It can take between 48 and 72 hours for your dog to come fully back down off their stress high and if subsequent arousing events occur, then your dog is highly likely to react
What happened when three sighthounds met up at my house
My brother and his partner brought their two greyhounds round last week. Their large male, Hector, has only been with them a couple of weeks. Gus had met him the previous week and he and Hector had got on well. Daughter no 1 was keen to meet up so her whippet cross greyhound, Pepper, could meet his friend Matilda and be introduced to Hector too.
They met first in our courtyard. To everyone’s surprise, Matilda acted quite aggressively towards Pepper, snarling and growling, and they had to be pulled apart. Then in the arena where previously we had had no problems, Hector tried to chase and attack Pepper too – luckily Hector was muzzled. Pepper was a little cowed, but otherwise unhurt.
Brother and partner were shaken and surprised by their dogs’ reactions. They had never seen either dog behave aggressively before.
Reactivity is linked to stress
Think how you react after a near miss when driving – you remain shaking and more alert and reactive for quite some time after then initial scare. Dogs are the same. It can take between 48 and 72 hours for your dog to come fully back down off their stress high and if subsequent arousing events occur, then your dog is highly likely to react.
It turned out that around an hour before they arrived, Matilda and Hector had had a slight altercation with a marauding cat on their walk and brother and his partner had struggled to hold them as the dogs tried to chase the cat.
Their reactivity and aggression towards Pepper was no fault of his but was almost certainly the result of both the visiting dogs being highly aroused by the cat incident.
Why we can teach your dog to calm down
You and your dogs can’t learn when you are in the throes of high emotion. Could you recite your nine times table straight after a near miss in your car? Could you recite your favourite poem when you hear noises downstairs in the middle of the night? No – your brain and body are so focused on preparing for fight or fight there’s no room for anything else in those situations.
That’s why we focus so much initially on helping your dog calm right down in our Reactive Rover course. Only when your dog is calm are they receptive to learning a different way to react. And that’s what we focus on in the course.
Does your dog bark at other dogs or people?
Are you worried they might bite a visitor?
Help your Reactive Dog today. Sign up for the next live taught, online Reactive Rover course which starts this Thursday 30th September. There are twelve sessions over four weeks where you’ll learn how to understand and help your dog (and yourself).
I’d love to see you there.
Keep training and stay safe,
Carol
