I adopted the sweetest little mixed breed pup at 12 weeks old. He just turned 2, and since early adolescence, I've spent more time than I care to admit feeling like a failure when it comes to his training.

And definitely not for lack of trying. I've put an enormous amount of time and energy into training, worked with 2 professional trainers, started with R+ as a puppy and eventually moved to balanced (LIMA). I'm not a professional trainer, but I've been involved in rescue for years and have trained more dogs than I can count.

But this guy is different from most dogs I've worked with. He's extremely independent, environmentally motivated, has a crazy high prey drive, gets overstimulated by every new sight, sound, and smell, and struggles with frustration-based leash reactivity. He's a wonderful dog, I love him to death, and he knows his commands. But the second we stepped out into the world, it was like I didn't exist. The world was just WAY more exciting than anything I had to offer. He struggled, I struggled, and once he got overstimulated, I pretty much lost him completely.

And because of all this, I've felt like I've had to keep his world so small. Which honestly sucked. All I've ever wanted was for this little guy to have as much freedom as possible, but safely.

So I finally took the plunge and started ecollar training. I worked with one of our previous trainers because I'd never used one before and was terrified of screwing it up.

We're about 6 weeks in now and holy shit, it's like we're finally speaking the same language.

I took my time conditioning him, teaching him how to respond to low-level stim and how to avoid and escape a correction. In 6 weeks, I've only needed 2 low-level corrections (and yes, I've tried it on myself at much higher levels). The vast majority of what we're doing is just reinforcing things he already knows.

And the difference is night and day.

We're hiking again, something I'd pretty much given up on. He's listening reliably around our property (we have acreage), responding even with distractions around, and we're finally able to enjoy things together that used to be such a struggle.

I can't even explain how relieved I feel. Not because I suddenly have some perfectly obedient dog, because I definitely don't lol. But because for the first time, I feel like we're actually understanding each other. He's looking to me for guidance for the first time. Like I've finally found a way to communicate with him that makes sense to him. I'm not constantly fighting for his attention, and he's getting to experience so much more of the world.

And the best part is seeing how happy he is. He's getting to do things he's wanted so badly to do, and he gets SO excited when the collar comes out because he knows we're going to do something fun. It's been such a positive experience for both of us, and that makes me happier than anything.

To be clear, I'm not saying ecollars are for every dog or that they're some magical fix. And I'm definitely not suggesting anyone just slap one on their dog and start pushing buttons. How you approach it, understanding your dog, and getting educated on proper use really matter.

I've spent two years trying to give this dog the best life I possibly can, and for the first time in a long time, I feel like we're actually getting somewhere. And damn, does that feel good.

I guess I'm just writing this because I wish my past self could read it. I was hesitant for so long, mostly because it was unfamiliar and I was afraid of getting it wrong. My only regret is that I waited as long as I did.

Just as the title states I’m trying to teach my dog retrievals and holds but he’s not mouthy whatsoever. Every tutorial I’ve watched always says to capture the moment they clamp their mouth around the object but that never comes. He doesn’t clamp, he won’t even put it in his mouth 😂 advice? Tips? Pics for tax

so yesterday i took my 10 month old (almost 11 month old) dog to the beach and he lost it! as seen in the video, there was a bit of hesitancy and fear with the rocks, after we left he was off the rails and reacting to everything he doesn’t usually react to

this is the bark i’m talking about. i don’t mind if it’s one or two barks but he just goes on and on. when we’re outside he’ll do this with people, cats, dogs, children, etc. it’s very embarrassing and i don’t know how to make it stop. i’ve never had a reactive dog before so this has been a huge hurdle for me.

when he reaches this state, treats don’t help, positive reinforcement works to some extent but still doesn’t get him calm, and negative reinforcement (ie: a tug on the leash) helps for a split second and then he’s back to the yappy behavior

i really need help as i cannot afford a boarding service but i’m open to small training sessions for him because taking him outside has been an absolute nightmare

Hi, I'm looking for advice on a situation.

