http://www.thediaryofreactivedogparents.com/

The Diary of Reactive Dog Parents, New York, NY (2024)

11/15/2022

There is nothing that empowers us more than advocating for our reactive dogs.

Sure, it can be scary, and at times it can also be super awkward. Telling a stranger, friend, or family member how to approach, or how NOT to approach you and your dog isn’t always always easy.

But just remember this…

Every time you advocate for your reactive dog, you’re breaking stigmas and fighting stereotypes for ALL reactive dogs.

Your voice actually makes a huge difference.

You’re creating a ripple effect and helping to educate others and spread awareness about how amazing reactive dogs really are.

By being brave & speaking up, you can, and will make a difference, even if your voice shakes.

This is our entry for the calendar contest! Thanks for putting this amazing tradition together .jesse.and.tanner 😍

06/08/2022

Life is too short to be anything but PROUD of who you are 🌈💕

In honor of , we’re excited to announce a very special launch of PRIDE apparel for the hoomans and doggos 🐾

We’ve been working on creating some fun designs like these (and more), to be printed on fun wearable gear which will be available in our shop this Friday at 12 PM EST ✨

We are so honored to be a part of these two amazing communities and would love to give back to them🐾🌈

💗 A portion of proceeds from each PRIDE purchase will be donated to a very special & local LGBTQ outreach nonprofit organization who partners with 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🐾💕
Stay tuned for some more updates, and comment below which design you want to see on a shirt for you and your dog 🐶 🌈✨

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍💗
Our account is a safe space & our DMs are always open

🌈 ***r ***rpride 🌈

05/31/2022

This little muzzled lad would like to say THANK YOU to all of the brave, selfless veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice to serve our country ❤️

Happy Memorial Day 🇺🇸

05/11/2022

5 steps to be a better reactive dog parent 🐾

Hint hint! It’s easier than you think!🥰

Did I miss any?👇🏻💛

04/05/2022

Tell me you’re a reactive dog parent without telling me you’re a reactive dog parent 😜

Oh, and don’t forget to check out our Advocating bandanas available in our shop 💛 link in bio 🐾

03/08/2022

Stoop Dog’s afraid to leave her stoop 😟

Henna’s a brave girl, but she’s also a tad bit sensitive and unsure of the world around her🌎 ( I mean can you even Ben blame the poor girl?)

Don’t get me wrong☝🏻Some days she’s eager and ready to go on her next big adventure and she practically leaps off our door step with total confidence✨

Other days, she can’t even bring herself to make it off the stoop for a quick p*e walk on the grass that is less than 4 ft away from our door... 😕

And some days we have a little hybrid action , where we successfully make it off the stoop and are about to get a nice chance to p*e.. but then a wonderfully terrifying gust of wind comes along to blow all of my girl’s confidence away 🌬

So this is something we have been, and are continuing to work on with our girl💛

Boosting Henna’s confidence with clear direction and lots of delicious treats, while respectfully honoring her comfort and knowing when she’s at her threshold we should take a break from confidence building and training and trying again later !

This is the complete opposite of Ollie by the way... the lad is down to explore no matter the circumstances 😆 which is an amazing daily reminder that every dog is unique & deserves to have their particular needs met, even if that means their training looks a bit different from their pack mates !

For all my anxious dog parents with, BRAVE & confident BUT nervous pup? How do you navigate their word with them? 👇🏻

Do you have two dogs who have completely opposite triggers ?👇🏻✨

03/07/2022

We wouldn’t be the reactive dog parents we are today without Ollie’s muzzle. Not even close...

Gone are the days that we dread going on walks, fear off leash dogs approaching us on trails, and a avoiding other dogs

Ollie’s muzzle is a safety helmet for him, a confidence booster for us, a conversation starter, and a ✨WORK OF ART✨

Happy Muzzle Monday friends 🐕

Now tell us, what has your muzzle done for you and your reactive dog?👇🏻✨

03/05/2022

I didn’t choose the reactive dog parent life...the reactive dog parent life chose me 💕

Sometimes the universe gives you exactly what you never knew you needed 🌞

The reactive dog parent journey is a wild one, and I’m extremely grateful to be in it 💛

Happy Saturday friends 🌞
Enjoy your day with your perfectly imperfect reactive dogs 🐕 ✨

Comment ✨Grateful ✨if you’re grateful to be on this reactive dog parent journey too 💛

03/04/2022

Nothin’ to see here …
Just a lad boy lovin’ his adventure kennel ✨

Who else is ready for the weekend?🖖🏻

03/02/2022

Happy WINSDAY💛

Aside from muzzle Monday,I’m starting to think that is my new favorite day of the week 🤩

I mean, what better way to break up the week than by reflecting on our wins with our reactive dogs, am I right?

Wins come in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes the smallest wins are really the biggest 😉

This Winsday, I’d like to take a moment to celebrate kind of a HUGE win we had with Ollie over the weekend!

On Sunday, we explored a new bike trail, and despite the snow and ice that covered almost half of it, it was quite possibly my new favorite trail and I can’t wait to get back to it when the snow melts! It was so nice and woodsy with a view of the water...

Sorry let me stop rambling and get back to it!

So yeah! This gorgeous new trail was pretty amazing, but what was even more amazing was the fact that we passed by about a dozen groups of people with a total of 6-8 dogs.. and guess how many Ollie reacted to?

I’ll give you a hint - it rhymes with HERO 🦸‍♀️

Ok Ok I’ll just tell you! ✨ZERO✨

Are you as shocked as we were? I mean, just a few months ago, he most likely would have reacted to EVERY SINGLE ONE 🥲

This is a HUGE win for us, and for him. And for all reactive dogs in general, because if Ollie can do it, that means that there is definitely hope for all of our fellow reactive dog friends 💛

It took time, patience, tears, laughs, and a whole lotta love and support, but our lad boy did it 🥺

I’ll be framing this win and hanging it on my brain 🧠 wall of fame 🐾 to look back at when we are experiencing some not so great moments on our journey, because it’s a roller coaster y’all 🎢

Now tell us, what wins are you celebrating this WINSDAY?! 🎉

02/28/2022

Sometimes you just have to cry about it 🥲
..whatever “it” is... I still can’t really figure out what it was for me today...

Maybe it was the fact that I woke up at 5 am with food poisoning, maybe it was the fact that I’m struggling to find the right balance with my two reactive dogs, maybe it’s the fact that it’s Monday and I’m not quite ready to start the week... maybe it’s a combination of those three things plus a million other things, who really knows.

All I know is that it’s muzzle Monday, and that’s worth showing up for, even if I have to cry first.

So here’s your permission to cry about it. The permission that you absolutely do not need by the way... let it out, relax, and reset.

Tomorrow’s another day, but today is still important because being in touch with your feelings is imperative on this reactive dog journey.

And so is recognizing the wins.

So yeah, maybe today wasn’t the most productive Monday, but I can not let that the away from the fact that Ollie can ride without his training wheels ... AKA Ollie wears his muzzle without his forehead strap now🥲

I mean.. who does this lad boy think he is?

All grown up and making huge strides & beaming with confidence ✨

Do you think he knows how proud he makes me? 🥺

02/23/2022

Thinking we need to make a weekly thing!

Comment 🙌🏻 if you think we should make it a weekly thing 😍

What wins are you celebrating?💛🐕👇🏻

02/21/2022

What are the odds that Ollie’s first gotcha day falls on ?!

One in seven…😏

Seems about right to me though, I mean, if it weren’t for this kid, I can’t say that I’d have the same view on muzzled dogs that I do today…That’s for sure.

For no reason other than I simply had NO IDEA how much a muzzle could change the lives of a reactive dog and their owner… because I never was in the position to need to know…

And you know what, most people who have negative views about muzzles have never had the pleasure of being responsible for a reactive dog who could really benefit from muzzle training.

