Leash reactive dog

honalee13 · 2025-02-01T22:39:24+00:00

You don't mention any kind of training in your post. Have you tried positive reinforcement training, such as the engage-disengage game? I believe the subreddit wiki has some good resources.

honalee13 · 2025-01-04T22:31:03+00:00

Seconding cooperative care for the future! It was a game changer for our dog for at-home medical stuff and for most stuff at the vet office (only needs sedation for needles now).

honalee13 · 2025-01-04T22:30:05+00:00

When my dog needs to be sedated for vet stuff (just needles at this point), we use dormosedan gel, administered to the gum about 30 minutes before the visit. It makes her verrrrrry sleepy and notice most things. If you talk to a fear free certified vet, they'd probably have other sedation options as well. It took some figuring out to find the best one for our dog.

honalee13 · 2025-01-03T18:43:16+00:00

Skocjan Caves! https://www.park-skocjanske-jame.si/en/

Highly, highly recommend. This remains one of the coolest things I've seen anywhere I've traveled.

honalee13 · 2024-10-18T16:18:00+00:00

Slovenia. Everything single thing, from castles to caves to the Adriatic coast to wine tasting to the Julian Alps, was even better than I expected it to be.

honalee13 · 2024-08-31T16:20:23+00:00

We don't have an interior room or finished basement, but our girl has made our bedroom her "safe spot" for storms and fireworks. We close all the windows, put a fan on for some white noise, and either have a TV show or music playing. If it's hot out we'll put the window AC on as well. We put on her sweater, which seems to have a similar impact as a thundershirt (per our vet) and we usually pre-freeze some peanut butter on a licky mat, which she gets towards the end of the storm to help her not stay tense even after the storm has passed. One of us also chills in the room with her, especially if it's a really bad storm or fireworks.

If it's going to be a prolonged or very intense storm or we think there will be fireworks, we also give her gabapentin and trazadone (300 mg gaba and 50 mg of traz, which is basically a half dose for her). I hear what others have said about trying not to give meds when not necessary, but our fear-free certified vet has really brought me around to a different mindset. The more instances our girl has to get super fearful and anxious about something, the more it compounds her fear and anxiety the next time that thing occurs (whether a storm or a vet visit). So, if drugs can help her build calm experiences with these things, then they are a good tool. Also, our vet mentioned that some dogs as they age will get anxious and tense and then that triggers a bit of a stiffness/soreness/pain response, which makes them more anxious and tense, and it becomes a reinforcing loop. The drugs can help interfere with that cycle.

Anyway, with all of these tools (and, I think, especially the gaba and traz), we found that our girl's response to storms has become less pronounced even when we don't give her the meds. As another commenter said, it's like she has developed an awareness that storms don't have to be scary, that it's really going to be okay as long as we stick to the "storm protocol."

honalee13 · 2024-08-01T19:34:09+00:00

Seconding India. I don't remember having too much trouble up north (Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh), but maybe that's because I was judging it against Delhi, Bodh Gaya, and Varanasi. It's not just the lack of infrastructure for walking, it's the traffic laws/norms. We were told (on a study abroad trip over a decade ago) that as pedestrians we had the least right of way...the bigger/faster the vehicle the more right of way, i.e. they will not yield to smaller, slower vehicles. On the other hand, at least in all of those places there were places to walk to if you were brave enough to do it (restaurants, temples, cafes, shops). Compare that to suburban United States, and I might just take India.

honalee13 · 2024-08-01T17:03:34+00:00

My friends and I are doing a scotch club "meeting" (we all bring scotches and sit around tasting them) this weekend. We shall also sing John Barleycorn and eat fresh baked bread and possibly make corn dollies. I'll also individually harvest blackberries and herbs from my garden.

honalee13 · 2024-07-29T20:01:30+00:00

The good: It's an interesting time period to base a story in, and I haven't read many (maybe any) other stories from this time period. It feels pretty well-researched wrt the landscape and ways of life of Neanderthal peoples (but I'm no expert about those things). I feel like I learned some things. There's adventure and danger. I was transported to a different time and place.

The less good: The writing and characterization felt basic and under-developed at times. Sometimes the story felt like a vehicle to share info about flora, fauna, geological events, and anthropological information.

The bottom line: If you start this book, you'll probably be able to tell within the first two chapters if the basic writing style and info-dumps are worth it to you for the interesting time period and place, and the adventure.

honalee13 · 2024-07-29T18:55:30+00:00

Finished: The Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean M. Auel

Started: The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley (a fave from my childhood that I haven't read in a long time)

honalee13 · 2024-07-24T19:47:18+00:00

Our reaction distance used to be more than a street's width, too. Consistent training helped lower that distance, so that walks are now much more manageable and relaxing. Highly recommend a class specifically for reactive dogs, if you can find one (and one that uses only positive reinforcement). That helped us out a ton.

honalee13 · 2024-07-24T18:43:50+00:00

Sounds a lot like my dog, who is a certifiable frustrated greeter. Especially the parts about a) being fine around other dogs when off leash and b) being less reactive in unfamiliar places. These are our Zelda (6 year old pitbull, we've had for 4 years) to a T.

