10 Things Your Reactive Dogs Wants You To Know

If you are living with and loving an emotional, excitable, or reactive dog, let me share the top 10 things he wants you to know...

Living with reactive dogs isn't easy. It can be frustrating, lonely, exhausting, confusing and full of rabbit holes, too much information, not enough information, a whirlwind. Let's narrow it down. Today, I'm going to share the top 10 things that I know your dog probably wants to tell you. Because I've been working with dogs for so long, I'm confident that your dog would agree with the pieces of knowledge I'm sharing here

1. ​I’m not trying to give you a hard time. I’m having a hard time

I'm not trying to make your life harder. I'm just over here struggling sometimes and I'm trying to deal with it in the only ways I've learned, in ways that come most naturally to me.

2. Every day is different because everyday is different. 

​I’m dealing with different stressors on different days. Maybe I didn’t sleep well last night. Maybe my hormones are out of whack today. Maybe I’m still dealing with stress from yesterday. I have good days and bad days, just like everyone else.

3. ​I’m trying to communicate with my body but it's not getting through

I'm constantly trying to tell you things with my whole body, before I growl, bark, or even bite. When my body language isn’t being read, I have to be more clear and unfortunately, sometimes that's not well received. I just don't know what else to do and sometimes that's the only thing that works

4. When I feel trapped, I don't have many options. 

When I have a leash on, I can’t escape. So those times I would like to run away? Well, I can’t and I know that so sometimes I have to scare the other thing away

5. It’s not about you

It’s about me. I love you, you’re my person but I have to survive first. I forgive easily and hope you can do the same for me

6. I am always watching

I am very observant. I am always watching my surroundings and sometimes I see, hear, or feel things before you do. I am also really good at anticipating the next thing, based on my past experience. This means I might use the environment as my cue that something else is probably going to happen.

7. Distance is my friend. 

If I don’t trust something or someone, I need space. Please give it to me whenever possible. It can really make all the difference in how I handle the world around me

8. People can be really confusing

Sometimes people confuse me. They make a lot of noise, a lot of gestures, dress in a lot of costumes, and get upset when I struggle to keep up. Please slow down. It's a marathon, not a race

9. I'm right here, right now

I'm living in the here and now. The past is the past and I want to move forward. Also, I can’t live up to the standards of dogs in your past. Please see me for who I am, the dog in front of you. 

10. I'm smarter than you think

Sometimes when it seems like I'm not listening, not learning, not "trained", it's because I’m smarter than you think. I know how to train humans.

Are you living with a reactive dog? Which of these nuggets do you think your dog will appreciate you knowing? You don't know what you don't know. Until you know.