ABC Dogs NZ

You’ll see the turning point👀

Their chasing is harder, faster.
The play has more energy.
It’s even starting to look more frantic.

The intensity is starting to shift.
The fun and playful back and forth energy has gone.
This has quickly turned into something else entirely.

While excitement is one reason for conflict between dogs, it’s not the only one.

Not choosing play partners carefully can also go right at the top of the list.
And that can be us not selecting well too.

We may be drawn to dogs we want ours to meet and play with.
Those words were said.
“He’s friendly.”
It’s easy to take them at face value.

It’s also a comforting trap we can fall into too.

“Friendly” doesn’t mean “good match for my dog.”
Energy levels matter.
Play styles matter.
The ability to read each others social cues matters.

Your job isn’t to make your dog like every dog.
Your job is to protect their right to say no.

Ask yourself before the lead comes off.

Does my dog actually want to play, or am I deciding for them?
Do these two dogs have the same speed, style, and off-switch?
If this goes pear-shaped, am I prepared to step in fast?
Is the excitement already at a level when good decisions may be difficult?

Sometimes two good dogs were just a bad match, fueled by excitement we didn’t manage or even recognise.

Play is much more involved than just playing.

Clearly, it’s not for them.
You’re just multi-tasking for your benefit.
I get it, life’s busy, but is your dog becoming a “tag along”.

You’ve got 30 minutes after work before it gets dark and you have got to keep that pace you’re tracking on your fitness watch.
Time to move!

Your dog stops for a second.
To sniff.
To investigate or even urinate.
They’re tugged away immediately.

Did you even bother to turn to see why?

We also have a bad habit of expecting the same energy levels from our dogs year after year.
They get older.
Arthritis develops.
Gait changes appear.
Recovery takes longer.

Yet many are still expected to keep up with the same routine they did years earlier.

Your dog can't tell you they're uncomfortable with words.
They tell you by slowing down.
By hesitating, by stopping or by changing their gait.

The problem is, when you're focused on keeping your pace, your eyes are looking ahead.

What you often feel is simply resistance on the lead which can’t happen now because you set that pace and you will finish as you started.

What your dog may actually be saying is,
"I need you to stop".

Some people have heard that running is great exercise for dogs.
Sometimes it is, but that depends on the individual dog, their age, their fitness, their breed, the surface, the distance and the pace.

One size just doesn't fit all.

And this isn't just about runners.

Walkers and cyclists can do exactly the same thing.

If your exercise starts interfering with what your dog truly needs, it's well and truly time to separate the two.

It’s not your dogs fault you only have a 30 minute window and a pace you won’t quit.

Even for them.

They all sound logical.
That's the trap.

The hardest part about reactive dog training is that progress often doesn't feel like progress.

It can feel like you're not doing enough.

We want to help them through it.
We want faster results.
We want to see improvement.

So we naturally think we should be doing more.

More exposure.
Longer sessions.
More challenges.

All perfectly natural to want.

But what a reactive dog needs is often very different to what we want.