#reactive doggo

[partyoffourplusfur]

Ya know I’m not sure I’ve ever formally posted about our dog, Greg, on here. Getting ready to try a new training tool so why not start documenting on here 🤷‍♀️

We got Greg 2? Years ago (time melts into eachother these days) and he’s great. He’s a 3 year old mini poodle (I think he’s a schnauzer/poodle mix) Loves to play fetch, tug, and “get that dog”. He’s amazing with the kids. So tolerant and vocal about when he doesn’t want to be messed with which the kids have learned to back off which is also great. He plays with the cats. (Well Billie. They’re bffs. Olive isn’t a fan of playing with him. She’s a cranky old lady) He loves being brushed and I’m able to groom him myself (a fantastic trait of a long haired pet for a broke ass bitch)

BUT he’s reactive. And it’s a real pain in the ass.

But. He’s just reactive. Not aggressive. I always feel the need to clarify that.

Mostly to other dogs and men. Can’t just let people live their lives.

He will bark up a big bad storm, but the moment said person is near him, he’s on his back asking for belly rubs 🙄 literally. He was barking at a guy running in the neighborhood. Living his life. And got away from us and I had to yell at the guy (he’s just loud! He won’t bite you! And Greg just rolled over the second he was in arms distance of the dude🙄) all bark no bite.

Dogs on the other hand, I keep him away from of course because im not going to let anyone potentially get bit.

We had an instance where a neighbor dog was loose (it’s a whole thing. I actually called animal control on them and they haven’t been out loose since. Anyways) and came near us and Greg lost his freaking mind. Dog was friendly and just wanted to say hi but Greg only saw a threat to me and the kids and I was swinging him in the air by his harness so he didn’t get close enough to bite them or be bit because at that point I would have abandoned him to get the kids inside and then who knows what kind of damage would have been done to the both of them.

We’ve tried redirecting with a clicker and treats. And that works when we’re inside the house. Not so much when we’re in public. Because he’s like DANGER! DANGER! A THREAT TO MY BABIES! A THREAT TO MY MOM! even though everyone is totally fine and he’s the one making a fool of himself.

Anywho. Next we’re trying a bark collar. Which I’ve always been pretty against. Because like who wants to SHOCK their pet? But I’ve discovered that bark collars these days typically have settings, where they first beep, and then they vibrate, and then they’ll shock. And you can change the intensity of the vibrate and shock settings. So really it can be very subtle. And lots of reviews said once their dog realized what the beep meant, they generally learned to shut the heck up because they didn’t want to be shocked. So we’re gonna try it inside the house for a week or so and once we’re not barking so much in the home, then we’ll try neighborhood walks, then try being in public. And hopefully he’ll learn to not bark and we can stop using the collar.

It wouldn’t be so bad if it was just when he was in public. He’s unfortunately pretty reactive to Jesus a lot of the time and always trying to “protect” me (even though I swear he’s his favorite person) Oh like for example last night I fell asleep in bed and Jesus was playing games. Greg was in bed with me and he also fell asleep. Jesus came in to get the phone charger and spooked Greg and he was barking up a storm (and scared the shit out of me) at Jesus even though he clearly knows THAT HE LIVES HERE TOO like damn dude. It’s not that big of a deal he’s allowed to come into his own room. Chilllllllll.

Anyways yeah that’s what’s going on with the dog and I have pretty high hopes. It’d be great if he could at the very least learn to not bark when in the house. He barks at the neighbors when they come into the building or sometimes when they’re walking around too loud upstairs.

Greg is just a loud boy with anxiety.

[bunboof]

Sleepy b🥰

[rtmkff]

Heylin kids (and Tubbi) as doggos!! and some more details.

Ashley: Smooth-coated apple head chihuahua. She's one of those seemingly sweet little dogs that rolls around in her owner's pink designer bag, but also will try to chew your arm off if you get too close to her or her beloved teenage girl owner.

Jack: Jack Russel terrier / Toy poodle (mix). He's neurotic and has too much brains and energy from his small constantly shaking body. He's reactive, he's resource guarding and he's in desperate need for zoopsychologist.

Vlad: Standard English Bull Terrier. I own one. It's literally Vlad. Sometimes he tries to sell me his babushka's remedy cream in exchange for kibble and butt scratches. He's too strong and scary for his own good, but if you get to know him, he's just a silly goofball.

