Gus at the Street Fair

Feb 24

So much of what we see online is “ I could never live without my dog” or “ This dog saved me in so many ways” . There isn’t much out there for dog moms who are afraid to walk their dogs. Most of what we don’t see is how to be a good owner to your dog, how to read their body language and how to deal with their reactivity. Before I rescued Gus I only saw happy dog owners or dogs who were super obedient after a one week boarding/training school. I didn’t even know what a reactive dog was! Since Gus is a rescue I don’t know what has happened in his previous life there was a very steep learning curve.

Not only did I have to learn how to take care of a dog, I was also dealing with him being reactive. In his first few months with me, Gus was afraid of every single “new” item. For example opening a garbage bag scared him, a new person walking into our home and worst of all every other animal that had a tail was now the enemy. I always dreamed of long walks with my dog and suddenly that was not an option. I took Gus to a free training class offered when you rescued from the county shelter, called Mutt Manners. This class taught me all of the most practical dog parenting advice and it taught me how to read his body language. They taught me how to respond to Gus, what to look out for, provided a wealth of resources and most importantly they encouraged me to keep going.

Gus has bitten another dog, he has had several close calls and we have encountered several unleashed dogs on walks, so when I say there were days where walking my dog gave me terrible anxiety, BELIEVE IT. We take about 4 walks a day, so on each walk I was consistent with various homework activities from the trainer at school and always carried treats.

Finally, we made it to the good part. Almost 3 years later, Gus went to his first street fair. We are using hotdogs as the treat of choice and have added a crossbody bag for walks. He did have 2 outbursts when some dogs “surprised” him but for the most part he was your friendly neighborhood pup. He let two strangers pet him, he sat down and most importantly he checked in frequently. I was able to read his body language to know that he was still enjoying this “new” walk. Once I got home I felt a new sense of relief, this was a huge milestone for Gus, there were so many days that I believed we would never get here and I would forever alone at the fun outdoor events. If you are thinking of rescuing a dog - definitely do it. You never know what you will get, but working with Gus has been the most rewarding experience of my life.

If you really want to celebrate with us. Here’s a list of things that Gus ignored on the walk: