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Welcome to my Blog!

Work, however you define it, gives life meaning. I believe with the correct motivation, communication skills, and determination, you can do almost anything you set your mind to. Through my experiences, I hope to inspire others to believe that with these values that anyone can achieve their work and life goals.

My husband and I adopted Odin in November of 2017 when he was 9 weeks old. Since then, my life has become a never ending adventure.

OMG My Dog’s Reactive:

I started this blog/website while Odin was still a puppy. Thinking that I could document all the cool training stuff we were learning about training and about all the cool sports we were going to get to do and all the adventures we were going to get to go on (also it was a branding project for my MBA). However, when Odin was 5 month old, Odin started showing signs of leash reactivity. At the time I had no idea what was going on with my dog, and it didn’t happen enough for me to think it was going to be a life time problem. But as he got older, it got worse and I needed to take a serious look at what was going on with my dog.

I found out that term for what was ailing my poor dog: Reactivity

Reactivity -> Dog overly reacts to an external stimuli due to fear/frustration/excitement.

I took a deep dive into what reactivity meant and what it would mean to parent a reactive dog. Counter conditioning, desensitization, and behavioral adjustment training became the focus of most of our training sessions. I binged on CogDog Radio and Drinking From the Toilet Podcasts. I ordered and read everything I could get my hands on. I started focusing on consent work and allowing Odin to be a dog and respecting his wants and needs.

Reactivity is tough. Everything needs to be planned out (hikes, travel, and even just walks). I never leave the house without treats and when I am overly aware of my surroundings and environment (now with and without Odin). But his reactivity also brought me a passion for animal behavior and for understanding and respecting dogs. This understanding has allowed me to help Odin grow and learn how to successfully live with his reactivity. We hike and we travel. Road trips with my husband and Odin are my favorite past times and I look forward to hiking as much as I can with Odin. It has taken a lot of work to get us to this point but I want to help others navigate the crazy life of parenting a reactive dog.

The one resource I could not find, was how to successfully navigate traveling and hiking with a reactive dog. Where do we go? When do we go? What do we do? Can we do this? How do I go about planning this? So now I am shifting the purpose of my blog. I want to create resources for others so they can have an easier time traveling and hiking with their reactive dog.