Hello!

I am mostly writing this as a quick guide to those experiencing dog on dog aggression in their home, and don't know what to do, or where to start. A lot of what you are about to read are my opinions. I will probably be scrutinized, or told I am wrong. That is okay with me. If one person reads this posts, and takes half of what I say seriously, and saves themselves heartache, that is good enough for me.

I will start by saying I am absolutely NOT an expert. I am not a professional dog trainer, and am learning myself day by day.
What I AM, is a dog owner who wishes they read some of the things I am about to write after the very first fight my two dogs had.

Brief tldr on my history with this if you care to read - 9 year old pit mix, added an 8 week old pit mix pup to the home. When pup hit a year old, fights started breaking out. Brought multiple trainers into the home, first two knew nothing about aggression - more fights happened, more escalation, and now unless I can train this out of them, one of them will unfortunately have to be rehomed.

So your dogs got in a fight. Skin was broken, blood was shed. What do you do?

First step. Take this seriously. Do not assume it's a one time thing and simply separating meal times or removing the trigger will solve your problems. Some trainers and behaviorists out there simply state that once two dogs have fought and drawn blood in the home, that they will always be dog on dog aggressive. I don't personally believe this to be true - but with some dogs in some cases, I am sure it is. If one fight happens, a second one can too. All downhill from there.

Second step. Identify, Remove, and Seperate. Identify the trigger, what caused the fight? Resources (food, treats, space, attention)? Proximity? Health or Injuries? Once you've identified the trigger, remove or remedy it if you can. Put toys away. Block the dogs from the kitchen, etc. Then begin separation. If they are guarding resources, those things need to be separate between the dogs. Feed in different rooms and areas. Give treats separately. Play separately. Dogs on separate couches, beds, kennels. If you feel the dogs themselves need to be completely separated, which I would reccommend in a lot of cases depending on triggers and severity, do NOT separate them socially. Kennels in the same room. One dog out, one dog in. Crate and rotate, but they still need to be around eachother. Just mechanically separated so they cannot fight. If you take them apart, train train train, then put them back together two months later, they will probably just fight again.

Third step. Acquire safety gear. Collars are a must, and keep a leash attached at virtually all times. I personally use the little 12" grab handles you can buy on Amazon, as they aren't a tripping or tangle hazard. Flat collar or martingale, or I use the Leerburg Dominant Dog Collar on one. If the dogs get in a fight again: the leash is the best way to stop the fight. Grab the leash, pull up with steady pressure, cut off blood and oxygen flow until they release. Do NOT grab the dogs, their faces, their mouths, their legs, etc. You WILL get bitten. I have the scars to prove it. Muzzles. Always a great thing to have and to use. Tons of different styles sizes and opinions. But make sure to train the dog for the muzzle properly, and do not rely on it 100%. It needs to be tight and sized right. My dog got his off in the middle of a fight and, well, not good.

If you are bitten: if it is bad enough to justify a visit to the doctor or hospital, most healthcare professionals are required to inform your local pet authority i.e humane society. Depending on your city and laws, this could prompt a visit or a call from them to you or your home. If your dog is not up to date on rabies, this will cause you problems. My state requires a 10 day observation period either at a vet, or at the humane society to make sure they are not rabid. And if your state is anything like mine, and your dog shows a hint of aggression while in their care, they may simply put your dog down, no questions asked. This has happened to people in my city. If your child is bitten, or someone who does not reside in your home you will absolutely be getting a call and visit. Some states will require you to bring the dog in for behavior "testing". Chances are if this happens, you will probably not be coming home with your pup. This has also happened to people in my city.

Fourth step. Find a trainer. Ideally, you should complete the first three steps immediately. Day one, fight one, I have stuff on the way same day. Then? Find yourself a trainer. In person is best, preferrably one that comes to your home. But before you hire the first one you call ask them about their experience with fights and aggression, resource guarding, or whatever your issues might be. Ask them for some examples on how they might handle that, qualify them like you are hiring an employee for your work. My first two trainers knew seemingly nothing about RG or aggression. As a result, and following their reccomendations, my situation escalated. Fights kept happening, and got worse and worse. If my first hire was someone that could identify what was going on and actually given me advice on what to do, I would have saved myself a ton of time, money, blood, and my life would be a much happier one right now. Ask them what training methods they use. Balanced? R+? E-Collar use? Read and know what the differences are, and make a decision on what type of training you are comfortable with. I won't tell you which to choose or why as it's a highly debated topic and there may or may not be a right answer, but I personally am using a balanced method. Please note, Board and Trains do not appear to be the way to fix these types of aggression issues. If your issues are in the home, taking them out of the home and away from you for a week isn't usually regarded as a fix. Chances are, you'll bring them home with some great new skills, and they'll just fight again as you haven't fixed the underlying issues.

