My Dog Should Be Able to Go Everywhere With Me

Reactive dog owners can put enormous pressure on themselves, and their dogs, because of what they believe dog ownership should look like.

They should come on every walk.
They should enjoy busy places.
They should cope with other dogs.
They should come to the pub, café, family days out or holidays.
And, if they can’t, we need to keep training until they can.

But more exposure isn’t always the answer.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your dog is leave them at home.

Sometimes it’s choosing the quiet walk instead of the popular one. Sometimes it’s creating enough distance that they can observe rather than interact. Sometimes it’s allowing them to check in with you and leave rather than insisting they “get used to it.”

And, sometimes you need to go for a walk without them, regardless of how guilty you feel, because your wellbeing matters too.

That connects beautifully with LAT as well: we’re teaching the dog that they can notice the world without having to interact with it.

The overarching message should always be:

A good life isn’t measured by how much your dog can tolerate.

Just because social media highlights dogs out hiking, sitting in cafés, travelling, running off lead with groups of dogs and more, it’s very easy to start measuring our dog’s life against somebody else’s highlight reel.

Some reactive dogs may eventually do all of those things.

Some won’t.

Neither tells us whether they’re living a good life or not.

Some of the happiest dogs I’ve worked with and seen, are those who have their needs met away from the big wide world and are content with their humans and lifestyle in and around the home environment.

I think that’s a much stronger take-home to keep in mind for you and yours.