A dog trainer's guide to working with reactivity
Working with "reactive" dogs can be challenging. The guardians are often stressed, and their dogs are too - creating a situation full of risks.
And if you’re desperate to help them solve their problems, you may find yourself getting into a bit of a pickle pretty rapidly! There are so many elements you may need to address and you have to decide how to do this, sometimes in a single session, based on an assessment by phone or questionnaire.
Take a moment and imagine getting paid to undertake your assessments.
Now picture that assessment delivering massive value to the guardian, their dog, and to you - whether you decide to continue working together or not!
Revolutionary right? Let’s dive into the details.
Step 1: Separate Assessment from Consultation
Traditionally, reactivity consults involve a call and/or questionnaire followed by a consultation (or a series) and a lengthy report. However, this method isn’t always the most effective for helping these dogs and can lead to big issues for trainers.
Why Separate the Two?
By treating the assessment and consultation as two distinct processes, you can focus on understanding both the dog’s and the guardian’s needs - as well as whether you actually want to work with the client!
As people who want to help dogs, we are often predisposed to saying yes to working with people, even when we’re not a good match for each other. We are also almost conditioned to work for free at the assessment stage, as we feel an inherent need to people please and deliver solutions as quickly as possible.
When you separate your assessments from your consultations, the focus is on discovering what is going on for both the dog and the human - so you can establish what is best going to meet their needs.
If the best answer to their problems isn’t you, then with this revolutionary assessment model, the client can still walk away having acquired incredibly useful tools and information to help them on the road ahead.
Step 2: Implement a Progressive Reactivity Assessment Model
Assessments should be comprehensive, covering not just the dog’s behaviour but also the guardian’s goals and the trainer’s willingness to take on the case. Here’s how to do it effectively:
Use ACE Free Work
Developed by Sarah Fisher, ACE Free Work is a process that enables us to observe dogs while they relax by exploring their environment. It can be done both in-person and virtually:
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In-Person Assessments: Set up the ACE Free Work in a neutral space (like a rented facility or secure field) to give you a safe environment to work. If it is safe allow the dog to explore the Free Work off lead. If not, use a long line for safety. Record the session and share your observations with the guardian, teaching them to observe their dog using ACE.
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Online Assessments: Provide instructions for the guardians to set up ACE Free Work at home. They can film the session and share it with you for analysis and feedback or, if they are able to set it up, you can watch it live.
Teaching the guardian how to observe their dog using ACE is incredibly valuable. It can help us discover any potential pain, postural or gait issues; identify surfaces, objects or sounds that create unease and can guide us to what each dog finds most rewarding and relaxing.
We can leave a session knowing that this particular dog uses licking as a decompressor, for example, where another dog chooses to calm themselves with sniffing. These are things we can share with the guardian in the assessment, as a practical tool they can take away and use.
And by offering the dog a Free Work session we can allow the guardian to relax while we talk about what we are seeing and we give the dog something to focus on.
If ACE Free Work is new to you or you’d like to learn more, take a look at our ACE workshops here.
Step 3: Address Potential Pain and Discomfort
As we know, pain often contributes to a dog’s reactivity. However, a typical vet visit may not reveal these underlying issues because the vet has limited time and space to examne the dog. In a veterinary context, a dog's experience of pain may also be dampened by the adrenaline released due to anxiety or excitement. This means that a vet typically lacks detailed information about the dog's normal gait and posture.
The ACE Free Work videos that you create doing an assessment can therefore provide valuable insights for vets to help them see the dog more clearly. You can ask your client to show their vet specific clips from the video when they have their health check prior to working with you. Remember that as trainers and behaviourists our job is not to diagnose but we can certainly point out what we observe and ask for the vet's opinion.
Step 4: Understand the Guardian’s Vision of Success
In addition to looking at what is going on with the dog, we also need to use the assessment to discover more about the human end of the lead.
We can often fall into the trap of thinking that every guardian of a "reactive" dog wants to eradicate reactivity completely. In fact, this varies from person to person, and discovering what they really want needs to form part of your assessment.
Some people simply want to walk their dog without fear of being dragged into a road or losing control of their dog. They’re not bothered about their dog being able to mix with other dogs or people. They just want the stress and worry gone from their walks.
On the other hand, you might have someone who wants to compete in sporting events like flyball or agility with their dog, and then you are working towards a very different outcome.
It’s critical that you understand what success looks like to the person in front of you, rather than just assuming they want a fix-all solution.
Explore the ‘Why’
As well as finding out what success looks like for your client, it’s incredibly valuable to dig into why. When you dig into the core of their why, you will often find that the reason that they want to sort reactivity out is something quite deep-rooted.
Perhaps it's because they want their children to be able to have friends around, or they want their children to have a relaxed relationship with the dog. Sometimes the deepest fear is that the dog is going to be taken away from them.
Your guardian’s why is really significant.
And once you understand what matters to them, it becomes much easier to adjust what you do to make sure that you're successful in your training together.
Step 5: Evaluate Compatibility - you don’t have to say YES
It’s important to remember that this assessment is not only about assessing the dog and their human - it’s also about deciding whether or not they are a client you want to work with.
Reactivity is a massively emotional topic. The human and the dog have an awful lot of emotions to contend with and therefore there needs to be real trust between everyone involved.
