The Hidden Meaning Behind Your Dog's Over-the-Top Friendliness
Is your dog overly enthusiastic, excitable, or clingy around strangers or unfamiliar people? Do they often seek constant attention and validation from others? While this behavior may seem endearing or harmless, it can actually be a sign of underlying anxiety, insecurity, or fear.
The Misunderstood Behavior: Over-the-Top Friendliness
Dogs that exhibit over-the-top friendliness are often misinterpreted as being confident, outgoing, or social. However, this behavior can be a coping mechanism for dogs that feel anxious or uncertain in social situations. By being overly friendly or enthusiastic, they may be attempting to diffuse potential tension or avoid rejection.
The Power of Neutrality
A truly confident, peaceful, and healthy dog is one that exists in a state of neutrality. When a dog is neutral, they are more conscious and able to observe stimuli without being emotionally controlled by outside factors. This allows them to connect deeper with their people, receive guidance and direction, and respond to situations more thoughtfully. Neutrality is the natural state of the body, and it's the foundation for a strong, resilient, and well-adjusted dog.
Why Do Dogs Exhibit Over-the-Top Friendliness?
Conditioned Emotional Response
A conditioned emotional response (CER) is an automatic emotional response that develops due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors. In the case of over-the-top friendliness, the CER is often nurtured and reinforced by our interactions with our dogs. For example, when we repeatedly reward our dog's excited behavior with attention and affection, we can inadvertently create a deeply ingrained emotional response. This response becomes automatic, triggering a cascade of hormones and behavioral patterns that drive the dog's over-excitement.
Causes of Conditioned Emotional Response
1. Genetic Predisposition: Some dogs may be more prone to anxiety, fear, or excitement due to their genetic makeup.
2. Environmental Factors: A dog's environment, including their socialization, training, and living situation, can contribute to the development of a CER.
3. Sensory Input Level: When our dogs have too much sensory input and get overstimulated they can develop a CER.
The Risks of Over-the-Top Friendliness
While over-the-top friendliness may seem harmless, especially in young dogs, it can actually pose several risks to your dog's emotional and behavioral well-being as they mature. These risks include:
- Increased anxiety and stress
- Decreased confidence and self-esteem
- Impaired relationships with others
- Increased risk of conflict
- Difficulty in calming down and relaxing
- Potential escalation into reactivity or aggression
Addressing Over-the-Top Friendliness in Dogs
If you suspect that your dog is exhibiting over-the-top friendliness, there are several steps you can take to address this behavior:
- Regulate Their Nervous System: Help your dog learn to calm their nervous system by teaching relaxation techniques, such as shaking it off, chewing, licking, eating, drinking, light gentle touch to name a few.
- Foster Emotional Intelligence: Encourage your dog's emotional intelligence by acknowledging and validating their emotions, teaching emotional regulation, and providing opportunities for socialization and learning.
- Advocate for their space and autonomy: advocate for your dog in all situations. Tell people to give you space out in public, tell guest to ignore your dog, tell guess not to hype up or touch your dog if your dog is overstimulated, tell your family how to interact with your dog, etc..
-Neutral Socialization/Exposure: Focus on neutral exposure as the foundation of your dog's socialization.
- Gradual Exposure: Gradually expose your dog to new environments, people, and situations, starting from a neutral state and helping them stay grounded before going into a more stimulating environment.
- Positive Reinforcement Training: Use positive reinforcement training to encourage calm and confident behavior.
- Avoid Reinforcing Attention-Seeking Behavior: Refrain from reinforcing your dog's attention-seeking behavior by interacting with them when they are in a overstimulated or clingy state.
You and your dog are a powerful partnership.
Remember, you're your dog's best friend and advocate. By working together, you can help your dog overcome dysregulation and live a happier, healthier life. With patience, consistency, and proper guidance, you can help your dog become a calm and well-adjusted companion.