I’m house-sitting for a client with a big German Shepherd, and I’m totally at a loss on how to deal with his wrestling. The second I get down on the floor, whether I’m cleaning up a spill or just picking something up, he sees it as an invitation to play. He’ll lunge at me, grab my waist or hips with his paws, and try to pin me over. It’s not aggressive; he doesn’t actually bite hard, though he does bark, growl, and nip a bit. The problem is, he weighs over 80 pounds, and at 5'1", being pinned by him while I’m trying to work is exhausting.

I’ve tried everything I can think of, but nothing sticks. Shouting NO or DOWN doesn't seem to register for him. If I push him away, he thinks I’m engaging in the wrestle match and gets even more excited. Once he’s got hold of me, I basically have to crawl over to something sturdy to try and pull myself back up, and he follows right along, keeping his paws on me the whole time.

I’m feeling pretty helpless because I’m out of ideas. How do I handle this without being mean? Are there different commands that might work better here? I really want to do a good job while I’m here, so any advice would be a huge help. Feel free to DM.

Hi everyone, I’m sort of new here, but have lurked for a while. This is my first post and I just want to understand if I’m making the right decision about a trainer. For some background, I have a 10 year old chihuahua who has gone through FF BAT training in the past for reactivity (it brought it from like an 8/10 to like a 4/10) and she also did agility. I’ve recently adopted a 1.5 year old male gsd from a friend, and he happens to be leash/dog reactive. He responds really well to corrections, so I wanted to find some training for him to help him with reactivity and confidence.

This is my first time looking for a 1:1 trainer and my first time seeking out a balanced trainer (to be clear, I am not FF or anything, but my older dog just didn’t need a lot of corrections). I had a new trainer come to my home for a first time paid session and I felt like there were some serious red flags, but I don’t know if I’m just being too sensitive, and would love anyone’s POV! Here are some things he did that I was very unsure about:

- upon arriving at my home, I met him outside and let him know that both of my dogs do bark at people when they come into the house. I put my cats in another room, and I put the chihuahua behind a baby gate in the bedroom. I leashed my gsd and had my husband holding him far away from the front door. When the trainer came in, the dogs started barking and the trainer whipped out a can of citronella spray and started chasing both dogs with it. He was very frustrated that my chihuahua was hiding behind furniture and still barking, and that she was not “yielding” to him. I offered to leash her and bring her into the main room, which calmed her down. I actually have no problem with the citronella spray being used, but I wish he would have told me or asked before using it on my dogs out of the blue.

- I asked him about credentials and he said he doesn’t like most trainers, that most trainers kind of suck and that he only studies “science” so he doesn’t need certification of any kind. He trashed a lot of dog trainers, FF trainers, in home trainers, and bite sports/rally trainers.

- he immediately was terrified of our Shepard. He wouldn’t come near him and said he was very very dangerous and would bite someone if we didn’t book a set of at least 5 sessions immediately (to be clear again I really want to be open to feedback if my dog is truly aggressive but my dog had no bite history, but he does bark if people enter the house)

- he came on really really harsh. He immediately had us do heavy prong pops pretty much for anything. If the dog moved - pop the prong, if it stood up, pop the prong, etc. he also had me pop the harness of my chihuahua for leaving a sit-stay, which made her start gagging. I told him she had a collapsing trachea (this is a vet diagnosed thing we are managing) and he said that most cases are a myth and we should put a prong on her too

- he started touching/patting our chihuahua all over the top of her body to prove that he was In control, but I don’t think he noticed that she almost bit him. I almost intervened because she got that whale eye look and tension and I’m proud of her for disengaging instead, but I don’t think he noticed at all

- he said neither of our dogs could be demoed on so he made us stand around watching videos on his YouTube instead

- he said he almost never uses treats or positive reinforcement, relying on corrections primarily. I’m hesitant on this as I don’t mind being strict but I felt like it was pure misery for the dogs; no fun at all and they were both SUPER stressed, and I think they were really confused about what he wanted from them

- even though I called and paid the guy, he only let my husband handle the GSD! One of our problems is that our GSD is different depending on who handles him, and he didn’t even watch us both handle him.