The assessment is a mutual exploration. Your potential client gets to decide if you are the right fit for them, and you do too. It's about deciding whether this is going to be a relationship that will work for all parties!
As a trainer or behaviourist you need to have a connection with this person.
Reactivity is not solved overnight. If something doesn’t feel right then you have to trust your gut. And this isn’t about you being a bad or selfish person, quite the opposite. If you’re not the best match for each other, then referring to somebody better suited is in everybody’s best interests.
Step 6: Charge for Your Assessments
Your time and expertise are valuable, so why not charge for assessments so that you can take time and do a thorough job. Free assessments can lead to rushed, incomplete evaluations, while charging establishes the assessment as a crucial, standalone service. It also signals the guardian’s commitment to addressing the issue.
Charging for assessments means you’ll give yourself and the guardian adequate time together. Contrary to trying to get all the information you need via a short discovery call or questionnaire - a paid for assessment gets you to information you need (and might not otherwise get!).
If the guardian doesn’t have enough time to warm up and connect with you, you may miss out on building the trust they need to feel to disclose vital information.
Bite history is one vital example.
Guardians often don’t want to write down the reality of their dog’s bite history. They may not consider "nips" as relevant and may not be experienced enough to determine how significant the snaps and air bites actually are. But when you speak to them in person and start asking questions, you may discover the dog has bitten before. This is the kind of essential information you could be missing with short assessments or written questionnaires.
The importance of payment
Charging for assessments doesn't mean that you're guaranteeing you will work with someone. It’s a contract of service that establishes the assessment as a piece of work in its own right. Your time and expertise are worth paying for - remember that!
When you make this a service, you can offer the guardian some basic management advice and give them an idea of what might be involved in addressing the problem - plus you have introduced them to ACE Free Work. And you can do all this without being left feeling resentment about the amount of free advice you give!
The guardian will leave having had valuable support and with recommendations that will make a difference, whether or not they choose to work with you further. And you will have helped that partnership, in a way that is authentic and committed, whatever may come next.
Charging for assessments is a win-win for all!
Step 7: Sending a Proposal
After an assessment, if you wish to proceed, it’s time to send a proposal. This should outline a customised plan based on your findings, including a recommended programme tailored to the dog’s and guardian’s needs.
You can create a template for this to save yourself time. Outline for yourself the different elements that you use with reactivity clients - so you can pull from this to create a bespoke proposal for each guardian and dog partnership based on their needs.
Your assessment and discussions with the guardian will mean that you will have a much clearer idea of how long this work might take and how many sessions, based on the existing relationship between dog and guardian, the person's level of commitment and the time they have available.
A bespoke proposal will be much easier to enrol your potential client in and will give you confidence that you know exactly how you are going to proceed with this client.
Step 8: Conducting Consultations
Once your proposal is accepted, you can begin the consultation phase, which involves implementing the agreed-upon plan.
This phase may include a range of different ways of working, for example:
- 1-2-1 coaching sessions
- Accompanied walks
- Online video tutorials
- Video reviews to support their progress
- Handouts, checklists and cheat sheets
- A community group for support
- Zoom calls for support
- Messaging back up
Supporting both ends of the lead
We know that life can be very hard for guardians when their dogs react, so bringing in support that helps the human end of the lead can be extremely beneficial.
From mindset to calming strategies, supporting the guardian’s wellbeing can go a long way to helping both ends of the lead reach a calmer, happier state. Even providing empathetic support can make the difference between a successful outcome and the guardian giving up.
<embed 7 steps dog trainer masterclass here:
Free masterclass: 7 steps to working successfully with dogs
Step 9: Embrace the Hybrid Model
Hybrid programs, combining online resources with in-person training, are typically more effective for reactivity. Here’s why:
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Consistency: Guardians can revisit online materials as needed, ensuring they understand techniques and can share them with family members.
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Community: Group sessions or a shared community group can allow guardians to connect with others in similar situations, offering mutual support and relieving isolation.
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Safety: Working online can reduce the stress on the dog and minimise the risks to you.
In addition to all of the benefits of hybrid learning for these dogs and their guardians, it’s also much safer for professionals.
So often, when we work with reactive dogs face to face, the dog is stressed simply by us being there. No matter how hard we work to be mindful of our body language and give the dog the distance they need, sometimes just our very presence is too much for the dog.
Sometimes that can lead to dog trainers and behaviourists being bitten but even if you avoid that, neither the dog nor the guardian can learn when one or both are stressed.
You can gather data that is not influenced by your presence when you work with reactivity cases remotely. And you can keep yourself out of harm’s way and minimise the triggers the dog you are working with has to encounter.
Learn more about hybrid training models and their benefits here.
Step 10: Take the easy path with the Reframing Reactivity Toolbox
We know that hybrid learning models make life easier for everyone involved - but pulling together the resources can be a huge stumbling block for many of us.
Our Reframing Reactivity Toolbox includes everything you need to launch an outstanding hybrid learning program for reactivity.
Inside, you have an abundance of resources to transform the way you work with these dogs and their guardians. From video tutorials to lead generation to workbooks and behaviour modification plans, absolutely everything you need to launch an outstanding hybrid learning program for reactivity is inside.
You can take a look at everything that comes inside the Reframing Reactivity Toolbox here.
Get Started Today
You can access the toolbox with a one-off payment or via a 3-month payment plan.
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