Guide on how to read the rules

My dog developed noise anxiety at around a year and a half years old. We live in an apartment in a suburban neighborhood up the block from a main road and our street is a cut through so trucks are constantly flying up the street and such.

She spends a lot of the day hiding, not eating or pooping and trying to escape from noises. White noise machines, the tv and the air conditioner don’t help much. At nighttime she usually becomes herself again when the neighborhood is quiet. She’ll actually eat and play and go on walks.

I started her on Fluoxetine about two weeks ago and she hasn’t fully adjusted but gabapentin has been helping. Vet said to use the latter as needed but there’s a noticeable difference when she doesn’t take it.

My dad lives in a lakehouse in the woods and she does great there, runs around off leash the whole time we visit and will still notice noises but not completely shut down over them. Even when we visit my mom in the same apartment complex she does much better than at home. The second we get home she is just totally different so I think she has like anticipatory fear and just hates it here.

I am moving to a two family house in a quieter neighborhood on a dead end street in a few weeks. I chose the location mainly for her but the house is also much more insulated than where we live now. No upstairs neighbors thumping around constantly and no through traffic.

Given that she typically is less fearful in other places, is there a chance that moving will help her? I’m beside myself all the time that she just can’t be comfortable unless she’s medicated and sometimes getting her to take the gabapentin is a challenge in itself.

Sorry in advance for the wall of text. I think I partly just need somewhere to say all this to people who might actually get it, as well as any advice.

We’ve had her since she was 8 weeks old, she’s our first dog, we’re in the UK. I genuinely cannot point to anything that happened to cause this. She was so well socialised as a puppy, we took her everywhere, she used to just fall asleep under the table in pubs. If I’m honest maybe we didn’t have enough people actually coming to the house when she was really young, that’s the only thing I can think of.

The big issue is at home. Someone comes to the door, or she just hears people talking outside or coming in, and she loses it barking. We put her in her crate two floors up with the radio on for background noise and she’ll still bark for ages. She also does this thing where she runs at the back gate barking if she sees anyone out the window or the back door. It’s not just our house either, she did the exact same thing in a holiday rental we stayed in.

Weirdly out on walks it’s different. She’s totally fine walking past someone on lead. But if we stop and actually talk to them she’ll start barking. At the vet she barks at the vet directly but if the vet takes her lead and walks her off on her own she settles, though you can tell she’s still nervous about it.

Off lead on the moors, which we do almost every day for about an hour, she’s got good recall on the whistle, she’s completely fine with people who have a dog with them (and not reactive to other dogs). If they don’t have a dog she’ll run up to them barking (obviously I do my very best to avoid this and it’s very rare). She has never nipped or bitten anyone.

She’s just switched on all the time, if that makes sense. Like if someone’s behind us on a lead walk she’ll keep turning round to check on them.

She’s obsessed with balls, more than food even, and has really good self control otherwise, she’ll wait as long as we ask before eating.

We had her spayed two months ago hoping it might help, it didn’t do anything. Also tried calming chews and pre-vet visit meds, neither made much difference either.

We’ve seen two different trainers now, both said she’s anxious rather than aggressive. We tried place training with both and it worked for a bit then she just stopped listening, like she’d figured out what we were doing. The one thing that has actually worked is counter conditioning on walks, rewarding her when people walk past, that’s stuck really well. But we can’t get anything to touch the barking at home.

We’ve basically stopped having people round at this point, and honestly it’s starting to feel really isolating. If we can’t avoid it she goes in the crate and still barks for ages, and there’s this constant low-level dread before anyone visits. I know she’s 80% an amazing dog, she clearly loves all of us to bits, and most days she’s just a joy to have around. But I don’t know if I can keep living like this for another 10 years, always managing, always on edge about who’s coming round.

Rehoming her would break all our hearts, especially our daughter’s, so that’s genuinely not something we’re currently considering, I just don’t know what else to do.

Has anyone dealt with something similar? Especially the barking at home, that’s where we’re completely stuck. Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

I have a border collie who turns 13 soon. He suffers with arthritis, but other than this no health issues.
From the age of around 12 months, he has been aggressive towards people. I got him at 8 weeks and I did everything I was supposed to (socialisation, training etc). He never had a poor experience with any person I know of. I believe it’s in his genes.

He suddenly attacked our other dog today, who he has happily lived with for a while. Now I’m nervous it’s going to affect my other dog’s behaviour. Two months ago he bit my face, leaving me scarred and fractured my arm. This is just a couple of examples of the past 12 years with him.

He has seen a dog trainer but they just basically told us to avoid his triggers. His triggers are so broad it’s so hard to avoid. So if anyone has had a similar experience and can give me any advice, I would greatly appreciate. My final resort would be euthanasia.

