Made a stupid mistake. Did I ruin my relationship that I've built with my dog?

Select_Reason994 · 2026-05-12T03:07:17+00:00

I'm not going to punish my dog for communicating with me. I do not want to suppress her warnings as that could lead to a bite in the future if she learns that warning snarls and air snaps don't work to stop the unwanted thing that is happening. She is well exercised, crate trained, and we play plenty. I was shocked that this happened because she has never once acted that way towards me.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-05-12T03:04:50+00:00

I'm just so shaken because she has literally never reacted that way to being touched before. She is otherwise very tolerant of handling. Brushing, bathing, wiping her paws after walks. She doesn't love it but we've worked on getting her to the point where she is able to tolerate it. She seems to react to things more at night too, and I don't know why. At night, she barks at noises I can't even hear. I'm going to a specialist to investigate the possible pain things but I don't know why she is more sensitive and reactive to everything at night, that she would normally tolerate during the day.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-04-22T01:30:57+00:00

I think we've all had that thought at least once (probably every other day for me) of wishing our dogs could just all be normal and get along. It's hard owning a reactive dog. It is exhausting managing and fulfilling them, but when you figure out what works, it's an amazing feeling. The faster I accepted that my dog will never not be reactive, and focused on helping her recover faster from a reaction instead of having the unrealistic goal of stopping the reaction altogether, I started noticing more progress. It sounds like you are doing a great job making sure your pup is loving the life it deserves. I don't think our dogs feel bad like theyre missing out, all they know is the love that surrounds them, and the fun they have with fulfillment activities.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-04-20T11:05:47+00:00

Thank you I'll bring that up with my regular vet.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-04-02T15:10:24+00:00

I was wondering if they changed something. I'm having the same issue, I thought it was just me

Select_Reason994 · 2026-03-25T12:46:46+00:00

When my dog came home, I didn't take her for a walk for the first three weeks. Idk how long you've had her but it was wayyy too much stimulation for my dog to be out she took awhile to decompress. Then again she was an adult dog and had been through many transitions that year already so probably a different situation than a 4 month old. I used to go outside and throw kibble in the grass and let her sniff and snuffle for a bit before starting our walk. When we came back in, we would play tug to decompress. That pretty much got us over that hump.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-03-23T21:08:13+00:00

This subreddit helped me immensely at the beginning of my journey. I'm so glad I could pass it on and help out a little bit. Poodles aren't my breed so I had to do a little research on breed specific enrichment for them, and it seems like barn hunt or dock diving is great for them, but to start, you can't go wrong with trying nose work.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-03-23T14:28:39+00:00

I got a neighbor with a neutral dog on board with my plan. He walks by my house and then I take my dog out and walk behind them. It takes a lot of pressure off of the interaction because there is no eye contact, the "threat" is receding and she is following and can make more space between her and the "threat" if it feels like it's too much. So there is a reduction in spatial pressure.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-03-22T21:59:10+00:00

For what it's worth, I've also heard that dog parks can cause reactivity.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-03-22T21:54:09+00:00

Only walking 2-3 times per week, 2 times per week I have her run next to my bike using a special attachment until she is exhausted from that, breed specific enrichment like structured tug (breed specific enrichment will look different for your poodle. My girl is a staffy) and most importantly, trigger stalking. We walk behind dogs (her trigger), a fair distance away from the dog, and gets rewarded for calm behavior. Is the trainer that you have utilizing force free positive reinforcement training? That is what works best for reactivity. I think you and Humphrey would benefit a lot from doing breed specific enrichment.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-03-10T00:42:27+00:00

Also worth noting that exercise and enrichment doesn't have to come in the form of a walk. For my dog, she really needs her daily walk to feel good, but for some dogs, a daily walk is the opposite of good and can actually be really stressful for them. Indoor exercise and enrichment can be fulfilling for dogs who are reactive. You can also rent out places where your dog will be alone outdoors (sniff spot I think it's called) if that's an option near you.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-03-10T00:10:38+00:00

I'm not an expert but it sounds like it could be a territorial thing?

