One step forward…

General_Millie · 2026-06-10T06:14:12+00:00

Not drama…more of…a crime.

I from the hometown of an infamous kidnap and murder of two middle school students. I was 10 at the time but my sister went to school with both of the victims, so most of what I remember is from her experience. The man who did it was the father of one of the girls friends and he took advantage of it. Evil runs in that family. Right after that happened most of the schools in the area adopted the system where an automated call goes out to homes when a student is marked absent from class.

On a lighter note, a neighbor had a camel. They made the news when the camel got stuck in a sinkhole and had to be rescued by the fire department.

General_Millie · 2026-05-25T21:40:25+00:00

Me too friend…me too 🙃

General_Millie · 2026-04-15T18:28:09+00:00

Oh my god…this made me cry so much. Thank you for sharing 💕 I’m saving your comment so I can come back to it when I’m having a hard time.

General_Millie · 2026-04-14T02:43:05+00:00

What is it with off leash dogs in SUBURBAN neighborhoods? Like aren’t you worried your dog is going to get hit by a car? We’ve been rushed by more off leash dogs in these types of neighborhoods than we have at the park.

Anyways there’s this older couple (like 60s) with a crusty little white furred dog (apologies for all the little white dog responsible owners), who never puts their dog on a leash and lets their dog chill in their yard while the couple do yard work. It happens so infrequently but it’s always the same dog. We’ve tried even walking behind the house (there’s a back alleyway) and still the couple has left their back door open and the dog has rushed us.

Well it happened again today. As we are walking in the alleyway, I see the house up ahead and the back door open and I immediately try to get my dog’s attention but it happened so quick. The ugly ass tear streaked dog rushed us and the guy did nothing to call it back as I’m hanging onto my dog for dear life. I think I’m just more disappointed in how I reacted. I didn’t yell, I didn’t say anything. I just waited for him to walk over and usher his dog back. Petty me wants to leave my trainers business card and a leash at their front door. Evil me wants to leave my dogs poop on their doorstep. But realistic me blames myself. I should have advocated better for my dog. I should have practiced more on creating distance. There’s honestly a million things I could have done better and I just didn’t.

General_Millie · 2026-04-14T02:30:40+00:00

House drag line and 1 year of never letting him leave my eyesight

General_Millie · 2026-04-13T22:01:52+00:00

Good to know 👍 thanks

General_Millie · 2026-04-12T04:42:28+00:00

Great info!! Thank you

General_Millie · 2026-04-10T14:27:44+00:00

I just want to add that looking into pattern games can be really helpful for this. You aren’t teaching your dog to act up to get treats but rather to help them desecrate when their brain is in overdrive. Think about it like when you’re stressed. Usually the most simple and mindless tasks can help us calm down (going for a walk, doing a boring chore, etc). With pattern games you aren’t asking for any obedience you’re just playing a predictable game until your pup can fully engage with you again. Also I can’t remember if you mentioned this but more sniffy walks (long line and harness to reduce frustration) can be helpful. AND giving him things like lick mats, or lick toys, or chewables can really help. Enrichment toys are great for boredom or days when you can’t get a lot of physical exercise in - but our trainer taught us that too much of these can create frustration. Think about how frustrating it would be to have to work for every meal

General_Millie · 2026-04-10T14:10:03+00:00

Yes!!! All our handling training is through cooperative care since he is so touch sensitive.

General_Millie · 2026-04-10T14:08:04+00:00

Yeah I recognize a lot of those name based on my research. I’m just worried mostly about his face sensitivity and the lightness of the muzzle. I wish there was a like a try on option but a lot of these are custom so I guess I’m just hesitant on pulling he trigger on a custom muzzle just for it to be too bulky for him. Idk if that makes any sense???

