# Ep 119 Dog Reactivity at Home: Top Tips for Explosive, Unpredictable Behaviour

An episode of [Help! My Dog: The Podcast. Dog Behaviour & Training Strategies that Work!](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1721245241), 11 Mar 2026, 14 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2287608/episodes/18698863-ep-119-dog-reactivity-at-home-top-tips-for-explosive-unpredictable-behaviour.mp3

Does your dog go from zero to one hundred in the blink of an eye? One moment they’re relaxed at home, and the next they’re barking, jumping or even biting? You’re not alone! In this week’s episode we’re diving into why our dogs might seem to be unpredictably reactive at home. We’ll explore why our dogs flip from calm to chaotic in an instant, and how seemingly insignificant events, like the neighbour knocking the door, a cat appearing in the garden or post and deliveries arriving, can add up to big reactions. Don’t worry; we’ll be stripping everything right back to basics and helping you to take a fresh look at your dog’s behaviour, as well as equipping you with some handy tips and tricks that you can try to get to the bottom of those unpredictable moments! ................ Whether your dog is unpredictable with other dogs or predictably bad… Whether it looks like freezing, barking, lunging or running away… Whether you are just starting out on your dog-owning journey or your dog has been labelled as having a “behaviour problem”… … this episode is for you and is going to give you huge insights! Want to join the Help! My Dog Online HUB? Here's the link: www.helpmydog.com/hub Dr Tom Mitchell is a world-renowned veterinarian, behaviourist and dog trainer and director of the Behavet behaviour clinic (rated Excellent on Trustpilot), which sees over 400 pet behaviour consultations each and every month no matter where you are in the world. In 2023, he founded Help! My Dog, an online dog behaviour learning platform to help even more owners all over the world and show that dog behaviour transformation is not only possible but it's FUN, with the right know-how! Make sure to subscribe/follow the podcast for the free weekly episodes! Useful Links: Follow Help! My Dog on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helpmydogofficial/ Schedule a Consultation with Behavet: https://www.beha.vet/ Follow Behavet on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/behavet

## Transcript

[0:00] SPEAKER_00: But there should be another window between settle, being settled, and reacting.
[0:05] SPEAKER_00: And it's called being disturbed.
[0:07] SPEAKER_00: Yeah?
[0:08] SPEAKER_00: Being mildly offended.
[0:10] SPEAKER_00: It strikes me that your dog's not good at the whole mild offense.
[0:13] SPEAKER_00: They go, I am absolutely mortified, yeah, I am barking, I am lunging.
[0:17] SPEAKER_00: Before we dive in, a warning.
[0:20] SPEAKER_00: The content of this podcast may not be appropriate for some young listeners.
[0:25] SPEAKER_00: This is real life, and that means that sometimes it can be a little bit graphic.
[0:30] SPEAKER_00: So listen on at your own peril.
[0:33] SPEAKER_00: As a veterinarian, dog behaviourist, best-selling author and trainer, over the past decade, I've had an obsession with transforming the behaviour of dogs.
[0:42] SPEAKER_00: Understanding their brains and creating practical strategies that you can implement easily at home.
[0:48] SPEAKER_00: I know all too well when the dream you imagined when you first got your dog is far from your daily reality.
[0:54] SPEAKER_00: In fact, out of the blue, a few months ago, my little dog Gorse was bitten by a dog 20 times her size.
[1:01] SPEAKER_00: And suddenly our life of stress-free walks, a calm and cuddly household, and being teammates was replaced with reactivity, anxiety, and worrying about what's around the next corner.
[1:12] SPEAKER_00: I'm Dr.
[1:13] SPEAKER_00: Tom.
[1:13] SPEAKER_00: This is the Help My Dog Podcast, and this is me documenting that journey of transformation, sharing my knowledge and experience with you and having a few laughs along the way.
[1:24] SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to this episode of the Help My Dog Podcast.
[1:29] SPEAKER_00: And today we've got a listener's question again, because you guys are finding these really helpful and you're getting value from them, and we've always got questions.
[1:37] SPEAKER_00: So uh love the podcast, Tom, and my question is about my dog reacting at home.
[1:45] SPEAKER_00: She will be sleeping peacefully, then all of a sudden she barks and lunges at my husband and runs and barks at the window.
[1:54] SPEAKER_00: What do I do?
