My Reactive Dogs

I have heard many say that the reason that they do not take their dog for a walk is because their dog is badly behaved while on leash.  Q: What is the best way to help a dog with bad leash manners?  A: To walk them on leash, of course!

Shiloh's profile picture, courtesy of Seattle Animal Shelter

Meet Shiloh, a three year old Pit Bull Terrier [type] dog.  He was adopted from foster care through the Seattle Animal Shelter last July.  I first saw Shiloh's profile on Petfinder.com and was immediately drawn in by this picture which really captured his soulful and kind eyes.  After filling out the adoption application, speaking with shelter staff, and meeting Shiloh's foster mom, my family was finally able to meet him in person, including my eight year old mixed breed dog GG.  It was love at first sight for me, and as I am learning, I always fall for the dogs with "issues".

I absolutely LOVE dogs who are shy, fearful, anxious, leash reactive, dog reactive, people reactive, biters, chewers and destroyers.  Shiloh's "issue" is leash reactivity and I love him for it!  I realized a long time ago, shortly after rescuing my first dog Nalla, that a dog's issues are just a reflection of our own; and by OUR own I mean those issues that belong to human beings in general.  When we work through our dog's issues, we learn more about ourselves and are able to better help, understand, and relate to dogs and people alike. 

Nalla in 1998

My girl Nalla was reactive to everything (dogs, cats, people), and unlike Shiloh who just wants so badly to befriend everything and everyone, Nalla's reactivity was on the fearful side.  She was a biter and was also aggressively afraid of children.  As you can imagine, I had to be so careful with her... she was obviously a HUGE responsibility!  When it came to kids, she wanted nothing to do with them and actively tried to stay away from them.  In addition to working with Nalla on her issues, I spent a lot of time trying to teach kids and their parents to ask before trying to pet a dog, and to not run up to a dog that they do not know. As a person owned by reactive dogs, this has probably been the biggest challenge for me!

Nalla in 2010

With time and a lot of work, Nalla trusted me fully and depended on me and my voice to get her through various life situations.  We eventually were able to go to off leash parks regularly, but every single time I had to calmly and confidently talk her through every situation.  Like many fearful dogs (and humans), she was a bully and would pick on the other fearful dogs and ignore those who were confident.  When her body posturing would suggest she was about to pick on another dog, I would use my voice to let her know that everything was okay.  She had learned to trust me to be her "leader", and therefore never ventured beyond my sight or voice range.

We had to work almost daily to maintain this point of progression.  More often than not, a dog's issues will never completely go away but it is more than possible to bring them to a point where they are able to be an active part of the social world.  This may never mean doggy play dates, or wrestling around with kids (or for other dogs, it may never mean dog parks), but that is okay!  It does take love, trust, time, and some determination but it is absolutely worth it!  I will always know Nalla to be one of the most magnificent creatures to ever walk this Earth and am so proud that we walked together.

Remember: "Life is a journey, not a destination." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson (Transcendentalist)

...and so began my love for dogs with issues.  What I have learned from them, and continue to learn from them, is invaluable.

With that said, I want to let everyone who made it to our walk this morning know how much I truly appreciate your understanding and 'roll with the punches' attitude on what was a really challenging walk for our dogs... especially for my friendly-reactive dog Shiloh!

______________________________

~Lake Washington (south-end trail)~

It always takes a few minutes at the beginning of each walk for Shiloh to learn to be calm when standing near each of our other WalkABulls members.  Some dogs he warms up to very quickly, others take longer.  Once we get going on each walk, Shiloh hardly notices the other dogs in our group but still he chooses to react to those dogs who are not a part of the group, especially the poodles, so it seems.  How do we deal with this?  Keep practicing!  More walking! 

Pack order of the day: Shiloh, GG, Moo Cow, 5ive, Lilac and Blaze

Adopt Lilac!

Hey Blaze!  Thanks to you and your humans for having our backs!

The Denotation of the Dog-less Walker

As our group is progressing, we have been visiting areas that have the potential to be more populated and busy that our first couple walks.  This means that having people without dogs as part of our group is even more important!  The number of dog-less walkers we are able to have on each walk does often determine the number of dogs that are able to attend.

