Share with me what you LOVE about your reactive dog

[jacob86]

Some stranger told me that my reactive dog was a mean dog which kind of hurt my feelings because he doesn’t even know her. So I decided I want to share what I love about my dog because in my opinion her reactivity doesn’t define her!

1. She loves snacks (same though)
2. Her favorite toy is a small football that we never even thought she would like.
3. She makes me laugh when I buy her new toys but she will still just ditch the new toy for her football. Even if I buy a new football she wants the original lol.
4. She’s a small dog but she LOVES long walks. It’s so good for the both of us.
5. When we walk with friends she’ll go on extra long walks because she’s happy for the company (I think she’s showing off lol)
6. She’s so good with puppies. The way she plays with them is so gentle and yet so strategic-she teaches them exactly how she wants to play, essentially building herself the perfect buddy lol!
7. She has the cutest and prettiest big brown eyes.
8. She snuggles with me when I watch tv.
9. Her being reactive is actually very educational for me and is teaching me a lot as we work through it.

Honestly my list could keep going and going lol. So if you’re comfortable, tell what you LOVE about your reactive pup!

EDIT: I can’t respond to all your lovely replies but just know that I’ve been reading through them and your responses are making me smile. Keep loving your reactive pups, they’re all amazing!

 

[linda_pow]

@jacob86 My boy is filled with so much love. He's terrified of a lot of things but he's always wanting to say hi to people or cuddle or get affection. Once he got comfortable with my cats he's always trying to play with them, letting them rub all over him, and even sharing his water bowl with them. He loves meeting all my friends who come over and relishes in all the attention he gets!

 

[jacob86]

@linda_pow Haha yes my dog too!! She loves getting all the attention!

 

[lia1234]

@jacob86 Seeing him in the window every day when I get home always makes me smile
and how he creeps up onto my bed every morning around 5am and then is so needy snuggly in the mornings
The way his pupils dilate when he makes his puppy dog eyes is literally like a cartoon. He’s so cute

 

[jacob86]

@lia1234 He sounds adorable! My girl enjoys her 5 am snuggles too. When I have work she likes to snuggle closer to me a few minutes before my alarm goes because she somehow knows I’ll always hit snooze to snuggle longer.

 

[heavensknight]

@jacob86 My girl is the best cuddler, and the best comfort. If you are sad, all she wants is to stare at you intently and put her paws in your lap.

She makes the cutest face when we introduce a food she doesn't like. It's as though she is trying so hard to be polite. Spinach probably gets the best "I'm sorry, but wtf is this" reaction.

So many grumbles, rumbles, sighs, and howls. Nothing like an 'awooooooooooooooooo' from a big baby who wants to play.

She's a power chewer with toys, but has never so much as bothered an errant sock around the house.

Her big wiggly body when she's excited. She wiggles and she hops up and down.

 

[jacob86]

@heavensknight She sounds so cute!!

 

[heavensknight]

@jacob86 Thank you. She is, and we adore her!

Thank you for starting this thread. Love sharing the good stuff about our pups.

 

[ssl]

@heavensknight Haha, ours is the same with vegetables. She'll take it oh so gently and then just put it down and look at you with giant puppy dog eyes.

 

[heavensknight]

@ssl Adorable! That's so sweet.

 

[ssl]

@heavensknight It really is. I started doing to to convince her to no be underfoot while I'm cooking, like, "see, it's just spinach, you don't want it!" but now it's honestly just a game. The look of betrayal my husband recently got when she was gifted a green bean was hilarious.

 

[tass]

@heavensknight LOVE wiggly butts

 

[hldawson3]

@jacob86 nobody has time for me to write a love letter to my reactive dog, so i’ll leave y’all with a wisdom someone else in here shared ages ago:

“sometimes you don’t get the dog you want, you get the dog you need”

my reactive dog is 100% that for me, and i wouldn’t trade him for the world

 

[jmcorn]

@hldawson3 I 100% feel this. My reactive girl is pure joy to me. Even when we are having a bad day. I think she saved me as much as I saved her.

 

[ludlow]

@jacob86 I lover her enthusiasm- she dives into every activity with pure energy and joy!

She is constantly trying to be a useful dog. If I open a door she runs over to look inside it with me. She lays patiently next to the kitchen island ready to clean up any wayward scraps. Can always find the ball, even when we hide it.

She snuggles with us, just for a minute or two because she knows we like it: and she loves to make us happy. (she is not a snuggle bunny type lab)

 

[jacob86]

@ludlow She sounds adorable!!

 

[procakes223]

@ludlow What a good girl

 

[maddie8011]

@ludlow

She is constantly trying to be a useful dog.

Omg my girl too. She somehow learned that if something is on the floor and probably shouldn't be, she should bring it to me. It's pretty useful most of the time because I can ask her to "hand that to me". But other times she just wants the reward or attention and will find random crap to bring to me

 

[ludlow]

@maddie8011 love it!

 

[ezrael]

@ludlow I came here to say basically this. However, I appreciate your spin on Velcro.

I love that my terrier mix (amstaff) is a snuggle bunny whenever she gets anxious - and when she gets mad at me she will go lay on the edge of the bed and stare at the wall.

In her enthusiasm for Kirkland dental chews she will fall all over herself and occasionally fling it under the furniture and then sit and look anxiously while I retrieve it. In fact, she will get so worked up over things she will sing and jump up and down, and even do the scooby-doo run across the wood floor.