My best tip for reactive dog owners would be:

Take time for yourself! It’s hard having a reactive dog and, like me, you probably have a busy work and family life too so finding time to do something for yourself every week (or more often) is key.

I’m giving this tip because it’s one of the hardest things for me to do. I have recently started doing daily yoga and I make sure I do get some time to read my book a few nights a week. This is helping me so much.

I also had a client not long ago that got a dog to have wonderful daily walks in her neighbourhood. Her reactive dog made those walks far from relaxing so I told her, go for a walk yourself every day. Enjoy the time alone without stress and get that relaxing walk you’ve longed for. She loved it and it made training her dog so much easier because the pressure of walking in that particular neighbourhood was removed.

If you could give other reactive dog mums one tip, what would it be?