u/KaleParticular2960

Finally started my job as an RN after 5 months of job hunting in SoCal. Throughout nursing school I have heard so many people complain about medsurg and how they could never see themselves being in this department; I started to think so too until I started my first shift. I work in a small hospital with a 1:5 ratio, my first week I did 3 12 hour shifts in a row all with different preceptors with different teaching styles. Some were old school nurses and some were chill nurses. Overall, I liked my experience working with them even when I felt like I was running like a headless chicken trying to get everything done. I'm not super confident in myself, especially in finding time to chart and pass meds on time, but I think I can get through this and become a good nurse.

I think the nurses on the floor see my willingness to learn/take initiative and are being receptive to my energy. I got a compliment from the old school nurses and one nurse even said it felt like they were orienting someone with previous experience. Ive been given a huge confidence boost after that, I guess faking it till u make it truly works LOL.

I'm glad I picked medsurg to start. Hopefully the rest of my 6 wk orientation goes well and I keep my current mindset. To anyone going through orientation right now, we got this!

For context I have a 5mo old mini dachshund that I am training to be less reactive. I've had him for a month now and I'm the main caregiver/trainer. We go to open fields on parks and do little sit sessions outside our neighborhood so he can observe his surroundings. Over the month hes improved a lot; he doesn't react to adults and cars. He reacts to tiny kids and dogs but less so when at a reasonable distance like across the street (working on it). His main problem right now is when we bump into dogs in public. He is able to be recalled when he is barking but his issue is that we have to keep recalling him since he keeps going back to bark.

Today my bf convinced me to take our dog to a small cafe to pick up some coffee. My bf sat outside while I went inside to order. For the first 15 minutes we were fine until I started to hear barking from outside. One of the customers came in with a medium sized dog and my boy started to bark. We went farther away and we practiced recall but my guy would go back to barking at the other dog (who was thankfully not barking back). I was super embarrassed since the other customers outside were looking and the owner of the other dog said "he's a bad dog" to his kid :(. Hearing this from what looks like to be an experienced dog owner was terrible for my self confidence as a new dog mom.

My bf said to not be bothered by others since our dog is still a baby and we are actively working on training. But comments like these always feel like a kick to the teeth, attacking me and my dog when we're trying to do our best. I keep replaying the incident, keep thinking about how I could have been thorough in my training, keep thinking that I should have known not to bring my dog in public knowing he's still reactive to dogs. My head right now is in circles.

Tomorrow I'm going to sit outside the dog park with my boy to work on his reactivity.

For context I just recently got a mini dachsund (now 5mo), I live in a family/dog friendly neighborhood, and I live in a condo w/ a fenced off patio that faces other condos w/ patios. Roughly theres 6 condos that are all close together, most of them have kids and dogs. I've been training my puppy with basic commands since I got him. For the first 2-3 weeks with me he didnt bark but once he turned 5 months he suddenly found his voice.

I've been teaching him "leave it" when he barks and I have been trying to desensitize him to outside noise by leaving my patio door open for him to hear the people/dogs outside. When he does bark I let him get out 1-3 barks and then try the "leave it" command + treat when he is quiet. Depending if the neighbors dog is barking, I tend to do this a handful of times a day. Today I left the patio door open so when he went outside and barked I could teach him outside too (since dogs are contextual). Some little kids were playing outside with their parents and then went in around the time my dog went out to bark.

Idk if them going inside has to do with his barking or if they were just done playing but I want to hear other peoples view if IATA for allowing my dog to bark outside. He only barked 2-3× and went quiet after "leave it" and some treats, but his bark CAN be loud. Should I try training my dog in some other ways? I often hear the neighbors dogs bark in their homes but I haven't heard them in their patio area.

I got a mini dachsund exactly a month ago and he just started going on walks last week after getting his last set of vaccines. I live in a family/pet oriented neighborhood; every time we go out we end up seeing kids/dogs/moms with baby strollers/etc. I try to go at different times of the day but we always see someone out, even when walking late at night. He's okay with seeing adults but we have problems with him reacting to other dogs and kids. If I can spot a dog/kids before him i try walking away or crossing the street. But with the layout of the condos here, I'm not always able to spot kids/dogs leaving the garage area.

Today some little kids were biking in their driveway and my boy started barking at them, making them stop. Their dad was outside, but I was so focused on trying to recall my puppy I forgot to apologize for the barking. Overall I was super embarrassed and now I'm dreading our next interaction when I go to walk my reactive puppy.

Before my puppy would run back home if anything scared him but after some more experience outside hes more vocal and just stands there. I am able to recall him after some leash tension and a "lets go", but it takes a while for him to walk away. I feel bad that he barks at the kids trying to play outside, I dont want them to feel afraid to play in their neighborhood (though they seem more curious than afraid when I see them). If I continue to walk and recall him when he is barking will he be desensitized to dogs and kids later on? Is this a temporary puppy phase or do I have to do more intensive desensitization training? I have social anxiety and I get so embarrassed when he starts barking at the neighbors (especially as the new neighbor in the area), any tips would help!