What is reactivity?

 

I am posting this quote from Leslie McDevitt's book because I feel that this is something that many people have to deal with and many are ill-advised and oriented in the wrong direction.

"Reactivity comes from anxiety, which comes from feeling uncertain about something. Reactivity is an information-seeking strategy.  A reactive dog will rush towards something or someone that he is uncertain about, barking, lunging, growling, and making a big display. People sometimes perceive reactive behaviour as aggression, but a reactive dog is not rushing in to do damage; he is attempting to assess the threat level of a given situation. His assessment strategy is intensified because he is panicking as the adrenaline flows through his body. If a reactive dog learns to feel confident about something, he is less worried about that thing and therefore reacts less to it. People also sometimes perceive reactive behaviour as "dominance" because they view a dog that flies at his triggers as a dog that wants to take charge. This is absolutely not the cases. Reactive dogs are anxious, and their response is intense because they are freaking out.

That is why clear structures are necessary for anxious dogs. They need to know what is happening next, and they need to know they are safe. If left untreated (or if treated inappropriately with physical punishment), reactivity can escalate into aggression. Much, but not all, aggression is anxiety-related. Reactivity and anxiety-related aggression are simply different levels of response to a stressful situation. Anxiety-related aggression will occur when the dog is put in a situation that pushes him beyond what he can manage with a measured response. In these cases the dog's anxiety takes him to the next level of response."

Leslie McDevitt  "Control Unleashed" p. 25