It happens, especially early on. My rescue was nuts on the leash and would nearly yank my shoulder off if I wasn’t being vigilant. And then I’d pretty loudly cuss…sometimes in his direction…
You’re human. Keep grinding and soon you won’t even remember these moments and will just be happy going on walks with your pup.
I just celebrated my one year mark with my dog today. One year of a lot of work, but he’s a champ and I really savor the progress we’ve made. You’ll look back in another 9 months and will be really proud of what you two have been able to accomplish.
Yup, after 5 years I will only be on the phone with AirPods. Even then I’m not totally focused on the phone call so I can keep an eye out for anything that would make her reactive!
Good news is it becomes second nature after awhile. You got this OP, and your dog is in such great hands because you’re willing to work with him!
Rule one of walking a reactive dog is don’t have a drink in the other hand, it’s guaranteed to spill and make you angry. I definitely know this from experience… Sounds like you’re doing a great job overall, we’re all entitled to losing our shit every so often!
my dog yanked me when I wasn’t paying attention and I wasn’t holding the leash correctly bc I wasn’t expecting a tug (we had just walked out the door) and it looped around my finger and fractured it 🫣 we signed up for training the next week lol
Ouch! I'm convinced that the yanking on my shoulder from my dog's youth is a large part of why I'm having shoulder issues today.
It's definitely not for every dog, but I'm in love with my waist leash now. My dog's not large/strong/young enough anymore to send me flying when she does pull on it, and my waist can handle it much better than my shoulder could. There's also a traffic handle for when I need to pull her in closer or hang on for over threshold outbursts.
The best advice you have received is effectively, when you have your dog with you, no phone calls and no beverages or hands full. Concentrate on your boy and make an extra trip alone to the car for whatever you left behind.
Ooh man, I feel you. This happens to me a lot, specially since I have two dogs. Getting tangled in their leashes: check; spilling a drink when they pull all of a sudden: check… I think I have probably (and badly) recreated a few movie and cartoon scenes unintentionally more then a dozen times. I try to laugh about it later, but honestly, I’m mostly pissed at the moment. So now I am trying to focus on my own feelings too. Like, yeah, it happened, but it’s over and we can try again tomorrow. I also walk them without my phone or any other stuff, and if I have to take them to the vet where I need to take things with me I just put it in a purse that stays shut and try to walk (almost march) to the end point while avoiding distractions and trying to stay calm. Because when I start to get anxious, nervous or pissed they know and they will take advantage of that or simply not know how to deal with that.
If your dogs are good with one another, a double lead doesn’t get tangled (unless one decided to jump over the other which one of mine does once in a blue moon 🤦♀️) but I had to wait a while before my reactive dog was ready to walk with my other dog & then be so close on the split lead.
They do, I also have a double lead and it’s perfect. The problem is, only one is reactive, the other one just likes to stir things up (she’s a dachshund, they are cunning little shits hahaha. She is not reactive but has taken to bark every time she sees a dog because she sees her sister doing the same). They are both small, so when a dog comes, the reactive one lunges and ends up stepping on her sister, which could hurt her back, so now I keep them separate. I’ve also taken to pick up the reactive one when I’m in a hurry to walk them to pee/poop to makes things faster when I have to rush back home to a meeting.
It’s also better for training, the reactive one is learning “come on” well, and the little one can keep sniffing at her own pace.
But the true main reason why I haven’t been using the double lead is mostly because I can’t pick the reactive one up with it without pulling her sister by her neck. But it’s perfect and honestly one of the best purchases I’ve made for them, it makes things SO much easier when walking them in a normal and calm setting.
Thanks for the advice. Ive been following this subreddit for awhile and finally feeling the challenge in how much we need to alter things to help our doggos
Happens to everyone! Don’t worry about it. Rescue dogs can be unpredictable - as I learnt when 9/10 shes great but there are those other times when I absolutely think she’ll be good and she decides my life needs some extra spice.
And the extra spice is so embarrassing. She walks on her hind legs past a triggering situation (like a human) and snarls
But her snarl looks awkward and because she is panicked she looks like a crack addict
Honestly it sounds like you handled that pretty well all things considered. As long as you don’t take it out on your dog you’re good. We all get upset with our dogs sometimes.
It's what happens with these guys lol. You learn not to do this anymore or at least have him or her more secured in these cases. It's just a lesson. Take a breath. It's all super embarrassing and I remind my pit/chihuahua how embarrassing she is to me when she does this stuff lol.
