13/09/2026
๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ?
It is no secret that reactivity and aggression are a real problem.
I do not remember it being as common, or as serious, as I am finding it now.
The effect on families is crippling. It affects where they can go, who they can have over, whether they can walk their dog, and whether they can relax in their own home. It is also hard on the dog. A dog living in constant conflict, fear, frustration or over arousal is not living its best life.
๐๐จ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ?
There is rarely one simple reason. Usually it is a combination of factors that have been building for some time.
Here is my hit list of the most common ones. They are not in any particular order.
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Most people choose a dog with their heart. That is understandable, but you need to use your head as well.
Many people come to see us and, at the centre of the problem, they simply have the wrong dog for their lifestyle.
That does not mean the dog is bad, or that the person is bad. It means the dog may have been bred for a life that does not match the home it has ended up in.
A dog with high drive, strong guarding instincts, a need for work, or low tolerance for pressure can be a very difficult fit in an inactive or inexperienced home.
We can often get the dog to give a little. If the owner gives a little too, we can often make it work.
๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐
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For the dog, giving a little may mean learning better emotional regulation, impulse control and how to cope with situations it finds difficult.
For the owner, it usually means better training, more structure, better enrichment, more suitable play and realistic expectations.
There are many people who get hard core working breeds as pets.
That can be hard on both the dog and the owner.
๐๐ฐ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ:
1. Put more time into researching the breed, breeder, bloodlines and the purpose the dog was bred for.
2. Be honest about your own needs, experience, time, household and limitations.
A dog should fit your life. You should not have to completely rebuild your life just to keep your dog functioning.
๐๐จ๐๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
This is arguably where most people get it wrong.
Ask 100 people how to socialise a puppy and you will get 100 different answers. That alone is a real concern.
Socialisation is not taking a puppy everywhere and letting everybody touch it. It is not forcing it to greet every dog. It is not flooding it with new experiences until it is exhausted.
Socialisation is the process of adapting a puppy to your life and teaching it how to cope calmly with the things that come with it.
That includes people, dogs, traffic, visitors, grooming, veterinary handling, sounds, surfaces, time alone, car travel, restraint, settling quietly and being told no.
Get this wrong and things can become tough very quickly.
A puppy needs good experiences, but it also needs guidance. It needs to learn that it can look at the world without having to charge into it, fear it, bark at it or control it.
Calm exposure is far more valuable than constant excitement.
๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐
Many people think training is what dog enthusiasts or competitors do.
In reality, a better name for it is education.
We need to teach dogs how to behave in different circumstances.
I meet a lot of people with young dogs whose only training goals are, โStop him from doing this,โ or, โI do not want her to do that.โ
That is understandable, but dogs need more than a list of things they are not allowed to do.
They need to be taught what ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ instead.
Sit. Come when called. Walk on a loose lead. Settle on a bed. Go into a crate. Leave something alone. Wait at a door. Be calm around visitors. Accept handling. Return focus to their owner.
Dogs are in training every moment you are with them, and every moment you are not.
You can choose what they learn, or they will make up their own lessons.
Every time a dog rehearses barking at the fence, dragging to another dog, guarding the lounge or ignoring a recall, it is getting better at that behaviour.
๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ฌ
Many people simply cohabitate with their dogs.
The dog roams the home freely from the day it arrives as a puppy. The puppy goes to chew something, grab something or climb on something, and the owner yells, โNo,โ then moves the item or moves the puppy.
This is repeated hundreds of times over the following weeks.
Giving a puppy freedom to explore without guidance, then saying no when it makes a mistake, is not the best way to build a relationship.
The puppy is given unlimited opportunities to experiment with things you may not like. Of course, it will find some of them rewarding.
Management is a key part of raising a puppy.
Management means the puppy has fewer opportunities to practise things you do not want. It also means you create plenty of opportunities to teach and reward the behaviours you do want.
Do not wait for the puppy to make a mistake so you can correct it. Set the puppy up to get it right, then show it that doing the right thing pays.
That might mean leads in the house, crates, pens, gates, supervision, planned play, planned rest and clear routines.
This is not about controlling every second of a dogโs life. It is about building good habits before the bad ones become established.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ง๐
Reactivity and aggression do not usually arrive overnight.
They grow through genetics, poor choices, missed warning signs, lack of training, lack of structure, poor socialisation, pain, fear, frustration and repeated practice of unwanted behaviour.
The earlier you act, the better the outcome is likely to be.
Don't wait until your dog has bitten someone, attacked another dog or become impossible to walk. If you can see a problem developing, get good help early.
The right direction can be hard to find, but it is far easier to change a small problem than a serious one.
