Flight, Fight, Freeze, Friend, and Why it is Uncomfortable for Dogs to Greet on Leash

When your dog feels uncomfortable in a social situation they are going to go into one of four states of mind, Flight, Flight, Freeze, or Friend. When I see dogs greet on leash I see one of these four states of mind happen most of the time, especially if the dogs have no relationship outside of greeting on leash. 

Many times a dog’s friendly behavior on leash is really appeasement behavior (Friend) aimed at diffusing the tension in a situation. Or the dog is anxious due the circumstance and  rapidly flips between the four above in an overstimulated whirlwind of behaviors. A tail wag does not always mean a dog is happy and a dog who has a huge emotional reaction to everyone they greet is not a friendly dog, but a poorly socialized one. 

So why does the leash make my dog so uncomfortable in social situations?

Spatial pressure and movement play a big role in dog communication. The leash restricts the dog’s access to freely move towards and away from the other dog, this closes necessary lines of communication.

The leash itself dramatically reduces the dogs ability to display flight based behaviors if they feel uncomfortable. The psychological pressure they are under from the leash restricting their escape can make it hard for them to disengage from another dog resulting in anxiety that is many times mislabeled as friendliness or excitement. 

If a dog is uncomfortable in a social interaction on leash and that discomfort is not relieved by being friendly or freezing their only other option is to lunge, bark, and bite to relive how uncomfortable they are. This is why so many leash reactive dogs are so easily triggered on leash, but fine off leash. 

Being in an environment where the dog is stuck on leash and has to accept other dogs running up to them is one of the most stressful situations you can put them in. Mislabeling appeasement behavior, anxiety, and a lack of social skills in these situations as friendly behavior will result in a dog who is not very friendly at all. Dogs rarely ever just become reactive or bite out of nowhere, the warning signs are there if you know where to look.