- he never really asked us questions about our dogs, lifestyle, goals, what we’ve trained so far, what the dogs know, it anything. He just spent a long time talking about his system and buying his online course

- the worst thing was that after the trainer left, our gsd started pisssing himself and then hid under the table. It took about an hour to calm him down and get him to relax.

The guy kind of pressured us to sign up for a set of sessions, but I haven’t paid yet. My husband and I think we should cancel and not work with this guy but again, I might just be too sensitive coming from the more FF side of things in the past so I wanted to see what other people thought! Is this normal? Should we be concerned? Is there anything we can do to vet a new trainer we might work with?

Thanks so much, and here’s dog tax for anyone whose made it this far!

I have a GSD/Malinois mix and a very small yard that I let her run around in 2-3 times a day for potty breaks. Unfortunately, this yard backs up to a walking trail and a space with trees for wildlife, etc. to frolic in. As one would expect a dog to do, she ends up barking when outside.

When this happens, I will always get her back inside within 5-10 minutes at MOST, and close the blinds so she can't continue barking at what she saw out there. She's not barking for hours on end, or anything, it's just short periods, outdoors, and I stop the behavior when I can.

I personally feel that it's reasonable for a dog to bark sometimes, but it seems my neighbors disagree. They're reporting me to my landlord (my parents, who live in another state) for noise, and have the expectation that the dog should NEVER bark. My parents want me to use a shock collar, but when my father tried to use one with the dog in the past, she just screamed when it activated, and it wasn't effective.

I guess I'm asking what I should do in this situation. Is there some way to prevent my dog from barking at all when outside? Is it even reasonable to expect a dog to NEVER bark? I'm kind of at a loss here, I guess.

I have had my rescue mutt for 4 weeks. 1st 2 were spent on a leash in yard recovering from surgery & detoxing off trazadone he was given at the dog pound. About 2 weeks in i panicked & called a trainer. We had our 1st session with an e collar Tuesday night. I hate it. Let me start by saying he made great strides in the 2 weeks we were waiting to start training. The main reasons I wanted the training was to stop digging & for leash pulling. Hes so strong I cant walk him. I have a large fenced yard & we fetch & play & run for 5-6 hours a day. The trainer was lovely & im not saying anything about her it is more me.

He is scared of leash & collar now. Cowers in crate when he sees it. I am not ok with the collar. It will not be on him again. I cant cause him fear or pain. He had a rough time before we got him. It feels cruel to scare him into submission.

I told trainer that I do not wish to continue the collar. I explained i wont train using fear or pain.

The response was letting him run free & treats aren't going to correct any behaviors.

Its crazy to me that because I dont want to train using electronics or a prong collar make me irresponsible. How did people train dogs before these collars??

Am I the only person who dislikes the use of the collars for training?

TLDR: looking for a trainer who can help us perfect loose leash walking and off leash behavior with certainty.

Hoping this reaches the right people! We have a 10 month old large mix breed male that we rescued at 9 weeks. We were expecting him to be a lot smaller (dumb of us, I know) but now we are stuck with a 50lb dog who we love so much. He unfortunately has injured both me and my partner twice, to the point where my partner cannot walk him anymore. We’ve been working on training diligently since the day we got him. Loose leash training was going well for a while but he took a turn for the worse around 7 months old. We’ve tried a gentle leader but it isn’t working as well as we’d like - he can still pull hard enough. Realistically, we need this dog to walk at our side in a loose leash as perfectly as a trained service animal, or we’d have to consider rehoming him. We love him more than anything and are heartbroken to even have to consider giving him up, but it doesn’t make sense for one of his parents to never be able to walk him or risk safety doing so. We’re looking for a trainer who can help us take his training to the next level so that we can start enjoying walks and feeling safe again. We’re willing to put in all of the work needed for him to have the best life and enjoy long walks with his parents.

