I’m undertaking a 1000-day reinvention project, blogging here daily to track my progress. In Saturday Reflections, I take time out to reflect.
I’m getting ready to host a new foster dog Sally at my house, and researching leash reactivity in preparation. I’m interested in the idea of dynamic interactive engagement from this video.
Dr. Uhde suggests that instead of getting your dog to sit, focus, and “leave it” you take advantage of the dog’s energy as she notes another dog and begins to react. With elevated fear or other strong emotion, the dog’s brain and body prepares for movement. They will have adrenaline flowing; “it’s like an energy drink.”
So work with that, says Dr. Uhde. Channel the energy. Turn the experience into something engaging and fun.
Dynamic interactive engagement is when you are dynamic instead of still, add an element of unpredictability, and create anticipation for something rewarding with you the human leash holder at the center. Other dogs will be triggers but will eventually fade into the background as the dog expects that when she sees another dog, then something fun, focused on the two of you together, will come next.
This reminds me a little of some advice I saw on one of Cesar Millan’s dog whisperer show one times. Someone complained that their dog pulled too much on walks. Millan said, “you need to walk faster!” I was surprised that his solution in this case was not about getting the dog to do something different.
I tried that with my dog Bo, who likes to go a lot faster than I would typically walk, and it works! After a couple miles he will tire out and go slower but when he takes off on his morning walk he’s ready to go fast. If I go fast enough, he doesn’t pull, and he typically will be more likely to ignore bunnies and squirrels when we are moving very quickly. I suppose I might even learn to run with him, and with Sally.
When we first fostered Sally, she was heartworm positive and her activity was limited. That was hard on a big athletic dog like her. She weighs 65 pounds and is a mix of many strong breeds: German shepherd, rottweiler, pit bull, and even a little bit of husky.
The solution to dog behavior, apparently, is not always making them do what is convenient for you as the walker and owner, but rather to work with them as they are.
I learned this lesson before but with children. I learned with my three very different children that generic behavioral advice didn’t work. I had to understand them each individually and work with them as they arrived rather than using some abstract principles and practices that someone else said should work for all children.
I’m feeling excited for Sally to arrive, a new challenge in my life just when I needed one.