By Benah Stiewing
It’s never easy when our dogs struggle to feel secure in the world, especially when their fear is directed towards humans. We use the general term “Stranger Danger” to describe a dog that is reacting towards an unknown person in some way. This reaction could be wanting to flee or otherwise move away from the person, or directing “big behaviors” towards the person such as barking, growling or snapping. These behaviors could be directed to someone that the dog just met or someone they have known previously who suddenly appears in their environment.
Behavior is functional, meaning that when an individual is behaving in a certain way, it is to get certain outcomes from the situation. When a dog demonstrates behaviors such as barking, growling, snapping, or other unwanted behaviors towards a person, usually this is the dog’s way of asking for distance away from the scary stranger. The dog could be feeling threatened, overwhelmed, startled, or cornered - they use their behavior in an effort to get the space that they need to stop feeling those things.
Understanding Your Dog’s Body Language
Our dogs’ primary method of communication is body language. As humans who speak a different language from our dogs, we can easily miss what our dogs are trying to communicate when they use mild forms of communication. In order to truly understand and support our dogs we need to become familiar with the behaviors that dogs use to communicate.
When our dogs are worried about something, we often notice it the most when they have big behaviors that are hard to miss, such as barking, growling, hunching over, running away, or variations of those things. However, there are typically many smaller behaviors leading up to the big behaviors that are also worth noting and understanding, because they're going to tell us about how that dog is feeling before the dog is over their comfort threshold and they feel the need to use their big behaviors to get out of the situation. Watch the video below about how to read and understand what your dog is saying with their body language. To help our dog’s reactivity, it’s critical that we are able to recognize the early warning signs that something is wrong.
Management & Training
In addition to understanding body language, there are many ways we can support our dog experiencing stranger danger! Most “Stranger Danger” dogs are using their reactive behaviors to help them feel safe. If strangers are scary to the dog, and the dog’s barking makes the strangers go away, the barking behavior has worked to meet the dog’s need of feeling safer. If interactions with strangers go a different way every single time, the dog’s one option for creating a predictable outcome is to use their undesirable reactive behaviors to make it go away. We want to create a predictable way for the dog to experience strangers, so that they can start to feel more comfortable and safe without the need to bark or growl. Instead of stranger interactions being a big question mark to the dog, we can instead create a routine where the dog knows exactly what to expect and what to do. This not only keeps the dog (and the strangers) safe, but also builds the dog’s confidence that strangers maybe aren’t so dangerous after all.
We want to create a predictable routine for any moments where the dog becomes reactive. This may be your front door, on walks, or in the backyard. Wherever it occurs, we want to eliminate rehearsal of the undesired behavior through a different set of practiced behaviors. For example, if your dog struggles with door reactivity, have the dog behind a baby gate away from the door (i.e. kitchen or side office or hallway) or have the dog in a crate or bedroom completely away from the door (with food puzzle or other enrichment toy) until stranger is in the home and settled. Once the visitor has settled, bring your dog out on-leash (muzzled if necessary) and have them practice their visitor routine (like settling on a mat with frozen Kong). Aim for quality over quantity - if your dog can remain calm and relaxed for 15 minutes while being in the stranger’s presence, end the session there and put your dog away.
If your dog’s stranger danger mostly presents out and about in the world, limit those to positive, structured experiences. On a weekday morning (when there will be less traffic) visit a Lowes or Home Depot. Sit outside the building, far enough from the entrance that your dog can observe but is not reacting. Bring some form of enrichment, like a snuffle mat or Kong, and just sit calmly while your dog observes. If someone tries to approach you, have a few prepared sentences so you don’t scramble to create space. Here are a few ideas:
“My dog is really worried about new people and you could really help them out by staying right there and letting me reward them for just watching you.”
“Would you mind just taking a few steps back so that she can feel a little bit more comfortable about you?”
As you support your dog experiencing stranger danger, remember that your dog isn’t giving you a hard time, they are having a hard time. If you find an experience too difficult for you and your dog, try to remove yourself as quickly and calmly as possible, and brainstorm how you can avoid repeating it in the future. If you believe your dog may be at risk of biting you or someone else, we strongly suggest that you consider muzzle training, which you can find more information about by clicking here. We are always here to help, and especially love supporting teams who struggle with fear and anxiety.
Training Support for Your Human-Reactive Dog
Supporting fearful, reactive dogs is our passion! We understand how challenging a reactive dog can be, and we are here to help. We have our Reactivity in Dogs Mini-Course which is available fully virtually. If you are local to Fort Collins, CO, we have our Reactive Dog 101 group class! Training is done in a safe, low-stress classroom environment to teach you and your dog the skills to manage and modify your dog's current reaction to the presence of other dogs and people. Private lessons are an excellent way to work on your dog’s reactivity, with an individualized training program created for you and your dog. Private training is available in-person in Fort Collins, CO, Hudson, NY, and everywhere virtually!
Summit Dog Training offers group dog training classes & private lessons in Fort Collins, Colorado, as well as online self-study courses & online private lessons for education on how to live the best life with your dog! If you are looking for more training support, please don’t hesitate to contact us! We’d love to help you and your dog get ready for any adventure.