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Most people see a reactive dog and assume a lifetime of lonely walks and awkward sidesteps. We’ve lived that worry, and we also learned a better way. This episode lays out a clear, humane path from fearful reactions to safe, genuine friendships, using distance, timing, and structure instead of force or wishful thinking.
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Episode Transcript
A lot of people think that if their dog is
reactive, it means that theirdog will never have friends.
And that's not always true.
My first dog was reactive, andhis reactivity was rooted in
fear.
So for a long time I focused ondesensitization, getting better
(00:24):
at reading his body language,and working on my timing so I
could interrupt or redirectbefore he exploded.
And eventually I started walkingwith some friends and their
dogs.
And in the beginning we weren'teven close.
They'd be on one sidewalk andI'd be across the street on the
(00:45):
other sidewalk.
That parallel walking let my dogsee them, get comfortable, and
adjust at his own pace.
And over time we slowly closedthe gap, eventually walking side
by side.
And the process worked.
My dog gained enough comfort andtrust that he ended up with two
(01:09):
or three dogs that he couldactually play with.
And when they were outside inopen spaces, he could run and
wrestle just like any other dog.
Now I want to be clear, I stillmanage things very carefully,
especially in tighter spaces.
I always stayed alert because ifhe felt cornered, his fear could
(01:32):
bubble up again.
And most of our play sessionshappened outside.
And when indoors, I kept thingsstructured and closely
supervised.
But the takeaway is this beingreactive doesn't automatically
mean your dog is destined for alife without playmates.
(01:53):
Once you've done the work,desensitization, learning to
breathe through those moments,teaching yourself how to
proactively interrupt, then youcan start looking for safe,
compatible playmates.
But it starts with you feelingconfident in your handling and
in your dog's progress.
(02:15):
So if you're at that stage,parallel walking with a trusted
friend's dog may be the firststep toward giving your reactive
dog a social life.
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