Traveling with a reactive dog, #Woof Support.

I'm quite lucky with Sheba in the fact that she loves travelling in the car, probably because her first journey in a car was with us to her forever home and than trips to the countryside or park to make travelling fun for her instead of making it a negative experience by the first trip being to the vets.

It wasn't to bad when we had the other car a saloon Sheba would just fall asleep on the back seat.

But since we've changed cars to an estate things are different, Sheba loves having her own space in the back but instead of sleeping she will spend the whole journey sat up looking out of the back window, which is fine on the motorway but a nuisance around town where she barks at every dog she sees.

Our new car.

Sheba's quite happy in the back.

Sheba's even happy when surrounded by holiday stuff.

Sheba even thought on holiday this year she would share the driving.

I've tried using an anti bark collar on her, but I think I've got the only dog that likes the smell of citronella.

Another solution I'm looking at is a ThunderShirt or ThunderCap, US store.

ThunderShirt or ThunderCap, UK store.

I would try her in a dog crate with a towell or sheet over it, but she's never been crate trained so could end up stressing her out more.

Another solution was blacking out the rear windows but she would probably scratch it of.

I might give the Thunder Shirt a try as it will help calm her when the fireworks start hopefully.

If I'm driving fast enough I've drove passed the dog before she has time to react, but if I'm stuck at traffic lights she will just keep barking untill the dog is out of sight.

On a positive note her training with Ryan is going great and she has really took to him.  

Sheba making friends instead of enemies on holiday.

She's calmed down a lot around other dogs depending on there energy if there calm Sheba's calm but if there all boisterous and get in her face to much she will still put them in there place.

This is the WOOF Support Blog Hop, where reactive dogs and their owners can come together to share similar experiences.  Are you a reactive/fearful dog or its owner?  Then please join us and share your story.  The Blog Hop is open through Sunday.

#WOOF Support. What my staff love about me.

I'm sorry to be late joining the party but I forgot all about it.

Today is the third WOOF Support (Working Out Our Fears) Blog Hop hosted by Oz the Terrier, Roxy The Travelling Dog and Wag n Woof Pets. The theme for this month is what I love about my reactive dog.

I asked my staff what they loved about me and they said it would be quicker to say what they didn't like, I take it that's a good thing right? so I will let my staff take over while I sit back and relax with a nice cold water on the rocks.

A lot of people probably would of gave up on Sheba and put her in kennels which are already over crowded or sold her which wouldn't solve anything you would just be passing the problem on, luckily for Sheba I'm a stubborn bugger and would rather work with her to find a solution instead of giving up at the first hurdle, I like a challenge and Sheba's certainly one of them.

The best way to describe Sheba is she's like a Cadbury creme egg once you break through that hard exterior she's all sweet and gooey inside.

One of the main things I like about Sheba is, my better half is a cat lover were as I'm a dog lover we already had 2 cats and Anne said I could have a dog if I promised the cats wouldn't be in any danger so I made that promise and Sheba hasn't let me down, it's been lovely seeing the bond develop between them.

Who said cats and dogs don't get on.

Sheba also gives the best hugs.

Despite Sheba being reactive to other dogs, she's got great manners around wildlife, sheep, horses, cows, ducks, swans etc never bother her. Which is great because it means I can walk her anywhere off lead without worrying about her running off.

Sheba is also very gentle around children and loves meeting new people.

Having a reactive dog does have it's benefits in a strange sort of way, It makes you want to work with them more to help them overcome there fears which helps strengthen that bond, Also with Sheba being better behaved off lead around other dogs we tend to look for walks were we can let her off lead safely, so end up walking were we normally wouldn't go so end up seeing new sights.

A quick update on Sheba's progress.

On last months hop someone recommended a book called Feisty Fido which is a really good read, I can't remember who they are but if you read this thank you very much.

Click on photo for more information.

Also you might know we were thinking of trying a back pack on her, well we managed to get a cheap one off Ebay, I didn't want to spend to much on it in case Sheba didn't take to it there was no worry though she loves  wearing it, we're lucky that she accepts new things so readily.

We just started her off wearing it around the house at first and then progressed to the garden just so she could get used to wearing it. We just tried her with a couple of tins of baked beans in it and it seems to really be draining her energy quickly and making her walk better. We've not tried her around dogs yet.

Out walking on the road.

And finally we've just had a new pet shop just open locally and the owner recommended a trainer to us who's supposed to be brilliant with reactive dogs and will work with us on a 1 to 1 basis instead of a class environment, he's only a young lad but his Dad trained Police dogs for 35 years and he started training when he was 15, we've spoke to him on the phone and he's coming out next Friday hopefully, he's cheap and he said he can guarantee he will solve the problem or at least improve to an acceptable level or we don't pay. his philosophy is he's in it for the dogs not for the money.

I'm finally starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.