What a fantastic book with practical applications for working with a reactive dog.

If you have never read a dog behavior book before and you are trying to work with your own, or help someone with their reactive dog, then this book will be immensely helpful.  The beginning of the book covers basic dog behavior, how dogs learn, and what can cause reactivity. Brown also covers basic learning theory and ways to manage a reactive dog safely before you even start training.

When clients call me with reactive dog issues they are scared, frustrated and want it to end… NOW please. And boy, can I relate. Dogs can become reactive for all sorts of reasons, you can have a very well socialized dog that as he gets older decides he doesn’t like to be bowled over and jumped on by ill-mannered puppies. Or maybe a single traumatic event happens and now he thinks all dogs are scary. For whatever reason you now have a reactive dog and you are struggling to manage your dog’s triggers. This situation is stressful, it is frustrating, but believe me, you are not the only one with a reactive dog and there are effective ways to manage the situation and help your dog learn to cope.

Rehabilitating a reactive dog can take weeks or months. Rehabilitation never really ends. You will always have to maintain a certain level of practice for your dog to continue to feel safe and non reactive. Learning how to rehabilitate your dog is more of a lifestyle change than a training program. This can seem daunting, but when your dog is a member of your family and a good friend, it is much more daunting to think about giving them up and passing on your responsibility to someone you don’t know and may just make things worse (yes I know I have trust issues).

So if you are struggling with a reactive dog, stop being embarrassed, realize that many people have gone through this before and have successfully  rehabilitated dogs. Get this book and get a good behaviour professional to help you out!

I had a call recently having to do with a highly reactive dog that was starting to bite and growl at his owners, the caller was a relative of one of the owners and she was certain that this bad behavior could have been prevented had the owner been more strict with their dog  “What did they expect when they allow the dog to sleep on the bed?!”  she asked me.

Is letting your dog sleep on the bed really as bad as people think? Some dog trainers still seem to think so. And certainly for a dog with uncertain boundaries in his every day life, being allowed to sleep on the bed  is likely going to promote the idea that the bed is at least partly his. This confusion in his life and in regards to the ownership of the bed can lead to exactly what my caller described. A reactive and quite possibly dangerous dog who feels it is is job to guard his bed, couch, home, food, bone, toy… etc. A dog like this doesn’t  realize that what he is doing could be worthy of capitol punishment in the human world. He is a dog that has assumed the role of “leader” for his house because he didn’t think his owners were up to the job, He is simply doing what any stressed, anxiety ridden, untrained leader would do; overreact and lash out in order to keep the troops in line.

I know, I have been there myself. I was an overworked, anxiety ridden, untrained manager in charge of a dozen teenagers in a large pet store in the US when I was just 22. I was out of my depth and had no idea how to get 12 adolescent adults to work with me or each other. I didn’t bite any of them, but I certainly was not the best manager in the world and I had been given no training to deal with the situation. Dogs get put into situations like this all the time, then punished for doing the best they can.

The thing is, all of this has absolutely nothing to do with  being allowed to sleep on the bed. Many very well known dog trainers allow their dogs access to their beds. To name a few, Suzanne Clothier, she talks about her dog’s  bed manners in Bones would rain from the Sky. Ian Dunbar allows his dogs to lay on him on the couch. I also am guilty of allowing my dogs to sleep on the bed or the couch. Do our dogs try to dominate us? Bite us? Do our dogs guard the bed or not allow us on our own couch? No, they absolutely don’t do any of these things because a bed is just a bed. In all other aspects of their lives, certainly the most important aspects, our dogs are given training, bonding, and leadership exercises as part of their every day life.

So here is the important question. If you allow your dog on the bed, will she get off if you ask her to? If the answer is yes, then great! If it is no, then maybe it is time to take a look at not just bed rules, but all the boundaries you have set for your dog and make sure she isn’t shouldering too much responsibility.