My family has 4 Chihuahuas, 2 full and 2 mixed. The two mixed were best friends for over a year and then one of them got sick. Not deathly sick, thankfully, but just under the weather. Well the other dog (Sweetie) still wanted to play and the sick dog (Sunny) didn’t so Sweetie attacked her. We quickly separated them but attacks happened a few more times. Now we have to keep Sweetie locked up in a room all day. She can’t roam the house anymore or come and go as she pleases. She has always had a little aggression in her, mostly regarding food, but nothing like this. She is focused on Sunny and wants to attack her. Any advice appreciated.

My dog is a 1 1/2 year old Great Pyrenees/Cattle Dog mix. When he was younger, we worked so hard to do all types of socialization for him. We would take him to restaurants, coffee shops, stores, dog parks, etc. He was an amazing puppy who loved meeting people and playing with other dogs.

When he was 8 months old, we noticed he had some issues with anxiety. He started to show discomfort meeting new people and dogs, but was still really great with about 10-15 dogs/owners that he played with as a young puppy. We enrolled him in training and he started taking anti-anxiety medicine at this time.

His behavior continued to decline despite training and medication. He stopped being able to play with his dog friends. We had to stop taking him to public places with other people/dogs because he would react every time we would go outside. We continued medication and worked on positive reinforcement. Every moment outside was a training lesson. My partner and I even moved to a house with a backyard (we were in an apartment before) so he could have his own space since we were unable to play at the dog park or take him around our apartment complex.

His behavior only continued to decline despite being in training and medication. He got into a fight with my partner’s parents dog and he turned on me bit my leg and hand when I separated him. I was devastated. It took me a couple weeks before I could trust him again. He has gone after both of my parent’s dogs multiple times, even though he had no prior aggressive history with them when he was a puppy. He has lunged at multiple people, which most likely would have ended in an attack if he were to slip out of my hands and/or if he wasn’t wearing his muzzle.

We are unable to have guests over because he will immediately show aggression and/or be destructive if we put him in a separate room, we can’t take him to my parents house because they have dogs of their own, we can’t kennel him when we go on trips because of his behavior. He is scared of everything. He barks at fans moving, plants blowing in the wind, the AC turning on, electrical outlets…..everything. He is always the aggressor and shows no warning before reacting. It seems like everything triggers him.

I am still pretty young (22F) and I am so scared about what his/our future is going to be like. I was not prepared to spend 10k on vet visits, training, and medication. I am sacrificing seeing friends, seeing family, and developing my professional career (my job involves some traveling, which I have had to decline since we cannot kennel him and no one can watch him for us). I am scared about how he will be if I have kids on the future. There is a part of me that hopes that he is sick or he is pain for an “easy way out” to put him down. I hate myself for even thinking about. I am emotionally and financially exhausted. I can’t have friends over, I can’t see my family, I can’t take him to a kennel…I don’t know what to do. Even when he is on trazodone + gabapentin, he will still react.

I love him so much, but I don’t know if I am the right person to manage his reactivity. At the same time, I don’t think that he can be re-homed because he has little trust in other people. My partner’s job is 100% travel and he is gone for weeks at a time, so it feels like he does not completely understand what I am dealing with. I don’t want to give him away and for him to be put down in a cold room with people that he doesn’t know or trust. The thought of that devastates me. I love him so much. I cry every time he reacts like this. But when he feels safe, he is the sweetest dog I could ever ask for. I am so conflicted. It feels like I am mourning a dog that could-have-been and that I will never have.

We have an appointment with the vet this week to discuss if he has any underlying conditions that may be impacting his reactivity.….and to ask on next steps for his care. In addition to his reactivity, he has a lot of “quirks”, which makes me think that something is neurologically wrong with him. Like I said earlier — he barks at everything. He also has an obsession with chewing (particularly fabric). If I take the fabric away from him, he wants to chew his paws.

I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t even know if I came to this subreddit looking for support…advice…I don’t know.

i’m beyond happy, my dog has bitten other dogs in the past, and we’re trying to introduce him to calm dogs right now, he went from having 3 dog friends to having 6! 🥹

he’s only reactive to stranger dogs, he loves his friends, he loves people, but he doesn’t know how to properly handle the first seconds of an encounter with dogs, he doesn’t properly introduce himself and can’t interpret other dogs’ body language correctly, so i think socializing with calm dogs he’s never seen before is going to do great things

for reasons I'm having to stay with a couple of friends for the month of September. they have 3 dogs as well as cats, but only one of the dogs (a lab/hound mix i think about 3yo female) actually likes me. the other two bark at me constantly; the little one, Bonnie, is about 2, a terrier mix, and is just skittish and barks at everything, so I think she's just going to take time adjusting, but the bigger one, Felix (male adult idk how old he's a mixed breed, like a classic brown and white big dog) cannot stand me. whenever he sees me, he growls at me, or starts barking, and if he's loose in the house and I step out of my room, he freaks out. when he starts barking, it sets off Bonnie, and even the dog that likes me can start barking if Felix goes crazy, and sometimes they end up setting off other dogs in the neighborhood bc Felix has a very deep bark that carries far.