I couldn’t be more grateful for the experiences we’ve had with Ollie along our journey this past year, and his muzzle has been the biggest blessing 💘

I’m proud to be a muzzled dog mama, and to get to advocate for muzzled dogs all over the world 🌎

Happy muzzle Monday friends 😍 and happy gotcha day to my lad boy 🤍 I love you more than you’ll ever ever know 😘

02/21/2022

A year ago,we got the sad news that we weren't approved to adopt a 3-year-old pitbull named Ullie. He was an adorable beefy who was looking for a home around the same time we were looking to add another 4 paws to our crew
I had my hopes up when I got an email back, but They said “Pit bulls are not allowed in your apartment complex. Ullie is definitely too pit to be there. It would be putting him in danger. If you would like to consider a mix we can talk about that. Maybe Casper or Queen or Quin…”

After seeing Casper’s pictures in his profile on pet finder, we knew we had to meet this little guy., and he was a 6-month-old beagle Pitbull who loves dogs and people. All white with “unique markings” aka his mustache.

We’re in touch with the rescue and the foster and they were so accommodating

We got in the car and drove into the mountains about two hours away. The icy roads needed to use our snow tire things for the first time
Of course, our GPS took us the worst route and we ended up driving into this campground and popped our tire and totally ruined something under the front of my old car, whoops!

Had a spare thankfully, and the foster was amazing and met us with here we got stuck: we met Casper. This spunky little white dog with a limp leg and an adorable little jacket that kinda matched henna’s.

He and Henna hit it off right away. And slept in the car on the way back snuggled up in the back seat.
He had his first taste of the good stuff aka Dr. Harvey’s.

Little did he know he’d be eating like a prince from then on.
He p*ed on the closet the first night and he knew he was home. The rest is history

Happy gotcha day to our little lad boy. We honestly couldn’t have imagined it but you are exactly what our little pack needed. We love you so much Ollie boy💛

every single day you are making us so proud.

02/19/2022

Well, thank you does not even cut it, but it’s the best we got so THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU💓

To all 5 thousand of you 🥺💛

What?! Did that actually just come out of my mouth fingers?! I can’t believe I’m actually writing this, but we recently hit a huge milestone of 5k followers and I just can not even grasp it fully.

When I started this account five months ago, I had NO IDEA what was about to happen...

What started out as a way for me to process, express and fully embrace the journey of being a reactive dog parent , turned into the biggest blessing I could have ever imagined.

I figured maybe I’d be able to help a few fellow dog parents who were dealing with similar issues with their reactive dogs...or at the very least find support to deal with ours...

Not only are we able to share our story with people who JUST GET IT...we have connected with so many incredible fellow reactive dog parents who have changed the game for us💛

What once felt like a dark and lonely road of raising reactive dogs, now feels like a bright light 💡 and a warm hug 🤗 that never ends 💛

Thank you all for being so kind, supportive, funny, amazingly incredible reactive dog parents. This community is literally EVERYTHING 💓

Thank you from the bottom of our paws for loving our babies and cheering us on always 💕 ✨ Thank you for every like, comment, save and share 💛 Every DM, everything 💛

Isn’t the reactive dog community just something extraordinary 🥰?

Tell us, how has this community changed the game for you and your reactive dog 🐕 ✨

OH! And a special thanks to everyone who participated in our LIVE Q&A this Wednesday! And no worries if you missed it, we’ll be sharing the replay tonight 💕

02/14/2022

A love letter to my reactive dog’s muzzle ...💌

02/07/2022

To the reactive dog parent with the muzzled dog...this one’s for you 💛👉🏻

02/07/2022

Incase you need a few reminders on this Muzzle Monday, this one’s for you...👉🏻

02/05/2022

Your reactive dog called ☎️ and told me they told me these very important things ✨

👉🏻Swipe to see what your reactive dog wants you to know ✨

02/02/2022

You can take a girl and her dog out of Vanlife, but you can’t take the Vanlife out of a girl and her dog 🐕 🚐✨

The memories we’ve made in this van are some of our favorites and we are so happy Henna got to explore the world as a van dog 🐶

Have you ever considered ?🚐✨👇🏻

01/26/2022

We’ve got lots of new friends around here, so Henna wanted to reintroduce herself ✨

Meet Henna ✨ AKA Tunie , Junie, Haynes, Hen Ben , and so many other adorably ridiculous names we call her 😄

Henna is 4 and a half years young ✨ We’ve been together since she was just a wee little bub and broke her outta the shelter at 3 months old 🥺

Henna’s a lover, a fighter & she sure is brave, even though she gets a little nervous from time to time 🤍

Henna is a former , and has traveled across the country from NY 🔁 CO 6 times 🏔 🚐 🐾

Henna has Diverticulitis & MCTs, but that doesn’t stop her from living her very best life ✨

Henna’s so grateful for all your love and support along our journey 😍

Oh, and Henna LOVES belly rubs 😍

Every like this post gets = a belly rub 😍 every comment = 2 & every share = 3 belly rubs for the Junie girl 🤗

01/24/2022

Hiya friends !

