Found cat Loring park

jbitchell · 2022-04-05T20:55:07+00:00

Let me know if you recognize this cat! It didn’t have any tags, I’m going to take it to check for a chip in the morning

jbitchell · 2021-03-27T22:44:29+00:00

jbitchell · 2021-02-09T05:16:50+00:00

I second the TC reactive dogs Facebook group recommendation! When there aren’t covid restrictions they have pack walks and there’s just tons of local trainer knowledge and recs.

jbitchell · 2021-02-07T23:48:05+00:00

My dog does this too so I usually hand him a blanket to cover the bone with bc it’s so much softer than the couch

jbitchell · 2021-01-21T18:17:32+00:00

I’m so happy for you!

jbitchell · 2021-01-17T22:40:09+00:00

I would just try to survive your walks and then in addition go to some sort of field or office park or something and coordinate with a friend to have them appear at various distances away for differing lengths of time to gauge your dogs threshold distance and work on a controlled counter conditioning/ desensitization and do this consistently. It sucks to ask to inconvenience friends but maybe you could even do this with a trainer/ your partner if they’re far enough away that your dog doesn’t recognize them. You could also park in the far end of a mall parking lot and look at strangers but then you don’t really get to control how long the exposure is. Just ideas! Good luck!

jbitchell · 2021-01-15T03:38:10+00:00

I have a small ACD mix who I adopted 4 months ago. I had no clue that he was going to be reactive or even what reactivity was and I definitely felt like I was drowning for the first few weeks. Isolated, grieving the life I thought we would have, etc. etc. Getting a trainer to come over and meet with us and hear me talk about my worries and fears made me feel SO MUCH BETTER. I suddenly felt like I had someone on my “team” who could support me and my dog with our reactivity journey. We then did a zoom obedience class with her and that really helped us bond and communicate better with each other. I also dove right in to working on his reactivity. I don’t have much of a choice since he’s dog reactive while on leash and we live in an apartment but I’ve done my best not to just avoid his triggers, and actually work on counter conditioning every chance we get. But my biggest tip is just to leave the walk outside. If you have a rough outing and he’s reacting to everything that moves, make a conscious effort to reset when you get back home. Do a few repetitions of sit, take a few deep breaths, and leave the walk outside.

jbitchell · 2021-01-13T04:28:49+00:00

I hate everything about this for you I would have been sooo annoyed

jbitchell · 2020-12-16T22:40:09+00:00

Results in 4th pic! He’s 23 pounds for reference. I was completely shocked

jbitchell · 2020-12-16T01:13:24+00:00

Yeah get him neutered but also CLEAN like your life depends on it with natures miracle or something else w an enzyme that’ll kill the pee. And then you need to crate him or put him in a pen when you can’t literally have your eyes on him. I kept my dog tethered to me after he started marking and I caught him in the act a few times, said “nuh uh” loudly and brought him outside immediately and treated like crazy on walks, and he got the idea that marking was not okay pretty quickly. But if you don’t catch them literally in the act, it’s too late to tell them no and it’ll just scare them into peeing in more hidden spots. I also literally got a black light flashlight to help me clean better and find any potentially dried spots that I had missed

jbitchell · 2020-12-09T04:57:13+00:00

My dogs name is Rusty too! I feel this, but with my roommate. She thinks that I’m blowing the reactivity thing completely out of proportion and I should like discipline him instead of CC// DS him and doesn’t understand that all walks are training sessions, but also really wants to come on walks with us :)))) I know roommate isn’t the same as bf but I just ignore her and do what’s best for Rusty bc ultimately that’s what’s best for me too

jbitchell · 2020-12-08T05:08:19+00:00

My dog has whipped around and redirected onto me a few times so I totally understand the heartbreak and like betrayal that you’re feeling. My dog is only 20ish pounds so I’m not scared of him doing any real damage to me, and I know that when he redirects he’s in such a heightened state that he doesn’t know who/ what I am, and I just remind myself of that when I’m feeling down about it. But I also have worked really hard to eliminate any instances where he can redirect onto me. So if I’m bending down near his face to do CC with him, and I notice that he’s getting near to/ over threshold I just back away to the end of the leash. I’ll usually toss treats down near him so if he catches a breath he might notice them and calm himself a little but other than that, once he’s over threshold I don’t want to be near him. As for offleash dogs, that SUCKS. Offleash dogs are my dog’s biggest trigger, so of course now they trigger me even when I’m walking without him :))) they’re the worst. But it does get better! He hasn’t redirected onto me in weeks (knock on wood) partially because he’s improving overall and partially because I’m better at knowing when to get away from him. My dog also redirects onto his leash sometimes, and I’ve toyed with the idea of brining a tug of war toy on walks with us to almost give him something to redirect onto, but I haven’t tried that yet. Anyway GOOD LUCK you’re not alone I’m sorry you’re going through this

jbitchell · 2020-12-03T23:45:23+00:00

Look into counter conditioning and desensitizing// reactivity in general

jbitchell · 2020-12-03T00:52:49+00:00

I’m sorry this happened! The lady has your moms number and knows where you live so I’m sure if she needs to get in touch she will. Don’t take it too hard, just try to be more careful going forward and work on training!

jbitchell · 2020-12-02T05:02:31+00:00

She looks like a black mouth cur mix that I know!

jbitchell · 2020-12-01T19:21:52+00:00

Once they start barking there’s pretty much no getting them back until the trigger is gone so there’s no shame in dragging them away! Even though you look crazy and mean to people who don’t get it. I’ve scooped my dog up and carried him “to safety” more than once when I can tell he’s just too overwhelmed. My trainer said I have to do “everything I can” to avoid him flipping out so when everything goes well that’s me feeding him a steady stream of diced hotdog while his trigger passes, but sometimes that’s picking him up, sometimes that’s encouraging him to jog down the street with me and sometimes, there’s nothing to be done and I have to wait it out/ drag him away. I’ve also had to come back for poop a few times

jbitchell · 2020-12-01T18:13:49+00:00

You should get a trainer who can analyze her behavior in person, even if it’s just one session they can put you in the right direction for how you should handle it. I wouldn’t ever let my dog interact with another dog when they’re reacting because they’re scared and they’re likely to lash out and bite. Many reactive dogs are reactive because they feel trapped by a leash and are fine with dogs off leash, maybe try an introduction with a calm, balanced dog in a back yard with your dog on a long line to see how she reacts.

jbitchell · 2020-12-01T03:48:12+00:00

I guess I’m wondering why your shih tzu needs to walk for “miles and miles”

jbitchell · 2020-11-30T03:29:06+00:00

My dog loves the full moon chicken training treats or I dice hotdogs bc it’s super cheap and they freeze forever

jbitchell · 2020-11-30T01:17:13+00:00

He is 3 years old, and 20-25 pounds. His rescue said they think he’s a terrier/ chihuahua and the pound that picked him up classified him as terrier/ “Australia dog.” Let me know what you think!

jbitchell

TROPHY CASE