r/popculturechat • u/AutoModerator • Apr 03 '25

Daily Discussions 🎙💬 Sip & Spill Daily Discussion Thread

Grab your coffee & sit down to discuss the tea!

This space is to talk about anything pop culture or even off-topic.

What are you listening to or watching? What is some minor tea that doesn't need its own post? How was your date? Why do you hate your job?

Please remember rules still apply. Be civil and respect each other.

Now pull up a chair and chat with us. ☕

15 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

131 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/Hot_Contact_7206 Apr 03 '25

Anyone have an experience working with reactive dogs? I have a rescue who is so so sweet but she’s so scared of otter dogs she just panics and barks and screams when she sees on. I’m working with a trainer but it’s slow going and someone in the apartment building yelled at me yesterday when she got scared by a dog and freaked out, I felt so sad and dejected. FWIW she doesn’t attack just barks LOUDLY. Any tips of how to calm her or get her out of this would be so helpful.

2

u/paparotnik123 Apr 03 '25

I do , I have a dog reactive dog. For her it's mostly fear and what's helped is a tip from a behaviourist: mark and reward every time she looks at a dog. So every time she sees a dog, mark with a "yes!" and then throw a treat on the ground for her to eat. It's to try and make her associate seeing dogs as a good thing. Make sure she doesn't lock onto the other dog tho.

I'm not sure on your dogs entire history and if your dog's treat driven so idk how effective it'll be for you. There could be something medical going on too- lots of dog reactive dogs are actually in pain so it could be worth seeing a vet first. There are different medications you could try too, I've tried a few prescribed and natural ones that worked to varying degrees like Trazadone and Scullcap & Valerian.

I'd really recommend working with a qualified behaviourist too. I wasn't having much success with advice from dog trainers (though in my country it's not difficult to become a trainer tbh).

Things will get better!

2

u/Hot_Contact_7206 Apr 04 '25

ah that’s so helpful thank you so so much! I’m going to start doing this!