Nervous reactive dogs and dog walkers

[Allfurcoatandnoknickers]

Anyone on here got a nervous reactive dog and have a dog Walker? We rescued a Romanian dog last year. He’s doing great on the whole but we are working with a behaviourist to help build his confidence, reactivity to dogs in his space and visitors to the house- all sadly quite common traits in Rommies particularly. To give me a break and spend some 1-1 time with our other non reactive pooch, he had a try out with a dog Walker who is a trainer and specialises in walking reactive dogs. I thought from what she said that the try out seemed fairly successful but she clearly had reservations as he was anxious. I was kind of hoping she would work on this and help him feel more confident and relaxed away from our other dog. We have another try out session next week. I don’t want the session to be counter productive and make him really stressed. After the walk he seemed really chilled to me. Any thoughts/experience with this??

I am guessing your dog is being walked on his own?

If not that needs to be done

Your dog walker does need to feel confident walking the dog so if they have concerns look for another walker

Also check where she is walking your dog - it will need to be a quiet area that you and him are happy with

I would be guided by the walker if she is experienced

Yes she walks them 1-1 in quiet areas. She said he was good for her but just nervous being outside. He was like this with us at the start for many months and can still be like it in our local park as we had a few negative experiences in there. We now drive to a couple of very quiet fields where we are less likely to have off lead dogs bothering us.
The Walker is very experienced so will be guided by her, but I guess I was hoping that she could help me build up his confidence

It is tricky and I totally understand your reasoning but you may undo all the good work you have done so far.

If you go to fast for him you may just put him back and his anxiety increases and he begins to associate anxiety with everywhere outside.

However it would also be great if he can slowly and gently learn some places are great places to be.

So I guess it is a matter of going very very slowly and at his pace.

Sounds like the dog walker is being very honest with you that your dog was nervous being outside with them, it is good that they felt they could talk about that with you. Hopefully if they keep walking your dog they will build a bond of trust quicker due to your dogs experiences of learning to trust you. and this will lead to increased confidence.

Hi OP - I'm a dog walker and walk some reactive dogs.

The first thing I will say, is that you need to make sure your dog and the walker are a good fit. It's great that she has experience but sometimes you just don't "click" with a dog, if that makes sense? So if she's not sure about walking him, don't feel bad about trying to find someone else who may be a bit better fit.

It may also be worth her taking the dog out more often than once a week - maybe she could do several half hour walks at first, instead of jumping straight to an hour-long one? It gives them a chance to get used to each other in short bursts which may be less stressful.

It can be hard to build a bond with a dog you only see for an hour each week - it takes time. All the reactive dogs I've walked have been successfully introduced to others over time as well - this could well be something to work towards in the future if you wanted?

The important thing is you're both happy - if the walker isn't comfortable (or your dog isn't comfortable) feel free to find another walker who's a better fit :)

Thanks- great advice everyone. He has come so far but after his horrible experiences in a kill shelter and also with a broken hip it might just be too much. I’ll see how the second walk goes and take her advice- I don’t want to put him under unnecessary stress as he’s been through enough. Everything has to be done at his pace and keep him as stress free as possible

My girl is nervous and selectively reactive. I needed a dog walker twice a week , asked around for recommendations and then I went out with the dogwalker quite a few times (with my dog) before attempting to hand her over and that really helped. My dog coped but I don't think she enjoyed it at first but as she gradually relaxed with her and now loves her! She slowly introduced my girl to another dog who was calm and she felt would be ok with her and they now have great fun. It's taken time but we went at her pace .

She's still unpredictable with other dogs but the carefully introduced ones she is now fine with!

I needed to see for myself how my dogwalker was with her, if she conveyed a calm aura around her!

We had one for a short while but it didn't really work out. Despite several meet and greets she struggled to get our dog out of the house and when she did our dog played up massively (always a sign she is unhappy). I think she thought she was being stolen . We used her about 4 times and each time she would text us to say how stressful it had been so we decided not to continue the relationship.
We've since moved and I keep thinking I need to find a new one for back up (we don't need a regular walker, but someone we can call on the odd occasion we might have a long day etc). But this time I think we will spend more time getting her used to them, and shop around a bit more for a good fit. I panic hugely about her getting off lead and not coming back because she doesn't trust them. Even my parents don't walk her because she's so nervous and reactive at times.

Our girl is a rescue sighthound.

Yes Stillmedusa that’s kind of what I was hoping for. I’m going to discuss it with her again and see whether we feel it’s worth pursuing.

Hello
I know this convo is from a year or so ago but I have just got a rescue dog from a kill shelter, again from Romania. He has come on lots but still very nervous outside. He walks on the lead perfectly, which was a lovely surprise, but is extermely nervous around people.

I just wondered how the original poster is coming on a year or so down the line please?

Sorry just seen your post. He’s much improved on walks in that his recall is great, and he will look at me for reassurance when he sees an unfamiliar dog. If a dog bounds up to him he’ll bark it away but I manage this by avoiding this situation as much as possible.
he still doesn’t like strangers coming into the house so we pop him in another room and ask that person to ignore him.
All hard work to get to this point, but on the whole he’s a great dog!
I would really recommend the Dogs Point of view Meesh masters Facebook page - she’s been amazing for us!