To not walk my dog at the minute?

[BourbonBon]

I really want to but she’s in season. She’s already a very reactive dog so I don’t think I should? But she’s desperate to go for a walk 😞 it’s snowing and I so want to take her out in it 😭

YABU - walk her
YANBU - you can’t

No... we just invented it for the sake of Mumsnet...

Yes, private hire dog fields have been a thing for well over a decade now. They're securely fenced, you pay and get a code for the gate usually which changes daily, and take your dog in your booked hour (or whatever) slot.

This dog doesn't sound like a rescue dog. Aggressive, from a rescue? Not spayed?

Neuter your dog, be a responsible dog owner. A good vet will talk you through how to calm her, sedatives, medication. She needs spaying. It won't make her more aggressive, no idea where you've got that idea from?

Get her spayed. For everyone's sake.
And yes to what a pp wrote about the increase in "reactive", "aggressive" etc dogs of late. It's not normal, it's not acceptable, who wants these dogs in their house where they pose a risk to people, children and other dogs?! I don't understand anyone who willingly accepts a badly behaved dog and tolerates it. Why?!

Doesn’t sound like a rescue dog? Do you know more about my dog than I do? Rightio!

Why is OP responsible for someone else's unneutered male dog off lead?

@lljkk it's irrelevant if the male dog is neutered or not. A pp mentioned a dog running after a bitch in season and getting hit by a car crossing a busy road! Even dogs with the best recall will run after a bitch on heat. It's for everyone's safety that all dogs are neutered.

Responsible rescues just wont rehome an unspayed hugely reactive dog. So this is bs or your dog has come from somewhere that shouldn't be rehoming at all. I say this as a rescue dog owner, but sometimes dogs are so traumatised its kinder to put them down. You dont seem able to provide what this dog needs, possibly nobody can. As usual, i feel desperately sorry for the dog.

Again, neutered dogs will still react to a bitch on heat. My oldest boy has been neutered for 16 years. He still knows when the Chi is in season. It's the only time he acknowledges her existence. He hasn't enough energy to try to mount her and isn't excited enough to get distressed by her but he does follow her around, sniffing her vulva and he will lick and sniff the floor where she has sat/walked.

Do you know much about your dogs past OP? Was she in the rescue for a long period?
I'm glad you've got a pet behaviourist on board too.
It can't be easy for you having her in her present condition (aggressive/reactive) she's probably doing it out of fear so it's not great for her either.
I'm sure the vet and yourself will come up with a plan to get her spayed if that's the long term vision, as it is, god forbid she had to go to the vets in an emergency.
Wishing you luck.

Get her spayed in about 3 months.
I’d start working on building up to it now. Walk past the vets and give a treat do this every day if you can multiple times until she settles. Then move to going inside. I know this will be difficult as she doesn’t like other dogs but you could always call and ask to go whilst the last appointment is in with the vet. Sit in the waiting area and just reward her. Take her to be weighed. Get the receptionist to give her treats. The vet should be happy to work with you too. I’d try and work on this for the next 3 months just building up slowly.

it’s great she is muzzle trained and sedatives are good for normal visits but might not be recommended before her spay depending on what the vet uses for the procedure. If she really can’t cope the vet could have you come in for a pre-spay check and listen to her heart etc, check she isn’t coming into season again and this could be done with a light sedation.

Then the next day or later that week book her in for a spay. You could maybe sign the consent form and they could give her pre-med in the car potentially. I’d definitely speak to the vet and see if they can work with you. Then they could do the procedure and monitor her recovery and you could pick her up early afternoon which will reduce the stress for her.

It sounds like you’re trying all the right things. Just keep going and talk to your vet to come to a solution. For now I’d try and keep her home and work with scent games to keep her occupied.

Hi. Mine is in season too. We spray her nether regions with Bitch Off spray and walk her. We are not going where we normally go so just road walks or wider wooded lanes round the back of us. On Sunday we took her to a local park early. Dogs have to be on the lead in the upper part of the park but we didn't really meet anyone. A couple of times for the late afternoon walk where it is busier, we've rented s dog field to let her off. So far so good. She is more reactive to rattling trailers and just more grumpy towards potential cats but otherwise ok.

honestly if they vet isnt adovating spaying then find another. Sedate beforehand and just get her spayed.

after this season ideally, it will help

I also hope OP gets her dog spayed soon. I just wondered why OP can't walk her dog when it's in heat & before it's ready to be spayed, all because someone else might not have control of their own un-neutered male. Why is OP responsible for the person who didn't get their boy dog neutered & let it run loose?

My girl is also in season atm and I've been taking her for 10 minutes on a short lead to a small grassed area up the road. I feel like she needs at least one outing but I take her around 3pm when there aren't many others around! My main concern is sending male dogs loopy and I know some have been known to escape gardens etc if they catch the scent!

