Reactive dog walk log

Eight weeks of walks for a dog that lunges or has a hard time passing other dogs or people. Each row is one walk: the date, what set the dog off, how far away it was, a mark from 0 to 3, and a note. Fill it on the screen, or print it and write.

Dog Start date

Below threshold

Below threshold, the dog can notice the other dog or person, take food with a soft mouth, look away without being asked, and keep a loose body. A closed mouth, a stiff body, a stare that sticks, or a hard grab for the food means you are too close. Add distance and end that pass. Taking food, on its own, does not mean the dog is below threshold.

The 0 to 3 marks are labels for this sheet:

0. Noticed, body loose, looked away, took food with a soft mouth.
1. Needed more space, and could still look away and take food.
2. Stiff body, closed mouth, a stare that stuck, or a hard grab for the food.
3. Barked, lunged, or did not settle.

When to get help

Talk to a veterinarian first, then a veterinary behaviorist or a certified behavior consultant, if your dog has bitten or snapped, growls at people at home or at children, guards food or toys, changed suddenly, seems to be in pain, cannot settle, or pulls hard enough that you cannot hold the leash. Pain and illness can sit under a new reaction. This sheet is a log. It cannot assess a dog, and it does not say the walks will change the reactions.

How it works

The 0 to 3 marks are labels for this sheet, lined up with the below-threshold check in Threshold. Eight weeks matches that plan’s length. The log is saved in this browser only.

The check follows the usual rule for fearful dogs: stay at a distance where the dog can still respond, and do not push the dog into the thing that scares it until the dog shuts down. Hammerle et al., 2015 AAHA Canine and Feline Behavior Management Guidelines, Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association, doi.org/10.5326/JAAHA-MS-6527. Reward-based training, and a veterinary visit when a dog is fearful or aggressive, is the position in the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior statement on humane dog training (2021). Look at That, as a named game, is from Leslie McDevitt, Control Unleashed (2007 and 2019). No controlled study has tested that book under that name.

The phone app that plans this kind of practice one week at a time is Threshold. It is not on the App Store or Google Play yet.