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About
About
When I begin working with the guardians of a reactive dog, they all have the same question: How long?
How long until my dog can have playdates at the park?
How long until I stop getting the stink-eye from other dog walkers?
How long until we can sleep in without a hysterically yapping alarm clock?
Basically, How long until we can do all the normal 'dog things' that reactive dogs are not able to do?
And, while I wish I had better news, there's only one truthful answer: It takes as long as it takes.
In reactivity recovery, we are asking the dog to rewire deeply entrenched neural pathways and build new ones. That's hard work for anyone, but particularly for an instinct-driven, fast-learning animal like a dog! The dog's genetics, lived experiences, and even their health status will all play a part in in how tricky their reactivity is to tackle.
The good news is, YOU (not I!) have a great degree of control over how quickly your dog progresses.
The more diligent you are about sticking to the program and the more proactive you are about putting in the work, the faster you will see improvements.
Instead of working on a timeline, we will work in 'phases' and determine when to progress based on your dog's behaviour!
To learn more about my phased approach, see below!
Ground Zero - The Consult
Ground Zero - The Consult
You can expect our consult to take at least an hour; there's a lot to go over!
All adults in the household should be present if possible.
During our consult, please do not interfere with your dog's behaviour. Your dog's behaviour is important data, and the more 'unfiltered' data I can collect, the faster I can build a behaviour plan!
Please be prepared to discuss your dog's history and behavioural challenges in detail (Making notes beforehand will be helpful!). We will go over what methods have been attempted to manage or change the behaviour, as well as what changes were noticed with those methods.
At the end of our consultation, I will give you management tips to create foundations for our work together and to make life easier for you and your dog!
Note: A non-refundable $50 fee is charged for the consult. This fee is applied as a rebate to new client accounts.
Red Phase: Foundations
Red Phase: Foundations
The first step to changing reactivity is creating a strong 'foundation' on which to build new neural pathways.
When a dog experiences repeated cortisol spikes and crashes, their nervous system becomes dysregulated. This severely affects their ability to learn and retain new skills. Before we can effect lasting behavioural change, we need to stabilize the nervous system.
We will work together to discover and fill any gaps in your dog's socialization, and begin to change their emotional response to their triggers by careful desensitization.
I will teach your dog behaviours required to manage reactivity 'in the real world', and we will drill those behaviours together in low-distraction environments.
Finally, we will develop and deepen your understanding of reactivity, empowering you to understand what your dog is experiencing and how to help them!
Orange Phase: Driver's Ed
Orange Phase: Driver's Ed
At this stage, we will begin practicing your new skills in a higher distraction environment.
Walks will be carefully re-introduced, with close focus on your dog's ability to cope and on your ability to monitor and manage your dog's level of stress.
In this phase, our goal is strengthening--not testing--the skill set that you and your dog have learned together!
Remember when you graduated from the Driver's Ed classroom to your first drive in a sleepy cul-de-sac? Before you were ready to hit the 401, you practiced taking your new knowledge from theoretical to practical.
This stage of learning is very similar!
Yellow Phase: Hitting the Road, 1
Yellow Phase: Hitting the Road, 1
Once we feel confident in your dog's new set of skills, we will re-introduce more 'normal' outings like parks and pet stores.
At this stage, I will be handling the leash as I talk through the what's and why's of your dog's experience and how I am responding to keep them under threshold.
No matter how much practice we do at home, the 'real world' will always have a surprise or two in store. This stage is centred on managing a recovering reactive dog in public to keep things on the right track!
Green Phase: Hitting the Road, 2
Green Phase: Hitting the Road, 2
Now that you have drilled your coping mechanisms to perfection and learned how to manage outings, it's time for you to put it all together.
In this stage you to take over handling your dog, while I provide guidance and feedback along the way.
By the end of this phase, you will feel comfortable managing potentially triggering situations as well as reading and responding to your dog's cortisol level from moment to moment!
Graduation
Graduation
Congratulations!
You've made it through the four phases of reactivity recovery.
While Graduation will look slightly different for each family, here are some of the skills required to consider our work complete!
Your dog should be able to self-regulate around triggers.
When unsure, your dog should look to you before addressing a situation or trigger.
Quick recovery from reactions if they do happen (Remember, the world will always have a surprise in store to keep us on our toes!)
Most importantly,
You feel confident managing your dog , and are able to find new heights of joy in dog guardianship!
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