Are you managing your dog's reactivity or rewiring it?

 

First — I’m really glad you took the assessment. You took a step in the right direction to help your dog.

 

And before you look at your score, I want you to know something important:

 

This is not a pass/fail test.  This is a diagnostic tool to help you move in the right direction. 

 

Like you, I did a lot of things that didn't get me to where I wanted with my reactive dog, and it was an emotional journey for me (never mind the dog ;). I created this program so that you wouldn't struggle like I did, but there's a lot of noise out there. 

 

Reactive dog training can be confusing because everyone has different advice about what to do with reactivity.

 

Scatter treats. Ask for a command. Turn around. Create distance. Wait for disengagement.

 

Those strategies can all help you manage a reaction.

 

But this assessment is looking at something different:

 

Are you managing what your dog does — or are you actually changing how your dog feels when they see another dog?

 

Changing how your dog feels about a trigger doesn't require any words or commands or looking away. It does require your dog to look at what they're afraid of. If I'm no longer afraid of the water, I'm swimming, I'm not looking at you or avoiding the water, right?

 

The answers in italics on the assessment reflect the things I’m looking for when the goal is changing the emotional response — things like intensity, processing and recovery.

 

What does your score mean?

14+ — Mostly Managing

Right now, much of your training is focused on preventing, interrupting or controlling what your dog does when another dog appears.

 

That doesn't mean you're doing something wrong.

 

Management is important.

 

But managing a reaction and changing the emotional response underneath it aren't the same thing.

 

9–13 — Stuck Between Managing & Changing

You're starting to look beyond simply stopping the barking and lunging, but you may not have a clear process for changing the emotion underneath it.

 

You may see progress sometimes but aren't always sure what to do next, when to progress or what to change after a reaction.

 

0–8 — Rewiring the Emotional Response May Be Happening

You're already thinking beyond simply controlling your dog's behavior.

 

You're paying attention to the emotional response itself: intensity, processing, recovery and what happens from one repetition to the next.

 

That doesn't necessarily mean your dog's reactivity has been rewired yet — but you're looking at the information I want you looking at.

 

Here's what I really want you to take away from this.

 

A successful repetition isn't simply:

 

“My dog didn't bark.”

 

I want to know:

 

Can your dog see another dog without continuing to escalate?

 

Can they process what's happening?

 

Can they recover?

 

Are reactions becoming less intense over time?

 

Is recovery getting faster?

 

And what happens when they see the next dog?

 

Because if your dog reacts, that doesn't automatically mean you failed.

 

It gives us information.

 

We look at why the reaction happened, how quickly your dog recovered and what needs to change for the next repetition.

 

The goal isn't to create a dog who never notices another dog.

 

In fact, I WANT your dog to notice them and look at them.

 

I want to change what seeing another dog means to your dog.

 

That's the difference between managing reactivity and rewiring the emotional response.

 

And that's exactly what I want for you, I want you to rewire how your dog feels so that you can enjoy life with him, walking, cafe's, hikes and more.  

So don't beat yourself up over your score.

I've been in your shoes too — and I did it with a lot less information than you have right now.

 

You've got this. ❤️

 

Talk to you soon,

Sherry the Dog Trainer
CPDT-KA, KPA CTP
All About Training Dogs LLC

 

Ps. You should get an email with this same information, but sometimes the email doesn't trigger, so I added this instead. Sorry if you got both.