this process becomes easier for the toddler and they know those toys do not belong to them. They start building on that understanding and learn how to behave better over time. It’s the same process for dogs. The more they are introduced to those situations, the easier it gets for everyone.

Dogs are very smart. They have feelings. And they understand a lot more than what many people give them credit for.

There is a lot more to dog aggression and being dog reactive. This article is meant to put some context and framing into the differences of these two terms. No one wants to read a long in depth article that is filled with terms you have to look up and stays mostly in the weeds. So enjoy the green. Enjoy your dog. Get your dog trained up. And call me to do it!