"curing" reactivity

[Dekka]

Its not that I offended, but remember when posting on a forum ALL we have to on on are words. So if you make up terminology as you go on you will make no sense.

I don't buy into the pack theory anyway (dogs are not pack animals in the traditional sense) I can tell you very picked on 'lowly' types roll just as much in horse poop as those that are uber confident.

[lizzybeth727]

Originally Posted by FourPaws

Lizzybeth,

Again, I don't mean to offend. I used the term only to illustrate a potential REASON for being under confident / over confident. (feelings of inadequacy brought about by something in the past when the dog was developing)

Yes, but size alone does not make a dog underconfident.... The most confident dog I've ever met was only 25 pounds. More often, the problem is lack of socialization, and owners allowing small dogs to exhibit behaviors they would never allow a large dog to exhibit. Neither of those are the dog's fault.

Originally Posted by FourPaws

You might have noticed I am very big on dog mentality. That is generally always the first thing I look to in any situation, because dogs, like ourselves, have feelings and personalities that need to be understood in order to understand the reason WHY they do something.

Well, this is an interesting point because I myself am actually NOT very "into" "dog mentality." Since we are not dogs, we will never know what dogs are thinking or feeling. Yes, I do agree that they have feelings and OF COURSE I do believe that they think, but to make assumptions about what they're thinking and feeling and use those assumptions to dictate our training plan, is usually detrimental. Of course there are many times when you need to understand why a dog is doing what he's doing, but I think that too often we humans get stuck in training because we think we know what the dog's thinking, when actually we're completely wrong.

FOR example: "Small dog syndrome." Let's say that my chihuahua is reactive to other dogs. Some people say she's reactive because she was attacked by a large dog when she was young. Some say she's reactive because she was simply not socialized when she was young. Still others say she's reactive because I have not shown her that I am dominant. I could spend a lot of time trying to figure out her mentality and why she's doing what she's doing, but I'd much rather spend that time just trying to figure out 1.) what her triggers are, and 2.) what should I do when she is presented with a trigger. How does knowing why she does it really help me solve the problem?