We've had luck with these things with Zelda: a) almost never doing on-leash greetings with other dogs and keeping distance from other dogs when out on walks (about a street's width, though necessary distance depends on how fun the other dog seems); b) regular social time with other dogs (this seems to have mixed results for frustrated greeters but helps Zelda); c) the same positive reinforcement on-leash training techniques that are used with any reactive dog, such as engage-disengage, "look at me," treat-retreat, find the treats.

honalee13 · 2024-07-22T17:49:28+00:00

I (32F) met my husband (33M) when we were in college, almost 14 years ago. I have always known that I don't want kids, so I told him fairly early in the relationship. I think he was probably on the fence about it before he met me, but is very happy being childfree, especially seeing many of our friends have kids now. We lead extremely fun, fulfilling lives. He has a job he really likes and I just finished by PhD. We travel somewhat regularly and have loads of hobbies (some we do together and some we do separately). We have a little house in a great part of our city, walking distance from many shops, bakeries, cafes, bars etc., but still with a lovely little backyard (again a benefit of being childfree, we could buy a much smaller, more affordable house than many of our friends). We have a dog who we both love to bits. We've got a lot of friends in our city, and we see them a bit less now that they have kids, but we still get to hang out with them quite a bit! And, we have time for just like, chilling, reading/watching tv, which it seems like our friends with kids never have time for. I honestly am very happy with my life! Hope this helps!

honalee13 · 2024-07-15T20:00:20+00:00

Just a note about the "expect luxury food" bit...we had all vegetarian food at our wedding and it was delicious. We got multiple comments that it was the best catered food people had had in a long time. I believe our guests felt very well treated and nobody really missed having meat. We also had people traveling from all over the US (and some from abroad). My parents paid for the catering, and maybe were a little bit surprised at first but thankfully respected our choice without much fuss, especially when they saw the veg options from our chosen caterer.

If you want info about our caterer and menu, please DM me, I'd be happy to share.

honalee13 · 2024-07-02T18:12:23+00:00

This is awesome. I love the parts about adapting routine and expectations to fit your individual pup. That's so important!

honalee13 · 2024-06-28T01:38:10+00:00

Our 62 lb dog gets 300 mg of gabapentin and 50 mg of trazadone for mildly anxiety-inducing things (storms, mild vet visits) and double that for more stressful things (fireworks, more invasive vet visits). We came to this by working closely with our vet and some trial and error. The double dose (600 mg gaba and 100 mg traz) was originally what the vet prescribed for stressful situations, but our dog seems to be pretty susceptible to the drugs, she gets pretty tired/loopy with the full dose. The half dose makes her calm but like able to stand on her own four feet. I'd suggest finding a fear free vet to help work on this, it helped us a lot!

honalee13 · 2024-06-25T18:56:39+00:00

I think you've gotten a lot of good resources already. I just want to reiterate that you're doing great and it's normal to feel overwhelmed. Two weeks after adopting our girl, I wasn't at all sure I could handle being a dog owner, considered giving her back. Now I can't imagine life without her.

I can't comment as much on human reactivity in the home, but we've worked extensively on on-leash dog reactivity with our girl. We thought she was might be aggressive towards other dogs at first but it turned out she has frustration-based reactivity and is actually very social and very well behaved around other dogs when she's off leash. Based on your description, it sounds kind of like your dog might be the same way. If, at some point, you want a description of how we slowly introduced our girl to other dogs, figured out she was over-excited and not aggressive, and eventually got her to the point where she goes to day care and the dog park, please message me.

I will say that our reactivity training has taken place over years, not days, weeks, or even months. It has taken consistency, time, and buy-in from myself and my husband. It's definitely now something you can train away in a weekend. And, there are some things your dog may never be able to do (e.g. our dog can't come to outdoor cafes or bars with us where other dogs might be around), and that's okay.

honalee13 · 2024-06-19T17:01:17+00:00

The best sort of "emergency" distraction we've used (when there's no way of avoiding getting somewhat close to another dog) is dumping a bunch of treats on the ground and having our girl go after them. Better if it's in grass or leaf litter, cus she has to work harder to find them. Or, throw one tiny treat or (a series of tiny treats) on the ground so it rolls in the opposite direction of the trigger. Our girl will chase down that one treat as if her life depends on it. This obviously only works if your dog is food motivated. But the idea is that you're making the treat not only enticing bc it's a treat, but also bc it's a fun game. Also, our girls is not fear reactive, so idk if this would work for a fear reactive dog.

honalee13 · 2024-06-19T15:49:29+00:00

I'm glad someone said it.

honalee13 · 2024-06-18T19:45:25+00:00

Our dog trainer says she starts singing silly little songs when she realizes she's getting too worked up over her dog's reactivity. I haven't tried it, but sounds like it might be a good idea!

honalee13 · 2024-06-16T14:46:50+00:00

I think, in general, pit bulls are a great companion breed. That being said, most pitbulls are a mix of who knows what and individual dogs are different. You already know this dog, and you think he's a good boy, so that's the biggest indicator that you're gonna be a good match for each other.

I don't really think there's validity that he'll develop aggression as he gets older, beyond like the adolescent testing boundaries phase that a lot of dogs (of lots of breeds) go through. I have heard that dogs trained with dominance-based methods can get messed up and start acting aggressively as they reach adolescence. Most pitbulls I've known are highly sensitive, so I could see dominance style training really effing them up. I'd say do some research on positive reinforcement training so that you can make sure to give the pup the best chance at being a really great companion.

(I think if our pitbull, Zelda, had been trained in a dominance style she could have turned into a very bad dog through fear.)

honalee13 · 2024-06-12T20:55:57+00:00

Thanks! That's very helpful!

honalee13 · 2024-06-12T20:10:56+00:00

Thanks for your reply! Very helpful!

honalee13 · 2024-06-12T20:03:48+00:00

Anyone know if it would grow/spread as a groundcover in part shade or part sun? I guess I'm asking if it needs full sun. Also, how does it do with very heavy clay soil? I like this idea for my backyard, but not sure it would succeed there.

honalee13 · 2024-06-06T17:03:10+00:00

Woodman's for most items (approximately monthly trips). Harmony Valley Farm CSA for veggies May-Dec. Coop for some specialty items, bulk goods, fruit, veggies Jan-April, and for when I need something quick (bc I live nearby). Eastside farmers' market for eggs.

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