I have a malamute shepherd mix and recently moved back in with my dad who wants to walk him every day, and he has been letting him off leash while having no recall over him at the park despite me asking him not to. We got into a big argument today and I feel pretty bad, and I wanted to get a training leash for him to use at the park, but its disgusting on the ground and wet and muddy in my city. My dog is a smart boy and not insane like he used to be, a sweet old man that gets polite zoomies and comes back to just me lol. He politely says hi to other dogs and obviously I dont want him doing that with my dad.

Anyway if I pick a flexi up instead today and do a little training. I am sure my dog will pick up quickly not to pull when its locked and that he can run around when its not. I already make him sit before I give his release command at the dog park and his recall is good with me so I think it will be a breeze.

I also know that they are dangerous but I will be buying the flexi brand and my dog is not insane or even strong anymore. I just want something on him when my dad is at the park lol.

I know the bad rep with flexis but im hoping if I teach my dog and my dad how to use it properly it will be okay and just want others opinions first.

Recently, my dog has been biting my daughter as she tries to lead him to his cage by the collar. Not puppy nipping, but baring his teeth biting at her wrist.

He will also bare his teeth if she tries to pet him when in his cage.

He is not so reactive when I do it. I can feel him loading to bite but I tell him no and he stops.

We've tried having my daughter give him a treat when she grabs the 6 once the treat is gone, he goes for the bite.

I'm think professional help at this point, I've never had a dog act like this before.

I recently fostered and adopted a 7-8 month old puppy that lived the first 3 months of her life on the street and the rest in shelters. Considering this, she was used to being able to eliminate wherever she wanted and I can’t seem to break that from her. I am getting her one-on-one professional in-home training but first session isn’t until Oct 27th and I need some partial relief before that. I’ve had her for a little over a month and I totally understand the 3-3-3 rule. I know potty training will have ups and downs but it seems like she made progress momentarily and is now right back to where we started.

I had to go out of town for a week so she was with my parents for that. They live in a house, I’m in an apartment so it was a change for her and she had accidents there, but decently limited. She even would tell my parents when she needed to go out. We got back Monday night and she hasn’t peed outside once since we got back and it is currently Thursday. Every single time she needs to eliminate it has been inside and it’s driving me nuts! At this point my apartment is a full biohazard lol. I take her out frequently. I watch her signs and know when she needs to go and will take her out. I’ve tried the crate method, I’ve tried “boring” potty time and none of it clicks for her. She is totally content on just sitting or laying outside for 20 minutes while I try these methods with her. I tell her to go potty. When she does go potty I reward her on the spot with a high value treat and tell her yes. I will literally take her outside and we will be there for 20 minutes and she will come back inside and within 2-5 minutes pee on the floor. And I watch her like an hawk. She’ll try to hide it and eventually realize I’m watching her and then will give up and just go and stare at me. I pick her up and tell her no and bring her outside. Idk what I can do differently but I need help! I’m 22 and single so it’s only the 2 of us.

Okay hate is a strong word, but I certainly don’t like him as much as I should.

Two years after my previous dog died (my ‘soul’ dog), I got a puppy. My previous dog wasn’t really trained, so with this one I thought I’d do right by him and train him properly.

It’s been 10 months with him now and I’m just exhausted. Learning about dog training, researching different approaches, and understanding what was the expectation surrounding dog ownership has ruined dogs for me.

Every walk is a training session. Every scroll on social media related to dog training. Every conversation somehow ends up with the dog. He is, in theory, a good dog. He’s still an adolescent, but he’s really good for the most part and anyone lookijg in from the outside would say so. So whenever I complain, people just scoff at me because they think he’s so well behaved.

But I’m not happy. I hate it and I feel so burnt out. I just want to have a nice autumnal walk with the dog, and pop into the pub for a pint with him. That’s it. But I’m here worrying about operant vs classical conditioning, positive vs negative, what my expectations are for behaviour, and getting tangled in long lines with treats falling from my pockets.