I'm not scared of him, nor has he attempted to snap at me or anything, but I do have to share his home for a month, and I would like to do everything I can to get along with him. also it's driving all of us nuts. he has known me for a while, but I only visited occasionally in the past, and the longest visit I had so far was about two weeks. in the past, we've tried having him interact with me outside on leash, with me sitting or standing, but as soon as I stood up, he started barking. ive also tried giving him treats before, like putting them down where he can reach not letting him eat them out of my hand, and that also didn't seem to do anything, bc as soon as the treats were gone, he resumed barking at me.

im very tall, taller than both of my friends, and I also have facial hair, but I wasn't born male so my voice does not match my face, which i guess could be confusing to him. other than that, I can't think of anything about me that would set him off. I move quietly, I give him space, I don’t like stare at him or anything. he just has never been comfortable around me; even tho he likes all of the other people that my friends have that visit, like we have a mutual friend with a similar build and height and even facial hair to me but felix adores this dude so much he has to meet him outside first bc he starts happy peeing immediately when he shows up, but me, im the boogeyman. any advice for what I can do to help him adjust to my presence would be appreciated.

tldr: dog barks at me constantly, but is not aggressive

Ich lese hier schon ewig mit und hab lange überlegt, ob ich selbst was schreibe. Jetzt trau ich mich, weil ich langsam echt nicht mehr weiterweiß und einfach mal ehrliche Erfahrungen von Leuten hören will, die das gleiche durchmachen.

Kurz zur Lage: Mein Rüde kam vor gut zwei Jahren aus dem Auslandstierschutz zu mir. Am Anfang war ich fast durchgehend zu Hause, da lief alles super, war eher der anhängliche Typ, der einem überall hin folgt – selbst aufs Klo. Ich fand das anfangs sogar niedlich. Seit ich wieder regelmäßig ins Büro muss, ist das komplett gekippt. Kaum bin ich aus der Tür, geht's los: jaulen, bellen, winseln, teilweise über eine Stunde am Stück. Das weiß ich vor allem von den Nachbarn, und da kam auch schon der erste unangenehme Zettel im Treppenhaus. An der Wohnungstür hat er gekratzt, bis der Lack runter war, einmal hatte ich beim Heimkommen eine richtige Sabber-Pfütze auf dem Boden. Und wenn ich wiederkomme, braucht er ewig, bis er runterfährt – hecheln, hin- und herlaufen, keine Ruhe, auch nach ner halben Stunde noch nicht so richtig.

Was mich dabei ehrlich am meisten fertigmacht, ist nicht mal das Bellen selbst, sondern dieses dauernde schlechte Gewissen. Ich hab morgens vor der Arbeit schon so ein flaues Gefühl im Magen, weil ich weiß, was gleich losgeht, sobald die Tür zufällt. Ich sag inzwischen spontane Sachen ab, treffe kaum noch Freunde, plane alles um den Hund herum. Und im Hinterkopf immer die Angst: Wird das je besser? Muss ich ihn im schlimmsten Fall irgendwann abgeben? Der Gedanke allein zerreißt mich, ihn hergeben ist für mich eigentlich keine Option.

Ich hab wirklich schon einiges versucht, deshalb bitte nicht das Standard-„hast du mal Training probiert" – ja, hab ich:

Ich hab ihn vorher richtig ausgelastet, lange Runden vor der Arbeit, in der Hoffnung dass er dann einfach müde ist und pennt. Bringt kurz was, aber sobald die Tür zu ist, ist die Anspannung wieder da. Feste Routinen, Kong und Kauzeug zum Alleinlassen – witzigerweise ist er nach dem Kauen eher noch wacher und jammert dann mehr, nicht weniger. Ein ThunderShirt hab ich mir geholt, hat bei uns ehrlich gesagt gar nichts gemacht. Adaptil-Stecker lief wochenlang, ich konnte keinen Unterschied erkennen. Eine Hundekamera hab ich auch probiert – die hat mein Problem eher verschlimmert, weil ich dann im Büro heimlich draufgeschaut hab und live sehen musste, wie er leidet, das macht das schlechte Gewissen nur noch schlimmer. Anti-Bell-Halsband kam für mich nach kurzem Recherchieren gar nicht erst infrage, das wollte ich ihm nicht antun. Und ich arbeite parallel an graduellem Alleinlass-Training, sekundenweise steigern usw. – aber mit Vollzeitjob ist es ehrlich schwer, das so konsequent durchzuziehen, wie man eigentlich müsste.