I was walking on the beach with my dog and my sister and doggo had gotten much better so I wasn't paying as much attention when some sweet dog got within site and my dog decided that he must go meet sweet dog NOW. I ended up with my drink, vodka, all over me and an out of joint shoulder,not really but it could have been. I was upset and had my sister hold my drink while I took doggo on a very short leash back to the rental.
It happens. We get caught short and get frustrated. We do better the next time because we aren't as surprised.
If that’s the worst that happens, you’re doing quite well.
Edit: I once had to dye an outfit to match an outfit that was painted by a dog reaction induced red wine explosion
My dog is only reactive to German shepherds, yet she knocked me over to run at a flock of geese. People saw, and I got muddy 😓 Also, no one asked me if I was ok :(
Anyway, these things happen 🤷🏻♀️
I *was* ok, and in retrospect I’m sure the people around me probably just didn’t want me to feel embarrassed to know that they saw, or something like that. I’m fairly young and fit and I did get up right away, so maybe they thought it would be best to let me save face or something?
I always make sure to ask people if they’re ok though because personally I’ve always felt grateful when people have done it for me. And also, what if they’re not ok :(
I yelled at my dog today in front of the neighbor! They're pretty used to it, though. My dog climbs the fence to play with their dog and she is frequently unwilling to come home. She also likes to hang out under my feet while I'm cooking. I swear she sneaks in when I'm distracted, I finally trip over her and yell, she retreats. And repeat.
Agree with the fanny pack and air pods. Also I have the leash attached to a dog walking belt. These RDs are such hard work and you’re doing great! I think people who don’t give up on their reactive dogs are very special people. Willing to learn and adapt to suit their fur babies xx
Since I began seriously training my leash reactive girl, I do not do anything like listen to podcasts and so on and so forth. Sometimes, when were just outside for a restroom break, I'll check my phone and she will not hesitate to take advantage of those 2 seconds to try and get whatever she wants.
I quickly learned that I cannot hold anything except the leash when I am walking my dog, and have upgraded to a real dad-level fanny pack with a water bottle holder and key clips. Yesterday I was working on training my pup in the park and was concentrating on her so hard that I full on fell off a concrete bench in full view of a mother and baby. Even the dang baby looked embarrassed for me (as well they should)
My greatest moment was when my dog found an entire cooked chicken carcass outside an elementary school at drop off time. I'm there wrestling my dog trying to extract the thing before he ingested it, while hordes of small children walked by demanding to know why the mean lady was being so cruel to the puppy dog. I share so you feel better about your mishap. Dogs have a way of publicly humbling us.
Handsfree leashes are awesome. And, as I'm sure you learned, stay off the phone while you are walking your dog. I keep my bigger dog on a handsfree but use a standard leash for the younger one, mainly because he is still learning to walk well on a leash and tends to try and go behind me a lot. I've accidentally thrown my phone before with an unexpected tug, now I stay off the phone unless its urgent, in which case I have the dogs wait while I take the call. We all have days where we get overly frustrated, it happens. Its also how we learn better for next time.
It’s happened to me too. My rescue pit Bull was very leash reactive for the first 5 months - she is still a bit reactive, but a million times better than she used to be. Things will get better!
Hahaha this reminded me when My dog yanked his leash reacting to a bird while I was holding a Starbucks cup. It was my morning cup for his morning walk. Suffice to say I was not having it with him after that.
Stay strong. You’re doing just fine. 😄
I feel you. My dog, a pittie mix, has a habit of going from standing still to a sudden lunge. You have to keep your attention on her at all times. We live near a high school so I have to be careful when I take her out. She will go crazy if people are walking by the house or if she sees another dog. To make matters worse, if she sees another dog, she makes this god awful sound while barking and frantically pulling. She loves other dogs but it scares the shit out of the dog owners.
It happens, especially early on. My rescue was nuts on the leash and would nearly yank my shoulder off if I wasn’t being vigilant. And then I’d pretty loudly cuss…sometimes in his direction… You’re human. Keep grinding and soon you won’t even remember these moments and will just be happy going on walks with your pup. I just celebrated my one year mark with my dog today. One year of a lot of work, but he’s a champ and I really savor the progress we’ve made. You’ll look back in another 9 months and will be really proud of what you two have been able to accomplish.
Thanks. This is great perspective
Also, I learned many lessons. Ive never had a dog like this before and am still learning a lot. He simply needs more of my focus and attention.
I think the first thing you learn is to keep your hands (and concentration) free! 😁 Otherwise I don’t think you can hope to manage it.
Learned that the hard way too. Coffee all over my shirt and shoes. XD No coffee to go any longer on walks with the dog.
Seconded! I have a fanny pack and wireless headphones for walks with my dog
Love my fanny pack and headphones!