[1:56] SPEAKER_00: So I probably need a little bit more information, but what I thought would be useful is to go through some tips about why dogs might have, you know, zero to 100 type reactivity at home, and what would be some initial things that you can do to improve it.
[2:10] SPEAKER_00: Because I imagine that you know there are a lot of um lot of listeners that have dogs that do bark in the household, and it can be really, really quite stressful.
[2:18] SPEAKER_00: Um so, first things first, the first reason why your dog might be just suddenly barking and running and lunging and jumping at the window and whatever else might be because if you think of their stress system as like a stress bucket, and that bucket can get filled by all kinds of different things.
[2:38] SPEAKER_00: It can get filled by excitement, it can get filled by fear, it can get filled by frustration throughout the day, it can get filled by, for example, um health conditions, like if they have um have any kind of soreness or pain, that will pay into their bucket.
[2:55] SPEAKER_00: It can be um filled by if they're itchy, right?
[2:59] SPEAKER_00: And they, I don't know, they've got seasonal allergies or something and they're a bit itchy.
[3:03] SPEAKER_00: That can fill it.
[3:04] SPEAKER_00: And so what I'm saying is that these barking episodes might just be the tip of the iceberg, right?
[3:11] SPEAKER_00: They might just be the straw that broke the camel's back.
[3:15] SPEAKER_00: Then it's an awful saying, isn't it?
[3:17] SPEAKER_00: They might just be the shot glass that went into the bucket that led to it tipping to tipping over, not what actually was the majority of the fill of that bucket, okay?
[3:30] SPEAKER_00: And so what I would love you to think about is well, bearing in mind excitement, exciting things, scary things, frustrating things, pain, itchiness, gastro upset, all of those things might be contributors to your dog's bucket.
[3:44] SPEAKER_00: Are there things that might make up the majority of the fill of that bucket right now?
[3:49] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[3:50] SPEAKER_00: Um, because it it's often the things that are filling the bucket a lot are not the presenting problem, right?
[3:58] SPEAKER_00: They're not the the the thing that you're getting in touch with me about.
[4:02] SPEAKER_00: And actually they might be things that you can do something about them.
[4:06] SPEAKER_00: And and so um uh and and and with that, like what do you do about them?
[4:12] SPEAKER_00: Well, there's really nearly always two options or or or three options, um, I guess.
[4:18] SPEAKER_00: First option is avoid it.
[4:20] SPEAKER_00: Is it something that actually your dog doesn't need to have in their days or their weeks, right?
[4:24] SPEAKER_00: They don't need to go to the park and madly chase the frisbee and end up with a you know a close to overflowing bucket from excitement.
[4:33] SPEAKER_00: Is that just an avoid situation?
[4:35] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[4:36] SPEAKER_00: Um second option with anything that fills a dog's bucket is can we reduce it?
[4:40] SPEAKER_00: So we can't avoid it.
[4:42] SPEAKER_00: Um our dogs don't have the skills right now to think that it's um uh to to think that it's nothing to worry about or can to be calming in that context, but it's a situation we cannot avoid.
[4:55] SPEAKER_00: How can we make it 1% better?
[4:57] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, how can we make it 2% better, 3% better?
[5:01] SPEAKER_00: Because ultimately that has a knock-on effect on how much fills the bucket, right?
[5:05] SPEAKER_00: How can we make it slightly quieter?
[5:07] SPEAKER_00: How can we make it our dog's response not be quite so extreme?
[5:11] SPEAKER_00: Like, for example, could they be on lead in that context?
[5:14] SPEAKER_00: Would that make a difference?
[5:15] SPEAKER_00: So nearly always there are like you know, three to five different little tiny things that you could do that would make a situation just that slight bit better, yeah?
[5:23] SPEAKER_00: And and actually those things add up.
[5:26] SPEAKER_00: Um, and then the third one, hey guys, I just want to take a moment to answer a question that has been coming in in literally 10 emails a day, and that is how can we help you with your dog's behavior struggle, whether that be reactivity, separation, anxiety, resource guarding, maybe you've got multi-dog household struggle right now, maybe your dog's just so overaroused on a walk that they just can't listen to you and they're chasing everything inside.
[5:51] SPEAKER_00: Like, can I get Tom's help?
[5:53] SPEAKER_00: Um, and the answer is that actually you can, and you can do that by booking a behaviour consultation.