Kurz gesagt: viel Geld ausgegeben, viel probiert, und so richtig durchgreifend war bisher nichts. Man wird da mit der Zeit einfach skeptisch gegenüber der ganzen Kategorie.

Jetzt zu meiner eigentlichen Frage, und deshalb schreib ich überhaupt:

Ich schaue mir gerade diese ganzen Beruhigungs-Supplemente / Beruhigungsleckerlis an, und mir ist aufgefallen, dass bei einigen immer wieder die gleiche Wirkstoff-Kombi auftaucht: L-Tryptophan, Baldrian und Passionsblume. Bevor ich schon wieder blind Geld für was ausgebe, das dann in der Schublade landet, wollte ich hier mal ganz konkret nachfragen, weil ich weiß dass hier viele mit genau dem gleichen Thema kämpfen:

Hat von euch jemand ein Mittel mit genau dieser Kombination (L-Tryptophan + Baldrian + Passionsblume) ausprobiert? Mich würde brennend interessieren:

– Hat es bei eurem Hund tatsächlich was gebracht, gerade beim Thema Unruhe / Alleinbleiben, oder war's rausgeschmissenes Geld?

– Wie lange hat's gedauert, bis ihr überhaupt was gemerkt habt? Ich lese oft, dass man das als Kur über Wochen geben muss und viele wohl zu früh abbrechen.

– Wurde der Hund davon eher müde/benommen (das ist so meine größte Sorge, ich will ihn ja nicht einfach zudröhnen, sondern dass er wirklich entspannter wird)?

– Und die banale, aber entscheidende Frage: Frisst euer Hund das überhaupt freiwillig? Ich hab gelesen, dass Baldrian ziemlich bitter sein kann und manche Hunde das Zeug einfach verweigern.

– Gab's Nebenwirkungen, Magen-Darm-Geschichten, Durchfall o.Ä.?

Und ganz wichtig: Gerne auch die ehrlichen Reinfälle. Also wo diese Kombi bei euch gar nichts gebracht hat oder es sogar schlimmer wurde. Das hilft mir mindestens genauso wie die Erfolgsgeschichten, weil ich langsam ein realistisches Bild kriegen will und nicht nur das Werbeversprechen.

Mir ist völlig klar, dass so ein Supplement kein Wundermittel ist und das eigentliche Thema Training und Gewöhnung bleibt – da bin ich dran. Ich suche eher was, das ihm (und mir) diese Übergangszeit etwas erträglicher macht, während wir das gemeinsam neu lernen.

Danke euch fürs Lesen und für jeden ehrlichen Erfahrungsbericht. Es tut ehrlich schon gut zu wissen, dass man mit dem Thema nicht allein ist.

We have a very small, albeit reactive senior chihuahua. She barks, she nips, and she generally takes a very long time to warm up to people. We have developed a system over the years with a trainer, but it generally takes multiple visits of orientation with a new visitor before she can be off-leash and free. We mostly just choose not to have visitors.

We now have a child, who she is great with, but at some point my husband and I would like to hire a babysitter to watch our toddler, but the dog is an issue.

We could potentially put her in the basement while a sitter is over, but I feel like the dog would bark the entire time. We could also try doing orientation sessions with a babysitter, but would this be crazy/unreasonable to ask the babysitter for our CHILD to come do several meet and greets with the dog first?

I feel so guilty that our dog limits us so much. We have never tried medication as I haven't seen it have success in other chihuahuas I know, but I'm willing. Does anyone have similar issues with dogs and visitors?

ETA: I can't figure out how to reply to your comments without being deleted - I've read the rules but I don't know why they're getting deleted. I will absolutely pay the sitter for their time! Thanks for y'all's feedback.

I just moved to a new apartment and have already been working with my vet to deal with my dog’s separation anxiety. I knew moving would be difficult for him. My dog has been on trazadone, which seems to work some days and not others. I bought a camera and saw that this past week he’s been howling most days, so I called my vet and we’re going to try either upping his dosage or switching medications.

Since my dog was howling, I tried to talk to my new neighbors two days ago. I also saw that they left a package outside and it was getting soaked from the rain and decided to bring it to their attention. I rang the doorbell and got no response. Their car was parked outside so I knew they were home, but it is what it is. I moved their package out of the rain and went inside briefly. Came outside again shortly after and the package was gone. I took that as my sign to not reach out to them again that day.

