FEATURE
The group of respondents included 159 dog guardians , 28 percent of whom worked with dogs professionally , and 14 percent of whom held qualifications to work with dogs . 1 Although the research was based in the United Kingdom ( U . K .) only 114 of the participants were from the U . K . The others were from other countries , and 21 countries total ( including the U . K .) were represented . A majority of participants had at least an undergraduate degree , with roughly 20 percent having only completed primary or secondary education or received a Foundation degree or Higher National Diploma . 2
Can we get back to “ reactivity ” already ? Let ’ s start by talking about what the authors called “ reactivity .” To the authors , one typical example of reactivity was barking and lunging . The authors suggested those behaviors might be a result of over-arousal from discomfort or excitement , and several things they said suggested they view reactive barking and lunging as a kind of distance-increasing behavior . ( Irith and Kristina don ’ t think the cause of barking or lunging is always about increasing distance , by the way , but we ’ ll move on from that point ). A key point ( and something we do agree with ) is that reactivity is often cited as a reason to euthanize a dog or surrender a dog to a shelter . That makes it even more urgent for us to understand what people mean by the term .
So what did the respondents say ?
• 129 ( 74 percent ) of the respondents had heard of the term “ reactivity ” in relation to dogs .
• 57 ( 33 percent ) of the respondents thought it was a useful term , while 73 ( 42 percent ) viewed it as “ sometimes useful .” That means a total of 75 percent of the respondents found value in the term “ reactivity .” ( Side note : That ’ s one more person than said they knew the term !)
• 134 ( 77 percent ) of the respondents said they would consider adopting a dog classed as having reactive behaviors , but 75 ( 43 percent ) of the respondents said whether they would adopt that type of dog depended on the breed .
When asked why reactive behaviors occur , a whopping 166 attributed the cause of reactive behaviors to the guardian . That is 95 percent of the respondents are blaming the person holding the leash . This raises a lot of questions the authors did not answer in this study . Are we simply predisposed to blame the handler ? Do people hesitate to blame a dog ? Do we all think other people are poorly behaved or have the wrong habits ? Given that so many cases of what R + dog professionals call reactivity are not primarily the handler ’ s fault , this is an interesting finding .
Other possible reasons for reactivity , according to respondents , included the dog ’ s previous experience ( 156 , or 89 percent of respondents ), the environment ( 140 , or 80 percent ), breeding practices ( 119 , or 68 percent ), genetics ( 112 , or 64 percent ) and breed traits ( 87 , or 50 percent ).
But how did respondents define reactivity ? As you may well be expecting , “ reactivity ” was defined a lot of different ways by respondents . Here are some of the types of definitions that respondents shared , in broad terms ( in other words , these aren ’ t the exact words used ):
• Reactivity as a literal behavioral response , where the actual behavior of the dog was mentioned Typical behaviors mentioned included growling , barking , lunging , and sound sensitivity . Respondents typically associated the behaviors mentioned with the dog experiencing some kind of distress . Fear was mentioned often as well . Some considered these normal dog behaviors that were to be expected in the given situation ( side note from us : whether these behaviors in the contexts they sometimes appear in is normal is debatable , but …), and made statements about barking being natural behavior , etc . Some talked about reactive behaviors happening in response to emotions ( which is likely the case ). Others referred to overexcitement or overarousal . There were also some who mentioned breed and genetics as a factor .
• Reactivity as a problematic temperament Another type of response attributed reactivity to fundamental temperament . Dogs with reactivity were anxious , fearful , or aggressive . Causes such as genetics , developmental issues , medical illness , and trauma were suggested . Some talked about temperament being inherited from the sire and dam and felt that was a more important factor than the breed of the dog .
• Reactivity as ( un ) acceptable [ to humans ) behavior Some respondents felt that the term “ reactivity ” was used as a human label for any behavior humans found unacceptable . This arguably blames the human again . Others said more or less the opposite : They considered reactivity to be more akin to responsiveness , and said it was a good thing .
• Reactivity as a starting point Some respondents argued that reactivity is a useful label that helps guardians get their minds around the cause of their dog ’ s behavior and what might be done to address it . These respondents felt reactivity was a better label than “ aggressive ,” whose connotations are more negative .
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