Tubbimura: Shiba Inu. See, he's doing his own thing. His here only for the money* (*including in the form of a cheese tax)

[beekindac]

Popping in to say hi and share some little flowers to brighten your day. I hope you all are finding ways bring joy into your life today. Take the time to smell the roses, you'll be glad you did.

Happy Wednesday and Bee Kind!

A tiny story to go with this - I'm not sure if any of you can relate, but finding an easy way to make life a little less craptastic and actually more enjoyable is huge for me. As many of you have read, I struggle with some pretty profound health issues, with that often comes with a hefty dose of feeling hopeless and and often frustrated that I can't do the things I want to do. One of those is making sure I am walking my doggos and giving them outside time everyday. At first I was so concerned with the goal of taking them out everyday and the chore that is walking a reactive dog, that even though we were walking everyday to every other day depending on health and weather, we were not really having a 'good time'. The dogs seemed like they weren't getting what they needed from it other than perfunctory exercise and I just felt stressed about making sure I took them and the what ifs I didn't.

Then I really honed in on the fact that I am not creating the experience I want for my dogs or for me, so how do I change this. I swear - the only thing I changed was stopping to smell the roses - literally in my case. I just took a breath and decided to try and enjoy the walk for the chance to be in nature and actually smell the flowers blooming, to see so many neat and pretty things in my neighborhood, and to just hang out with my dogs. It has allowed me to feel more relaxed about walking because it feels more like something I get to do, rather than something I have to do. Plus, being calmer myself obviously helps my keep my reactive dog calmer too.

Now, have I learned to do this in other areas...? no. I'm still working on that. But, I'll take this as a huge win. Stopping to smell the roses, friends- I highly recommend.

[shotce]

Season 2 of MW3 is HERE….and yup, no Gaz. But we got Laswell and a new doggo finishing move!! He’s got doggles! It’s all purple and gold for the zombies theme. The non-blackcell has a zombie dog finisher too.

I can’t preview the starting Soap skin, they only ever show you the final forms for the reactive skins, why 😭 ? But the trailer made him seem haunting.

The fancy Ghost skin is giving dragon vibes.

There’s also Valeria, Farah, Price and Rick Grimes 😂 I actually will have to finish this BP. Wish me luck!!

[wearesorcerer]

Me: "Hmm...I wonder what @wearepaladin would be like as a doggo. (I mean, Pally is into werewolves IIRC, so that's a pastability.)"

Me, realizing that this is very nearly asking about a fursona: (Is immediately squicked.)

Beat.

Me: "o.o Gasp! PALLY HAS A REACTIVE SMITE ABILITY THAT DEALS PSYCHIC DAMAGE!"

[papiliovolens]

Is the dog and guinea pigs pet duo common?? Cuz I had one dog and 2 guinea pigs as a kid and I swear, if I or someone else was in a place where we couldn't hear the guinea pigs squeal/demand for food, our dog would bark at us and herd us (this is a DACHSHUND) towards them. No worries about forgetting abt those two, cuz they were best friends with le doggo.

I have no idea how common the combination is XD

We've trained our pup to ignore the guinea pigs, because he's very reactive, so they don't interact with each other at all.

But that is AMAZING

Dachshund to the rescue!

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

Progress has come in leaps and bounds today!

Day 5 sees Amara comfortable climbing onto the bed while myself, the wife, and the other two doggos were already hanging out!

We've been periodically giving high value treats to every dog who hangs out peacefully on the bed with another dog since Amara started showing interest. Tobi and Amara were (unsurprisingly) reactive to each other for the first couple of days, but both quickly learned that polite puppy manners got them freeze dried beef lung lmao. Amara had a hard time with Jaxxine when she jumped onto the bed with a high energy presentation, but has largely been quickly pretty comfortable around her.

We've even started seeing some begging from a lil missie when the human food is out. I'm really proud of the confidence she's starting to demonstrate!

@loreofthejungle was able to prompt her outside almost independently (carried her to the kitchen and set her down by the open back door, and letting her choose whether or not to go out) and back in entirely independently today! We're still seeing reflexive submissive behaviors when she gets startled or is approached while feeling vulnerable. She tends to go belly up REAL fast. But we've also been seeing a fair amount of relaxation too. She took a brief nap on wifey's feet this afternoon even.