We’ve been seeing a lot of new faces around here recently and we’d love to reintroduce ourselves 🥰

We’re Annie & Matt! Reactive dog parents to our two rescue bullies Henna & Ollie 💛

We have had the honor of sharing our journey and connecting with SO many fellow and we seriously can’t even believe it 🤩

This community is probably the sweetest thing about having reactive dogs, and we can’t thank you all enough for your constant love & support, and for being on this journey with us 💕

Along with our love for reactive dogs, we have a deep love for entrepreneurship & small business ✨and of course, ! The best adventure shoes 👟 for all of our reactive dog adventures !

Aside from making some of the most unique & comfortable shoes, each purchase supports a new entrepreneur on their small business journey ✨

What could be better ? Oh wait! I know ! Getting to share our passion and experience in small business branding and marketing into the dog community🐾

That’s why we created ! We can’t wait to share all of our branding, marketing & small business tips, tricks, and experience with all the dog loving professionals in this amazing community 🐾✨

We believe that every single one of us has a unique gift to share with the canine world 🌎 and we want to support you and your canine business along your journey ✨

Super excited for this, and to connect with more of you amazing dog loving entrepreneurs 🐾💛

And we also can’t wait to treat ourselves to a couple of fresh pairs of to add to our collection 😊

Are you an entrepreneur in the dog community? Please feel free to introduce yourself and your business in the comments 👇🏻We can’t wait to connect!! ✨

Happy 👟💛

01/24/2022

On Mondays we wear muzzles ✨

JK!! We wear them EVERY DAMN DAY🙌🏻

Here’s your weekly reminder that muzzled dogs are lucky, muzzled dogs are loved 🥰

Muzzled dogs have responsible owners who care about their safety, as well as the safety of others.

Muzzled dogs have the privilege to socialize and experience all the things in life that they otherwise would not be able to with out their muzzle.

Oh, and most importantly- muzzled dogs get a whole lot let goose p**p in their actual mouths than they normally would 🤣

Happy Muzzle Monday from this little lad boy and his custom muzzle🥰

What does your dog’s muzzle enable them to do? ✨

P.s - p*ep the lad’s tongue trying to get just a teeny tiny taste of 💩

01/19/2022

Such an amazing honor and experience meeting the one and only America's Canine Educator] last night🐶

So grateful for this opportunity to connect with America’s Canine Educator and some members of the Army!

There sure is power in numbers, and the amount of who show up for their reactive dogs, day in and day out is just incredible💛

We’ve learned so much from America's Canine Educator] over the past year and we wouldn’t be where we are on our journey with out his amazing content and his gift to connect with dogs and humans on another level. We can’t recommend YouTube channel enough!

Looking forward to the next meet up ⬆️ and our never ending education from this guy!! Oh, and definitely will be binging his podcast 🗣 🐾

No Bad Dogs 🐕 🐶 🐩 ✨👏🏻

01/17/2022

Happy Muzzle Monday y’all 👏🏻

It’s safe to say that if we didn’t start muzzle training Ollie, there’s a very good chance we would have given up hope.

Muzzle training is probably the number one thing that kept us from falling off when we were at the edge of the cliff.

Muzzle training has given Ollie the freedom, and the privilege to be his perfectly imperfect self without dangerous consequences.

And that’s why I can not stress it enough - muzzles are not cruel, muzzles rule 👏🏻

Especially a custom vinyl muzzle. These unique, bite proof muzzles are one of a kind - and there’s not a day that goes by that we aren’t extremely grateful for ours💛

01/10/2022

If I could give any one single piece of advice for anyone struggling with their reactive dog, it would be to get them a proper fitting muzzle to train in.

