Comment on Loving a reactive dog means grieving the dog you thought you would have by Lara.

This post is amazing and definitely so true!!! I have 3 adopted puppies. The first one (Cassy) we got, is absolutely perfect. Social with dogs, people, everything. The second one (Bailey) is soooo lovely and goofy at home, but an absolut nightmare outside. I really love him but his reactivity makes me, as you said so well, grieve about the dog I thought I would get. I was imagining great walks at the beach, with Cassy and Bailey, being just perfect companions. This imagination even led me to bring another dog into our lifes (Leia). Probably not the best decision, considering Bailey’s behavior, but it is what it is and they get along very well. She is very social too and was only a couple of weeks old when we adopted her. The thing now is, I struggle with having to give the girls the time outside they deserve, while poor reactive Bailey has to stay home, because of his reactivity/ which now turned into aggression (towards other dogs, us and especially Leia when she tries to stop him from barking and lunging). This is so conflicting, because I can’t take all 3 (absolut chaos), but I also don’t want the girls to miss out on their playtime. Any advices how we can make that better? Obviously Bailey would love to come for trips with us. It’s just impossible.