Walking reactive dogs

Follow up on the “Skipping the Dog Walk” article linked below that inspired this post.

For some people walking their dog is a lot easier said than done. Many people own reactive dogs. Dog-dog reactivity is on a spectrum. Some dogs have reactivity that just looks like stiff body language when greeting other dogs, but never goes past that. The owners usually have no idea and walk their dogs regularly, off leash on local trails, oblivious to their dogs concerns. Their dog didn’t get into a fight, so no big deal.

On the other end of the spectrum there are the dogs who see another dog from a football field away and lose their mind barking, growling, lunging. The owners of these dogs feel they can’t walk their dogs because of the potential to undo all their training when an oblivious dog rapidly approaches and/or the embarrassment of their own dog over reacting.

All of the public trails in my local town are designated on-leash only or "under the immediate control" of a person. That means a bullet proof recall. All of them. There are no exceptions according to the bylaws.

No one adheres to these rules, unless they aren't from the area. (Local bylaw tried to patrol them once and the backlash was so overwhelming they quickly ditched the idea.) This also means that people with reactive dogs have no where safe to walk their dogs in towns just like mine.

So the next time you see someone walking their dog on leash, please leash up your dog. Even if you think your dog is friendly, that is not an assumption you should be making about the other dog.

Not all dogs want to be charged at by an off leash dog. Actually I can tell you that most of them don’t! This is not considered polite or friendly in dog language! The ones on the public trails going out at busy times of the day tolerate it at best. The ones that can’t handle it, just aren’t there. Their owners are either not walking their dogs at all (to everyone’s detriment) or they are in the bush at 5am hoping they won’t see another dog.

Please be considerate about other dogs on the trail and don't make assumptions :) 

Article by Zazie Todd "Having a Reactive Dog is Difficult and Costly, Study Shows"
https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2024/02/having-reactive-dog-is-difficult-and.html?m=1&fbclid=IwY2xjawH2XrRleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHbCvRgg6xjk0wB4NzmQ_f7eY9HKdEli1nJPaMPlOW84F-PW8KhgUiOoPWQ_aem_LUpkJ6vg2L_Bur8ad1UL-g
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