I wish I could Walk My Dog
Have you ever felt like you can't walk your dog?
My dog Juno reacts to other dogs. Well that's putting it lightly. Juno really freaks out when other dogs come near her. Not only that, her instinct isn’t to run away, it's to run head on into a confrontation.
She’s stressed out, I’m stressed out.
Shouldn’t it be relaxing to take your pup for a stroll? Not for me and Juno. Reactive owners know the struggle. I’ll try to break it down for you if you’ve never dealt with it before.
She sees another dog, starts to stare and stiffen up. Her tail is now high and she’s whining a bit. If the dog comes closer or we can't escape, cue the Juno temper tantrum. She rushes to the end of the line, pulling and barking. Basically putting on a big show for the world to see.
Embarrassing..
But what she’s really doing is saying "get away from me."
What she really needs is to be able to walk in a safe space.
Parks Aren’t Safe
Nothing better than walking the trails in your city's lovely public parks. I think.. because I wouldn’t know. And why wouldn’t I know? Because of a specific type of dog person who always frequents these parks. Perhaps you know who I’m talking about.
Yup, its the people who don’t leash up their out of control dogs in the park. I’m talking about the leash-only parks.
You can see how this is an issue for reactive dogs. And for anyone who does have a reactive dog, these leash your dog parks are the ONLY places we can go.
I don’t know why these people chose to break this very simple rule. It really doesn’t matter to me if your dog walks right beside you off or on leash, because if I see your dog is off leash I won't risk it.
This off leash dog business in leash only parks is increasingly frustrating because when you have a reactive dog, they need training. And to be successful in training they need to be around other dogs but at a comfortable distance. So when you mix off leash dogs who are out of control with dogs trying to learn to cope with being around dogs, its a recipe for disaster.
Have you ever heard this line “oh its okay, he’s/she’s friendly,” as an out of control off leash dog rushes towards your scared pup. Sometimes I just want to say “well mine’s not,”
Like yea, your dog is really cute now can you keep it the f**k away from me.
I guess I’m just a super rude human Now?
So how do you deal with this situation then?
Does my dog not deserve a walk because she needs space? I think she does.
Photo by Tim Mossholder from Pexels
And now I am that person who will have to yell at people to get their dog and put them on leash. It's really not fun to be the bad guy when you are just trying to do right by your animal.
Good phrases to use are:
- We need space
- Please give us a moment
- She’s in training
- Don’t approach us
- Please leash your dog
You don’t owe anyone an explanation for why you don't want your dogs to meet. There are many other reasons that someone might not want their dog to meet a “friendly” out of control pooch.
Preventing Interactions
There can be a lot of training that needs to happen before you go to parks, depending on how reactive your dog is. Aside from training, here are the steps I take to ensure a positive experience when I visit parks with my dog:
- Before going to a park, have the appropriate gear. For Juno that looks like a harness, head halter that connects to harness and 6 foot leash. The head harness allows for control when you are working with a large dog and is a great training tool.
- Survey the parking lot and wait for the coast to be clear. Before you get out of your car, look around. ALOT of people have their dogs off leash in the parking lot, even if they plan to leash their dog in the park. (I don't know why...seems odd to me but I see it all the time.)
- Make sure the entrance is wide and open: We only frequent parks that have an open frontage with lots of available entryways. Some parks have small pathways through forests that open to a larger park, this does not work for us as we could meet dogs in such a small path.
- Stay close to your vehicle if need be and go back to it if necessary. I map out where I want to go before I bring my dog. I check the park out and see if there are areas that are less traveled that are open and I can escape back to the car easily. I have definitely run back to my car with my dog to take a break and allow an off leash dog to come and go.
Have a reactive dog? what do you do to prevent outburst?
Life is Ruff!