I want to get a dog but I have to work, how does everyone on broadway market do it ?

Been a while since i updated on Nori's progress, nuts it's been over 3 years now. After a rocky first 6 months we got her on Fluoxetine and limited her access to parks other dogs etc. The next 12 months were about learning her behaviour and slowly getting her back into the world. We didn't have any significant incidents but spent a lot of time wary of her reactivity and probably channelled a fair amount of undue pressure on to her because of that.

At 18 months something just clicked, i for the first time fully fell in love with her and all her "quirks" and with the help of a behaviourist started to understand how much other dogs behaviour were often a major factor in Nori's own behaviour. A big help was to give up on the local park or any places that would likely be frequented by certain types of dog owners or where people generally want to stand around and chat whilst there dogs run around together. To be clear other than the odd grumble under my breath i don't have a specific issue with any of these groups but Nori wasn't being given a fair chance in that environment. For example constantly calling her back to get her on lead as a lot of smaller or overly energetic dogs were snapping at her was just making her more wary before she'd even had a chance to learn how to deal with it. Luckily i don't have to go that far afield but bigger places like BPP, Crystal Palace or even Sydenham woods have really helped her (or more to the point - us) be confident with other dogs. Although i doubt i'll ever not be a bit wary with dogs i don't know, walking is generally a nice affair these days! Another big game changer has been to get her a dog walker who understands her behaviour and is very confident with her. Once a week she's out with a small group of dogs and does very well being part of a pack of misfits. We even get a regular freebies when Nori is used to help other difficult and reactive dogs. Maybe not a shock but she's in her element with the crazies.

In other stuff she's been near perfect. Kids, babies, visitors, parties, pubs, cafe's, trains, car travel, hotels, being left alone have all been tested numerous times and she's never been anything other than a sweetheart. She's been off Fluoxetine for a while and her next test will be to see if she eats the home sitter as we're going on holiday for the first time in over 3 years.

So not an easy ride but one that just get easier and better as it goes. She just needs to work on her photo face because she isn't exact selling her real self atm...

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