{"id":6201,"date":"2021-08-05T20:55:14","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T20:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aercmn.com\/?p=6201"},"modified":"2021-08-05T20:55:14","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T20:55:14","slug":"reactivity-in-dogs-part-i-the-myth-of-the-good-dog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aercmn.com\/blog\/reactivity-in-dogs-part-i-the-myth-of-the-good-dog\/","title":{"rendered":"Reactivity in Dogs | Part I: The Myth of the Good Dog"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"dog,<\/h4>\n

Meet Polo<\/h4>\n

We didn\u2019t know Polo was reactive and aggressive until we\u2019d owned him about a week. We\u2019d taken our family of four, plus our little dog Sally, to meet him at the adoption center. He\u2019d loved everyone \u2013 wagging his tail happily, chasing and playing with Sally. I\u2019ve worked in veterinary medicine for over 30 years, and I saw no red flags in Polo.<\/p>\n

Seven days later, my boss, Karen, came to my house. Since it was October 2020, she wore a mask and didn\u2019t expect to be asked inside, but when I opened the door, Polo ran out, barking at the back of her legs. Then he leapt up and bit her calf. \u201cHe only nipped me,\u201d she said – registering the shock and horror on my face.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never owned an aggressive dog. Wait \u2013 that’s not altogether true. I\u2019ve never owned a dog that was aggressive in that\u00a0<\/span>particular way<\/span>. My dog, George, had bitten\u00a0<\/span>my son William\u00a0<\/span>on perhaps three occas<\/span>ions.\u00a0<\/span>As a toddler,\u00a0<\/span>William thought that hitting George was\u00a0<\/span>funny, and despite strong warnings and close monitoring,\u00a0<\/span>William\u00a0<\/span>managed to\u00a0<\/span>hit him<\/span>\u00a0twice. On the second time,<\/span>\u00a0George took matters into his own paws.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>But had William not been crying, you wouldn\u2019t have even known that he\u2019d been bitten. George, I was told by\u00a0<\/span>an<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>animal trainer friend, had excellent bite inhibition. Meaning, if he\u2019d wanted to break the skin on William\u2019s face, he certainly could have. He\u2019d chosen not to.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The next day, I was on the phone with a board-certified animal behaviorist. Having worked in a specialty hospital for 20 years, I have the utmost faith in specialists. I was sure if anyone could \u201ccure\u201d Polo, it would be a behaviorist. The doctor told me that Polo was a \u201creactive\u201d dog.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"dog,<\/p>\n

The Reality of Having a Reactive Dog<\/h4>\n

Imagine reactivity as a ladder. Every step up the ladder, the dog\u00a0becomes more fearful. At the bottom of the ladder, the dog is\u00a0calm and unafraid. Then perhaps, he meets a stranger, hears a noise, or sees another dog \u2013 whatever thing(s) he or she is\u00a0afraid of. The fear\u00a0and the reaction to the fear\u00a0continue to escalate\u00a0until at the top of the ladder, the dog feels compelled to protect himself via a bite.\u00a0Polo reacted to people at our door,\u00a0dogs barking across the street, people on the sidewalk, the mailman,\u00a0construction noise \u2013 pretty much anything and everything.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now imagine thinking that every noise you hear outside is someone coming to harm you \u2013 24\/7, 365 days a year. If your brain is constantly in fight or flight mode, it\u2019s impossible for you to learn a different way to be.\u00a0Learning of any kind shuts down when we\u2019re really scared, so the first step was to try to find a medication that would help reduce Polo\u2019s fear of the world around him.\u00a0We tried two that made him worse before we found one that worked.\u00a0Finding a medication that helped, even a little, allowed Polo to relax enough that he wasn\u2019t barking about noises outside every 5-10 minutes, and that allowed\u00a0us, his\u00a0human family,\u00a0to regain a measure of sanity.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It also helped to discover that Polo is the smartest dog I\u2019ve ever met. He took to clicker training like a duck to water and would learn one-step tricks in 30 seconds or less. However; once\u00a0<\/span>I discovered how capable Polo is, that created an unforeseen problem. I began to think that “fixing\u201d Polo\u2019s reactivity was a function of me working harder and harder with him. So I decided I needed to work with him in all my free time, because his aggression was preventing my kids from having friends over, forcing us to give up summer trips, and limiting our lives. Forgetting that it was a complex and challenging problem to solve, I grew determined. In my mind, I needed to solve it – now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"dog,<\/p>\n

The Myth of the Good Dog<\/h4>\n

As the owner of a reactive and aggressive dog, it\u2019s all too easy to take that problem on yourself. You just want your dog to be \u201cnormal,\u201d and you want to be able to enjoy activities, like hiking, traveling, or going for a drive, with your dog. In addition, I\u2019ve discovered that society heaps blame and shame upon owners of reactive and aggressive dogs, even when we\u2019re doing absolutely everything we can to keep all parties \u2013 our dogs included \u2013 safe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s this myth that\u2019s pervasive in American culture \u2013 what I like to call The Myth of the Good Dog. It\u2019s the myth that says that every dog should put up with whatever we\u00a0humans\u00a0can dish out. The Good Dog should allow children to ride it\u00a0and\u00a0pull its tail, never steal food off the table or get in the garbage,\u00a0sleep on the floor, rescue Timmy from the well, and fetch our newspaper and slippers.\u00a0It should never complain, only bark or growl at people who would harm\u00a0its\u00a0owners\u00a0and\u00a0be an unceasingly loyal companion\u00a0until the day it passes away, quietly\u00a0in its sleep.\u00a0And so, where does the Myth of the Good Dog leave the rest of us \u2013 with dogs like Polo\u00a0or\u00a0George \u2013 who have limits\u00a0and will bite when those limits are passed?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I have a feeling the Good Dog exists just about as much as the Normal Family \u2013 that is to say, not at all. We\u2019ve come so far in recognizing that humans are flawed, that mental illness is pervasive, and that there\u2019s no shame in seeking help. I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve yet been able to do the same for our dogs, or for ourselves as pet owners. The reason I say that is the way in which many dog owners minimize or ignore their own dogs\u2019 aggressive or reactive behavior. Every day at dog parks and veterinary offices, the phrases \u201cHe\u2019s usually so friendly,\u201d \u201cdon\u2019t worry, she doesn\u2019t bite,\u201d and \u201che\u2019s never done that before!\u201d are heard. People seem to believe that if you have an aggressive dog, you must have done something (or, in the case of socializing a dog, not done something) to make your dog become aggressive. However, especially in the case of rescues, aggressive or reactive behavior may be the result of a trauma inflicted prior to your ownership. In addition, according to\u00a0<\/span>a study conducted in 2016<\/span><\/a>, some aggressive behavior may have a genetic component.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"dog,<\/p>\n

The purpose of this three-part blog is to share what I\u2019ve learned about reactivity in the past several months of owning Polo. It\u2019s to offer support for those who have a reactive dog and to help inform those who don\u2019t. Part II<\/a> will review resources for those pet owners with reactive dogs. And Part III<\/a> will include reactive tips and tools that I\u2019ve learned through personal experience and copious research.\u00a0<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Heidi<\/p>\n

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