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How To Change The Emotional Path Of Your Anxious Or Reactive Dog

Post by: Helene Svinos in Dog Behaviour

It is difficult to own a reactive or anxious dog.  In many cases these 2 behaviours are closely linked, although this blog deals with reactivity the same techniques can be used with avoidance too.  

Many people are familiar with the downward spiral of reactivity increasing and increasing til you get to the frequent occurrence of a dog lunging uncontrollably on a walk whilst you the owner struggles to maintain hold let alone control.  

This escalation occurs as the undesirable behaviour - lunging, growling, barking etc all reinforces the dog - the scary thing, another human, a dog, a bike goes away or the dog is moved away.   However the stimulus is removed, to the dog that unwanted thing is now gone.   In the brain when something triggers an action, there is a short term release of chemicals to support the learning process and a short term improvement in the motor skill - the lunging, barking etc.  The more this occurs it causes a physical alteration in the actual brain structure and as the dog continues to be “successful”  at scaring away the bogey man it strengthens this change (it is reinforced) which is what is known as a neural pathway.  


This neural pathway of the undesirable behaviour is strengthened (reinforced) the more it occurs out on walks and so through this continued “practise” of reactivity, lunging etc becomes the dogs default.  

Just like getting the dog bowls out for dinner your dog will suddenly appear - you probably haven’t taught that but for your dog it is a recognised stimulus that the dog reacts to with his case a positive behaviour of appearing in the kitchen.

However, the brain is adaptable, something called neuroplasticity - which means that you can form a new neural pathway in the brain that results in a behaviour that you do want instead of lunging. 


My top 5 ways to help with changing the emotional response of your dog are, any behaviour change will use an interplay of all of this with different aspects more prevalent at different times.
  • Counter-Conditioning:
    • This method involves changing a dog's emotional response to a trigger by associating that trigger with something positive. For example, if a dog is reactive to other dogs, you might start by presenting a highly valued treat every time another dog appears (at a distance where your dog is still calm). Over time, the dog begins to associate the sight of another dog with good things (treats), rather than fear or aggression. The key is to start at a low intensity and gradually increase exposure as your dog's emotional response improves.
  • Desensitization:
    • Desensitization works hand-in-hand with counter-conditioning and involves gradually exposing the dog to the trigger at a very low intensity, slowly increasing the intensity as the dog becomes more comfortable. For instance, if your dog is anxious about loud noises, you might start by playing recordings of the noise at a very low volume, pairing it with something positive like a favorite toy or treat. As the dog shows no signs of anxiety, you can gradually increase the volume over many sessions. This helps the dog habituate to the trigger and perceive it as less threatening.
  • Management:
    • This isn't a training method to change behaviour directly, but it's crucial for preventing the behaviour from occurring and giving your dog a break from being overwhelmed. Management involves controlling the environment to avoid or minimize exposure to triggers. Examples include walking your reactive dog at off-peak hours, using a head halter or muzzle for safety and control, creating a "safe space" in the home, or using fences/gates to prevent access to stimulating areas. Effective management reduces stress for the dog and helps prevent the rehearsal of unwanted behaviors, making training more effective.
  • Mental and Physical Exercise:
    • Description: Anxious and reactive behaviours can often be exacerbated by boredom, pent-up energy, or a lack of mental stimulation. Providing appropriate enrichment helps to meet a dog's natural needs and can significantly reduce stress and reactivity. This includes regular physical exercise tailored to the dog's breed and energy level (e.g., long walks, fetch), as well as mental exercise like puzzle toys, scent work, training new tricks, or chew toys and freework. A well-exercised and mentally stimulated dog is generally calmer and less prone to anxious or reactive outbursts.
  • Positive Reinforcement Training (for alternative behaviors):
    • Instead of just reacting to triggers, you can teach your dog alternative, desirable behaviors using positive reinforcement. For example, if your dog barks and lunges at people on walks, you can teach them to look at you for a treat whenever a person approaches ("look at me" command). You are rewarding a calm, appropriate behavior that is incompatible with the unwanted reactive behavior. This empowers the dog with something else to do in a stressful situation and builds a positive association with listening to you, strengthening your bond. This often involves shaping behaviors in small, achievable steps and rewarding heavily.

Let's look a bit more at using an alternative behaviour such as “Middle”  which is a great behaviour to train and we use these chemical and physiological changes mentioned above to develop a new neural pathway for your dog that that can get more embedded and instinctive the more it is practised turning the old lunging behaviour into a dormant one and the new pathway the “middle” being the default.   

The brain creates the behaviour of middle - and the practise of that “middle” changes the brain.

Start teaching a middle at home in low arousal areas only when you have  the behaviour on cue - start teaching it outside.  

When you start outside make sure there are no triggers so this behaviour can be reinforced before you put it to the test.  

Slowly build up to having a trigger in a distance whilst you practice this behaviour.

You will find it useful to increase the value of the treats you use the closer you get to the trigger as you want the middle to be reinforced so choose your treats wisely.  Really up the ante whilst you are training this new behaviour.

Keep repetitions few especially when you head into doing it around triggers - you want to keep your dog below threshold as increased stress can affect the ability to learn.

Slowly but surely is the way to approach this.

Always finish training sessions off with some play as this helps to solidify the learning. 

For a video on how to teach a middle see my YouTube Playlist with my top 5 cues


Now it may be that your dog is struggling to much to do this and that is where I was with Inka.  Inka was too anxious to even take treats so we made no progress, we did freework but I could not desensistise her to the carpark gates where I live or the traffic.  Enter essential oils.  It was incredible, in just one session I had her going through the gates she had been too terrified of before. 

I used essential oils to calm her, boost confidence and help create those new neural pathways that she needed to progress,  Those behaviours that seemed impossible now started to appear, we started to make progress like I could not believe.  And the rest as they say is history!

If you would like to learn more about this have a watch of my Calming Canines Webinar and learn how I put all this into action

If you are ready to get started check out my Calming Canines Kit which has all you need to get started and comes with my free Essential Oils For Pets Course which includes a whole module on behaviour as well as training videos and indepth webinars.  You also get a bespoke plan and continued support.

Got questions feel free to get in touch

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Information given here is not intended as a substitute for medical or veterinary consultation - the author has no liability nor responsibility with respect to any issues occurring out of use such as damage, loss, injury.



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29 Oct 2021
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