What is dog reactivity? Although it’s an umbrella term often used to describe a multitude of behaviours, quite simply, dog reactivity is an intense, over-the-top reaction to stimuli (dogs, people, cars etc). It is usually driven by fear, anxiety, pain, excitement or frustration, and is not usually aggression! Owning a reactive dog can feel stressful, isolating and exhausting at times, but you are absolutely not alone. Reactive dogs are not “bad” dogs — they are dogs who are s

This is something I’ve wanted to offer for years — a way to help owners of reactive dogs feel more confident getting out and about in a safe, supportive and understanding environment. And with the biggest thanks to Claire from Tails on the Trails I was finally able to put it into action. My goal is to help both dogs and their humans access places they might otherwise avoid, while giving the dogs positive experiences and opportunities to learn at a pace they can genuinely cop

Well, what can I say? Once again, we were BLOWN AWAY by Rosie & Cheery, who completely ignored each other when they got out of the car. This is exactly what we want, neutrality wherever possible. Other dogs are no big deal. We did this walk for a few reasons. We wanted to see how Rosie & Cheery would handle it together (Rosie has been a few times before), but we also wanted to look at the space as a whole for nervous, anxious & reactive dogs. We're trying to build a list that

When we planned our next walk, we knew we wanted to wait until the Easter school Holidays were over so our chosen destination was quieter. The point of these walks isn’t to push our dogs to their limit, it’s to expose them safely and slowly to new places and new experiences. We chose the beautiful Evenley Wood Gardens for our walk because there’s plenty of space and all dogs have to be on lead - meaning we knew we wouldn’t have to deal with off-lead dogs rushing us. One thing

We'd already blocked out time the day after our first trial walk... You know, just on the off chance everything had been amazing and we wanted to try again. Well, turns out it's a good job we had that time blocked because we used it! After the success of the 1st walk, we were both saying, 'surely this can't be real? It can't have been that simple? So we met at the same place as the previous day and held our breath, waiting for our walk to be a disaster. We held our breath f

We had a plan, a goal, if you like. We wanted to be able to attend Clivedon House National Trust togehter on Friday, March 20th, which is National Dogs in Yellow day. I wanted to be able to take Rosie because she's the reason I'm a partner for My Anxious Dog. She's the reason I advocate so hard for the dogs who need a little extra space. Because they're nervous, or anxious or recovering from a trauma or operation. The reason is irrelevant; all that matters is that they need

I own a dog selective dog, Rosie. She didn't used to be, but now she is. Her arousal levels escalate from 1-100 in a nanosecond, and this is mostly down to chronic pain. I know her triggers, I know what sets her off, and I know that when she's having 'off days', there is a reason for it. When pain is involved, the threshold for reacting drops dramatically. Think of it less as her “choosing” to react and more like her nervous system being on a hair trigger—so something that wo

Two reactive dogs. Two hopeful humans. One slightly chaotic adventure… 💛🐾 Just a week ago, Rosie and Cheery met for the very first time. Fast forward a few trial walks (and a lot of hopeful planning), and here we were… setting off on our first official “Two Reactive Dogs Go for a Walk” adventure. Our destination? Cliveden. A big, busy, beautiful place that—if we’re honest—once felt completely out of reach. But this wasn’t just any walk. It was part of National Dogs in Yello

Ok, deep breath. I'm going to tell you about my walk with Rosie roo yesterday because I always say to you all, I will never pretend that...

We've all been there. We're looking at our dog, they're looking at us and we're asking for a simple behaviour. "Sit, SIT, siiiitttttt,...

The way we socialise our dogs is not the same as it was 10 or even 5 years ago. Or at least it shouldn't be! Everyone is always in such a rush to 'socialise' their puppy or dog. What they don't realise is that doing this too soon could be more harmful than good. We need to teach our puppies basic life skills like confidence, optimism and calmness before we thrust them into the big wide world! As dog owners, we are here to help them grow, learn and make good decisions! 1 bad

Using a muzzle on your dog can be a daunting experience for many owners. Why? Well there are lots of reasons. They won't want the stigma...