A lot of people think avoidance is bad. I disagree. Specifically in the context of a reactive dog. Avoidance is the first step and shows the dog can and will make a different choice. If we're talking about a dog that typically EXPLODES at another dog and through training and using rewards and corrections (among other things) they do not explode and instead, move away from the dog, that is
When a dog reacts like a woodchipper on a leash to something like a car, bike or other dog and you are able to near perfectly correct that wrong choice, usually the next thing they display is avoidance of the trigger and people seem to hate this, I don't understand why. Dogs in avoidance are typically very flat and suppressed here. However, this is not the end goal. No one wants the dog to stay in avoidance and if you're smart, you don't correct avoidance or force exposure beyond the dog's capacity and you won't throw a parade for the dog for being avoidant and bring their energy right back up when the goal is to bring energy to a calm, neutral state. So you aren't correcting avoidance or forcing exposure and you aren't going crazy with rewards if they don't react (sidenote: don't confuse "not reacting" to "calm" or "neutral"). You are by definition, neutral. We're showing that nothing crazy, stressful, exciting, dangerous or even interesting is happening.
When that same trigger happens again and the dog is avoidant, I'm not gonna do anything, I won't correct them. Why? They have made a choice and changed their default behaviour. This is the first step in changing their mind. With continued exposure and lack of correction or even appropriate rewards in the proximity of triggers, you move past avoidance towards true neutrality or acceptance. This is when the dog stops being flat and now has clarity and confidence around the trigger, with you and in itself. That's the difference.
Looking at avoidance with a fearful or insecure dog is different but still helpful. It is communication and gives me information on what I need to work on with this dog and how. Avoidance with these types of dogs means that whatever they are avoiding is something to be conquered. It's opportunity to build their self confidence and the trust between you. I don't allow dogs to keep being avoidant when it comes to fear of something, otherwise they'll never grow and develop beyond that. They stay stuck in the fear and that's not good. Similarly with reactive dogs, once we have worked through it initially, fearful dogs will be compliant and go through the "scary" thing voluntarily but not enthusiastically. That is okay. Trying too hard to get there, too fast, won't be beneficial either. They may never be enthusiastic about it but we can certainly work them to a point they have an understanding of the "scary" thing and have enough confidence in themselves and trust in us that they'll work through it voluntarily.
Don't be scared or overly concerned with avoidance when working with aggressive or reactive dogs. Don't allow soft and fearful dogs to keep being avoidant, work them through it so they can be free from the fear. Dogs are much more capable than we often give them credit for.
Remind yourself that this isn't the final result, it is only a first step and one element to changing your dogs mindset in the long term. It is progress, keep going!
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