When Does Reactivity Start?
- Not tied to a single age: Reactivity isn’t like teething — it doesn’t just pop up at 6 months on the dot. It can start in puppyhood, adolescence, or even adulthood.
- Common window: Many dogs first show reactivity during adolescence (6–18 months). This is when their confidence, hormones, and independence spike — kind of like teenagers testing boundaries.
- Learned vs. genetic: Reactivity can be influenced by genetics (some breeds and lines are predisposed), early experiences, or what the dog learns about the world. For example:
- A puppy that’s startled by a noisy truck and never shown that trucks are safe may grow into a reactive adult.
- A dog rewarded (even accidentally) for barking — like when barking makes the scary person go away — learns that reactivity “works.”
How Do You Stop It Starting?
Prevention is all about setting the right foundations:
- Socialisation (done right)
- Expose puppies to different dogs, people, environments, noises, and surfaces.
- Keep it positive and controlled — not overwhelming. One bad scare can undo ten good experiences.
2. Build Neutrality
- Dogs don’t need to love every dog/person they see. Teach that other dogs and people are background noise.
- Reward calm ignoring, not over-the-top greetings.
3. Impulse Control
- Start games and training that reward waiting, calmness, and focus on you (e.g., “look at me,” settle on a mat).
4. Handler habits
- Stay relaxed yourself. Dogs mirror tension. If you stiffen the leash every time you see another dog, yours learns to brace too.
5. Early Redirection
- If a pup shows early signs of fixating (staring, stiffening), redirect before it turns into a lunge/bark. Don’t wait for the full explosion.
Here’s a red flag checklist you can use to spot early signs of reactivity before it turns into lunging, barking, or meltdowns:
🚩 Early Signs of Developing Reactivity
- Excessive staring/fixation: Dog locks eyes on another dog/person and can’t look away.
- Body stiffening: Muscles go tight, tail freezes, ears perk forward — looks like they’re on high alert.
- Whining or whimpering: Frustrated vocalization when they can’t get to the trigger.
- Excessive pulling: Leash pressure spikes as soon as they see the “thing.”
- Hackles raised: Fur along the back standing up (not always aggression — but a big arousal sign).
- Exaggerated alert barking: Not the “hey, someone’s at the door” bark, but sharp, repetitive barks at a distance.
- Ignoring food or cues: If they usually take treats but suddenly won’t — their stress/arousal is too high.
- “Explosive” greetings: Throwing their whole body into lunging, pawing, whining to meet other dogs/people.
✅ What To Do If You See These Early Signs
- Interrupt gently: Don’t wait for it to escalate. Redirect with a cue like “look at me,” toss a treat on the ground, or change direction.
- Reward calmness: Mark and treat the split-second they break eye contact with the trigger.
- Distance is your friend: Reactivity thrives on closeness. Create space before the dog feels the need to escalate.
- Pattern games: Teach predictable focus games (like “1-2-3 treat” or “find it”) so they have a go-to coping strategy.
- Neutral exposure: Keep them under threshold — where they notice but don’t explode. That’s the sweet spot for learning.
👉 Think of reactivity as a snowball — if you catch it when it’s just a pebble (staring, whining), you can stop it rolling downhill into full-blown lunging.
“Reactivity Vaccine” routine. Prevention is better than cure.
Think of it like social and emotional inoculation for puppies so they don’t grow into reactive adults.
🐾 Reactivity Prevention Plan for Puppies
1. Socialisation Done Right
- ✅ Expose pups to dogs, people, noises, environments in short, positive bursts.
- ✅ Keep experiences below threshold (where they notice, but don’t panic or over-excite).
- 🚫 Avoid “flooding” (dumping them into off-leash parks or chaotic kids’ parties).
- 🎯 Goal: Calm curiosity → reward calm sniffing, looking, or choosing you over the distraction.
2. Neutrality Training
- ✨ Teach that other dogs and people are background noise, not a party invitation.
- 🐕 Walk near dogs without greeting every single one.
- 💡 Reward ignoring! Calmly walking past without fuss = jackpot.
- 🛑 Tip: Don’t let every stranger pat your pup — teaches overexcitement = reactivity in disguise.
3. Impulse Control & Focus
- 🎲 Games:
- “Look at Me” → reward for eye contact.
- “Leave It” → teaches them to disengage.
- “Settle on Mat” → builds calmness on cue.
- 💪 Practice daily in low-distraction settings, then gradually add in the “real world.”
4. Handler Habits
- 😎 Stay loose, calm, confident. Your leash tension and tone set the vibe.
- 🚶 Move smoothly past triggers instead of stopping to “see what happens.”
- 🧘 Breathing check: if you hold your breath when another dog approaches, so will your pup.
5. Early Redirection
- 🕵️ Catch it before it explodes:
- If pup stares too hard → call name + reward.
- If pup starts whining → distract with treat scatter (“find it”).
- 📏 Rule of thumb: If they won’t take food, you’re too close. Add distance.
6. Confidence Building
- 🧗 Introduce novel surfaces (grates, ramps, sand, etc.).
- 🎶 Play mild soundtracks (traffic, fireworks, kids screaming — YouTube has playlists).
- 🎁 Reward them for handling the “weird stuff” without stress.
7. Structured Positive Experiences
- 🐶 Controlled dog-dog time: playdates with calm, appropriate dogs, not free-for-alls.
- 👥 Meet friendly, dog-savvy humans — not pushy strangers who scare or overstimulate.
- 🌍 Short “training walks” where your pup’s job is just to practice calm observation.
🛡️ Golden Rules
- Under-threshold always beats overexposed.
- Reinforce calmness, not chaos.
- Prevention is a daily habit, not a one-off puppy school class.
👉 Do this consistently for the first year, and you’ve essentially given your pup a lifetime buffer against reactivity.
Kareema
Healing Energy Animals
Kareema is the owners of Healing Energy Animals where devil dogs, horrible horses and crazy cats are turned into perfect pets using Relationship Animal Training and over 50 years of experience training a wide variety of animals.
Healing Energy Animals provides owners and pet professionals assistance with with common pet behavior training, feeding and grooming issues such as barking, escaping, scratching, aggression and fleas. Kareema consults and writes widely on a range of pet care issues for owners and also assists pet care professionals in setting up and growing their businesses by the provision of customer handling advice, sales and marketing strategies and up to date product information that allows for the differentiation of their pet care business from their competitors.
Healing Energy Animals is an Australian business but operates worldwide via the provision of virtual services.