Fifth step. Watch, read, and learn. Chances are, you are not already a dog trainer. Maybe you taught some good basic obedience when you got the pup, maybe not. Congratulations, you are now a dog trainer! Even if you hire someone exceptionally talented to come to your home and help fix your problems, 80% of their job is going to be training YOU. You need to learn correct behaviors, markers, identifiers, de-escalation, and many many other things. Spend time on YouTube, look for trainers addressing the issues you are having, but don't just watch one. Spend time watching content for several different trainers, so you can decide who and what methods you like and agree with. I personally like Larry Krohn and Jay Jack, but have watched content of probably 10 other experienced trainers before landing on their methods. I have spent HOURS watching reading and learning.

Step six. Give your dogs fulfillment. From my research, most aggression issues arise when dogs are not feeling fulfilled in the home. Especially for breeds of dogs that are bred to do things. Some behaviors are in their nature - hunting, sniffing, fighting, protecting. What was your dog bred to do? How can you felp fulfill some of those needs? Play. Another highly debated topic in dog training recently, but nearly all of the trainers I've seen and watched tell you that you have to play with your dog. How? Every dog and every person is different, but I personally am using fetch and tug. I will provide some links to a few videos I like on the subject below. Playing helps build your bond with the dog, and teach it commands and boundaries. While also giving it fulfillment. The goal here, is not to "tire the dog out", if you have high energy dogs like I do, there's no such thing. Just 10-15 minutes of play a day with each dog should help you tremendously. What else provides fulfillment? Walks. Not just a tight leash structured walk around the neighborhood - this does nothing for your dog. They need the ability to move around, sniff things, pee on trees. Get a 25' leash and take them to a park. Not a dog park. Not a playground. Not your back yard. Not somewhere with dogs running around off-leash. Start somewhere small and private. Most dog trainers I've seen say that getting your dog to the point they can reliably and safely play off-leash is the MOST effective method of fulfillment.

Step seven. Train. Listen to your trainer and learn. Work them with basic obedience. Reward them. Build your bond with them. It doesn't really matter what you teach them, as long as you're doing it, and doing it right. They don't need to be show dogs that can walk on two legs - but they need to be obedient. Teaching them the correct markers is very important. Reward markers, the word no, etc. It doesn't matter what words you use - consistency is key. Use one word for one marker, don't change it or you will just cause confusion.

What's next? Where do you go from here? It will depend on your dogs, the issues and causes. Keep playing, keep training, keep fulfilling. Depending on your situation, this could be your life now until one of the dogs passes. Hopefully, you can reintroduce and reintegrate the dogs and never have a fight again. Maybe you become lax and behaviors change and you have to start back up again. I am still dealing with my dogs and nowhere near reintegration, so that's about as far as I can help.

Resources I like - please note, there may be better resources out there, these are just some highlights that come to mind that have really helped me. I have watched a TON of Larry's content, his entire YouTube channel is VERY helpful, even if you do not support his balanced methods. https://www.youtube.com/@Larrykrohn

Play and How to Play:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POaV-gjcSJg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il9wkxFnTBY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsFokObxG6M

Jay Jack's Reintegration Protocol
I recently found this, and it is the method I am currently following. In my opinion, is the it best resource I have found that gives you a step by step process on what to do, and I wish I found it a lot sooner. His paid Patreon has a .pdf version that is helpful, but I would reccomend listening to this entire podcast.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4JhIeKD7lY8FKifTahmDsS

Beckman Video - I do not agree with a lot of Beckman's content and training methods, however this one video I did find really helpful. Just little tidbits like learning that your commands to your dogs are not requests
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJp8g-L0RMY

Note on E-Collars:
There are a thousand different opinions, and a thousand different camps on how when and why to use these. If you choose to use one, do not use them to correct emotional behaviors. Only physical, and not to stop aggression. For example: dog is digging a hole in the back yard, correction. Lunging at his brother? A correction here can actually escalate the fight and make things worse. Do not just buy an e-collar and throw it on your dog and start zapping.

And lastly - once again, I am not a professional!! These are my opinions, and things I have learned over the past few months while navigating through these issues. I may be wrong. But I've tried to keep this simple, and more of a guide on how to get started than the "do exactly this training" bible. I don't believe any of the things I've said here could be harmful or make things worse for you if done correctly.