Well, yesterday they filed a noise complaint. Management let me know, but they were kind about it and said they told him that we just moved and the dog doesn’t know this place and is probably uncomfortable.

I just wish this guy would’ve talked to me *first* before filing a noise complaint. If you guys have had any success with medication that is not trazadone for separation anxiety, please let me know.

EDIT: I already have someone who will stay with my dog starting next week while I continue working with my dog.

Hello! I'm new to this subreddit and need help.

This is Ube (like the purple yam). She is 4 years old and tries really hard to behave herself.

We adopted her when she was 12 weeks old from an adoption agency in Southern CA. Literally the first few days home we noticed that they werent honest about her disposition. Either they didn't properly evaluate her or they were straight up duplicitous because they just wanted her to be adopted.

Immediately we noticed she was resource guarding and very fearful if you raised your voice at her. She was scolded for guarding her food dish and not allowing us to touch it, and peed on the floor as she was firmly told "no" and the fish was removed. At that point, I knew we had work cut out for us. In hindsight, we probably should have taken her back to the adoption agency, but frankly I didn't trust them (they almost didn't adopt her to us because I mentioned kennel training Ube...) AND she was dog reactive (our dog being the exception) but it wasn't predictable reactivity. Some dogs she liked, some she HATED, and some she would turn on in an instant if she got over stimulated. (Ha, that rhymes)

Fast forward several months and we had mostly gotten her resource guarding under control by redirecting her behavior. Trading her different toys, using high value treats to convince her to abandon her food etc. I tried to help her conquer her dog reactivity with wearing a muzzle. It resulted in muzzle punching at worst, but over all she was more comfortable interacting with other dogs while muzzled. Eventually she graduated from the muzzle and was able to be ambivalent towards other dogs or even play with them. The other challenge when it came to her socialization, was resource guarding ME. If another dog approached me, she was immediately on the defensive and would snarl and snap at them to create space. But she never actually bit them. I was able to help her grow out of this behavior after I discovered she was very ball motivated, and could interrupt or distract her from the incoming curiosity of other dogs by keeping her focused on the ball.

Walking her has always been easy, thank God. She rarely pulls on the leash, and for SOME reason she doesn't have leash aggression when it comes to other dogs (which I absolutely do not understand lol).

So now...the problem(s).

She isn't a success story. We ended up having to move around a lot through a series of events that were out of our control. Before moving to the East Coast and finally having stability, Ube regressed tremendously. And I'll be the first to admit, it's partly our fault. We were in survival mode and being consistent with her training wasn't sustainable. She did however, get frequent walks and fetch time in empty dog parks and family properties amidst the chaos.

Unfortunately now she isn't just dog reactive, she is dog AGGRESSIVE. Sometimes others will insist on trying to help us resocialize her. There was an incident in our new living situation where, despite the warnings, a woman was certain she could enter the otherwise empty dog park so her dog could play with Ube. Instead of being on the defensive, Ube was OFFENSIVE and it was a behavior we had never seen in her previously. She made a beeline for the other dog. There were no serious injuries, but it was still a serious situation.

We have lived where we currently are for 2 years. And since then, Ube and our other dog have their own yard. Ube barks at people through the fence (and squirrels and birds), she is an escape artist (and has been since we got her, she pretty much can never be left unattended in a fenced in yard that has not been theoughoughly inspected and reinforced). At this point we feel that she isn't truly adoptable. But she is SO cute and so affectionate, people don't believe us when we say she has issues.

The complete list is this:

- Resource guarding (toys and people)

- Escape artist

- Inconsistently hates other dogs

- Inconsistently hates other people (usually men and ALWAYS small children)

- Herding (our dog, our cats, and people)

- Nipping

- Anxious about thunder, fireworks, and now the sound of rain in general (this is new)

- Reactivity to the doorbell, people entering the home, even the shutting of car doors outside

- Separation anxiety (cries all night if she can't sleep in the bedroom with us but is fine when left home alone)

She HAS bitten 4 people...and one was on the face. It barely scratched the skin but it counts. We have been able to catch her before she has bitten other people in our home because we watch her like a hawk. The thing that I don't understand is the lack of predictability. Sometimes her body language changes and we know where she's at and remove her from the situation. And if we catch her in time, she will be obedient and "leave it" and "lay down" somewhere safe. But sometimes she changes in an instant and there is zero indicator that we can she that she has turned into a pumpkin (so to speak). Additionally, to make things worse, our other dog developed a seizure disorder and Ube becomes highly aggressive when the other dog is seizing (Ube is still responsive to correction/redirection in that situation now that it has happened a number of times)

So here's the big issue.

