Can you all do something for me? Some of us have hard ones, some of us have easy ones.
I happen to have dog reactive dogs. And one of them is who has taught me about the “hard ones”. Wow… he is something! But he is perfect for me and I understand him. Few would have the understanding or the patience. I love him so deeply.
I walk very early to avoid traffic so its more enjoyable for me and them… since their dog reactivity is stress for them. I keep a look out so I can plan ahead, find places to move way off the path and wait.
When they react, I often get people who don’t want to pass, people that judge them. They never see the dogs I know I are in there because they see them at their worst.
This applies to ALL animals. All species. There are hard ones. There are reactive ones. There are scared ones. There are stressed ones. But know what there are not? Mean ones. Animals aren’t mean. They are stressed or scared. There is a difference.
Anyway, these animals deserve to see the world, enjoy it, and experience it like all of the “easy ones. It requires a patient and responsible guardian but they deserve it. What the world see is not who they truly are. Only their guardians see how loving, happy and calm they are when they feel safe.
So can I ask you to do something for me?
If you see someone out with one of these hard or reactive ones, or you see someone who has chosen to be the guardian for one of them in their home, maybe someone who isn’t giving up on an animal most would give up on, tell them what a great job they are doing. Tell them we need more people like them, willing to love the ones that are harder to love. Willing to take the reactive walk, willing to stay calm when their animal can’t, willing to be patient when most would not. Willing to give the animal a space to live in safety and comfort even if the animal isn’t friendly with strangers or affectionate with anyone.
Most importantly, tell them you see the beauty and the love in their animal. Acknowledge the effort of the guardian and the animal. Compliment them for allowing their animal to live life, have a safe place to live, do fun things, even if it’s hard.
Why? Because we really do need more people in this world willing to be that kind of human. The kind that sticks it out and gives these animals the joys they deserve and the ones that encourage them. And most importantly, we need more people that truly can see the reactivity is not who that animal is, inside there is a beautiful soul that is just scared or stressed. That animal has a heart FULL of love and loyalty.