Reactive dogs — those that lunge, bark, or snap at triggers — are often misunderstood as aggressive when they are actually fearful. Evidence-based treatment improves welfare for dogs and their owners.
Canine reactivity represents a welfare problem affecting millions of dogs who live in a state of chronic fear and anxiety about specific triggers. Understanding reactivity as a fear response — not a dominance or aggression problem — is essential to appropriate treatment. Dogs on leash cannot choose the flight option that would normally resolve a fearful encounter; instead they redirect into barking, lunging, and snapping to make the trigger go away. Punishment for this behaviour — leash corrections, shock collars, physical restraint — suppresses the outward sign while intensifying the underlying fear, often producing more dangerous dogs over time. Evidence-based treatment involves systematic desensitisation (gradual, controlled exposure below the reaction threshold) combined with counter-conditioning (pairing triggers with highly valued rewards) to change the emotional response at its root.