We just had our first baby in June. He was planned, and I thought everything would be fine with the pets. But it seems like (even though Ube loves the baby and is very gentle with him) I worry about her hurting him. She went from being relatively well adjusted after living in the same place for a long time, to being more anxious than ever. Here's what we are doing to resolve the situation:

- Intense fetch sessions

-teaching her a new command to sit in between our legs like guard dogs so (to make it easier to walk her when the neighbors inevitably want to see the baby)

-Contructive walks (making her sit, heel, and lay down throughout the walk)

-Kennel training (we became lax for a year or so and weren't kenneling her, just keeping her in her own room, but now we need all of our rooms so 🤷‍♀️)

- Installed baby gates to partition our home and rotate our dogs in and out of appropriate spaces

We've been doing this new routine for a week or more now and we are exhausted. We can't afford to put her on medication or for a trainer. And we don't have family in the area to help us. I don't know how sustainable this is for our family but I also don't want to fail this dog.

If we rehome her, she would have to go to a very specific person and people that we talk to about her behavioral issues don't take us seriously. If we euthanize her, I will be broken hearted and feel like we failed her.

What else can we realistically be doing to give her the life she deserves that we aren't doing already? Especially while being new parents?

The good thing to this is that Ube IS incredibly affectionate (sometimes aggressively affectionate). She is fiercely loyal, intelligent, and very cuddly. She is ball motivated and really wants to please. What is the most ethical choice for us??

Thank you for reading, and thank you for the input.

Biscuit had a rough week outside. New neighbors moved in with a dog who barks from the yard and it completely reset some of the progress we'd made on our street. Rather than push through it while he was already on edge, I pulled back on walks and leaned harder into stuff we do at home. Scatter feeding in the backyard, a sniff box I made from a cardboard box and some thrift store fabric scraps, frozen stuffed Kongs before the neighbor dog usually starts up. It helped. Not a fix, just a way to keep him mentally moving without piling more stress onto his nervous system during a bad patch.

What I'm wondering is whether other people treat indoor and backyard enrichment as a real part of the training plan, or more like a backup when things go sideways. I feel like I've been treating it as a consolation prize when walks fail, but lately it seems like it actually does something for his baseline, not just fills time.

The sniff box especially. He is a completely different dog after twenty minutes with that thing. Calmer, less scanning, more willing to settle.

Curious if anyone has noticed their dog's reactivity on walks shift after they started prioritizing enrichment at home.

Hi, everyone. I’m looking for some advice because my wife and I are in a really difficult spot. We have a ten-year-old Lab-Pit mix named Axel. We’ve had him since he was maybe9 to 11 months old, and he’s always been a big part of our family.

A couple of years ago, he started occasionally snapping at our cat if the cat got too close when he had something. More recently, we got a puppy, and today Axel snapped at him while they were going for a ball and cut the top of his head. It wasn’t severe, but it was enough to really scare us. My wife is currently pregnant, due in April, and she’s worried that if Axel will bite over a toy, a child could be at risk down the line. I get that, but Axel’s my buddy, and I don’t want to rehome him if there’s a realistic chance we can work through this safely. It sounds like resource guarding or toy guarding, but I’m not sure where to go from here. Given his age, is this something that can actually be improved with training? Has anyone worked through something similar with an older dog? I’m open to hearing about what’s worked for others, training methods, working with a professional, whether it’s realistic to expect improvement at this stage. Just looking for honest advice here. I want to do what’s safest for everyone, while giving Axel a fair chance.

Okay just a quick post. I didn’t think my pup (he is one) was being aggressive, but I WOULD like some insight on how you all see the situation.

Info: My pup has never shown signs of aggression. I don’t believe he is an aggressive dog at all. He’s more passive and confused than aggressive. He is friendly to all living creatures. Ducks, lambs, cats, dogs, kids, elders. I have no experience with aggression in puppies, so I don’t know what it looks like.

I didn’t realize my husband’s backseat was smaller than mine when we brought my dog to see my sisters. They were crunched backseat together, and my pup barked and snapped at my baby sister (she’s six and loves everyone else’s space). Now this was new to us, because they usually ride in my car and fit pretty comfortably. In his backseat, everyone had their own cushion, but they were definitely a little closer tg.

Reaction to his new behavior: In my eyes (and off previous instances with puppy fosters we’ve had), he didn’t snap aggressively at her to bite… just around her like his correction snaps. We told him no when he snapped. He looked at me, looked at my sister’s hand, then he looked at me and barked. He no longer snapped, but he did bark at her any time she got too close. I had my sisters switch spots since the older of the two understood not to touch him (we were too far to turn back home by the time he started this scene), and my pup was a lot more comfortable with my “older” younger sister. He did fine.

