The Top 5 Reasons There's a Fear and Reactivity Epidemic in Albuquerque's Dogs

Nearly 75% of dogs are estimated to struggle with some sort of fear or anxiety. As a professional dog trainer in Albuquerque, I see first-hand that there's no shortage of cases involving some sort of fear, anxiety, reactivity, or even aggression. Let's take a look at five key factors contributing to the rise in fear and reactivity among our dogs.

1. COVID-19 Shutdowns

For many people, the pandemic was the perfect time to adopt a dog or puppy. Unfortunately, now that society is back out and about, these "COVID pups" are having a hard time adjusting.

First, the pandemic made it very difficult for our dogs to socialize with other dogs, new people, and explore the outside world. Early and positive social and life experiences are crucial for puppies to develop confidence, resilience, and social skills. Adolescent dogs (from about 6 months of age up to about 2 years for some breeds) are particularly sensitive to negative experiences, and it's during this phase in life that they develop their world views - with a lack of life experiences during this phase in life, new things introduced to them later in life can be difficult or scary for them. The good news is that it's never too late to teach our dogs new skills or give them good life experiences. They just might need a little more patience and guidance from us.

Second, our dogs got really used to us being home all the time. Many dogs never learned how to be okay with being alone, and have now developed separation anxiety. Separation anxiety can be expressed in a lot of different ways and with different levels of intensity. Some dogs bark for a few minutes then chew on the couch. Others will tear the entire house apart trying to get to their people. While separation anxiety is one of the trickiest problems to help our dogs overcome, it's not impossible to overcome.

The first thing we can do to help our dogs who are struggling with fears and reactivity is to see things from their point of view. With empathy and understanding it becomes easier to find ways to make things easier, less scary, and safer for them.

2. Pain & Underlying Medical Conditions

Pain and other underlying medical conditions contribute to a large number of fear and reactivity cases in dogs.

In fact, there's increasing scientific evidence that links underlying pain to sound sensitivities in dogs. If your dog cowers during the 4th of July, during monsoon season, or possibly even when the hot air balloons of Balloon Fiesta fly overhead, you may want to get your dog checked out by your trusted veterinarian. Many studies linking fear and sound sensitivities mention musculoskeletal pain in particular, which could be caused by things like arthritis and other inflammation, hip or elbow dysplasia, ligament or tendon injuries, and dislocated joints or pulled muscles.

Many homes in the desert southwest, including Albuquerque, have gorgeous tile or hardwood floors. While aesthetically pleasing and easy to clean (side note: also much more hygienic than carpet), slick floors are notorious for causing joint injury and pain in dogs. Puppies are especially prone to developmental disorders due to slipping on slick floors. One of the best investments we can make in our dogs' physical and therefore mental health is to put rugs down on those hard, slick floors, particularly in places our dogs tend to run or jump up and off furniture or use stairs. My favorite rugs to date are by Ruggable - they're durable and machine washable.

Seemingly simple things can greatly impact our dogs' moods and therefore their behaviors. For example, Ranger's guardians recently got him a softer dog bed to sleep on and they noticed a decrease in his limping. Within a week they noticed a significant decrease in his barking in the backyard. As another example, Nacho's human parents recently got him a new chew-proof dog bed for his previously bare-bottom crate and they noticed him sleeping better and being overall more regulated.

Recent studies have also linked certain bacterial strains in dogs' microbiomes to anxiety and aggression. Some of the things we can do to support our dogs' gut health are to provide them with a high quality and varied diet, regular exercise, good hygiene practices and limited exposure to environmental toxins, and ensure they get good sleep. Many of these things support other bodily functions and systems, like hormonal balances, metabolic processes, and reduce allergies and itchiness - all of which can lead to behavioral problems if left unchecked.

From mild ear infections to brain tumors, there's a range of medical conditions and sources of pain that can greatly influence our dogs' mental and emotional states, and therefore their fearful, reactive, and even aggressive behaviors.

3. Prevalence of Outdated Training Techniques

A large number of dog trainers are either balanced trainers or traditional trainers. Balanced trainers typically use a mix of reward-based techniques and corrective methods. Traditional trainers typically rely solely on corrective methods and alpha theory (which has been debunked). Balanced and traditional trainers often utilize aversive tools like prong collars, choke chains, and e-collars, and confrontational methods like kneeing a dog in the chest when it jumps up on people, alpha rolls, and leash corrections (quick and strong jerks on the leash) to decrease the occurrence of unwanted behaviors.

Here's what just some of the science has revealed about punitive training methods and the use of aversive tools:

• using confrontational training methods elicit aggressive responses [Herron et al., 2009]

• dogs trained with prong collars, leash corrections, shock collars, and other aversive tools and punitive methods display more stress signals than dogs trained with positive methods [Vieira de Castro et al., 2020]

• choke chains pose strangulation risks and can cause damage to the thyroid, esophagus, and trachea [Grohmann et al., 2013]

• improperly fitted shock collars, shock collars left on for too long, and shock collars used at too high intensity can cause pressure necrosis (skin damage) [Lysons, 2015]

• dogs subjected to uncontrollable and inescapable shocks quickly give up and passively accept the shocks (i.e., they display learned helplessness), and they fail to learn how to escape the shock when given the opportunity to do so [Seligman, 1972]

In 2021 the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) published in an official statement:

"Based on current scientific evidence, AVSAB recommends that only reward-based training methods are used for all dog training, including the treatment of behavior problems."