[6:01] SPEAKER_00: That's where literally my team give you the plan on how to transform your struggle and get you to that dream that that that made you get a dog in the first place, right?
[6:11] SPEAKER_00: Your world's got smaller and smaller and smaller, and actually it doesn't need to be that way.
[6:15] SPEAKER_00: You just need to reach out for help.
[6:17] SPEAKER_00: Now, a couple of things to say on that.
[6:19] SPEAKER_00: First of all, if you're insured, if your dog's insured with Pet Plan, Kennel Club, Agria, or many pets, we actually do direct claims with them, which means that that's covered by your insurance.
[6:29] SPEAKER_00: So you don't pay out of your pocket, your insurance covers that.
[6:33] SPEAKER_00: And the second thing to say is that we have loads of options if you're insured with another provider, or if your dog's not insured at all, that's also totally fine.
[6:41] SPEAKER_00: We have loads of options that we've developed to make this so accessible for you.
[6:46] SPEAKER_00: Um because we're aware that you've already invested a load of time and a load of money in getting your dog, looking after your dog, caring for your dog.
[6:53] SPEAKER_00: But the last thing we want is for you to have done all that and still not be living the life that you deserve with your dog.
[6:58] SPEAKER_00: And we know we can get you there.
[6:59] SPEAKER_00: So all you need to do is go to the Behave Vet website, and the way to do that is go B E H A.V-E-T.
[7:09] SPEAKER_00: That's behot vet, and it will take you there.
[7:13] SPEAKER_00: Or just Google Behave Vet, right?
[7:15] SPEAKER_00: Um, and you can get scheduled in, and we can literally get you booked in for a consultation as soon as possible.
[7:22] SPEAKER_00: We normally can accommodate it within a week, right?
[7:24] SPEAKER_00: So that you can be getting to your dream ASAP.
[7:27] SPEAKER_00: Um, and then the third one is well, what skills does my dog need to be able to not just survive that bucket filling situation, but thrive in it.
[7:39] SPEAKER_00: In other words, it's no longer a bucket filler.
[7:42] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[7:42] SPEAKER_00: It's a little bit like um uh uh something that a great coach of mine says to me is solve or evolve, right?
[7:49] SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we have, sometimes we can solve something, we can solve a problem.
[7:54] SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we have to evolve to thrive in that problem, right?
[7:59] SPEAKER_00: And it's very much the same when we're thinking about our dogs.
[8:02] SPEAKER_00: Solve would be well, can I avoid the problem or can I reduce the problem, right?
[8:07] SPEAKER_00: Can't do either of those things, or I can do those things, but actually I'd like to also prepare for that being a thing in his life again.
[8:15] SPEAKER_00: Well, how does my dog evolve?
[8:17] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, do they need more, do I need to grow the skill of calmness more?
[8:21] SPEAKER_00: Do I need to grow the skill of disengagement more?
[8:24] SPEAKER_00: Do I need to grow the skill of optimism more?
[8:26] SPEAKER_00: All these things you can learn about in the Help My Dog Hub, which like our membership with all the video lessons and live teaching every week and Q ⁇ A in the Facebook group.
[8:33] SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's a really just great and transformational place to be if you're struggling with your dog right now.
[8:38] SPEAKER_00: Um and uh and that's kind of where that that would be my first kind of focus, focus for you with your dog.
[8:45] SPEAKER_00: Second thing that I would be um that I'd be thinking about is I would love you to keep a barking diary, okay?
[8:53] SPEAKER_00: Because it strikes me that your that your question doesn't seem to mention specifically the things, the challenges that might be triggering this barking and this reactivity.
[9:07] SPEAKER_00: And and that's normal not to quite know.
[9:10] SPEAKER_00: Um, and sometimes it takes actually keeping a bit of a diary where every time they bark, you just record keep it down and you say, Well, what happened in the 20 seconds prior to them starting to bark?
[9:21] SPEAKER_00: And what you might get is you might just get a list of suspects, right?
[9:26] SPEAKER_00: But the nice thing about that is that then you can do something about that.
[9:29] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you can start to try and pair those the arrival of those suspects, the I don't know, the the door closing in the house next door, and your dog can hear it through the walls, with some attempt at getting in there and delivering a positive outcome to your dog to tell them it's nothing to worry about.