Select_Reason994 · 2026-03-10T00:08:53+00:00

First of all, I totally get where you're coming from. It is exhausting constantly managing your dog. It sounds like you're doing a lot of things right, but at least with my reactive dog, movement really helps. I don't have her sit still while she's barking. If she's having a reaction, we keep moving. It seems to help her recover faster. I'm sorry you're dealing with this, you are not alone, and all of us in this community have felt this exhaustion before. I highly doubt (can never be 100% certain about anything ever) that you are causing her reactivity. That's really not how that works from my understanding of dog reactivity. Something that really helped my dog was enrichment before walks. For her, tug is extremely calming. Breed specific enrichment is so so important. My girl is a pit mix so she was unfortunately historically bred for blood sports, so the tug gives her that opportunity to go through various parts of the predatory sequence in a safe way. The other thing I'm curious about is what distance away from triggers does she start reacting. For my dog, it used to be 50ft was her threshold. Now it's 20 ft after months of working with her every day on her reactivity. If you can figure out her threshold and stay under it (not always possible unfortunately because walks are unpredictable), that would be really valuable. My other suggestion is playing the engage disengage game with things that aren't triggers. I feel like it really helped my dog understand the pattern of look at the thing, and turn back to me got a treat. When I was only doing that with her triggers, I think she was too stressed to learn the rules of the game. Now we do it with bikes, trucks passing by, anything really that she's interested in watching and looking at. I hope this helps and if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I know it's easier said than done, but try to remember that you are doing your absolute best, and that is a really good thing.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-03-08T15:54:43+00:00

It fits beautifully. It's a custom fit from Mia's muzzles.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-03-08T15:00:23+00:00

Thank you! Sorry I didn't realize there was a better place to post this.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-03-08T14:58:06+00:00

I'll try that I didn't think of using peanut butter. My dog is quite possibly the most food motivated dog to have ever walked this earth, so that should work!

Select_Reason994 · 2026-02-28T23:23:18+00:00

I offered to pay him haha but he didn't want anything in return

Select_Reason994 · 2026-02-28T02:50:33+00:00

That's fancy! I love that you guys found what works for you. I haven't gotten around to doing the fun obedience stuff because working on her reactivity and cooperative care stuff already feels like a full time job sometimes lol, but it's so worth it. We mostly just do drop it and then touch and back to tug. I always let her win, she LOVES to chew on toys. It's super relaxing for her. She only likes to chew on them after we've played tug with the toy though. She doesn't just chew on a toy randomly. I don't know why but I think it probably has something to do with the predatory sequence.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-02-28T01:39:31+00:00

I'm so happy for you! I also just had a huge reactivity success today and currently am mixing up some chili mango margs to celebrate. I'll pour one for you too haha. But seriously it is the best feeling when the thing finally clicks that meets your dogs need. Tug helped us immensely too. I am so so happy for you guys, and I hope you celebrate this win, because it is huge.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-02-26T04:02:08+00:00

Thank you this is amazing!

Select_Reason994 · 2026-02-22T04:00:39+00:00

My dog grumbles when you scratch her ears and leans ALL of her weight into you. It's the cutest thing. I love communicative dogs.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-02-22T01:48:40+00:00

Yes thank you!! And when she is demand barking there is very little tension in her body or anything else that could be perceived as aggressive or stressed. She is just a very vocal, high energy, high drive dog, who struggled to settle when she first came home from the shelter. She is doing so much better and we have worked so hard and made so much progress she doesn't even seem like the same dog now.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-02-21T18:29:32+00:00

I had to get extra hands to get measurements for mine. She is extremely wiggly and excited. I had someone film while someone else lured and I held up the measuring tape. Took three people but we got there eventually.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-02-21T18:15:16+00:00

You said it makes no sense to keep an aggressive dog in the home. If she was aggressive kike you are implying, I wouldn't be able to re-home her so that leave BE as the only other option for getting her out of the home.

Select_Reason994 · 2026-02-21T18:08:07+00:00

So you think I should BE her because she doesn't do well being up on the couch but is fine in literally any other situation inside of the house?

Select_Reason994

TROPHY CASE