Welcome to our unexpected journey with dog reactivity, anxiety, aggression, behavioral euthanasia, and the emotional roller coaster that comes with. Loving a reactive dog is hard, and my hope for this blog is to decrease the experience of isolation and hopelessness for fellow reactive dog parents.

I started writing about my experience with Lady for a few reasons; I needed a place to dump all my feelings and new knowledge about dog behavior without burdening the people in my life (not everyone wants to talk about dog training over dinner every single night). And, I have felt so alone. I was the sole person balancing Lady’s training and management, and having a dog that can’t do “normal dog” things is naturally alienating. Engaging in the online community for reactive dogs has taught me that I am certainly not alone, and in fact there are far more of us out there than I could have imagined.

Social media has so many pros and cons, and the primary deficit I began to see is that most of us are not telling the whole truth. We share the highlights, training tips, and say, “it’s been hard but I would do it all over again.” Scrolling through positivity is only so motivating when you were just crying in the car after a failed training set up and feel like you definitely would not do it over again.

So, I started this blog to tell the truth. Thank you for being here!

Here you’ll find:

• My experience using R+ (positive reinforcement) and LIMA (least intrusive minimally aversive)
  training for reactivity and anxiety

• Discovering the lessons, humor, and challenges in dog ownership

• Honesty and truth about the hardship that is loving and teaching a reactive dog

• The true story that inspired Lady Needed Space

  Connect on Instagram for more about Lady’s story, R+ training, and silly dog reels!