DunbarAcademy.com

Part 1: Introduction
Dog-Dog Reactivity has become one of the most common behavior problems for pet dogs. In this webinar, Dr. Ian Dunbar explains the common causes and the most effective solutions. How do you tell if your dog is dangerous? How does owner anxiety fuel the problem? How do you comfort your dog without reinforcing reactive behavior? How do you train your dog to stop being reactive?

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Part 2: Safety First
When dogs fight, the most important question to answer is: "Is it dangerous?" Almost all dog fights look and sound dangerous, but very few dogs actually are dangerous. Consider the injuries that were inflicted during the fight. If one or several dogs had to go to a veterinary clinic to receive medical attention, then you have a dangerous dog. For a more nuanced evaluation, you should also consider the cost of the medical treatment, the dog's bite:fight ratio, and their Friendly Behavior Quotient. 

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Part 3: Realistic Expectations
Many owners think their dog should greet and play with every other dog they come across. That's unrealistic and irresponsible. Furthermore, there are times in a dog's development when some reactive behavior is actually quite appropriate and beneficial. When owners have unrealistic expectations they get anxious about behaviors that are actually quite normal and easy to resolve, unless owner anxiety exacerbates the problem.

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Part 4: Representative Feedback 
People often complain about the bad and ignore the good, in life and in dog training. If you are concerned about your dog's reactivity, then you have to make sure you praise and reward your dog when they are not being reactive. The best, most underappreciated tool for treating reactivity is your voice. Talk to your dog! There is so much you can communicate to your dog with your tone and expressions alone, and you can do it in real-time!

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Part 5: Exercises without Other Dogs

1. Basic Position Changes
2. Off & Take it with Food in Hand
3. Off, Take it & Thank You with Tug Toy
4. Off-Leash Heel & Sit with Tug
5. Off-Leash Come Sit & Watch with Tug
6. On-Leash Come, Sit & Watch

Reactivity problems are like most dog behavior problems in the sense that they can be solved with reliable obedience skills. Teach your dog to Come to You, Sit-Stay and Watch You on cue, immediately and reliably and you can prevent and interrupt any episodes of reactivity. As always, building reliability is the hard part and the best tool you can use is a Tug Toy.

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Part 6: Exercises with Other Dogs

7. Repeated Walk-By One Familiar Dog
8. Practice with Several Familiar Dogs
9. Practice Outside the Dog Park
10. Visit Dog Park with Core Social Group

Once your dog performs the necessary obedience skills reliably and immediately when you are alone together, it's time to start practicing in the presence of other dogs. Start with a single, familiar dog, and keep practicing with that same dog until your dog responds reliably in their presence. Then work with another familiar dog, and then another, until your dog has a core social group of dogs they spend time with regularly. Now you're ready to practice around unfamiliar dogs, starting outside the dog park.

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DEMO CLIPS

This video includes all the demo clips that Ian used in his webinar presentation. We'll be adding more of the footage from these Jambo training sessions to the Top Dog Academy soon.

This video starts with footage of 4 dogs playing Tug with a single toy. Rest assured, the dogs in this video are all friendly, well-socialized, and have excellent bite inhibition. There is no danger that they will injure each other in an act of aggression. But even if you know that, it still looks and sounds scary. 

It's very useful if you can recognize when your dog is playing and when your dog is scared. Even more important is the ability to capture and redirect your dog's attention when they are excited and engaged with something else, regardless of whether they are playing or not.

After the 4-Way Tug, Ian demonstrates the first few exercises you would use to teach your dog to play Tug, and then use their Tug Toy as a lure and a reward in training, to your dog focussed on you, even in the presence of other dogs.

Want to see more footage of Ian training Jambo? Join the Top Dog Academy today and get your first month for free! We'll be adding more Jambo footage soon.

Downloadable & Printable Worksheet

Download and print out this worksheet, then use it to track your progress through the 10 Exercises for Resolving Dog-Dog Reactivity. Feel free to share it with friends!