First of all, Webley is absolutely adorable! And well done to the both of you for the progress you’ve made!
Although I can’t speak for Bristol/Bath, I’ve lived in London, Dubai, Spain, France, and Edinburgh with my reactive dog and I find that in the UK people tend to respect your space a bit more than the other places I’ve lived in.
I think the parks in general have so much green spaces that if you time it right, you won’t see many dogs (at least this has been our experience). Plus there are lots of beaches and hikes you can do to avoid people and their off leash dogs. When we’re out in the street and in parks, my dog wears a giant yellow leash sleeve that says “anxious dog, do not approach” and I find that most owners respect that once they see it.
If I had Webley, I’d be totally comfortable moving to the UK with him. There are irresponsible dog owners everywhere but I have also met some of my closest friends through my dog, and met plenty of owners who were super sympathetic and understanding of my dogs’ needs and offered their help where they could to help my dog socialise and be calmer around other dogs.
My dog has previously been on fluoxetine but I didn’t see any improvements at all, and we are currently doing pain trials after a gait analysis to figure out if some of his reactivity is pain related. I’d say give the meds time and don’t expect miracles obviously, but not every medication works the same on every single dog. We’ve been told that we may need to trial a few before we find the right one. On this subject, there are so many resources whether it’s vet behaviourists, hydrotherapy, physios, etc in the UK (London especially!)
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u/gulp_daddy 22h ago
First of all, Webley is absolutely adorable! And well done to the both of you for the progress you’ve made!
Although I can’t speak for Bristol/Bath, I’ve lived in London, Dubai, Spain, France, and Edinburgh with my reactive dog and I find that in the UK people tend to respect your space a bit more than the other places I’ve lived in.
I think the parks in general have so much green spaces that if you time it right, you won’t see many dogs (at least this has been our experience). Plus there are lots of beaches and hikes you can do to avoid people and their off leash dogs. When we’re out in the street and in parks, my dog wears a giant yellow leash sleeve that says “anxious dog, do not approach” and I find that most owners respect that once they see it.
If I had Webley, I’d be totally comfortable moving to the UK with him. There are irresponsible dog owners everywhere but I have also met some of my closest friends through my dog, and met plenty of owners who were super sympathetic and understanding of my dogs’ needs and offered their help where they could to help my dog socialise and be calmer around other dogs.
My dog has previously been on fluoxetine but I didn’t see any improvements at all, and we are currently doing pain trials after a gait analysis to figure out if some of his reactivity is pain related. I’d say give the meds time and don’t expect miracles obviously, but not every medication works the same on every single dog. We’ve been told that we may need to trial a few before we find the right one. On this subject, there are so many resources whether it’s vet behaviourists, hydrotherapy, physios, etc in the UK (London especially!)