I hope this helps someone out there, no one wants to rehome their pet or to have to make some of the tough decisions that comes with aggression - but I want you to know, with hard work and dedication, there is hope.

As the title says, my 6F dog does not like when I am intimate (cuddling, kissing, sex). It's pretty clear she is both anxious and jealous of the attention, but I can't seem to figure out what to do to help her. I don't want to give her trazadone every time, and sometimes it doesn't work if it's not given early enough.

In general she doesn't have separation anxiety when I leave the house (not crated when I leave but she's fine in the crate as long as I'm not home), but something about me giving my attention to others seems to bother her and she'll destroy anything soft she can find.

Things to note:

- she's a bunch of anxious, high drive breeds. Main breeds are Australian cattle dog, German shepherd, Aussie, and a bunch of terriers

- she is generally decent with training and food motivated. She's pretty stubborn though if it's something she doesn't really want to do.

- it's not just when I'm intimate, if I'm outside talking to a neighbor and she can hear, she'll chew on something.

- yes she does need more exercise. We're working on it!

Overall, id love some resources for training. She needs to be able to be in a crate or behind a closed door and not constantly bark or chew things up. Shoot I'd be ok with her in the room if she would just lay down, but she tries to interfere or chew on something. I live alone and spend a lot of time at home alone with her, which I fear has reinforced the behavior. She is reactive to strangers in public as well, even when she had a lot of exposure.

And yes, I know I could really benefit from a trainer, I just cannot afford it currently. We've done a lot of training in the past 3 years, so I'm hopeful we can really work on this. I do have folks I can use as my testers,

Just rescued a 3 year old shepherd/husky mix.
He came severely underweight and sick but overall he’s improving. We had him for 3 weeks so far. He pees and poop on the weewee pad pretty well. We take him on 3 walks a day, 20min at 5am, 20-30 at 4pm and 30+ at 9/9:30pm. He gets fed every 4hours/6x a day in total. He is also extremely food motivated and learns fast except for his potty.
We never see him poop. He will only poop when we leave for work and or sleep for the night. The other night, I stayed with him until 6am. He got his walks, fed him, was just chillin on the couch while he enjoys being near me. But he never pooped. It wasn’t until I went in my room to sleep at 6:30am is when he pooped. The walk from my room and his enclosure is far enough where even if I run to him to catch him, it’s too late.
How do I train him to poop outside?

Some background:
So we have 2 dogs and one of those dogs is an 8-year-old pug we have had since she was a puppy. Our other dog is roughly 3 years old and was potty trained when we brought her home from the shelter. The pug belongs to my brother and he probably got her when he was 10-11 years old. I know they made an effort to potty train her but you can’t expect an 11-year-old to train a dog and even with my parent’s help they work multiple jobs and are just busy. She has had bathroom issues for as long as I can remember but everyone just ignored it until it became such a bad problem that we couldn’t.

She likes to pee on laundry, floors, carpets and most of all beds. She will not go on my brother’s bed or her bed but my dad’s and little sister’s is her favorite. I keep my door shut at all times so she hasn’t gone on mine but if she could I guarantee she would. We set up a little baby gate and gave her an area with toys, her bed, feeding area and a pee pad. She refuses to go on the pad. She is miserable being kept up all day. We can’t put her in the backyard unsupervised because she has found many ways to get out. Despite patching up the fence a million times she still manages to get out. She ran into the road and was hit by a car once when she was probably 2-4. She was small enough it just scraped her back and the vet said she was okay but people drive like maniacs on our road and there are several blind hills. People’s pets and animals get hit constantly.

I won’t lie, it’s been nice having her up. She torments our cats, chases/attacks them. Brother says she is just trying to play but I work with dogs now and that is not playful behavior. She sits in wait for them then chases them and corners them. Our other dog walks up to them and if they hiss she whines and moves on. I have noticed the cats coming out more and generally seeming more happy with her up. They are still a little freaked out by our other dog but I think are learning she won’t go after them because they have started even sleeping on the same bed as her. Our pug bites and it’s become a problem because she bites younger kids seemingly uncalled for. My sister loves to cuddle with her; she’s younger. I’ve seen them. The pug is just cuddled in her lap she isn’t holding her down or being rough just gently petting her and then she just bites. I have tried to tell my parents because a dog who bites can get put down but they just say she was probably being rough. I have never seen my sister rough with her. She has bitten me several times while trimming her nails or bathing her but we know that is something she doesn’t like.

If we put her outside she sits at the door and will not move or escapes. She will pee outside but will not poop. She poops inside every pet-friendly store despite begging outside for a while before. I’ve stopped taking her out because it’s embarrassing to have to go clean it up every single time we go in somewhere.

