Earlier this week I asked our vet for a dog training referral. To my dismay, I've learned that I cannot handle Shirley and Steve at the same time on the leash. I don't think I've made really clear how reactive Shirley really is. I, personally, had never dealt with such a dog til she moved in and one of the things I realized, after thinking a bit, is that ever since she moved in I never walked her and Walter on the leash at the same time. That's because Walter was always in the stroller. I started walking him in the stroller in 2014 when it became apparent that he could no longer walk, even to the dog park, without resting because of his arthritis. In 2015 he tweaked both of his ACLs and was 'resting' for several months. Since I wanted him to have all his energy for enjoying his happy place I just wheeled him to the park and on walks. Therefore, when Shirley freaked out while on the leash, at pedestrians, joggers, bicyclists or especially other dogs, I didn't have to deal with 2 dogs on leash. I just put the brake on the stroller and learned the best way to deal with Shirley was/is to pick her up and turn her away from the distraction.
Steve has turned out to be sweet and easy going but when Shirley freaks out he decides to stand on his hind legs and bark loudly at whatever has upset her. When I have him out alone he is good on the leash and very workable when there are people or other dogs in the area. I've been very fortunate over the years to come by dogs that were well socialized (except for Stella, who came off a local reservation and never lived in a home) and never had problems with leash reactivity - or reactivity of any kind. Since Shirley's been with us I have read everything I can find on reactive dogs. I have taken lots of obedience classes with Alice, Hund and Walter and all 3 earned their CGC certification and Alice and Walter earned their therapy dog titles through Love on A Leash. I'm not clueless but I am a bit OCD and always assume I am at fault when there is a problem - although I had concluded that I would not be able to train Shirley out of her reactivity - her threshold is so low and her attention span is so short. So, I had to be told that it was OK to not take both dogs out at the same time because I can't train Steve and manage Shirley at the same time. The main change in my strategy is to walk them on opposite days and take them to the park on opposite days. Shirley walks on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and goes to the park on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and vice versa for Steve. Shirley also has a couple of concerns at the park but I won't take her on the weekends when we are most likely to encounter new dogs. I might have come to this conclusion on my own but MP is always of the mind that Shirley should be included in all activities so it's helpful to have the trainer's words to fall back on, So far this is working well (there are some other strategies that I am putting into practice) and I am not feeling guilty!