[9:47] SPEAKER_00: So thinking door closers next door, following up with a marker word like nice or good, and delivering a uh a piece of food, right?
[9:57] SPEAKER_00: Quite simply.
[9:58] SPEAKER_00: Um, but sometimes we need to know what suspects we've got that we need to work with before we can notice them and get in there and and and deliver that different outcome for your dog.
[10:08] SPEAKER_00: Okay, so that would be my second tip.
[10:10] SPEAKER_00: And then my third tip would probably be whenever I hear these kinds of words of sleeping peacefully, then all of a sudden barks and lunges at my husband or whatever, right?
[10:23] SPEAKER_00: Um, what I hear is interesting.
[10:26] SPEAKER_00: What I think is interesting.
[10:28] SPEAKER_00: So this strikes me that this dog lives their life between being super settled or being or reacting, yeah?
[10:36] SPEAKER_00: But there should be another window between settle, being settled, and reacting.
[10:41] SPEAKER_00: And it's called being disturbed, yeah?
[10:44] SPEAKER_00: Being mildly offended.
[10:46] SPEAKER_00: It strikes me that your dog's not good at the whole mild offense.
[10:49] SPEAKER_00: They go, I am absolutely mortified, yeah, I am barking, I am lunging.
[10:54] SPEAKER_00: Um, and they're not so great at just being mildly disturbed.
[10:58] SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we can make that worse as humans because what we can do is if we're struggling with barking, it's like when they're asleep, we're like, they're asleep, nobody move.
[11:08] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[11:08] SPEAKER_00: But the thing is then something happens, like the door closes in the house next door, and they absolutely hit the hit the ceiling, right?
[11:16] SPEAKER_00: With it at arousal level.
[11:17] SPEAKER_00: And and the thing is, what we're doing is we're making it worse by making the it even more polarized, even more zero to 100.
[11:26] SPEAKER_00: Nobody move at level zero, they're asleep.
[11:29] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[11:30] SPEAKER_00: But the thing is, life still happens.
[11:31] SPEAKER_00: And so what we can create is these dogs that have these very polarized reactions that they're either asleep or they're you know running around barking.
[11:40] SPEAKER_00: And so I would actually encourage you to incorporate some more disturb into your dog's life.
[11:47] SPEAKER_00: So, um, for example, and it can be just little things like when your dog's settled, stand up, sit down, see if they become mildly aware of you, and then choose to resettle.
[11:57] SPEAKER_00: The more their brain goes, I'm mildly aware of something, and I'm choosing to resettle, the more it will, the more that pathway will open, and the more able that brain will be to be able to put slightly bigger events or distractions or stimuli through that pathway rather than the reaction pathway.
[12:16] SPEAKER_00: But right now, your dog needs to be aware that the disturb pathway exists, that mild being mildly offended is an option.
[12:24] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there are not just two options of I am asleep or I am reacting.
[12:28] SPEAKER_00: There is also this other one, which is I'm momentarily disturbed and then I'm resettling.
[12:32] SPEAKER_00: Does this make sense, guys?
[12:34] SPEAKER_00: So, really, really um really big one.
[12:36] SPEAKER_00: And I think between those three tips, you can really make a huge amount of progress in this struggle.
[12:43] SPEAKER_00: And I know because I, you know, I've I've had dogs in the past where I've not known what to do, and it just seems like their barking's just getting worse and worse and worse.
[12:51] SPEAKER_00: And what happens is you go into a state of firefighting and you go into a state of making short-term decisions at the expense of the medium term.
[12:59] SPEAKER_00: Um, and yet as soon as we start to take control of this, we stop firefighting, we move from a place of survival to a place of thriving, right?
[13:07] SPEAKER_00: Which will happen with these tips.
[13:09] SPEAKER_00: Um, but you've got to be aware that you're firefighting and that sometimes you're not making the best choices for the medium term.
[13:16] SPEAKER_00: It really can improve and it can improve quickly, right?
[13:19] SPEAKER_00: But we've got to be making medium-term choices, not short-term ones.
[13:22] SPEAKER_00: And then there absolutely is hope, and you can go back to having a silent and harmonious and tranquil and calm household, I promise you.
[13:30] SPEAKER_00: Um, and I cannot wait to hear how you get on.
[13:34] SPEAKER_00: That was this episode of the Help My Dog podcast, and we will see you next week.

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