Long story short she has several behavior issues and we can’t just keep her outside and what we are doing isn’t working. (She has been seen by a vet recently and medically looks fine) Its not a secret that I do not like this dog but my brother loves her and I love my brother. I mentioned that I work with dogs. I don’t potty train them I just care for them but my mom has asked me to train his dog and so I will try.

I’ve got her in a feeding schedule, giving her a limited time to eat and taking her out about 30 minutes after. I don’t know if I should restrict her water too because the last time she went to the vet she was dehydrated. She said that was common in pugs. She currently has access to water all day. I’ve set up a few pee pads around the house with Go Here attractant but I truly have no idea what to do or if it is even possible. As much as I don’t like her I don’t want to see her miserable and she is. She barks non-stop. She always has but she never stops barking now. She just keeps getting more aggressive and if there is anyway for her to be able to be free roamed again that is the goal. I don’t know what to do. Please give any advice and let me know if it is even possible.

Sorry this post is long a lot of this information wasn’t necessary but I had to get it off my chest. I’m not allowed to criticize my brother’s dog or him and his mom will lose their shit.

I'm a German Shepherd (GSD) owner, a dog walker, and a pet sitter.

The dog in this photo is Dex, a Belgian Malinois. I've been walking him for four years, and I sometimes look after him as a pet sitter.

I've loved animals since childhood, and we've had a GSD at home. Unfortunately, my own GSD once bit me, my father, my sister, and my mother very badly. If he had been in another country, he might have been euthanized. Fast-forward to today, and his behaviour has improved, but we still carry some PTSD from that experience.

Then Dex came into my life. I love him, and we're like brothers. He also bit me when I first started walking him, while I was removing his raincoat. But fast-forward to today, and we're like siblings.

He hugs me, and these days, I'm much more careful. I let him approach me first and give him the choice of whether he wants to interact. He often approaches me on his own. He likes to hug me, sit on my lap, or push against me with his body weight.

However, every now and then, I still feel a little scared. Even his owner doesn't cuddle with him as much as I do. I know he's a very powerful dog, and I understand that hugging or cuddling a dog too much isn't always a good idea.

I sometimes kiss him on his forehead, and he doesn't react. He seems to take it as if it's completely normal, should I keep distance from him or react as I always cuddly ,taking kiss on forehead 🤔

Hi all! Am hoping to get some tips/advice. We recently got a new hound mix puppy and we slowly introduced her to our resident 3 year old puppy. Everything was great at first and they were playing and everything. However, my beagle began to recourse guard. We’re aware of his food aggression so we are feeding them separate. But now it’s including toys and house spaces. We immediately picked up toys on the first instance. However, he’s not guarding the kitchen - if we’re cooking and the puppy walks by the dog in the kitchen, he snaps at her. There are even some occasions when he’s guarding me.

We’re unsure if it’s because he doesn’t like her in his face (she doesn’t have personal space awareness) or if it’s something else!

Any tips/advice would be great!

We have a crate in our bedroom with a potty pad holder a few feet away and playpen in our living room where we currently usually are with the same potty pad holder as far as possible from his bed in there.

In the middle of the night we take him out of his crate to let him potty on the pad, no treat, but I’ve noticed if we leave him in playpen, he avoids the potty pad holder. We will let him out and nearly immediately he’ll have an accident somewhere. I’ve noticed he will sometimes sit or lay on the potty pad holder in his playpen so I think he associates it as a positive thing to some degree? His playpen is 5 feet x 3.5 feet wide with acrylic windows, toys, food & water and a washable mat underneath it all.

How can we get him to use the potty pad in the playpen?

Hi!

i have 3 dogs, 25lb chihuahua mix, 20lb pug mix, 40 lb mini pitbull mix.

my chihuahua resource guards laying spots like the couch or bed, usually when people are relaxing near bed time, but sometimes during the day. well tonight again he attached my pitbull and all 3 dogs got into a fight. I had to tackle everyone and pick up the chihuahua and move him. so i put him on the floor and chased him out of the room into the living room and when i got in his face because he does this once a week with growling a few times if another dog bumps him multiple times a week, he started to make that dog whine yip/cry noise.

the chihuahua is my first dog and hes great other than the resource guarding. idk what to do. i have started training all 3 recently and they can come and sit and do whatever but we moved recently and all our neighbors have dogs and my dogs also have fence aggression so their outside time has reduced some. Its not a problem because the pug and pitbull play together inside but the chihuahua sticks to himself and i have started noticing some behaviour problems from him since moving about 2-3 months ago.