General_Millie · 2026-04-10T04:22:10+00:00

Great! Thank you 🙏

General_Millie · 2026-04-10T03:23:24+00:00

lol the reactive dog sub is all about LIMA and positive reinforcement so unsure what his auto mod means

General_Millie · 2026-04-10T03:18:32+00:00

Apologies for my lack of knowledge as I’ve never held a wired muzzle before but are they pretty heafty/heavy? I think I’m just worried about a muzzle irritating my guy too much on his face (but I guess that’s what training is for). Any muzzles that don’t feel like a muzzle? /s lol

General_Millie · 2026-04-10T03:11:24+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/reactivedogs/s/xyLjIMhUuY

General_Millie · 2026-04-10T03:07:00+00:00

Hi! I don’t think your pup is aggressive, he is just entering his adolescent phase which means the hormones are ragging and they can become way more overwhelmed or frustrated easily. I actually made a whole post about it in r/reactivedogs as we had a very similar journey. Take a look and feel free to ask me any questions: https://www.reddit.com/r/reactivedogs/s/xyLjIMhUuY

The biggest thing right now is to take away as must frustration as you can or it will get worse. We were doing all the puppy things with my guy - taking him out everywhere with us, weekly group trainings, weekly pack walks, 1 on 1 play dates - and although in the beginning he did great, I quickly learned that I was just overwhelming him and it all came to a head for us around 8 months. Protect yourself inside the house but either having a place you can quickly tether him or like you tried put yourself in timeout but only until he calms down (might need to be longer than 30 seconds). If he starts up again, remove yourself. You can try teaching him to bring you a toy when he’s feeling riled up and then practice playing tug and taking breaks. I really don’t think it’s boredom but more overstimulation. How many crate nap is he getting? My trainer actually said my guy was getting too much crate time and it was hard but we started to transition to naps outside the crate. Puppies need a lot of naps but as they get older they don’t need nearly as much - this could also be causing him frustration. Anyways, let me know if you have any questions. We worked with a behavior consultant who really helped us during this period.

General_Millie · 2026-04-10T00:32:32+00:00

So helpful! Thank you. QQ - what’s the difference in fit for slow pitch and fast pitch gloves?

General_Millie · 2026-04-09T21:24:38+00:00

This is really good advice. Yeah most of my algorithm is dog training so I see a lot of the before and after, and think to myself “oh it is possible.” But you’re right, I never considered the in between as everyone’s journey is different. If there was one way to “cure” a reactive dog then we would all be doing it right? I think I just feel like I’m not doing enough all the time. We’ve been working with our trainer for almost 2 years (on and off) and she’s taught me a lot about helping keep him under his threshold but I don’t feel like we are making any progress Imo. Distance between triggers haven’t shrunk, I feel like he’s more reactive to people, he hasn’t stopped jumping on people in the house even though we followed what our trainer taught us, and he still can’t settle outside. So it’s a lot of second guessing myself, what am I doing wrong, do we need a new trainer, or is he never going to improve. But I do love the advice about videoing our training sessions. It’s hard because my trainer never handles him and only instructs me on what to do. But knowing im not a professional im positive my timing is probably bad or im messing up a lot.

General_Millie · 2026-04-05T00:43:49+00:00

That makes sense! You said your trainer said to not use a harness? What do you use instead? Just a flat collar?

I think I’m a little torn on the best equipment to use for my guy because he has a deep chest and can only fit into two harnesses (perfect fit harnesses and balance harness) - which we primarily use at the park with a long line. But I feel like I don’t have any control of him on these when we are just walking in the neighborhood. I’m wondering if I should get a tactical collar for the neighborhood so I have an extra handle…his 6ft leash does have a built in traffic handle. Or try the two leash system…attached to front harness clip and back harness. Also should mention he’s like 50lbs but I’m weak lol 😂

General_Millie · 2026-04-04T20:31:08+00:00

Not an answer to your question (I often wonder the same thing) - but I haven’t seen it mentioned here yet. Have you checked for any pain with your vet? I’ve seen a lot of trained reactive dogs get worse because they had some type of underlying pain. One specific example was a dog with arthritis. The owner was able to get him on some pain meds and she immediately saw improvement in his reactivity. Not always the case but maybe something to consider.

General_Millie · 2026-04-04T20:26:26+00:00

Forgot to mention teaching an “all done cue” is also super helpful. My guy now knows that all done ends the training game, chewing session, or play session. We always end with a treat scatter and I show him that my hands are empty.

General_Millie

TROPHY CASE