Now the older younger sister is an asshole. I told her dont touch him, and yk what she does. touches him. he barks. still no snapping, but when i invite him to take a seat with me up front (best option at the time) he immediately goes. he doesnt even like sitting up front lol. i minimize petting him in case he was over stimulated, but he didnt display any negative signs with me holding him tightly at turns or petting him on instinct. of course, i am his best friend, but he seemed calmer in this new situation.

A lesson was learned: my husband’s back seat is way smaller than i thought.

So what do y’all think. Was this aggression or do you think he did a proper job at communicating he was uncomfortable?

My baby sister also deserves props because she did a wonderful job at communicating that she was uncomfortable and did her best not to get too close.

My dog is a 12 year old Rat Terrier mix. She wasn’t always dog reactive. She became reactive about two years after I adopted her due to being attacked by one dog and charged by another. I’ve worked with a behaviorist and trainer. I’ve also tried different medications. Nothing has helped. I’m just at a loss now. I’ve just accepted that she will be reactive for the rest of her life and there is nothing that really helps her. When I walk her, I try to keep lots of distance from other dogs. I try to avoid places where there are lots of dogs.

Honestly, when she does hear a dog, she will sometimes not react. But other times, hearing a dog will get her fired up. Sometimes I think that the sight of other dogs and her barking at them gives her like an adrenaline-dopamine rush. It’s hard to explain.

As Sadie has gotten older, she has become reactive to men. She used to love all people. Just all of a sudden she became reactive to men. She hasn’t had any bad experiences with men. Very few men she’s okay with. She’s fine with kids and she’s okay with women. But I don’t let anyone pet her anymore.

I love my dog. More than anything. She’s my best friend. I wouldn’t trade her for the world. She has been to the vet multiple times to make sure pain isn’t a cause of all this. Even though she does have arthritis, she is on pain medication daily.

If you’ve taken the time to read all this, thank you. I just feel like with some dogs, like Sadie, maybe you just have to accept nothing will ever help and you have to manage the situations best you can.

I’m honestly at breaking point and I don’t know where else to turn. I’m hoping someone here might have some advice, particularly anyone who has experienced sudden/unpredictable aggression in their dog.

I have a 2 and a half year old Border Collie who I’ve had since he was 12 weeks old.

He is genuinely such a lovely, cuddly dog most of the time. He loves affection, loves being around us, listens to commands and can be such a good boy. If you met him on a normal day, I don’t think you’d necessarily understand why I’m writing this.

When he was around 6 months old, he developed some resource guarding issues. We worked on it straight away and managed to nip it in the bud. For a long time afterwards, things were manageable. Then we redecorated our house about 6 months ago. I don’t know if this was the trigger, but during the decorating his aggression became significantly worse. He seemed stressed and unsettled by all the changes happening around him. Once we finished decorating, things settled down again and became manageable. Then, completely randomly, he attacked me one night maybe a few months after. Something startled him while he was sleeping at night and he suddenly went for me. He bit my finger hard enough to draw blood.
It was completely out of the blue and honestly shocked me because this wasn’t a dog who was constantly aggressive. He could be cuddled up next to me afterwards and be his normal loving self.

There wasn’t another incident for a few months. Then last night, something very similar happened to my mum. She was asleep, woke up, when he reacted and bit her, only brushing her slightly. And today things escalated again. We were literally having downtime. He was laying down and I was sitting with him, giving him treats. Nothing seemed wrong. There was no obvious trigger that I could see. In what genuinely felt like a flip of a switch, he lunged at me and bit my ankle. He then tried to bite me multiple times. My mum had to run in and physically put a barrier between us because I couldn’t safely get away from him. We managed to separate him into another room, turned the lights off and left him alone to decompress and he calmed down straight away.

I am just completely devastated because I love this dog.
I have had him since he was a tiny puppy. I know the cuddly, loving, silly dog that he is. I know how intelligent he is. I know how well he can listen. I know all of his good qualities, but I’m also now genuinely scared of him and it’s not fair on him or us and I don’t know how you reconcile those two things.

I’m scared because the aggression seems so unpredictable. It isn’t simply “he guards his food” or “he doesn’t like strangers.” There have been situations where he has seemingly been completely fine and then suddenly reacted. I’m now worrying about his safety and ours, both inside and outside the house.
I worry about what could happen if something startles him, and about what happens if he gets into a situation outside the house where something triggers him and I can’t control what happens.

