SPEAKER_00 0:00

So I thought we'd start this podcast off with something a little bit cheerful. The exhaustion that comes with owning a reactive dog. Brilliant choice, Claire. Brilliant choice. But genuinely, I don't think enough people talk about this because when people think about reactive dogs, they're just thinking about like the barking or the lunging or the growling. The bit where your dog decides that a Labrador minding its own business 200 meters away is in fact the greatest threat to civilization. What people don't see is everything else. Now, owning a reactive dog is a bit like planning a military operation, if I'm honest. You don't, you know, you're not just going for a walk. You have to conduct reconnaissance and you have to check the weather and you have to check the local Facebook group to see if Karen's escape cockkapoo is on the loose again. Maybe you're wondering whether the postman is still alive after yesterday's incident of trying to post the letters through the door. Has he still got his fingers? You often pack enough treats to feed a small village. Harness check, lead check, long line check, treats check, muzzle check, emotional support snacks for yourself. Probably should have packed those two. And then when you finally get to actually leaving the house, you bump into Dave from number 42 with his off-lead Labrador every single time. I don't know where these people appear from. It's it's like they appear out of hedges, and we have this joke in our house. It's like I'm sure people wait until I take Dot out to go out for their walk. So yeah, while everyone's enjoying a nice peaceful stroll, you're doing a full 360-degree scan every 12 seconds. Dog, cyclist, squirrel, plastic bag. That leaf moves suspiciously. Honestly. If reactive dog owners ever gave up dog training, we'd make phenomenal security guards for the government. And then there's the comments. I'm sure you've heard these yourself. Have you tried telling him no? Well, yeah. Never crossed my mind though, you know. Thanks. You you just you've solved years of behavioural science in six words. Just say no. Because they're gonna listen to that when they're absolutely hyped up and emotionally driven. But you know, this is this is the sort of stuff that people will come out to you with. You know, I've had it all. He's just trying to dominate you. No, they're not. He's actually terrified. But thank you for your completely unsolicited behavioural assessment from the person who whose own dog has just run off to piss another dog off or run out into the traffic, and you know what it's like.

unknown 2:27

Right?

SPEAKER_00 2:28

But here's the bit like nobody talks about, you know, people are are very quick to judge you in 30 seconds on what they see in the reactivity or the barking or the aggression. But you absolutely love your dog. You'd fight for them, you probably already spent thousands of pounds on them, cancelled holidays for them, lose sleep over them. But there are days when you just think, please, can today just be uneventful? Not because you don't love them, but because you're exhausted. And then comes the guilt, you know, because you feel guilty for feeling exhausted. You feel guilty for wishing today's walk would just go smoother. Or perhaps you feel guilty because you looked at someone's perfectly behaved dog and thought, why can't mine be like that? Let me tell you, comparison is the thief of joy, but here's what I've learnt, okay? That exhaustion isn't gonna just disappear because you imagined the or you wanted a perfect dog. Perfect dogs don't exist. The exhaustion changes because you learn to stop fighting your dog. When you start understanding them, when you start seeing things in their behavior earlier, when you get better at setting them up for success, your confidence grows, their confidence grows, and one day you suddenly realize that you've just had a nice walk. Not perfect, just a nice walk. And that is a massive, massive win. So if any of this sounds painfully familiar, firstly, welcome to the club that nobody wanted to join. And secondly, know that it doesn't have to stay this hard. If you'd like a bit more support with your Reactive Dog, you can join my Reactive Dog Reset Insiders list using the link on my page. I'll probably put it in the description somewhere here for you. I'm gonna send out an email sequence that basically has free training, exclusive content, and early access to the challenge when I open the doors on July the 20th. And you'll get that before anybody else. There's also a cheeky little discount included as well because I like to thank people who put their hands up and go, I want to learn more about it. So yeah, if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe because next week we're gonna be talking about why you might feel like you're failing your dog, which spoiler alert, you probably am on.