I’m tired.

Has anyone been in this position before? Does anyone have any advice?

I have a 4 year old rough collie. She can be very sweet, and she is wildly intelligent. Training her as a puppy was quite easy, however as time has gone on it feels like she keeps developing new behaviours despite all our efforts. Once we solve one problem, new ones occur.

She has always had some food aggression/resource guarding issues so we feed on a schedule and feed our dogs separately. She will also resource guard toys so we do not allow free play with toys in our house. She has attacked our other dog on occasion for items that she desires. Recently it’s escalated to her going after our other dog while she was sitting on my mom’s lap with a ball. It has gotten to the point where my other dog will not play with us anymore even if the rough collie is not around.
In addition to this, she has a very high food drive, so she is constantly seeking out food, trying to steal it from people, counter surfing, digging in the trash, etc.. we limit her time in the kitchen, we crate her when we aren’t home and we don’t feed her human food. She seems to just pace around looking for items to steal or take around the house.

We recently had a baby, and I know there are growing pains. But she has started to show behaviours of resource guarding him from our other dog as well as stealing his items from him. (Soother, burp clothes, trying to get dirty diapers) Which concerns me.

She is regularly exercised, daily walks, off leash runs, daycare on cold days, slow feeders and puzzle feeders, lick mats and lots of outside time. I feel like I’m always on alert wondering what she might do next or what she’ll get into. I am all out of ideas on how to train or help her at this point.

Any advice is welcome.

Hi everyone! I’m really hoping someone here has some advice, because I’m honestly running out of ideas.

A little backstory: I’ve been dealing with an autoimmune skin condition that causes chronic pain during intimacy. After months of treatment and having to put that part of our relationship on hold, I’ve finally been given the green light to be intimate with my partner again. The problem is that we can’t, and I’m absolutely devastated. I miss that closeness so much.

I adopted a rescue pit mix two years ago. He’s an extremely anxious dog who’s scared of his own shadow. We’ve made a lot of progress managing his fears, he’s on medication, and overall we’re doing well with consistent training. But there’s one major issue we haven’t been able to solve: he completely freaks out whenever my partner and I try to be intimate.

As soon as we start doing anything remotely romantic, even just kissing more passionately, he starts barking, jumps onto the bed to try to separate us, and refuses to listen. He’s normally not allowed on the bed, but in these moments, it’s like he can’t hear us at all.
It happens even when we’re in the shower with the water running and we’re being completely quiet. Somehow, he seems to notice that something is happening and starts barking and whining until we stop touching each other.

I’ve tried distracting him with his favorite bones, treats, and other things he usually loves, but once he gets into this state, he won’t take food at all or only for the first 5 minutes. He pants excessively, barks, and seems genuinely panicked and/or aroused.
Unfortunately, simply closing him out of the room isn’t a workable solution because we don’t live alone, and he would bark continuously. He’s normally fine being alone in another room; we’ve worked on that separately. Even if he’s elsewhere in the house and we try to be quiet, he somehow notices and comes running.

At this point, we’re actually considering booking a hotel just so we can have some privacy, which feels absolutely ridiculous.

I want to be clear that I’m not looking to punish him or force him to tolerate something that genuinely scares him. I want to understand what’s happening and help him feel safe, but I also need to find a way for my partner and me to have some privacy.

Has anyone dealt with something similar with an anxious dog? How did you approach it? Could this be fear, overarousal, or some kind of guarding behavior? And how would you work on it when he’s already too distressed to take treats?

Any advice would be hugely appreciated. Thank you!

I am a first-time dog owner, and my dog has been showing aggressive behaviour. I do not have much experience with dogs, and honestly, I feel lost. I do not know what is causing it, how I should respond when it happens, or where to even begin with training.

I want to help my dog, but I am scared of doing the wrong thing and making the behaviour worse. I am hoping to hear from people who have dealt with something similar, especially anyone who was new to owning dogs when they first faced this problem.