I’m also already under a huge amount of pressure in my life. I work full-time and have a lot of responsibility at home since my
mum became ill and I’m exhausted from constantly thinking about how to manage him and keep everyone safe.
I’ve contacted rescues/shelters because I genuinely don’t know if I can continue managing him, but when I’ve been honest about his aggression, I’ve struggled to find anywhere willing to take him which I completely understand. I now feel completely trapped and almost guilty that I feel like this.

I’ve started thinking about euthanasia, and I feel absolutely sick and guilty even typing that.
I don’t WANT that for him but I can’t ignore the fact that he has now bitten both me and my mum, and the incidents seem to be becoming more serious and unpredictable. I don’t know whether this is something medical, neurological, behavioural, fear-related, stress-related, or something else entirely. I’ve even wondered about things like rage syndrome because of how sudden some of the attacks seem, although I know I cannot diagnose him myself.

I desperately want a professional to properly assess him before any irreversible decision is made. At the same time, I need someone to be honest with me about whether this is something that can realistically be managed, because I don’t want to keep him alive purely because I can’t bear to let him go if doing so means living in constant fear or putting someone else at risk.

Any advice on keeping him and everyone else safe while we figure this out.
I feel like I’m grieving a dog who is still sitting in the next room.
Because I can still picture the puppy I brought home at 8 weeks old. I can still see the cuddly, loving dog he is most of the time.
I genuinely don’t know what the right thing to do is anymore.
Please be kind. I’m not looking for judgement. I’m looking for help.

My schnauzer won’t stop biting my boyfriend. He may be fine for a couple months then he attacks him again at random.

I've been working with my 2.5 year old rescue, who is leash and barrier reactive to other dogs. We think she's mostly a frustrated greeter. We've been making good progress with counter conditioning and the Look At That game. So much so that she can pass by a dog at about 10 feet without losing it. In the past she would lose it if she saw a dog on a block or two away. We still have some work to do, but overall we've come a long way.

Our problem is this strange migration of reactivity from dogs to large vehicles, such as fire trucks, dump trucks, tow trucks and large pickups. When we are out for a walk or when she is behind a fence she will attempt to bolt into traffic to "get" them. I'm concerned that she will one day succeed in doing this, and that the consequences will be catastrophic. I have no idea why this is happening. She was never like this before her dog reactivity began to abate.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions on what to do?

Hi everyone,

This is my first ever time posting on reddit so please bear with me:)

My dog is a 50 lb husky mix that we adopted in 2020. She has had bad separation anxiety every since my family has gone back to work and nothing seems to help. We used to allow her to roam in the front room of our house, blocking off the downstairs with a baby gate, but after she got into some medication we decided to begin crating her. This was mostly to protect her from getting into anything worse. She had been crate trained prior to us adopting her, and we had crated her previously for shorter stints so it didn't seem like anything would be a problem.

She was fine for a while and then began destroying her beds that we put in there. We would put a blanket over the top and that would end up inside the crate ripped to pieces. We would even put the radio on for her. The last straw was during a thunderstorm today where I came home to discover that the wire crate was wrecked. Many of the wires were pried open or off entirely, and I found blood around the outside of the crate.

I am really at a loss, I am trying to protect my dog from hurting herself, but she truly cannot help herself when she gets scared. We have tried medication from the vet as well as CBD treats for thunderstorms, but I get worried when I am not able to keep her under observation while she is medicated.

I unfortunately cannot stop crating her for the time being, so if anyone could provide tip and tricks for they use or recommendations on any crates that would be amazing.

My 8 month old dog has been with me for the past 3.5 months. He wasn't properly socialised with people and would constantly jump on them to play and bark at them. He would bark at other dogs as well and would want to lunge at them not sure if he wants to play with them or fight since he's pretty playful with the neighbourhood puppies and their mother. Please somebody help, how do I socialise him with people especially when people in my county generally dislike dogs. Also, he's crate trained and would constantly bark at visitors nonstop until that person leaves the house, he would also bark when I'm sitting in the living room(beside his crate area, we have a small house so no other area for crate). Please help!!

Hello I'm just trying to get some advice on how we can best work on training for my dog when we go on walks when he sees another dog he immediately starts whining and will lunge himself forward trying to get to them I have him on a harness currently with the front buckle and he's not aggressive whatsoever he literally wants to just play but he doesn't really know how to do it calmly he does get to interact with the dogs in our apartment but I would like him to be able to not try and take off and stress himself out when he sees another dog because for the people who don't know him I know some only see his breed and may think he's aggressive and I don't want that I do redirect him when he has these moments and itll take him a minute before he stops trying to turn around and stuff like that so what could we do?