28/08/2026
A dog does not become or remain reactive because their owner chooses not to use punishment.
Reactivity is complex. It can be influenced by genetics, breed predispositions, temperament, early socialisation, learning history, environment, previous experiences, arousal levels and reinforcement history — and often, it’s a combination of several of these factors.
It’s important to remember that although breed does not determine an individual dog’s behaviour, genetics can influence behavioural tendencies, arousal, persistence, social preferences and how a dog responds to particular situations.
It means that understanding the individual dog in front of you, including their genetic predispositions, is important when deciding how to manage and train them.
And then there is learning.
If a dog has learned that certain situations are threatening, overwhelming or highly arousing, simply punishing their response doesn’t necessarily change how they feel about that situation.
A dog can stop barking, lunging or growling because they have learned that displaying those behaviours results in punishment — while still feeling exactly the same internally.
This is known as suppressing behaviour.
In fact, suppressing communication can sometimes make behaviour harder to interpret, because we have removed the warning signals without necessarily addressing the underlying emotion.
I don’t believe the answer to reactivity is:
“Punish the reaction.”
Instead, I want to ask:
Why is the dog reacting in the first place?
What are they communicating?
What triggers them?
How close can they get before they become overwhelmed?
What can we change about the environment?
What skills can we teach?
How can we change their emotional response to the trigger?
And most importantly:
How can we keep everyone safe while working within the individual dog’s limitations?
Positive reinforcement doesn’t mean allowing a dog to do whatever they want.
It doesn’t mean there are no boundaries.
It doesn’t mean ignoring dangerous behaviour.
And it certainly doesn’t mean that a dog cannot have serious behavioural challenges.
It means that I can set boundaries, manage risk, change the environment, teach alternative behaviours and modify emotional responses without believing that fear, pain or intimidation are necessary teaching tools.
A dog does not need to be punished for having a particular genetic makeup, temperament or emotional response.
They need to be understood, managed responsibly and trained according to the dog they actually are.
