My Reactive Dog

Bisbee, my standard poodle, is a reactive dog. He reacts to anything that moves. Not being trained in the canine sciences (is there such a science?), I have relied on educated dog trainers to help me. When we started with Puppy Social we noticed that Bisbee rarely stopped. He ran circles around many of the other pups. In Beginner Obedience the main take away was that the dog handler needs to be a Sargent Major with a Buddha's calm demeanour. The intermediate class take away was to always have treats in your pocket and you can never go over board with praise. These two pieces of advice would keep everyone in good stead if they practiced them in all relationships and not just with dogs. The last class we enrolled in was Dog Tricks. For a reactive dog the first thing to overcome is fear. To learn to stand on a skate board, first Bisbee had to put his front paws on the board while I kept it completely still. Next I put a little movement in the board with still just the front paws touching it. And to tell you the truth that's as far as we got. We are still practicing. So many of us get to a point were things get tough and we just stop. Stepping out of your comfort zone is really tough but it can bring great rewards. Changing the way I run my business after all the shows cancelled this year has pushed me into new territory. I'm not sure where it's taking me, but just like Bisbee I have learned movement is not to be feared.