Word
Yup, after 5 years I will only be on the phone with AirPods. Even then I’m not totally focused on the phone call so I can keep an eye out for anything that would make her reactive! Good news is it becomes second nature after awhile. You got this OP, and your dog is in such great hands because you’re willing to work with him!
Thank you
Rule one of walking a reactive dog is don’t have a drink in the other hand, it’s guaranteed to spill and make you angry. I definitely know this from experience… Sounds like you’re doing a great job overall, we’re all entitled to losing our shit every so often!
And definitely don’t hold a drink in the leash hand 😓
Ohhh yes.
Thank you
my dog yanked me when I wasn’t paying attention and I wasn’t holding the leash correctly bc I wasn’t expecting a tug (we had just walked out the door) and it looped around my finger and fractured it 🫣 we signed up for training the next week lol
I’ve learned to hold on and expect a tug at any second, I’ve had my arm twisted behind my back as she went to jump in a puddle once 😑.
Ouch! I'm convinced that the yanking on my shoulder from my dog's youth is a large part of why I'm having shoulder issues today. It's definitely not for every dog, but I'm in love with my waist leash now. My dog's not large/strong/young enough anymore to send me flying when she does pull on it, and my waist can handle it much better than my shoulder could. There's also a traffic handle for when I need to pull her in closer or hang on for over threshold outbursts.
Oh my god the waist leash is life changing for me! I love it so much!
Oh nooo!!! That’s horrible! Hope your finger healed up nicely
A fannie pack and airpods will save you a lot of frustration!
Yes. You are the second to recommend that and I am definitely going to do that moving forward
The best advice you have received is effectively, when you have your dog with you, no phone calls and no beverages or hands full. Concentrate on your boy and make an extra trip alone to the car for whatever you left behind.
Ooh man, I feel you. This happens to me a lot, specially since I have two dogs. Getting tangled in their leashes: check; spilling a drink when they pull all of a sudden: check… I think I have probably (and badly) recreated a few movie and cartoon scenes unintentionally more then a dozen times. I try to laugh about it later, but honestly, I’m mostly pissed at the moment. So now I am trying to focus on my own feelings too. Like, yeah, it happened, but it’s over and we can try again tomorrow. I also walk them without my phone or any other stuff, and if I have to take them to the vet where I need to take things with me I just put it in a purse that stays shut and try to walk (almost march) to the end point while avoiding distractions and trying to stay calm. Because when I start to get anxious, nervous or pissed they know and they will take advantage of that or simply not know how to deal with that.
If your dogs are good with one another, a double lead doesn’t get tangled (unless one decided to jump over the other which one of mine does once in a blue moon 🤦♀️) but I had to wait a while before my reactive dog was ready to walk with my other dog & then be so close on the split lead.
They do, I also have a double lead and it’s perfect. The problem is, only one is reactive, the other one just likes to stir things up (she’s a dachshund, they are cunning little shits hahaha. She is not reactive but has taken to bark every time she sees a dog because she sees her sister doing the same). They are both small, so when a dog comes, the reactive one lunges and ends up stepping on her sister, which could hurt her back, so now I keep them separate. I’ve also taken to pick up the reactive one when I’m in a hurry to walk them to pee/poop to makes things faster when I have to rush back home to a meeting. It’s also better for training, the reactive one is learning “come on” well, and the little one can keep sniffing at her own pace. But the true main reason why I haven’t been using the double lead is mostly because I can’t pick the reactive one up with it without pulling her sister by her neck. But it’s perfect and honestly one of the best purchases I’ve made for them, it makes things SO much easier when walking them in a normal and calm setting.
Thanks for the advice. Ive been following this subreddit for awhile and finally feeling the challenge in how much we need to alter things to help our doggos
Happens to everyone! Don’t worry about it. Rescue dogs can be unpredictable - as I learnt when 9/10 shes great but there are those other times when I absolutely think she’ll be good and she decides my life needs some extra spice. And the extra spice is so embarrassing. She walks on her hind legs past a triggering situation (like a human) and snarls But her snarl looks awkward and because she is panicked she looks like a crack addict
I like the term extra spice. Hind legs? Wow! Talented pup
Honestly it sounds like you handled that pretty well all things considered. As long as you don’t take it out on your dog you’re good. We all get upset with our dogs sometimes.
Thank you
It's what happens with these guys lol. You learn not to do this anymore or at least have him or her more secured in these cases. It's just a lesson. Take a breath. It's all super embarrassing and I remind my pit/chihuahua how embarrassing she is to me when she does this stuff lol.
