BH240: Working with Reactive and Hyper-aroused Dogs

This class is best suited to dogs that respond in an active way to an increase in arousal.

When leashed or behind a barrier, these dogs typically lunge and/or bark at stimulus such as unknown people, dogs, bicycles, vehicles, or wildlife. They may also occasionally (or frequently) run off, bark, spin, lose focus, or do zoomies in the middle of a training session, or at a competition. They appear to struggle to control themselves at times, and may easily get distracted when in a big environment.  Once hyper-aroused they may even redirect on to their owner, chomp on toys, or snap at treats.

The hyperarousal may occur as the dog’s attention is drawn to stimuli in the environment, or it may be a response to aspects of the training session itself. Once past threshold the dog is unable to follow cues, they cannot think clearly, they struggle to offer true handler focus, and they may be uninterested in treats, or take treats in a snappy way. In many dogs the escalation to this state is rapid – going from thinking, to not thinking, in a split second!

Reactive and hyper-aroused responses are driven by a vast array of underlying emotions, motivations, and contributing factors. In this class we discuss many of these, as well as the potential reinforcers that may be contributing to the ongoing expression of the behaviors. Understanding why these responses are occurring allows us to choose the best approach to modify the existing behaviors.

In this class, the Gold students will work through Sharon’s method for modifying reactive behavior – Offered Durational Engagement. This protocol is focused on helping the dog find time to think between the stimulus and the response. So instead of going from stimulus to the existing automatic response, the dog is able to think before responding, and hence can choose to offer an alternative behavior to the existing, inappropriate, or extreme response.

During this 6-week class, handlers will develop the necessary skills to assist their dog through this journey. This includes: honing observation skills; knowing when and how to use distraction; the importance of effective management; when, where and how to implement behavior modifying training, and when to progress beyond behavior modification to the teams ultimate goals (creating pet dog behaviors or creating sport specific behaviors).

This class will be beneficial for anyone looking to understand over-arousal, and also wanting strategies to maintain optimal arousal (and therefore a thinking and responsive dog) during training and competing. The content of this class is equally applicable to dogs over-arousing due to desire (e.g. excitement, desire to chase, etc.), or due to negative-valence emotions (e.g. fear, anxiety, anger, frustration).

The gold spots will be best suited to dogs that readily disconnect from their handler due to distractions in the environment, or dogs that demonstrate reactivity to one or more specific stimuli (triggers) – this could be a dog that is driven by desire to get to the stimulus or chase the stimulus, or a dog that is performing behaviors in an attempt to maintain or increase distance from the stimulus.

The content of this class is applicable to every different dog sport, as well as dogs with varying lifestyles, including pet dogs.

Note: In this class we do not cover issues associated with resource guarding, multi-dog household dog-to-dog aggression, or aggression directed towards a known person (e.g. a family member that lives within the home or frequents the home). We do however lightly touch on nipping / mouthing / grabbing due to frustration and excess arousal.

Teaching Approach

Lectures will be released in two blocks each week: one at the start of the week and one mid-week. The bulk of the written content will be released in the first half of the class to allow students to incorporate the information into their training as quickly as possible. There will be practical exercises introduced weekly, with lots of flexibility for Gold students to progress through the work at their own pace, selecting the exercises that most suit their dog, and their end goals.

All students are encouraged to follow along with the Gold and Silver students’ forums to get the most benefit from this class. This is where you will see the strategies applied in a real-life setting, with appropriate adjustments made as required to suit the needs of each individual dog and handler.

This class is heavily focused on providing increased understanding of reactive and over-aroused dogs and why they perform the behaviours they do. Much of the learning is concept based with full opportunity for in-depth discussion for all students on the class Facebook page.  

The content of this class is presented in written form, with the occasional diagram or chart to support the written information. Practical exercises are frequently supported with short video demonstrations. These may include audio voice-over but are always supported with a detailed written description.

To progress through the exercises in the latter part of the class it is ideal to be able to work in various locations where there will be some distractions for your dog. These locations can be indoors (e.g. a training centre, a friend’s home, etc) or outdoors (e.g. a parking lot, a park, a training grounds, a suburban street, etc). The training approach however is focused on your dog not reacting to the stimulus, so don’t feel like you will need to place yourself in a potentially dangerous or anxiety-inducing situation. For Gold students, Sharon will be working with each of you individually to ensure progression occurs at a pace that is appropriate for your team, with lots of flexibility to tailor the exact approach to you, your dog and you circumstance.  

The Offered Durational Engagement protocol does require frequent feeding of high value treats. Some highly emotional dogs reject treats or become “bitey” as they take the treat; the reasons for these issues are addressed in the first week. As this protocol aims to maintain dogs well below threshold, typically this protocol is highly effective even with dogs that reject treats (or snatch at treats) when highly stimulated.  

Sharon’s approach is very practical and flexible. Her aim when teaching is to help people understand why their dog is performing the current behaviors. Using this approach, students can ultimately develop the ability to think through a behavioral issue independently, and generate a selection of potentially effective solutions. The ability to analyse and problem solve also gives students the tools to be successful with future dogs and unrelated behavior issues. Students’ typically say that their increased understanding of the existing behaviors significantly improves their relationship with their dog, and reduces their own feelings of uncertainty and frustration.

There is a Teaching Assistant (TA) for this session. The TA is accessed via the BH240 Facebook group. This allows bronze and silver students to receive personal feedback about their videos as they work their way through the practical exercises in this class. 

Instructor: Sharon Carroll

Sharon (she/her) has been a professional animal trainer for 30 years. She has been both a presenter and trainer in a range of animal shows, and currently operates, a dog training and behaviour consulting business based in Newcastle, Australia. (Click here for full bio and to view Sharon's upcoming courses.)