Reactive Dog Training Fool Hack

One of the first questions we hear when we send home a reactive dog that was aggressive towards other dogs is, “How did my dog behave with your dogs?”. This is usually the main question dog owners have.

Today social media is filled with posts showing reactive dogs behaving around other trained dogs that live in the same training home or training center. This is one of the first foundations any reactive dog should learn. And a great way to build off of. The real work happens when your dog is behaving in public and there is another dog around.

What is this hack that fools dog owners into believing their reactive dog will listen when they go home?

If you took your dog to a professional trainer to address their dog reactivity. And the only work you were provided were videos that showed your dog performing a command in a room with other trained dogs. And those same trained dogs are ones they see and smell regularly, then you received a training hack that fools dog owners.

Most dog trainers aren’t aware of this, only the seasoned ones are. So your dog trainer was not intentionally misleading you, they were just inexperienced.

How does this hack fool dog owners into believing their reactive dog is trained?

The example we described above fools dog owners because of the following items listed below.

• Your dog learned to behave in very controlled environment.
• Your dog learned to fit into a pre-existing hierarchy they were placed in by;
  • The order a dog receives their food.
  • The order and amount of time a dog is worked each day.
  • The treatment a dog views as preferential when some dogs are off leash while they are not.
  • The tone of voice used towards dogs.
    • Most owners use their regular voice once they are comfortable with their trained dogs, while dogs in training receive the high pitch voice. We may see it as favoring the dog in training, but the dog in training sees it as they are talked to differently.
• Your dog learned to trust the other trained dogs since they respected their space.
  • The other dogs didn’t bark or lunge at your dog.
  • The other dogs were expected, they smell them almost every day. They know in which room or area those dogs are in. Or when they are driving up.

These are some of the obvious reasons. There are other intangibles that are too many to list.

Is there anything you can do as a dog owner to ensure your dog’s training really covered this?

YES! You can research your dog trainer to ensure they have posted video content and/or live streaming content that shows your dog performing well in unfamiliar situations with dog’s they don’t know. Dog owners pay thousands of dollars every year thinking all dog training is the same until they get their dog back. They learn the hard way. Don’t be a fool.