I think we're lucky she's so expressive. She pants with a nervous smile when she's feeling stressed. She goes belly up or pancakes when she's scared. She growls when startled, and will lunge (but not bite) if pushed past a growl. She visibly relaxes and grooms herself when feeling safe. She sniffs our hands (yay early consent building ritual!!) when she wants to be pet or cuddled. She moves under the bed when she needs to decompress (Tobi also does this, which is creating issues. We are working on planning new nest zones for each dog to navigate this, and are planning to bring up Jaxxine's old kennel to turn into a cozy crate for Amara). It's really hard to miss what Amara is communicating when she responds to things. I'm hoping that her hypervigilence isn't a permanent trait, as she's still young. But as it is, I see a pretty clear path to safe and measured behavior and regulation for her.

as a total aside, looking at these pictures, I'm realizing how fucking *upsettingly* blank the walls are. I really need to start planning to redecorate with wifey so I can stop going fuckin snowblind every morning lmao

[wellhalesbells]

15 Questions, 15 (or whatever) Tags

I was tagged by @kikiroo​ - thank you!!  *heart hug!*

1. Were you named after anybody?

Nope.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Um, I cannot stress enough that I cry at the drop of a hat in fictional situations (pretty much never in real life) so it was either Ted Lasso or reading The Celebrants by Steven Rowley, or it could’ve been The Emperor’s Bone Palace by Hailey Turner - I just finished that.  I can’t remember if I did or not, but I was so stressed out, I probably did, things went poorly for a bit there and I was a wreck.

3. Do you have kids?

I do not and have no plans to.  I’ve never wavered on that, I’ve always been very ‘who knows, could change,’ about it but so far: nah.  And I feel like if I had ever wavered, my sister having two pandemic babies and me being her entire village (I am the only relative who lives in the same state.  And the people who are best at babies do not live in the same country.) has nudged me more firmly towards: that’s really not for you, broh.  I love them to death but I am so glad I get breaks where I just get to be a selfish monster for seventy-two hours straight.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Neever.

5. What sports do you play/have you played?

I played soccer for maybe a few weeks in middle school and then I was like: this is just running, and running is so much worse than sitting, was everyone aware of that?  I’ll be on the bench if you need me. *throws up a peace sign*  Though I did just tell my sister that I would absolutely fucking kill at basketball against K-1st graders and I stand by that.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about someone?

Sense of humor.  Honestly, I don’t know if it’s an ace thing or not, but I can’t even describe people beyond: heightish and hairish until you interest me as a person, which is usually because you make me laugh.  It’s kind of embarrassing sometimes because I really do not notice, and sometimes I’ll be asked to describe someone I’ve been in the vicinity of for, like, two months and I’m like: I genuinely cannot tell you a single thing about this person, I’m so sorry.  I just don’t track details.  That’s why I try really hard with names.  I can’t tell you what they look like in any detail (do they wear glasses? Have freckles? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ), but I can tell you their name.  And sometimes that can feel like a superpower tbqh, because you know who people come to find out the new person’s name: moi.

7. Eye color?

Blue.

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Oh scary movies, hands down.  They’re my favoritest things.  I regularly have them on as background noise.

9. Any special talents?

If I do have them, they’re a secret even to me.  I like to have that Kathleen Madigan mindset about it: “What if we’re all prodigies, but it’s just at something we’ve never tried yet? ... What if I sat down at a pottery wheel and made a cup and people were like: Holy Christ, lady, that is the most phenomenal cup ever made.”  It could happen!

10. Where were you born?

St. Pete, Florida.

11. What are your hobbies?

Writing, reading, tending to an imaginary beluga whale that lives in my nephew’s bathtub, creating to do lists over and over again that I have no intention of ever completing, and playing Pokemon Go.  There’s a girl at my work and we were the two nerds who were really into it, we would get together, do the fests and the raids and community days and such.  We have now converted half our workplace into either reactivating their accounts or creating them and there are now at least two more people who are just as - if not more - into it than we are.  (Like, they had to make a Pokemon Go policy because of us spreading it like a virus, lololol.)

