The Perks of Having a Reactive Dog

A quick scroll through social media will highlight the difficult aspects of owning a reactive dog, as people often talk about their training journeys and tips on what’s worked for them.

While reactive dogs are undoubtedly a lot of work, something that isn’t talked about enough is the benefits of sharing your life with one. Here are our four favourite perks of caring for a reactive dog.

Reactive Dogs Teach You to Live in the Moment

Reactive dog guardians are not distracted by their phone when out and about with their dog - and that’s a good thing. Having a reactive dog means spending your time living in the moment, in tune with your dog and navigating the world together. In busy spaces, you're watching your dog’s body language to gauge how they are feeling moment-to-moment and helping them to stay calm and feel comfortable around their triggers. In quiet spaces, you get to take time to unwind and decompress with your pup away from the hustle and bustle of modern life. You are intentional with every walk you take, and going on a walk with your dog.

Reactive Dogs Teach You Patience

Reactive dog training is a journey - usually a fairly long one. It’s frustrating to see that the road ahead of you is longer than you’d hoped. While it’s tempting to look for a quick fix; healing takes time. It takes effort to unlearn old behaviour patterns and learn new ones. Furthermore, it takes guts to re-assess our expectations and ask if our dog even wants the same things that we want for them. Some dogs don’t want to meet people or make friends with other dogs at the park. They already have you and they’re happy. Letting go of old ideas about what makes a “good dog” so we can make room to love the dogs we have takes self-reflection, strength, patience and above all: compassion.

To put things into perspective, some people spend their entire lives trying to overcome fears or to learn how to emotionally self-regulate. While every reactive dog journey is different, we regularly help people teach their dogs how to do it in under a year. Yes, the road may be long, but the hard part may not be as long, or as difficult, as you think! If you look for it, there is joy to be found on the road to your goals.

Reactive Dogs are Green Flag Detectors

There is a myth that “dogs just know a bad person when they smell them”. This isn’t true, and we have met plenty of dogs that, in all honesty, didn't exactly have great judgment. Reactive dogs do, however, have a way of highlighting people that you may not want in your life very much.

Reactive dogs require patience and empathy. So, when introducing a new person into your life, they’ve got to be willing to go at your dog’s pace and be comfortable making a couple of accommodations for your dog. They’ve got to understand that your dog’s reactivity isn’t a personal slight or judgment against them. It’s just a thing that happens sometimes that needs to be managed around. When a new person is willing to learn about your dog’s care and training with patience and compassion, that’s a big green flag.

Reactive Dogs Teach You to Celebrate the Little Wins

True change is the accumulation of a thousand little moments. The first time that you thought your dog was going to react to something, but didn’t, is worth getting excited over. It may look like nothing of note when your dog is minding their business on their walk, notice a trigger, and then go back to minding their business. Those quiet little wins, however, are the foundation for success with training. What you are after is a dog that can look at their triggers and decide that the trigger is actually uninteresting after all.

These little moments take time to notice at the start. Often, we are so fixated on the end goal (walking past a trigger on the sidewalk, or whatever yours may be) that we fail to notice that we are inching closer to that very objective. Remember that change is not linear, and it cannot be measured on a day-to-day basis. Change is measured over weeks and months. Over time, you will learn to notice the little moments worth celebrating with your dog.

Before You Go, Don’t Forget

Reactivity training can feel like a daunting and overwhelming experience. Yes, it is going to require some work and time before you can get to your goals. Here’s the thing - it’s worth the work. You are worth taking the time to do this work, and so is your dog.

It’s also worth remembering that you aren’t alone and you don’t have to do this alone. There are thousands of people with reactive dogs who know what it’s like, and thousands of qualified professionals who can help support you on your journey.

Every dog-human team has their own story. If you think we might be part of yours, you can learn more about what we offer here.