 

The job of the dog-less walker is to keep an eye on the group as well as to check what is going on both behind and in front of the group.  It is good to know if there is another dog approaching (on or off leash), children in the area, or even a random person who may decide that he or she wants to rush the group.  The dog-less walkers can both inform the group that these things are happening, as well as step in to answer any questions that people we encounter may have.  Those of us with dogs will be keeping an eye on our dogs which makes it difficult to handle a situation that may come up.  We do have 'business' cards to hand out now as well which direct people to our website for additional and more detailed information about our group.

 

Although the job of dog-less walker may sound like a big responsibility, it is actually a very fun role to have within the group!  When I have filled this role I really enjoyed being able to talk to the other group members and get to know their dogs.  Also, as a group, we are so appreciative of those of you who attend with out a dog for we couldn't walk so safely and confidently without you! 

 

In the case of encountering other dogs, kids, etc., it is best to keep our dogs close to us, to stay calm, and keep moving forward as long as we have the space to do so.  If not we can have a dog-less walker ask the other party to give us space.  On our last walk we encountered a situation where a woman was walking her dog, saw us coming, and froze in the middle of the trail (in an area where there was very little room to go around).  The people in the front of our group had dogs and when close enough asked her if she could give us a little room to get by.  As we got closer and asked again, she was able to communicate that she did not speak English and/or didn't understand.  She remained in the middle of the trail and proceeded to bend down and nervously bear-hug her dog.  She was of course unsure of the situation... that plus her awkward stance in the middle of the trail caused dogs in the group, many already prone to reacting, to really react.  All we could do was stay calm, move forward and shake it off.  It turned out to be a great learning experience!

Shiloh and the Salish Sea

 

A Second Walk in Seattle's South Side

Is Shiloh finally getting tired?

Klaus - sniffing for clues...

Bailey was so good at focusing on his people!

GG, Moo Cow, and 5ive - a tremendous trio.

Time to head home.  Thanks for the great walk everyone!

The Inaugeral Walk - A Leash and a Latte

Sunday, 2/19/12

We had a beautiful, partly sunny, cold winter day with a group consisting of eight dogs and ten humans.  As per the Seattle standard, many arrived with a latte in one hand and their dog's leash in the other.  Of course the key is to finish your coffee before you need to carry that first poo-bag; if you can do that then your walk is sure to go much more smoothly.  Luckily all who arrived were obvious experts when it came to juggling leash, coffee and poo-bag.

Coat pockets aren't just for keeping hands warm!

I was so happy to see such a great mix of dogs, from large to small and calm to hyper.  All played an important role in the group as we moved through South Seattle. 

I must admit that I was a little nervous with not knowing exactly what to expect as each dog-and-human pulled up in their cars to our meeting location.  For several days before our first walk, I visualized how those first few moments would go, over and over in my head.  I saw a lot of lunging, barking, and growling... not from any one specific dog or dogs, but just as an overall ambiance.  On the other hand, I also had a very good feeling about how the pre-walk time would play out and imagined that all the humans were doing their jobs to keep themselves and their dogs spaced out well.  Some of this came from the fact that I already knew some of the dogs and people that were to be a part of the first walk, and the rest came from information gathered from the other groups in Chicago and New York.  These groups were honest in saying that things can be difficult and sometimes seemingly chaotic in the beginning, but I was also very inspired as I heard about some of the success stories regarding shy dogs gaining confidence and reactive dogs learning to be calm.  I did know that however the first several minutes went, that it would be worth it for everyone.

Lovely Lilac is an adoptable Pit Bull Terrier in Seattle.  Look for her on Petfinder!

Now all I had to do was convince the new members, as well as those questioning their ability to be part of this type of group, that it will be worth it whether your dog is shy, fearful, reactive or has no social skills whatsoever... this WILL benefit ALL of us!  ...and I truly believe this to be possible.

Dozer was the perfect dog to lead our group!

What really happened in those first few minutes, the few minutes I spent many, many hours worrying about?  Nothing.  No reacting.  No lunging.  No barking.  The only noise outside of us humans introducing ourselves and our dogs to one another came from our black lab Dozer as he whined with excitement to let us know that it was time to get walking!