Dog trainers using reward-based methods are commonly referred to as positive reinforcement trainers. The foundational principle for this type of training is to reward (or reinforce) dogs for offering desired behaviors without punishing them for offering unwanted behaviors. Good positive reinforcement trainers will take the individual dog's wants and needs into consideration, as well as the goals, lifestyle, and limitations of the dog's guardian(s). They will also teach dog guardians how to maintain the desired behaviors. The best positive reinforcement trainers will additionally work with veterinarian(s) and veterinary behaviorists when management, enrichment, and training efforts have shown little to no progress after several weeks.

Here are some of the different dog trainers operating in the Albuquerque area:

• Sit Means Sit - traditional

• ACOMA - balanced

• Dog Training Elite - balanced

• Logical Training & Consulting - Least Invasive Minimally Aversive (LIMA)*

• Pawsitive Training ABQ - positive reinforcement

• Tomi Dog LLC - positive reinforcement

• Canis Fidelis - positive reinforcement

*LIMA trainers tend to lean positive, though they tend to be less adamantly opposed to aversive tools and techniques.

If you're struggling with your dog's challenging behaviors, a positive trainer and/or veterinary behaviorist can help you assess the problem and form a plan forward. Albuquerque's only veterinary behaviorist is Dr. Jeff Nichol, who's practice is located at Thrive Pet Healthcare on Montgomery.

4. Overlooked Breeding Standards & Unintentional Breeding

Many novice breeders prioritize looks when choosing mating pairs instead of temperament assessments, health checks, and tests for genetic compatibility. When personality traits, health, and genetics are overlooked, health and behavioral disorders as well as predispositions to reactivity and aggression can be passed down to puppy offspring. It's also crucial for breeders to understand that breeding isn't just about getting cute puppies - it's about having great hygiene practices, keeping mom relaxed and healthy, early and positive socialization, and puppies not leaving their mother and littermates too soon.

To ensure you and your new puppy are getting set up for success, it's a good idea to meet the parents (or at least the mother), see the rearing environment, and ask the breeder about health checks and genetic testing. Credible breeders will also have some sort of health guarantee or agreement in place to take dogs back if things don't work out.

And it's not just novice breeders prone to mistakes that lead to the perpetuation of behavioral issues. The American Kennel Club (AKC) is currently facing strong criticism for promoting exaggerated physical features like long backs and flat faces that cause severe health issues like spinal injuries and persistent skin infections - which we already know can influence behavioral problems like fear, reactivity, and even aggression.

Unintentional breeding of neglected or stray dogs can also impact the level of anxiety and reactivity in the local dog population. Imagine being a neglected or stray dog. Life is probably pretty stressful, right? Now imagine you're a pregnant stray or neglected dog. When a pregnant dog is under stress, her stress hormones get shared with her unborn pups and can set them up for a life of fear, anxiety, poor impulse control, and overactive stress responses before they're even born. So even though some of these pups will make it into incredible homes, they will already have some odds stacked against them when it comes to behavioral challenges. However, as someone who has adopted shelter dogs or taken in dogs needing to be re-homed, I know just how much these dogs can overcome once their needs are met and they gain confidence, trust, and problem solving skills.

In mid 2025, the city of Albuquerque put new ordinances into effect that make it illegal to sell animals in public spaces, like on sidewalks and in parks to combat overpopulation and irresponsible breeding practices.

5. Underestimated Breed Characteristics

Even with good breeding practices or otherwise great health and genetics, some dogs are predisposed to certain anxieties and aggressive tendencies based on thousands of years of selective breeding by humans.

For example, Toy Dogs (examples include the Chihuahua, Pug, Pomeranian, Toy Poodle, and Yorkie) were bred literally to be companions. These are our lap warmers, our little shadows. They thrive on human attention. As such, they are prone to developing separation anxiety. Additionally, these dogs are the smallest of the small, and living in a world where most things are bigger than them gives them a lot more to be fearful of.

As another example, Guard Dogs (examples include the Cane Corso, Great Dane, St. Bernard, and Great Pyrenees) were bred to be protectors. As such, they are wary of strangers and early, positive socialization is crucial for helping them appropriately determine who is a threat and who is not.

You can learn more about the 10 different working groups of dogs and what kinds of behavioral challenges they're prone to in the book Meet Your Dog by Kim Brophey.

Conclusion

Fears, anxieties, reactivity, and aggression can have a lot of causes. Getting to the root of the problem can take some detective work. Most importantly, resolving these kinds of problems takes compassion, patience, and understanding.

To summarize, here are some things we can do to help our dogs:

• appreciate the situation from their point of view

• adjust the environment to make things easier for them

• schedule regular vet visits, especially for pain assessments

• provide high quality food, a clean living environment, regular exercise, and ensure good sleep

• implement positive reinforcement training methods and avoid punitive methods and tools

• build a team between your dog's care providers - vets, veterinary behaviorist, trainers, groomers, etc.

• hold breeders to high standards

• understand the breadth of challenges rescue dogs may face

• become knowledgable about the different challenges certain breeds are more prone to

Living with a fearful, anxious, or reactive dog can be frustrating, sad, and stressful. Sometimes it can even be embarrassing and we can face judgement from others. I'm here to tell you that you and your dog are allowed to exist and you both deserve time and grace to figure things out. With 75% of dogs facing some sort of fear, anxiety, or reactive behavior, you are most certainly not alone.

If you're struggling with your dog's challenging behaviors, a positive trainer and/or veterinary behaviorist can help you assess the problem and form a plan forward.