I like to hide treats around the house and have my dog find them. It definitely gets her sniffing all over and she is exhausted after. Not just throwing them but placing them behind things, under things really makes them use their nose.

Just know you know whats best for your dog, they’re your dog. Having a dog meet every dog they meet on leash is just a recipe for disaster eventually. But if thats what they wanna do let them, they’ll find out on their own one day why thats not such a good idea. You just have to ignore people like that, honestly I probably wouldn’t have stopped for her at all she sounded like a rude know it all from the start of the convo.

I kinda have come to terms that it’s inevitable to run into offleash dogs while hiking. I feel like it’s becoming a lot more normalized and lazy people are just taking their untrained dogs offlead thinking its fine as long as “they’re friendly”.

I carry a water spray bottle now for our hikes for the annoying pestering offleash dogs with their owners 100 feet away. N I carry pepper spray incase we run into any psycho people or aggressive dogs. The biggest thing though is not being scared to advocate for your dog if you actually see the owner close by. A quick “can you leash while we pass” should do it for most normal people. If they question it then I usually say “not dog friendly” just to keep things short and not leave room for more bargaining. I also worked a lot on a stay with my dog so I can step in front of her to block the oncoming dog while I let go of her leash so she doesn’t feel as restricted (obviously not ideal if you know your dog might try to go after the other but my dog is more so just anxious and rather not approach/be approached by unknown dogs).

But with that said I also try to go earlier in the morning and really get a feel for a place. A lot of people go around the same times so I will sometimes notice patterns of the annoying offleash dog people and will avoid going at those times. Its also good to look at all trails or even read reviews for a hiking trail. And sometimes when I need a good true decompression walk where I’m not so paranoid about someone’s dog running up on us, we’ll rent a sniffspot upstate with a bunch of acres. I found a really nice one with hiking trails, there are some really great ones out there but sometimes it’s quite the drive (very worth it in my opinion though for that peace of mind).

I feel like my costco kinda sucks with their supply of dog/pet items. I only ever see the dental chews and dog foods there. Is this found in a different area of the store usually ?

Yes I do that as well! I usually carry medium to high value treats while out. She will absolutely spit out the medium value treats if shes too stressed.

Yeah thats how I feel as well. She will “work” for kibble if I try to make it as high value as possible but that also means her going on a hunger strike and I rather not starve her over something as simple as finding an alternative that she likes better and is more valuable to her. She used to go some days without ever touching her food until I finally gave in and switched it up.

Shes an odd dog, doesn’t like cheese, bully sticks, collagen chews, hot dogs, veggies, peanut butter. She’s insanely peculiar on what she likes and what she finds high value. Its always hit or miss with her so when I do find something high value I try to stick with it but this freeze dried raw food she loves is a bit more on the pricey side. Definitely looking into making some treats myself, thanks for the suggestions!

My dog does love chicken liver, I sometimes buy the tubs of the freeze dried but they end up crumbling everywhere. I’ll have to check out my grocery store for some. Thanks!

Its a different, it’s freeze dried raw balanced food that I split between meals with the other regular kibble. She won’t eat the normal kibble for training so I just use the freeze dried portion for training. Its not terrible cost wise but I find she tends to dislike something after I use it for too long unfortunately.

I wish my dog liked cheese it would make my life easier in that sense lol.

Ahh if only!! My dog used to work for kibble but the value of it has definitely gone down for her over time. I swear she just randomly decides she dislikes something one day after liking it for awhile lol.

I’ve tried so many different kibbles we’re currently splitting between kibble and half freeze dried balanced food and luckily I’m able to use the freeze dried portion for training sessions its just so damn expensive.

We’ve tried happy howies awhile ago, it unfortunately made her really gassy. But I also think it might’ve been because we tried the beef, didn’t realize they come in other proteins. Might have to see how she does on the lamb, thanks!

I love when I can have conversations with people where they don’t immediately rush up to my dog with their hand in her face. She’s barely fear reactive anymore but is still unsure of strangers at first so that initial talking and ignoring her goes a mile for us. She eventually lays down and will go up for a sniff once she realizes they’re chill. I’m sure they appreciated it!

I usually just try to make as much space as possible and if able to I’ll just go a different way. Another thing I do is I try to get my dog engaged with me so the staring doesn’t set them off.