12. Do you have any pets?

I have a doggo that I accidentally made obsessed with me and super introverted.  You know how they say owners start to resemble their dogs?  Nope.  I broke her and now we like to stay in, are wary of strangers, and essentially try to occupy the same space at all times - I blame COVID, honestly, we were both way more normal before that.  Or she was, anyway.  The good news is I can let her off leash ‘cause she’s going precisely zero places without me.

13. How tall are you?

5’

14. Favorite subject in school?

English in high school, Evolutionary Psychology in college.

15. Dream job?

I hate to say it but: I do not dream of labor.  Anything I’m passionate about doing, I would immediately tarnish by needing it to now be the source of my livelihood.  It would lose all its joy because I would put immense pressure on it.

Though if I could somehow make bank through sleeping? Yeah, that.

I don’t know who to tag because I feel like I’ve seen everyone do this on my dash so: um, whoever hasn’t done it yet and wants to - consider this me tagging you!

[fantasy-fields-danger-zone]

UnderFell Doggo Indoraptor

Name: Fangrush

Size: 1-2 feet tall(Mini), 5-6 feet tall(Fullsized), 9-10 feet tall(Bara),

Personality: Twitchy, erratic, hyper-aware, paranoid, short-tempered, impulsive, reactive, obsessive, territorial, intense

Likes: Heat, dark meat, loud noises (they feel “safe” when they’re the loudest thing), long runs, tracking scent trails, chewing things to bits

Dislikes: Stillness, silence, reflective surfaces, being ignored, anything that smells “wrong,” strong magic pulses

Compatibility: Fangrush bitties are extremely high-maintenance and best suited to experienced caretakers.

They are not affectionate in typical ways but may show loyalty through guarding, intense focus, or obsessive behaviors.

If you can earn their trust, they will defend you with feral persistence. However, they are quick to snap if startled or stressed, and must be carefully handled when agitated.

Pairing with similarly wild or intense bitties works best- but avoid those with camouflage or invisibility.

Fangrush may also freeze up completely if they sense they’re being watched but can’t identify the source.

Giving them strong scents, moving toys, or rhythmic noise helps soothe this behavior.

Feeding habits: They are carnivores! They hate eating things that move, they like their food to be still and well seasoned or just raw(they like the taste of blood), but should NEVER be given poultry raw as it can make them sick!

Additional info: They cant see things that stand still! Beware! they may start biting things at random when stressed just to try to find someone,

Zone: Plains, Forest,

In Universe: Said to have originally been engineered for harsh wilderness patrols, Fangrush bitties were deemed too unstable and eventually pulled from testing. Some speculate these bitties retained corrupted soul fragments from their magic-based imprinting process, giving them an uncanny ability to sense emotions or intentions- often before others can.

Difficulty: Expert

Features:

Main colors: Black red, gold,

Secondary colors: Black, red, gold,

Extra: Since these bitties are mixed with dog monsters they are fluffy!!!

Additional info: may have fluffy dog like ears, may have a dog like nose, or may be more reptilian!

[bunboof]

[outofbinaryspace]

So I’m living with my parents rn and bc they have two big dogs, we use a baby gate to keep my cat downstairs and them upstairs (my cat can and will jump over the baby gate but the dogs respect the gate for some reason)

Now for the past week or so I’ve been sleeping on the couch in the living room and violet (my cat) will stay near me so we didn’t have a problem

But now I’m in the second bedroom (they were using it for storage so my mom had to clear it out)-an important note about this house…the doors don’t latch very well or at all…the door in this room doesn’t at all which means the dogs who usually are either in my parents room or in the hallway between us can come in to my room and bug me

Sunday night I put the baby gate on the stairs bc violet for whatever reason can’t jump the gate that way and the dogs won’t try at all

And that worked fine

Last night my dad asked that I not put the gate on the stairs bc he has to take the dogs out at random times in the morning (the younger dog always has to go at random times)

So I put it back where it normally was, in the section between the living room and kitchen where violet can jump it

Well about an hour ago, my cat decided “fuck it” and fucking sprinted up the stairs (presumably she jumped the gate) and busted into the room I’m in, followed quickly by the older dog who is very curious about her, and like slid under the bed where oldest dog can’t reach her

I was asleep for most of this until I heard claws on wood followed by oldest dog

I get doggo out of my room, checked over my cat for injuries just in case

And all was well

Until five minutes later when she decided to pee in my suitcase full of clean clothes

