Many people throw this term “leash reactivity” around for the purpose of giving their dog a diagnosis, but what does it really mean?
Firstly, your dog is displaying some sort of unwanted behaviors while being restrained on a leash.
The “symptoms” of leash reactivity can be: barking, growling, lunging, biting, and even redirecting on the handler.
Typically, this is in response to a “trigger” but it could simply be a stimulus that arouses your dog’s drive.
So we have a stimulus and a response, but what is the underlying process? It’s different for different dogs, so let’s break it down.
Hypervigilant, Sensitive, or Insecure Dog
Sees, hears, or senses something that may be unfamiliar, predatory, or threatening. Fight/flight response gets activated. Flight is not an option on the leash, so fight turns on, hoping to move the scary thing away with a display of “aggressive” behavior. Some of these dogs are truly undersocialized and need environmental confidence. Others naturally have temperaments that will always be hypervigilant to threats in the environment. Often a dog's behavior is a product of nature AND nurture and we have to parse apart what will always be ingrained in them, and what can be helped with further nurturing.
Defensive Dog
Some dogs simply have nervous systems that are more vigilant than others. They always seem to be “on alert” and it can be genetic and due their natural temperament and defensive threshold. These dogs are very sensitive to “in group/out group” dynamics and potentially very aggressive when approached by unfamiliar dogs and people. A lot of their behavior is genetic and should be highly managed. These dogs need lots of breed fulfillment where they are allowed to express themselves, as their defensive behavior is self-reinforcing and cannot be easily extinguished but can be channeled and shaped.
Dog with true Post Traumatic Stress
The trigger is a specific reminder of a specific event and the dog now “sees” the past experience as happening in the present moment. Fight/flight response activated, growling, barking, and potential aggression enacted for self-preservation. This dog needs lot of time, patience, and co-regulating to start seeing the world as safe. They can also benefit from confidence building activities that help them find a safe way to express their sympathetic arousal and even turn it into something constructive and biologically fulfilling.
Dog with Prey/Play Drive
This dog is not fearful, shy, or scared, but their sympathetic nervous system is highly mobilized for making play or chasing prey. This arousal can look almost exactly the same as a fearful or traumatized dog (of course with subtle differences but most people see a barking dog and think “reactive”). There may be a big display of barking and lunging, but this energy is a product of FRUSTRATION, not fear. To me, this is NOT reactivity, this is a state of drive. This dog’s energy should be appropriately channeled and grounded to get them back “under control.”
Aggressive Dog
A very small percentage of dogs are truly aggressive. For me, aggression is not the same as reactivity or even defensiveness. Truly aggressive dogs are “forwardly aggressive,” confident, and seeking conflict. Again, this is a very small percentage of dogs, but when you come across one, you know. Of all the dogs I’ve lived with, only one dog was truly aggressive. She was only dog aggressive (can you guess a bully breed?). But boy oh boy, was she in it to win it! High levels of management are needed with a dog like this. Of course, they need exercise, breed fulfillment, and lots of love, but they will never be rehabilitated from this state of seeking and loving conflict and yes, violence. This level of aggressiveness is genetic and therefore you must come to terms with it, not try to fix it.
I know there may be some controversy around the way that I have defined these different types of dogs and behaviors. Personally, I dislike the term “predatory aggression” because to me, hunting behavior is not aggression. And of course, the behavior that most leash reactive dogs display is considered aggressive, but in most cases the behavior is aggressive while the dog is fearful.
Most of the time, a truly “reactive” dog would choose flight (run away) to solve their problems with the world, but because we have them restrained on the leash, their nervous system chooses fight. Is this aggression? Yes, but it doesn’t define the dog’s true temperament, because they are being put in an unnatural situation.
My main point is that there are many different underlying causes to what we casually call “leash reactivity.” And each dog should be evaluated and treated differently, to give them a fair chance at continuing their outings into the larger world. No dog should be relegated to a yard forever.