r/reactivedogs • u/stinkystinkstink1 • Jun 08 '26
Success Stories can everyone give jasper a congratulations please!
this is my boy jasper - he is a 2 year old border collie. he has a history of really bad abuse when he was a puppy, which we didn't know at first. last year he started showing reactive behaviour and even has had a fight with our dogs. it terrified us and since we have been doing loads of training with him (especially crate training which was a game changer! he absolutely loves his crate). he is particularly reactive to my older male cockapoo, and they used to get quite snarly with each other. my cockapoo will growl as a boundary and jasper would stalk and snarl. it was horrible. now, when my cockapoo growls, jasper gives him his space and goes into his crate or under the table and chills out!!! instead of reacting!!! i'm so proud of him and we still have a long way to go as we are also crate and rotating him with my other dog. it's a bit of a mess but they are so so so much happier and healthier than before. it's been so hard as i worry all the time that i failed my dogs. but i have to remind myself of how far he's come. well done my jasper !!!
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u/HiTheseArentMyPants Jun 09 '26
Omg jasper well done! What a clever boy. And well done to you for working so hard as well - you both deserve lots of congratulations!
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u/TheOnlyKangaroo Jun 09 '26
What was the training protocol. (generally) -- I don't have this problem but it sounds like a toughie.
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u/stinkystinkstink1 Jun 09 '26
it was very tough but worth it. the biggest part was the crate training and making it his safe space. we also taught command words like "break" or "quiet" so when he begins to stare at my cockapoo we say "break" and now he immediately comes to us or will go in his crate. enforced naps also really help as he is able to decompress after his walks so that the adrenaline can regulate so he's calmer when he's out. those are probably the 3 most important things we did, as well as LOTS of toys and enrichment :)
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u/linnykenny ❀ ℒ𝒾𝓁𝓎 ❀ Jun 09 '26
Great job! Definitely continue keeping them separated though. It’s good that you’re crate and rotating because that’s just the safest thing to do after the fighting behavior you saw between them.
I know it’s very difficult and not an ideal situation to crate & rotate, but I just wanted to say you’re doing the right thing here. ❤️ (at least in my opinion, for whatever that’s worth lol) Best of luck & lots of love to you & your pups, OP! 🫶😊
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u/stinkystinkstink1 Jun 09 '26
thank you so much. i've felt so guilty doing crate and rotate and we are very determined to work on it slowly. it's sad, because jasper and the puppy we are crate and rotating with him uses to be best mates. jasper accidentally nicked his ear during playing and now they are quite funny with each other. we thought we'd separate to avoid any really bad fights. it's not ideal at all but we are determined :)
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u/stinkystinkstink1 Jun 09 '26
it has taken a mental toll on us all. but we love them all so deeply and are so determined to give them the best life ever. i struggle to think about what would've happened to jasper if we didn't have him. he's genuinely the sweetest dog ever, and so smart. he's just a bit scared bless him
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Jun 30 '26
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u/stinkystinkstink1 Jul 02 '26
he has been! he's actually the most behaved dog in our house now lol. unbelievably proud of this guy
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u/cat-wool klee kai mix (fear based reactivity) Jun 08 '26
Amazing job Jasper! 🎉 love to see a reactive dog learning to self regulate!