That I then had to throw in the wash and figure out how to clean the suitcase

And to make this so much more fun: I’m allergic to both dogs and cats

I’m not as reactive to them now but cat pee is one of those things that instantly causes a pretty bad reaction (if she uses the litter box, it’s fine. It’s situations like this where she does it just to be petty that I’m dying)

So now I feel like shit because my cat decided it was so unfair and mean of me to make her stay downstairs

(And yes she has food and water and a litter box downstairs, and yes the litter box was clean)

[myjoomipets]

BRUNO / BONOY / BONOK / BORNEY

✅can be petted yes yes

male

loves attention

reactive doggo

probably has adhd

smart dude

loves cuddling but with a limited time only

very barky

dancer

homophobic

he loves watching tv

smells good. also soft fur.

bombastic side eye

has fomo

origin of name: named him after that phrase in Luca. "Silencio, Bruno!"

he was a stray outside our house. invited him inside our gate and acted like he owns the place. lolol

[furshrimps]

We just had a pretty good impromptu reactivity practice session when someone with another small dog 'suddenly appeared' a ways behind us at the empty plot across from where I live.

We had been on our way back from morning potty when a dude with a shih tzu type dog approached from behind us. He was much faster than I so I couldn't just briskly walk away 😂 So I decided to create some distance by going onto the grassy plot and while doing so asking the doggos to look at me or to stay put while I threw treats into the grass. I thought I'd just let the dude pass the plot and then go home.

Buuuuut he didn't want to pass us 🙈 he stayed there for several minutes. Which was very uncomfortable for me because just standing around really is not so great for my legs, I'm going to have some weakness and pain today because of this. But I continued asking things of my dogs and then rewarding, and they actually calmed down a lot. Sometimes I checked behind me if the dude was about to go away, but it took a while. Once he did go away he kind of walked a big circle across the street and then back towards the street where he originally came from, so I'm thinking he may have either done some training of his own, waiting for us to leave so he can let his dog off leash (although in that case he should have left us room to leave in the first place) or maybe he just wanted to check out if we had some interest in socializing (initially he had been greeting me, but after that I ignored him to work with my dogs). Sorry my dogs are not interested in strange dogs 😂 otherwise it probably would have been nice to make new friends haha.

But it ended up being a good session, all things considered, so I'm not mad about this strange encounter 😂

[scott94]

reactive dog training is one of scott's least favorite sessions to do, and it's because he's an alpha. it takes a lot of concentration and experience to mask his status from animals so close to him, especially for such an extended period of time, and it's really exhausting. the last thing he wants is for a dog to come to him for reactivity training & they're responding to him and his training just fine because he's an alpha and then doggo goes home and—nothing. it's happened before. the dog's owners were very confused and (rightfully) a little irritated.

[t3mp0-lol]

Good Dogs Don't Bite

As my jaw clamped down onto her hand, as my fangs tore into the tender flesh, I knew. I knew but I wouldn't let go. I couldn't let go. All of my devotion had just turned violent.

I growled and I pulled roughly at her hand but she didn't even flinch. She still looked at me with the same fond softness she had moments before. It was terrifying. I bit down harder. I needed to hide my fear, my weakness.

They held up their guns, prepared to shoot but she ordered them to stand down. Even as her blood mixed with my spit, she stayed so calm. Even as I hurt her, she refused to hurt me.

"You're not a bad dog, Jill."

I felt my ears flatten against my head. I was a bad dog. I had to be a bad dog. I wasn't capable of being anything else. That's why I should've remained muzzled. I am a bad dog. I bite. Good dogs don't bite.

"Bad dogs don't bite. Frightened ones do."

It felt like she read my mind. I know she didn't. As amazing as she was, she wasn't capable of that. I almost wish she had been. Maybe then she could have predicted my jaws wrapping around her throat. Maybe then she wouldn't have bled out within my maw. Maybe then I could've become a good dog. But I bite. Good dogs don't bite.

I could hear them screaming at each other, unsure if they should shoot the vile animal or obey the orders of their dead boss. Whatever their choice was didn't matter now. I bit another owner. I acted out of line. I would be put down like the bad dog I am. All because I bite.

All because good dogs don't bite.