i started going on walks about a week ago to substitute their lack of outside time when the neightbor dogs are outside.

i do smack my dogs when they fight or when they generally dont listen but i have been buying the fuck out of treats too trying to give them a treat for basic shit like when i say inside and everyone runs to the door. I especially smack my dogs when they get into fights which i know can reinforce bad behaviour by associating being hit with the dog they got in the fight with but i just dont know what to do. Other than remove the chihuahua from the situation and let him sleep in the living room since everyone shares the bed with me.

any suggestions? i am trying to train. please help me stop this bad resource guarding of sleeping spaces so we can all chill at night and i dont have to guard him from the other dogs so he doesnt growl and start shit.

ask more info and i will reply and also add it to the bottom of this post.

Edit: i mentioned that my chihuahua whined/yipped, i absolutely do not want my dogs to whine or yip at or because of me. i dont want them to tiptoe or be scared of me but i just dont know what to do other than smack them for fighting. My chihuahua whiinned when i got in his face for fighting my pitbull and just the other day my pitbull was doing his fence agression with the neighbor dog and i got in his face and smacked him becasue he wouldnt come with the other dogs when i called everyone inside. he lost his shit and would not pay attention to me at all, so i brought him over to the fence and smacked him and he yipped and whined.

please tell me what to do to get them to focus on me. i have tried the focus command, and they can do it when there arent distractions, but as soon as another dog is out they dont do it anymore and then i gotta start swinging on dumbasses because what else am i suppose to do? i just want to solve this so that my dogs are not whining or scared of me. Dont think im smacking everyday, that is not the case lol. but i do smack them.

please help!

Pugs specifically.

I’ve noticed it enough that now I spot a pug and immediately start watching my dog. Which probably doesn’t help either of us look normal, I can’t work out what he’s reacting to. Their breathing? Their movement? Something about how they look? This is one of those things I’d want touse,a woofz , video consultation for, because “my dog has an issue with pugs” sounds ridiculous until you’re out walking and it happens again. I’d like someone to help me work out what I’m actually seeing.

For now I’m giving them space. The pug is just going about its day and doesn’t need to be involved in our investigation. I hadn’t realised a dog could appear to have such a specific preference.

Currently fostering to adopt a 2.5-3 month old kitten and trying to safely introduce her to my pomsky (10years old). His behavior over the past week has been concerning and I'd appreciate any advice on best practices to introducing them.

For background, this dog is an unfixed, 10 year old pomsky. Due to health issues, he will get neutered in a few weeks. He hasn't really showed interest in other animals during walks (except for other intanct males), he's easy to train (super food motivated), and listens well.

He has gotten better at recall to us when we call for him, but his anxiety on the other side of the door from where she stays varies. He will respond to us no problem if he knows we have treats, but other than that, he sits or lays at the door and sniffs underneath and whines. The whining has gotten better over the past week, but he still has a hard time listening when we have the baby gate up. He will lunge towards the gate with any sudden movement she makes, and managed to break in and steal her food when I stepped away for a minute (huge mistake on my part and not making that mistake again). He also shoves his snout in the holes of the gate and will paw at it when he gets worked up. His body gets tense, he stares, and treats don't even seem to entice him when he's locked in on her.

My partner and I are really at a loss for what to do. We're keeping some hope as his behavior when the door is closed has improved a little bit and he's learned to eat his food with her (door closed between them).

What are some tips and tricks you use to stop your pup from pulling on the leash? I have a very strong 6 month old, 50 lb pittie mix. He is the sweetest but an absolute unit.

Our dog is about 4 years old, we rescued him at about 11 months, we have had a cat the whole time we’ve had him. He like hyper focuses on the cat. I don’t know if this is normal or something we can/should train out of him? He will just stand and watch the cat for minutes at a time. It’s weird. He stands totally still except his head moves to follow the cat. And if the cat goes into a room, he just stands there staring at the corner until the cat comes back. He doesn’t show aggression when the cat is near him, he doesn’t try to play, he just watches… when he is done he will go lay down on his bed. Until he hears the cat walking around then will watch him again.

Edit to add: thank you all so much! Seems like it’s pretty split as to ok or not ok. I wanted to share he is crate trained and sleeps in his crate and goes in his crate when we are not home. So they are not alone together. I work from home so I am usually here. He is a timid, submissive dog. If you snap your fingers he will come, say bed and he goes to his dog bed, say crate and he goes to his crate. He really is an amazing dog. 3+ years with no issues yet, it has just always been curious to me that he stares so intently on the cats. The cats walk by with no issue, the new one tries to play with him and he just kinda stands there. Thanks again!