I can not tell you how much this hand made, custom vinyl and biothane muzzle means to me, but I’ll try 😉

Ollie’s vinyl muzzle is the single most valuable piece of dog equipment we own for both of our dogs (and we have quite a lot of things for these two). Here are my 5 favorite things about his muzzle 💛

🟧It’s Bite Proof and gives me full confidence that in an instance where Ollie has a reaction with his mouth, no ones getting hurt, and it keeps points off his record 🦷
🟨It’s custom made and designed with Ollie’s EXACT measurements so it is not only effective, but it’s comfortable. Ollie is able to fully pant while wearing his muzzle which is so important
🟩It’s UnIqUe ✨ have you ever seen this exact muzzle before? Didn’t think so! Ollie got to choose his favorite colors that best express his creative side 🎨
🟦the treat hole 🍪 allows him to take and forage for treats while wearing it and the a multiple holes throughout the vinyl allow for him to drink water 💦

Aside from those amazing features, it’s extremely durable, easy to clean, and lightweight 💛

Ollie loves his muzzle and in all honesty rarely ever attempts to paw it off. Like at all. Why would he anyway ? He knows he looks so responsible and dapper in it 😏

Happy Muzzle Monday friends 💛

Oh, and yes! We did trim up the orange biothane strap after this picture was taken 📸

01/08/2022

It occurred to me last night that we know sooooo much about everyone’s reactive dogs on IG but not much at all about the amazing reactive dog parents behind these awesome IG accounts - so I thought it’d be fun to share a few random things about myself 🤣

Allow me to reintroduce myself 💃🏻Hey there, I’m Annie ☺️and here are 10 totally random things you probably didn’t know about me :

1. I’m bi 🌈✨🏳️‍🌈

2. I got a breast reduction when I was 17 👙

3. I’m an artist ➡️turned entrepreneur turned ➡️small business branding and marketing strategist 🎨

4. I gave myself aspirated pneumonia for 2 weeks by inhaling a tiny piece of a hard boiled egg which ultimately changed my entire life 🥚

5. I’ve been navigating through my OCD and anxiety since I was probably 4 years old😳

6. My first tattoo says lights will guide you home - the night I got it I met my soul mate - Matt. We recently celebrated 10 years together💛

7. I can make a 3 leaf clover with my tongue 👅 ☘️

8. I’ve been on my dreadlock journey for 2 and a half years 🔐

9. I’m obsessed with propagating plants 🪴🌱🌵

10. I didn’t think I could handle being a reactive dog owner but here I am 🐾

It’s easy to think we know so much about people based on what they post about on social media, but these little squares are just a small insight into all of our lives.

Remember, there are actual human beings with actual feelings behind all of these adorable dog pictures they’re posting. Be kind friends 💛 we’re all just doing our best😊

Tell us something about yourself that we probably wouldn’t know based on your IG page 👏🏻

01/05/2022

When we adopted Ollie, we had ZERO concept of what it would be like. Like what it would ACTUALLY be like to bring a 7 month old (freaking adorable) puppy into our lives.

There’s only so much preliminary information you can really learn about a dog who was rescued from a shelter in TX and brought to a foster in CO for only ONE day before you adopt them and bring them home to live in harmony with you and your 3 year old dog.

Henna and Ollie hit it off instantly, what could have possibly gone wrong?

It took a few days for Ollie to open up a bit and start displaying some resource guarding with Henna. Since Henna had never displayed any resource guarding at all with other dogs, this was so new to us and came to be a bit of a shock.

Until we realized - well duh- of course Ollie is going to guard his resources from the only other dog in his new household. Who knows how Ollie had to guard his resources prior to his rescue. Who knows what his situation was actually like? All we know is he was very skinny, had a crusty nose and a limp in his back leg. So we can guess he wasn’t living his best life for his first 7 months.

As his guardians, it’s up to us to learn all of his triggers and the warning signs he gives us before he reacts.

But we’re learning more about our boy and what he needs and is trying to tell us now.

When Ollie reacts, I can confidently say that 90% of the time he gave us a clear warning before his reaction, and we just weren’t listening.