I do this as well, “good job love lets go”. I always think in my head people might think I’m being snide but in reality I’m just proud of my dog for keeping her cool when passing another reactive dog.

I think it really takes a person to have a reactive dog to be more aware in situations like these. My dog is barely reactive these days apart from some mild fixation that is easily redirected but when I see another dog that is reactive I always cross the street or give a wide berth. From experience I know to do these things to help others out. Most people with fairly neutral or friendly dogs have no concerns like these or never experienced it so they never think to cross the street or change their path.

Unfortunately it really is always up to you as the owner to know whats best for your dog and make the space you think they need- that might mean turning around or going off your usual route to make your dog more comfortable or even choosing a different walking place that will be easier for you to make space at. I get your vent though, I think we’ve all been in some frustrating situations where a bit more space from another owner would help out a lot.

Second this, you just can’t argue with unhinged crazy people. Makes things so much worse. Once I argued with this guy about his offleash dog jumping all over us and the dude cursed me out and ran away screaming bloody murder at the top of his lungs like a child having a tantrum but he was a grown man. From that moment I was like “yup I’m never doing that again!”. I just carry pepper spray and things to defend myself with if ever needed and avoid confrontation/ignore. Just not worth it.

Yup! I would catch myself being annoyed by other people and dogs just literally existing. Takes a lot of self reflection and patience to not become reactive ourselves in the process.

Yeah we do the same as well, I’m sure some people definitely appreciate it. I know I would’ve!

I’ve had quite a few encounters like this and I usually just respond with “no problem I’ve been there” with a smile not sure if it really helps but like you said sometimes when people are fustrated with their dog they just take it out on others despite your best efforts to help them out (I’ve been in that position as well but never really would say anything to people more so just angry thoughts lol).

I work as a vet tech and honestly I never pass judgment when I encounter a nervous/fearful dog that is just reacting out of fear. The vet is a scary place even for the most neutral dogs. As long as the owners are aware and prepare with a muzzle/let staff know thats all we can ask for.

Its the owners who refuse to muzzle their dogs and turn a blind eye to their dogs behavior and in result put the staff in danger. Those are the ones that get the most judgment from the staff. I know some people in the waiting room or some people that have breed biases might still judge but just know you’re doing the right thing and your best and thats all you can do!

My dog can definitely get more irritable when its hot outside, so we opt for more relaxing breaks inside the crate with some frozen treats prepped. And walks/play time outside in the early mornings instead as well.

I think you need to increase the duration such as an evaluation gap after you cue them to lay down. Instead of rewarding right after they lay down or whatever cue you use like “place” wait a few seconds then reward it will encourage them to stay there longer rather than just laying down -getting up and repeating that sequence in order to get treats.

Increase the duration after the cue in each session and create a release cue if you don’t already have one like “break”. And continuously reward and give high value treats/chews when they decide to go to that space to relax without being asked to in order to associate it with these high value things.

Also do you do any fun stimulating training games throughout the day to get their mind working. Only has to be 5-10min short sessions. You can even integrate them into your fetch sessions or walks. Things like the “touch” cue, “search”, “paws up”. I’m getting most of these ideas from the trainer susan garrett but they are very helpful and worth looking into.

Instead of doing boring repetitive fetch sessions we now do some “place” cues on the bed outside then “wait” and then I walk a bit, maybe drop the ball, slowly moving it each time then releasing her to chase the ball. It really gets her mind working at the same time and is wayyy more stimulating than just an ordinary game of fetch and really tires her out to where being able to settle is possible.

Especially after these play sessions I encourage her to go to her crate for a lick mat/chew and it gets her into the routine of settling. Routine is so essential.

No problem, I agree I always love learning new fun games with my dog and I really enjoyed the videos and the helpful playbook she put out! Glad you guys liked it too :)

Whenever I see someone with a flexi and their dog going every which way that’s our sign to steer further away from them. That almost always = uncontrollable dog and clueless owner.

Have an older guy in my neighborhood with a super reactive dog that is around 60ish Ibs and he lets his dog go half way across the street from the sidewalk on his flexi to bark and lunge, doesn’t even attempt to reel it in or maybe think a flexi is not right for his dog. I swear one day I’m going to see this guy getting dragged down and a dog fight ensuing.