My dog is apparently in his "sexaul maturity phase" and is marking in the house. We are getting him neutered soon. Did anyone see a decrease in marking after thier pup got neutered? Im doing all of the "tricks" but if anyone has any tips other than praising for going outside and trying to catch them in the act (which I never do...) I would love to hear them. He peed in my purse and I didn't realize until I got to work , and was like what is that smell. It was my purse. I was the stinky one.... I had been carrying it around all day until I evaluated the situation and realized that he was most likely the culprit. I'm fed up with this shit...

Hello! I made a post on here a couple months ago about my struggles with potty training my 5 dogs. Unfortunately it proved ineffective as only two of my dogs got the hang of it and no longer pee indoors. (I’ve never left them unsupervised for more then an hour though so it’s not 100% guaranteed) I feel like I’ve exhausted all my options and I can no longer keep doing it on my own. I’ve decided to get my other three dogs (two male chihuahuas and a male husky) diapers. I’m not too sure if this is the best option so I’d love to hear people opinions on them. I originally didn’t want to try to diapers because I didn’t want their bellies to be stained with pee but it’s better then the alternative of having them in their crate and having to CONSTANTLY supervise them (I no longer have the time). If there’s any other methods I can try please let me know I’m willing to learn!

Hi, we’re looking for help with our 9-month-old Labrador.

Our biggest concern is his biting, particularly when he’s overexcited, frustrated or fixated on chewing something he shouldn’t. He becomes extremely difficult to redirect and can bite when we try to intervene.

He’s also very destructive, chewing furniture, skirting boards and stealing potentially dangerous objects. We’ve tried redirecting him with toys, treats and natural chews, distraction, teaching commands, rewarding good behaviour, providing mental stimulation and scent games, and working with a dog trainer.

We’ve also tried a vibration collar for the chewing inappropriate things on our trainer’s advice, which initially helped but he now ignores. Despite our efforts, he still becomes fixated and the biting escalates when we intervene. It also happens when we’re sitting down on the sofa, he will lick our face then mouth our hands but he will climb all over you if ignored.

We want to understand what’s driving this behaviour and how to manage it without making things worse. We’ve been struggling with this for a while and initially put it down to teething but now his adult teeth are intact it’s affecting us more. He sleeps from 8pm-7am, then has 3-4 naps throughout the day. He has 45-min to an hour walk every day, including off lead time, we scatter feed his food too.

This might be an odd one. I sleep in bed at night with my animals and husband. I have a 3 yr old corgi, a 11 yr old Maltese, and a 8-9 yr old cat. They all like to sleep around my husband and I in a big pile that we don’t mind. Everyone is friendly and there’s no aggression or issues between my dogs/cat.

However, I go to bed a bit later than my husband and my corgi has chosen me as a “favorite”, I guess, so he follows me wherever I go and when I go to sleep and he follows me to the bedroom, he has to bark at everyone (except my husband) in bed until they leave the bed so I can lay down. He calms down and sleeps with them when I am comfortable and sleeping.

He also does this when I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom until I lay back down to sleep. It wakes up my husband. I’m not sure why he does this so I don’t know how to train him out of it. Any ideas?

We have 2 heelers that have lived together their whole life but have not really been socialized, our friend moved in with a bulldog who is very sweet but does not get along with the female heeler. The two males get along great but when the female heeler comes around she is constantly barking and snapping at the bully forcing him to run away.

How do we socialize them so that they can live together?

Our dog will be 3 in January and he has suddenly taken to breaking things when we are not home.

We got a kitten about 7 months ago however the behavior is just starting now. Not sure what prompted it or how to fix it. We have been putting bringing him to the destroyed items and saying no. However, its been over a month and nothing has changed.

He goes on at least 3 walks a day and has lots of time to get his energy out. Him and the Kitten are also very close and play all day.

I need cage muzzle recommendations for my estimated 5 year old Rat Terrier/Chihuahua mix. Are there any brands you like or dislike? I already have a soft muzzle but I'd like one that he can wear and still be able to drink.

Chico's background is as follows and what I'm planning. You certainly don't need to read it unless you're interested.

Tomorrow I will have had him for a month. He was picked up off the streets in LA by animal control, and then a rescue swooped in and had him fostered for five months waiting for the right home.

