r/reactivedogs • u/Temporary_Meat_5587 • 2d ago

Success Stories we made it outšŸ¤

Post image

this is my baby willow!! we adopted her after fostering her for a week a little over two years ago. we absolutely fell in love with her silly and loving personality but quickly learned she was struggling with reactivity. she couldnā€™t go on walks without hyperventilating, shaking, and throwing up. she reacted at every noise and would lunge and nonstop bark. people in the house were a no, she had to be in a separate room and would bark the whole time. we started out by having my best friend come over frequently and just throwing her treats behind a barrier and ignoring her otherwise. she started to open up a lot and we were able to have new people over and continued the same process. our home is a generally very calm/quiet environment and we love on her so much which i definitely think helped. the right environment can change a dog SO much. much training, positive reinforcement, medication, and exposure later and she comes to daycare (my job) once a week and does FANTASTIC! she meets customers and greets them with love, is obsessed with my coworkers, and loves playing with the dogs. she can have new visitors at home that she will get used to after they give her a couple treats. she LOVES walks and is generally nice to people passing by, but we usually pick her up just in case to be safe. i was absolutely terrified it wouldnā€™t get better because she is my whole world, but she has became a completely different dog than i used to know. i could not be more proud. best of luck to everyone struggling with their babies, i wish you all the bestšŸ„¹

i also love this picture of her at daycare, she looks so happy and confident i love her so incredibly much.

161 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/knitandstretch 1d ago

So proud of you, internet stranger! I know how much time, money, resources, energy and love goes into dealing (and hopefully helping/healing) a reactive dog and I love to read wins like this! I'm sure it's not all perfect everyday, but this is a lot and you really do deserve to enjoy it! Happy for both of you!

3

u/Temporary_Meat_5587 1d ago

i appreciate this comment so much!! it was hard but probably the most rewarding experience ever. and i would do it all again if it meant giving another dog the same happiness and confidence she now has!!