Living with a reactive dog and what it does to you |ep 7| She gets SIT done She gets SIT done

Do you own a reactive dog?
There is a lot of information out there on how to deal with your reactive dog in terms of training and improving their training... but how are YOU feeling with your reactive dog? And how are YOU coping?

When you have a reactive dog or a dog with aggression issues you have to come to terms with the fact that you can't do certain things you had in mind when you originally got the dog.
The doggy playdates, the fun on the beach, seeing your dog play with other dogs, taking them to cafes. All of these things seem far away for you or maybe even impossible and it's a process coming to terms with the fact you won't have those moments.

Living with a reactive dog also causes a 'trauma' response in YOU as the dog owner and your dog's reactivity basically turns into your reactivity and I feel like it's not often talked about besides being told 'just be less stressed because your dog feels it down the lead'.

In this episode we discuss:
- Coming to terms with having a reactive dog and what that means for your lifestyle
- The 'trauma' it causes for you as the owner
- Labelling your dog as reactive can be helpful but also detrimental to your progress
- How to cope with unhelpful people commenting on your dog when they're having a meltdown
- That progress isn't linear and ups and downs are normal
- That if you are consistent you will get results, but if you don't get any results even after a very long time it may be time to change up the training program
- It's okay to correct a reactive dog and we need to get rid of the stigma that 'fear reactive dogs' can't be corrected for being excessive or over reacting.

A really interesting and helpful account to follow is: Handlersandhumans on IG.

We'd love to hear what you think of this episode!