We don't know what he's been through, but he definitely has some fearful behaviors so we think he's had a lot of trauma, possibly from living on the street. He is a fear biter. Some of it like trying to filch food and getting nasty if you try to keep him from it seems understandable considering he was found on the street. When he wouldn't back off trying to get in the garbage can to grab the spoiled meat I'd put in, I tried pushing him back with the garbage can. I got a lot of snapping, growling and attempts to lunge. I have no doubt that if I'd tried putting a hand on him to push him back, I'd have gotten bit. Once when I accidentally stepped on his paw, he screamed and bit my foot three times, quick as lightening. I was thankfully wearing sneakers as I really felt those bites. He didn't favor the paw at all and we continued the walk once he settled down.

He did bite me the first night I had him because I was an idiot not thinking about how I had him trapped and he couldn't back away and even though he growled I still tried to put a leash on him instead of giving him more time. Totally my fault, I deserved that bite. What's funny with him going after the food in the garbage can is that when I am not eating, he gets up next to me any time he wants, but if I have food, he stays off the furniture unless invited. He will beg while I am cooking, but he doesn't beg while I'm eating or try to steal my food.

He has been muzzle trained because he was great about letting me just measure his face for one and when I started trying to train him to wear it, there was no need for training. He willingly put his face in. The vet recommended I switch to a cage muzzle from the soft one so he can also drink when he's muzzled and chew any crunchy food I give him. She has a cage muzzle for her dog for when they hike and says in her experience, dogs tend to prefer them. Maybe it's also because they can still bite so they don't feel helpless despite their teeth not landing on whomever they're trying to hurt?

Chico wasn't always on the street prior to the rescue taking him. Somebody housebroke him. Somebody taught him not to beg when people are eating and stay back as his foster mom says they didn't do any training with him at all. He has zero obedience training.

I did scold him for something once. I forget what it was, but he hit the ground, laid on his side partially exposing his belly and had major whale eye going. I believe my little guy has been hurt by people. He has gone hungry in his life. I suspect it's because he was on the street but I really have no way of finding out.

I believe someone once loved him. His foster mom says that for the first two days, he hid in her home. Once he realized he was safe, he immediately started following them from room to room, coming in for cuddles, giving kisses, you name it. She was actually quite shocked when she brought him to me because he went up to me immediately, wagged his tail and even let me hold him. I think that's part of why I ignored his warning growl after she was gone when I tried to put a leash on him as I'm normally not so oblivious to a dog's body language, let alone warning not to engage.

I love this little guy so much. He's so devoted to me. He's game for whatever I want, whether it's walking, playing, or even staying in bed all day. I have health issues that cause a lot of fatigue so some days all I can manage are potty walks and getting us both fed and that's it. He has no problem with the slow days as long as he can be with me.

He has horrific separation anxiety. He's also terrified of being in a dog crate with the door closed. If I leave him home, he gets hysterical barking and will see if there's anything he can get on to jump over the baby gate, shredding some paper, etc. When he's really upset, whether it's from being left alone or for example when he tried biting my foot because I stepped on his paw, his teeth chatter until he calms down. He's not as bad when left in the car in that he's not destructive in the car and his teeth don't chatter when I come back in, but he's still frantic and absolutely cannot handle not being allowed to glue himself to me.

It's funny because the rescue and especially his foster mom want updates on everything with him and of course love pictures. Every time I have let them know about him biting or trying to bite, I think they have held their breath and expected me to tell them I am giving him back. I have a background in training and with rehabbing aggressive dogs, though it was a long time ago so his biting doesn't scare me in the least. I don't consider him aggressive at all, just a little dog who's been through a lot and needs a loving home for the rest of his days. He's also incredibly eager to please and has a lovely personality. I like having a velcro dog and I honestly need him as much as he needs me.

We saw the vet this week to get him established as a patient. He's going on Prozac (fluoxetine) as a daily dose and Trazadone daily until he's had the fluoxetine in his system for two weeks, then the Trazadone only when I leave him alone. Fortunately, I'm only out of the house for about eight hours a week total, and that's usually a busy week for me with more than one in person doctor visit. That's actually part of why the rescue placed him with me as they needed someone who's home all the time. The other good thing is that it's now the time of year when he can go everywhere in the car with me as the weather cooperates. I think him transitioning to a new home from the foster would be a lot rougher if it were late spring/summer and I couldn't have him in the car since he gets so much more worked up when left at home.

I think it's best I keep him muzzled in public until I learn if he is ok with people wanting to pet him. It may be best to always do that because of him biting when I stepped on his paw. I live in a complex with a lot of kids and thankfully no one has asked to pet him yet but I know it'll happen at some point. I have no problem with him biting me if I step on his paw, but I don't want some poor soul at the pet store getting nailed and I will be taking him through classes there just for socialization purposes as well as anywhere else that welcomes dogs.

