Zero Pressure Socialization

Where a dog has struggled with some rather intense reactivity towards dogs in the past, which tells me that he’s actually very worried about other dogs, can you guess what we do A LOT of? Yup, we hang out practicing being calm and polite, minding our own business, and ignoring other dogs. When a dog is worried or nervous about other dogs, they don’t need more play time or excitement with them to ‘get over it’. This actually has the potential to erode the dogs confidence even further because for him it doesn’t feel like fun or like play time, it feels like pressure and harassment while in a highly mentally aroused state. Eventually, he’s going to have to take matters into his own paws by becoming reactive to make these dogs go away. So this approach actually makes discomfort and reactivity WORSE.

What this dog does need is a lot of calm experiences coexisting (so zero pressure) around other calm and polite dogs once his reactivity has been corrected. This is what I refer to as coexistence. The dogs don’t need to play, touch or interact physically in any way... we need to address dogs for doing this to another dog who isn’t into it, thereby advocating for their need for space. What the dogs do need to do is what I refer to as socializing... calmly coexisting while minding their manners, maintaining a calm mindset and being on their best polite behaviour while in each other’s presence and following the commands and leadership of the human in charge. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Place Command for this kind of work because it helps dogs learn how to relax... even in the presence of the triggers that once worried them. Doggie meditation. Calm on command. Off switch. Mindset training. Calm coexistence.