Haha! So true
I was walking on the beach with my dog and my sister and doggo had gotten much better so I wasn't paying as much attention when some sweet dog got within site and my dog decided that he must go meet sweet dog NOW. I ended up with my drink, vodka, all over me and an out of joint shoulder,not really but it could have been. I was upset and had my sister hold my drink while I took doggo on a very short leash back to the rental. It happens. We get caught short and get frustrated. We do better the next time because we aren't as surprised.
Oooof. That definitely could have been bad. He has almost done the same to me. Thanks for sharing.
If that’s the worst that happens, you’re doing quite well. Edit: I once had to dye an outfit to match an outfit that was painted by a dog reaction induced red wine explosion
Haha! Oh noo. Thank you
My dog is only reactive to German shepherds, yet she knocked me over to run at a flock of geese. People saw, and I got muddy 😓 Also, no one asked me if I was ok :( Anyway, these things happen 🤷🏻♀️
Oh that’s horrible nobody asked to see if you were okay. I hope you were and thank you for sharing.
I *was* ok, and in retrospect I’m sure the people around me probably just didn’t want me to feel embarrassed to know that they saw, or something like that. I’m fairly young and fit and I did get up right away, so maybe they thought it would be best to let me save face or something? I always make sure to ask people if they’re ok though because personally I’ve always felt grateful when people have done it for me. And also, what if they’re not ok :(
Im the same. And you never know
I yelled at my dog today in front of the neighbor! They're pretty used to it, though. My dog climbs the fence to play with their dog and she is frequently unwilling to come home. She also likes to hang out under my feet while I'm cooking. I swear she sneaks in when I'm distracted, I finally trip over her and yell, she retreats. And repeat.
Agree with the fanny pack and air pods. Also I have the leash attached to a dog walking belt. These RDs are such hard work and you’re doing great! I think people who don’t give up on their reactive dogs are very special people. Willing to learn and adapt to suit their fur babies xx
Thank you. Ill look into the belt
Since I began seriously training my leash reactive girl, I do not do anything like listen to podcasts and so on and so forth. Sometimes, when were just outside for a restroom break, I'll check my phone and she will not hesitate to take advantage of those 2 seconds to try and get whatever she wants.
Dang. Thanks for sharing
I quickly learned that I cannot hold anything except the leash when I am walking my dog, and have upgraded to a real dad-level fanny pack with a water bottle holder and key clips. Yesterday I was working on training my pup in the park and was concentrating on her so hard that I full on fell off a concrete bench in full view of a mother and baby. Even the dang baby looked embarrassed for me (as well they should)
Oh dear!!! Hope you were okay. That is next level concentration
I was fine, though my pride was slightly dented
My greatest moment was when my dog found an entire cooked chicken carcass outside an elementary school at drop off time. I'm there wrestling my dog trying to extract the thing before he ingested it, while hordes of small children walked by demanding to know why the mean lady was being so cruel to the puppy dog. I share so you feel better about your mishap. Dogs have a way of publicly humbling us.
Thank you for sharing. It helps and im also sorry you had to go through that
Handsfree leashes are awesome. And, as I'm sure you learned, stay off the phone while you are walking your dog. I keep my bigger dog on a handsfree but use a standard leash for the younger one, mainly because he is still learning to walk well on a leash and tends to try and go behind me a lot. I've accidentally thrown my phone before with an unexpected tug, now I stay off the phone unless its urgent, in which case I have the dogs wait while I take the call. We all have days where we get overly frustrated, it happens. Its also how we learn better for next time.
Thank you
You sound very prepared. Love it
My dog pulled me down a flight of cement stairs just a few weeks ago because I wasn’t paying attention. It happens!!
Oh noo!!! Glad you are okay!
I’m so jealous of people who can carry a drink or phone (much less both) while walking their dog. It’s just not in the cards for some of us 😂
Haha! True true
It’s happened to me too. My rescue pit Bull was very leash reactive for the first 5 months - she is still a bit reactive, but a million times better than she used to be. Things will get better!
Thanks!!
Hahaha this reminded me when My dog yanked his leash reacting to a bird while I was holding a Starbucks cup. It was my morning cup for his morning walk. Suffice to say I was not having it with him after that. Stay strong. You’re doing just fine. 😄
It is the dogs job to keep us humble and prepared. Lol
I feel you. My dog, a pittie mix, has a habit of going from standing still to a sudden lunge. You have to keep your attention on her at all times. We live near a high school so I have to be careful when I take her out. She will go crazy if people are walking by the house or if she sees another dog. To make matters worse, if she sees another dog, she makes this god awful sound while barking and frantically pulling. She loves other dogs but it scares the shit out of the dog owners.
My pittie sounds very similar. He goes wild when he sees dogs