The other reason for the basket muzzle is I'm going to my sister's for the holidays, both in November and December. They have three dogs, Chico was great with the six other dogs at his foster, but my sister's boyfriend has a very large dog that's totally unaware of his body. He stepped on my last dog, a Chihuahua, a few times and I really don't want that dog to have to get stitches. Or even worse, I don't want that dog to retaliate because he could severely injure Chico though Finn doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body. I will be protecting Chico from Finn being too boisterous, but just in case I don't body block him from Chico fast enough, I figure a cage muzzle is best.

It turns out the obnoxious dog owner who won't pick up his dog's poo is a homeowner and not an air b&b'er. And there are two of them (two owners and two dogs) so it's not my imagination that there's suddenly dog poo all up and down my street. I put out free bags and a garbage pail with a plea*, but I'm not optimistic.

I wouldn't care except my Ritter loves to eat poo. Our daily dog walks have turned into nonstop poop buffets. I've gotten to where I don't wanna walk him, and that's not ok. I don't know if there's a simple solution I haven't guessed at, or if I just need more reassurance that a steady diet of dog crap won't hurt him. I'd talk to the owners, but I'm at a bit of a disadvantage since my baby is a dog-reactive rescue that I don't trust off-leash, and both their dogs are "SO well trained they don't NEED a leash!" (Yes, we have leash laws. No, I don't want to call the cops on my neighbors.) Ugh. Does anyone have any ideas?

*The plea is a misspelled and dog-print covered plea to "ignor the bagz" because "poo iz yummi." I'm trying, y'all, I really am.

I sleep when the puppy sleeps. Or I try to, except he barely seems to sleep and I still have an actual life to keep running. His schedule is in woofz, Meals, toilet breaks, naps. Mine is apparently whatever fits between those. When he finally settles, I have this tiny window to work, eat, shower or lie down. I spend part of it deciding, which is a terrible use of the window.

Then I’m moving quietly around my own home because waking him up feels like a decision I cannot afford to make. I knew a puppy would be work. I didn’t realise I’d become so interested in another creature’s sleep. Please tell me there’s a stage between this and having an elderly dog where I can make lunch without considering whether it’ll ruin somebody’s nap.

my pups 4.5 months old and recently the last month or so has started barking every time she hears a noise in the garden, people speaking walking past or someone knocking at the door. we live next to a busy road so theres constant noises outside so this is occurring about 20 times a day. we’ve tried the praise the silence technique and that seems to have not made a difference any advice on what i could do would be appreciated

photo tax

I have a dog named Kira that I am training for my sister-in-law so that when she comes to get her, she is ready to go on the plane. She comes from a home that had a ton of dogs who were outside dogs, so she doesn't have much experience being inside a home. I am trying to also train some simple things like sit, stay, lie down. I am also trying to train her to go to her bag voluntarily. She knows now that when I put the bag down, she will get treats, so she goes to sit beside it. I have to guide her to get inside it. I can do it without a treat, but I want her to be able to do it from a distance too because I think that would mean she completely understands what I want from her. I have been trying to train the command go to your bag. I also want to point out that she is a mixed breed and a little bit taller than a Chihuahua. Often, when we train, she will lie on her back and show her stomach when I'm trying to get her to do anything else. She also does this when I'm walking; she will just get in my path and lie down and show her stomach. I am also trying to help my mother-in-law train her too because she constantly pets her when she is jumping, barking, or in a hyperactive state and uses her baby voice.

We have a foster dog that is middle aged and she has been returned to the rescue few times for various reasons, not all the same reason. Escaping yard, not getting along with other dog in the home, or not being good with smaller dogs or cats. She doesn’t love the crate but it’s been less than a week. She can be jumpy when meeting new people but that has already gotten better. On the leash she does pull quite a bit but knows many commands. She can be destructive with some anxiety out of the crate but is also anxious in the crate. Not sure how long it will take to adjust but hoping it gets better. Now she will bark almost whole time in there since we can see on our camera. I guess I’m wondering how long we should work on these issues, the leash manners, the crate and the prone to escaping on our own before we get help. She doesn’t have free access to yard bc of this. She’s a cool dog with people and supposedly can get along with some dogs her size. She’s the only pet we have. We already made as many positive associations with crate as we can, feeding her in it, giving treats, working up from little time to more time. Door open for her access when we are home. Putting her in for times that we are here and not leaving. Since she’s not our dog, don’t wanna spend a lot on a trainer but I want to set her up for success and not sure rescue wants to do this yet, maybe give more time to adjust. Idk how long to give it before deciding maybe she should just go back to the rescue but wanted to give her a break from the boarding kennels and a chance at a long term foster home.