She's also not spayed yet but planning to do it soon. She's not aggressive but very afraid of the vet. We were advised to let her have one season, and she's currently on her second as I was undecided on spaying despite no intention to breed. The vet advised that if you don't breed them then they will likely develop problems with their uterus and might end up needing emergency surgery, although that isn't a concern for a number of years apparently.

That answers my question then..

My god there are so many shorty uninformed comments on here!!! Op I'm sorry people are being so horrid. Life with a reactive dog is hard enough without the pile on you have got.

I've been where you are. My reactive rescue was/ is also terrified of the vets. In the end I changed practices because it didn't have the same negative associations for her. Would this be worth trying?

I would do lots in the garden and games in the house to occupy her brain. She may not want to go out in a few days anyway. If you have a secure field I would be tempted to book the last slot of the day so her scent has time to fade over night. I'd also do short pavement walks where dogs are going to be on the lead.

It's really hard having a reactive dog. But so worth it to see their progress and see them come out of themselves. Thank you for giving her a chance. Your doing great!

Thank you ☺️ I’m reading the helpful replies and ignoring the idiots 😂 water off a ducks back, none of them know me or my dog and I’m certainly not going to sit here arguing BG trying to change peoples minds about me, I really couldn’t care less lol

She has made so much progress in the time I’ve had her bless her and I am very proud of her. She’ll never be 100% but all you can ask for is progress. She enjoys her walks and she’s a pampered pooch at home, such a loyal affectionate girl with me and DH.

I will look around and see if I can book her into a different vets as she really hates that bloke now. The last visit was horrific

It can have a really bad effect on male dogs, they can become distressed, go off food etc.

I can confirm this is true. I've had 3 weeks of it because somewhere nearby there is a bitch in season!

He's eating half his normal quantity of food and has visibly lost weight, he cries/whines every waking minute and for the last 48hrs has been physically sick too.

Walking him is a bloody nightmare because whoever it is that has the bitch is clearly walking her along the street right past my house - my boy won't calm down until I'm almost a mile away with him.

walk her where there's no other dogs... walk her early morning or later in the evening...

I just wondered why OP can't walk her dog when it's in heat & before it's ready to be spayed, all because someone else might not have control of their own un-neutered male. Why is OP responsible for the person who didn't get their boy dog neutered & let it run loose?

It's not about control or letting them run loose. It's about the distress and physical illness it causes them.

Not sure why you got sarcastic replies to this question.

I've only known of these fields since lockdown but, presumably, they were available before that.
Not everyone knows about them.
Look up BarkPark. They used to have a basic website with a map of UK, you find a local field and book online, around £15/h.
I haven't looked in ages so there might be more websites with more locations nowadays.

Yep it can REALLY upset some male dogs, and neutered dogs too, not just entire dogs.

Some absolutely lose their minds if there is a bitch in heat anywhere nearby.

Common dog owner courtsey is not to walk in season bitches along busy roads (where the scent may cause a dog otherwise normally reliable off lead, to dash off and cross a road to get to her) and not to walk them off lead or in places people typically walk dogs off lead.

In practice, the first week and last week of the season an anti-mate spray, choosing quiet times of day and on-lead walk routes covers things.

The middle week when the bitch is most fertile, stay home, use hired fields if possible, many bitches won't want to go for long walks anyway, entertain them with training and play at home.

In a perfect world everyone would train their dogs to ignore the scent of a bitch in season - however generally training for a specific thing like that involves having access to that context/trigger to work on the training, and reliably having access to in season bitches to train around is nigh on impossible for the average owner. So its not really a surprise most dogs are not trained to be super reliable around in season bitches.

As for the idea that responsible rescues don't rehome reactive dogs - hilarious. I'd be out of a job if that were true. I have more work than I can handle! Many dogs do not unpack the full 'baggage' of trauma and behavioural issues until they've been in their new home 3+ months, and a home environment is very different to a shelter environment. So its entirely possible the rescue have never seen that behaviour from the dog whilst it was with them, no matter how good they are at behaviour work and assessing dogs.

Because there were vast numbers of lockdown puppies who were not trained or socialised who having been screwed up spectacularly, have now been dumped as their owners realize they can't be arsed to sort out the mess they created, so lots of us have taken on a reactive anxious rescue to spend alot of time and money trying to make these dogs lives better ... but it takes years of love and patience... usually with a moderate amount of abuse from people who blame us for the shit show someone else created....

@BourbonBon my new vet has been amazing with my little one. He specialises in reactive dogs. He knew how to handle the situation. I also took my behaviourist with me for the first visit too. He ignored her for the first 10 minutes then suggested we go for a walk on the village green. By the time we had finished she associated him with fun and he was a 'safe' person for her. He must have given us nearly an hour of his time. But as a result she is no longer fearful of the vet. The effort we all put in to making her feel comfortable has paid dividends.

If you happen to be in the south west pm and I can give you their details if you would like!

Why is he intact?