Universally, animals play a huge role in our lives. In America alone, about 85 million families currently have a pet with over half of that number owning at least one dog. As someone who grew up around dogs and currently has two living rent-free in my apartment, it is one thousand percent worth it to have these bed-hogging, sock-eating, 3 am puking creatures in my life. If you have one yourself, you understand the obsession and the fact that the plentiful face kisses at the end of a long day always outweigh the challenges. And oh boy, there can be some tough challenges.
Throughout many of my posts, you’ve seen both my dogs hiking, backpacking, and trail running with me. We’re usually smiling with my red, sweaty face and their huge tongues bobbing out; the image embodying the perfect life. However, the behind-the-scenes outtakes are not so glamorous. I don’t talk about it much, but my brindle Dutch Shepard mix Honey is reactive and this behavioral issue greatly impacts our time on the trail.
Before owning Honey, I was oblivious to dog reactivity and other behavioral problems. I wasn’t aware of the challenges involved and the fact that they would influence our hikes and trips in a big way until I was in the thick of it with her. Reactivity is exactly what it sounds like and occurs when a dog becomes overwhelmed by certain stimuli that cause them to react in a way that can be difficult to manage. When confronted with a triggering situation, the dog may bark, whine, growl, lunge, or exhibit behavior that is typically labeled as being aggressive.
There are a few reasons why reactivity can occur in dogs. A dog may have a genetic predisposition toward this behavior, they may lack the social experience and proper training to appropriately handle potentially stressful situations, or a past traumatic event could be the root cause. Either way, as the owner, this kind of behavior can be particularly difficult to manage on a daily basis. For Honey and I, this is true.
Honey’s History
Little is known about Honey’s past other than the fact that she was surrendered to animal control after being seized from a hoarding situation. From what I understand, there was a trial and at the end of it, the owner could only choose to take back one or two of the dogs that were taken away. Needless to say, Honey was not chosen and remained at the shelter until I adopted her. I was not aware of her reactivity at the time, but honestly, I don’t think that would have made me change my mind about adopting her.
Honey by nature is very timid and scared of new people or experiences. I remember seeing her hiding underneath a chair in an attempt to make herself as small as possible during our first time meeting each other. I just knew that there was no way I could leave her there. Although my heart was in the right place, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Within 24 hours, Honey managed to escape. After animal control picked her up, I bailed her out of dog jail and realized then that I had to be more cautious around her.
For the first two weeks, she wouldn’t wag her tail or let me touch her. But soon, we started to have some breakthroughs and her close attachment to me began to set in. In the following months, we hiked, backpacked, and traversed sections of the Ozark Trail. She was there with me on my first couple of 20-mile days and solo overnights and we’ve continued to have great times together while outside. Soon her bond with me started to get more intense and her over-protectiveness became a much bigger issue.
Any time we ran into other dogs on the trail, she would completely fall apart and act like she wanted to attack them. It was alarming at first and I think I was in denial for quite a while before I really tried to get help. Not addressing her behavior only made things worsen, and as hiking became increasingly more difficult for her, I stopped taking her with me on many of the trails in our area unless I knew other dogs wouldn’t be there.
Eventually, I started seeking out the advice of a trainer and even though progress has been made, Honey still struggles with her reactivity. I won’t dive too deep into this because I could go on forever about it. I figured for this post, I would go over some of the things that I have learned so far when it comes to managing Honey’s behavior. This information can be relevant even if you don’t hike or own a reactive dog because it’s important to at least have more awareness around this misunderstood topic.
1. Recognize the triggers
For Honey, dogs are a major source of conflict, but the longer I have been around her, the more I’ve noticed that deer and squirrels can also set her off as well. For other dogs, men with beards, hats, or sunglasses on can trigger their reactivity. Small children can be an issue too as well as strangers that approach the dog suddenly (think postal worker or pizza delivery person).
Triggers that specifically relate to hiking involve people with big backpacks, other dogs, small or large wild animals, and other hikers that may not respect your dog’s space/boundaries. It’s important to recognize the specific triggers that can cause reactivity because once you confirm the source of anxiety or stress, you can start to address it in the future.
2. Read dog body language
Even though it would be really awesome if dogs could talk to us, they unfortunately, can’t, so it’s up to us as their owners to read their body language ALL THE TIME to notice how they may be feeling. Some signs or signals they exhibit might seem obvious to us like how a dog is relaxed when they roll on their back, belly up or how they are friendly when their whole body wiggles with their tail. Others are not so overt, like how panting, lip licking, or yawning can be a sign of anxiety.
When confronted with their trigger, reactive dogs may stop walking and become rigid as they fixate on the source of stress. Ears perked forward, hackles raised, tail high, and eyes that show more white than usual are all indicators that a dog is aroused and may start to react in a negative way if not intervened.
3. Know your escape options in all situations
This can be tricky depending on the situation, but when out with a reactive dog, it’s important to think about the possible escape options if the dog starts to get out of control. For Honey and I, going for walks in our neighborhood can be a stress-free experience on most occasions if planned correctly. However, hiking on a narrow, single-track trail complicates things a lot for reactive dogs and their owners.
Because it can be difficult to get away from other dogs on trails, I like to pick trails that have better escape options when hiking with Honey. Broad trails or single-track trails that have flat land on either side can be helpful for owners to give their reactive dog a wide berth from their trigger when passing by. Trails with steep drop-offs or hills on either side would not be a good idea because this limits the amount of space you can give the dog when trying to evade their trigger.
4. Get comfy with walking or hiking at odd times
If other dogs or people are the triggers and avoiding a reactive situation as much as possible is the main goal, it’s important to hike or visit parks at unpopular times of the day or week. Honey and I are fans of hitting up the trail on random Tuesdays at 1 pm. Bonus points if it’s below freezing, snowing, or raining because that decreases the chance of running into other dogs even more. Also, knowing which trails or parks are less frequently used in general than others can be a game changer as well.
5. Expect the unexpected!
With that being said, it’s also important to always expect something to not go as planned. There have been many situations where Honey and I have run into dogs with owners at odd times of the day, even when the weather sucks. We have also had to change our trail plans at the last minute depending on what we encounter. This looks like turning around sooner than I wanted, taking a different path to avoid other dogs, or even driving to the trailhead only to go right back home because it was way busier than I thought it would be. Off-leash dogs can also be a huge problem because nine times out of ten, these dogs don’t have the best recall which can quickly turn into a safety concern.
Is this a major bummer, yes it is. However, this is the reality of owning a reactive dog and I would rather skimp out on a hike than force Honey to endure a situation I know will only stress her out more than necessary. As a dog owner, it’s essential to be an advocate for your dog at all times. Don’t be afraid to stand up and say “No, you can not pet my dog,” “No, my dog can not get around your dog,” or “Please leash your dog.” Sometimes this can rub people the wrong way but at the end of the day, it’s better for all parties involved if we respect people’s boundaries both on and off the trail.
This was definitely one of the longer posts that I’ve done in a while, so if you made it to the end, congratulations! You get brownie points.
Thanks for tuning in this week and I hope you enjoyed all the dog talk! If you have any experience hiking with reactive dogs, be sure to comment on what you may have learned throughout this sometimes frustrating process.
See you out on the trail!