When we think of impulse control in dogs, many of us will think of the behavioural choices our dogs will make. We think of those ‘big’ behaviours. Perhaps they are quick off the mark. Maybe they react with more intensity than is required in the situation. Impulse control also relates to attentional processes too. We…
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When our dogs bark and lunge at other dogs or at people passing by, it can be very confusing. They may also struggle with other animals or vehicles, wanting to chase them and even grab them. It’s confusing because the narrative we have often been led to believe is that our dogs are fearful or…
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Many dogs bark and lunge on walks. Sometimes they react to other dogs they see, perhaps even barking from the car. Other dogs struggle with unfamiliar humans they encounter, barking at people who approach them. Some dogs also struggle with moving vehicles, wildlife, livestock or other things. It’s not uncommon for some dogs to struggle…
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Ruling out frustration and impulsivity when working with dogs who bark and lunge is vital. Many dogs in the Western world have been selected for responsiveness and trainability. When we selected dogs to help us hunt, protect flocks or protect our property, we certainly wouldn’t have wanted dogs who were slow off the mark. A…
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Knowing when to visit the vet with your reactive dog is important. There can be many reasons behind barking and lunging. Those reasons can be a direct result of health issues. They may also be worsened by poor health. Helping your dog with behaviour is not simply for a dog trainer or behaviour consultant. Anxiety…
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If you have a dog who barks and lunges, you may be surprised if a behaviour consultant asks you to stop by the vet. Surely there aren’t medical conditions that contribute to barking and lunging are there? In 2020, Professor Daniel Mills published an influential paper with nineteen other authors from across Europe, the UK,…
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It is vital to understand why dogs bark and lunge at other dogs. When we lack clarity as to why they behave as they do, then we run the risk of ineffective treatment. Worse, we run the risk of adding to their problems rather than decreasing them. In his chapter in Landsberg et al. (2023),…
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The gold standard treatment for helping dogs who are fearful of things is gradual exposure. This is something most of us recognise for ourselves. Whether we’re trying to help our dogs get used to noises that cause a fear response, or to people who scare them, we understand that we are trying to help them…
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We all know that unpleasant experiences are not created equal. This is especially true for our dogs. If you have a dog who panics at the vet, you will probably have experienced this first hand. There are plenty of experiences in life that are not the end of the world, but our dogs categorise those…
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Is it important to distinguish between fear and anxiety in dogs? Can we even distinguish between them? Does it matter? Thinking about canine emotions can be very tricky. On the one hand, if we think of our dogs experiencing the full range of emotions in exactly the same way humans do, we misunderstand the canine…
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