Reactive dog blog.

[Dibbythedog]

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Blue Merle Minion

Lots of advice for reactive dog owners from a personal view point. There is also an e book you can download from Amazon. I liked the book , one reason is it not only covers your dogs emotions but yours too and the difficulties you face .

 

[JudyN]

I've had a look at a couple of the blog posts and wow, there's so much there I can relate to and totally agree with. Thanks for posting.

 

[Mad Murphy]

Nice read that makes some of us feel more normal! ie; Its not just me..Its not my fault , its not his fault.
Thanks for this...

I think times are changing with reactive/scared dogs the way they have with children.
I was told my 5 yr old was not normal. The reason why was that when his teacher had tried to hug him he had held out his arm to keep her at bay and said 'no thank you I dont want a hug' of course this was in 1987 when children were expected to be happy about anyone and everyone giving them a hug . These days a child with that kind of confidence would be praised.

One day maybe dogs who say No thanks will be appreciated too.

 

[Dibbythedog]

I find it embarrassing and Im always apologising . Also, lonely sometimes . We have groups walkinng their dogs and I wave from a distance.
Sometimes its not possible to follow advice,e.g keep the lead loose. How can you when you have a crazy dog at the end of it ?

 

[JudyN]

Sometimes its not possible to follow advice,e.g keep the lead loose. How can you when you have a crazy dog at the end of it ?

Something I aim for is for me to be calm and relaxed. If I spot a trigger, I still hold the lead loose, but move my hands so there's not a lot of slack - really because it's easier to hold on to a crazy 34kg powerball at the end of a 2' lead rather than 5'. Then, if J pulls/lunges, it's him tightening the lead, not me. I just stand there like a statue, thinking Zen thoughts and looking for pictures in the clouds. I don't try to lead him away, because then it's me doing something that is frustrating him. Eventually, he gets bored with freaking out, calms down, and gets a lot of praise and treats as I lead him on.

Sometimes, though, I do need to shift him, e.g. if the trigger is approaching. In that case I try to switch direction with a lot of encouragement, moving as if I'm just expecting him to follow, and often because I've caught him unawares, he does.

Of course, that's just what works for us - the context is usually a cat that's appeared out of nowhere, rather than a dog who is yelling back at J. It might be a complete fail with other dogs in different situations.

 

[Mad Murphy]

Like @JudyN I try to be as neutral around anything that triggers Murphy. Ive learned to let hi sit and look at whatever is bothering him (sometimes hes doing the crazy dance) and to ignore it.

Of course its easier said than done last night I wanted to slap an old bloke and his dog.. They were on the other side of the road and so we stopped and waited for them to walk on the guy took two paces then stopped and looked at us then looked at the moon so after a few moments I decided to try to get Murphy to walk on.( there were lots of cars parked on our side so I was hoping that would block his view a bit).. But the moment we walked the old guy walked so I stopped and he stopped..
In the end I asked 'are you going or staying because we want to pass'? He just grunted and strolled on but at least he moved..

 

[JudyN]

I think we get so used to managing our dogs we think it should be obvious to others what we're doing but often as not, they're clueless. Even other dog owners, who really should know better.

 

[bluemerleminion]

Well this has made me smile! I'm so glad you're finding the blog helpful and relatable, and very happy that you enjoyed the book!