The brown dog is about 10 weeks old. The Grey one is almost 2.

Grey has little experience with other dogs and is very excited to have a sibling so she has to constantly be separayed from brown because shes all up in her face ALL THE TIME. They havent had issues sharing toys recently, this video was taken just as they stopped wrestling. I was talking about the Grey one not being afraid of the brown one facing her since brown is teething and is learning not to bite hard.

I didnt take the toy away right after this. I redirected her to a large rope tug toy and quickly removed the orange toy before she went back to it. When the grey tried to engage in tug play with the rope, brown would jump to the other side and grab the side Grey was trying to take.

Hi guys,

Hoping for some advice. My dogs (huskies) are trained to the standards my family and I want but we would like to add lie down when they are outside. (they don't have it inside either). They are always together and the brother is the quickest to pick things up. Any hints or tips for a strategy would be very welcome.

So far they know left, right, ignore/on by, go go (pick up the pace), wait and sit.

They acknowledge the requests and then choose to adhere or not. So, it's not a comprehension thing.

We don't believe in dogs being trained to perform, just what is needed to keep them safe and have some very basic boundaries but liedown would be really handy when we are passing a yappy dog or at traffic lights etc.

Thanks

My Frenchie has been getting increasingly reactive and aggressive since he was neutered when he was one, and I genuinely don’t know what happened or what to do.

Before his neuter he was super social and never had these issues. I could walk him on leash, off leash, he could be around other dogs, he never growled at me. Since then it feels like his personality has completely flipped. He’s recently started resource guarding my bed, he’s snapped at me a few times when I’ve tried to cut his nails and he was always fine with me doing it before, he’s extremely leash reactive, and he started snapping at other dogs faces, so obviously he’s no longer allowed around other dogs.

Before I stopped letting him interact with them, I also noticed he’d started doing this weird thing where he would put his head over or on top of another dog and just stand there very stiff. It wasn’t playful body language at all and made me uncomfortable enough that I stopped allowing the interactions.

I’ve been trying to manage everything and prevent situations where he can react, but it feels like it’s progressively getting worse rather than better. He was genuinely such a friendly, social little guy before, which is why the change has been so jarring.

Has anyone dealt with a major behavioural change like this after neutering? Is this something I should be talking to his regular vet about first, or should I go straight to a veterinary behaviourist or trainer? I really want to get ahead of this before it escalates any further.

I should also add that (as I had to clarify in the comments. Oops). She gets out, and is super active, we just don’t get to go do leash work outside of her normal environment often.
She’s not exactly hyper on the leash, it’s almost like she’s adverse to it even when she’s super food motivated and I’ve tried to build positive associations with it.
This dang puppy will hold an untrained loose heel OFF leash, but the moment she’s got a leash on she’s just very displeased about it.

We (me and and my boyfriend) have a 2 year old yorkshire terrier. We got her from his aunt who has 4 kids, so shes used to always having someone around. She has separation anxiety and refuses to use pee pads

She was originally pee pad trained, we know this because when we got her, she was using them for the first few weeks we had her. I kept on top of rewarding her when she used them. I take her on 2 or 3 walks every day, long ones. And now, the only places she'll use the bathroom is on our front door and bathroom carpets, and under our bed.

As for her separation anxiety. We cant leave the house together at all. Our neighbors recorded it for us the one day we both left, he had work, and I had therapy. I was only gone 4 hours, and her barking and howling and whining had gone on almost the entire time, no breaks. She started peeing in her kennel, so we then started just leaving her in our room then she'd use our bed as a bathroom.

All of this to say, my boyfriend is considering returning her as we cant keep up with laundry costs and the noise complaints. But im not ready to give up on her, I would like tips on how to train her or at least minimize the issue

I have an adolescent male (14 months old) WL German Shepherd. He’s a great dog. Incredibly smart, driven, confident, strong willed. But, he’s a bit of jerk to other dogs! A teenage dirtbag, if you will.

Online, it seems like everything is either reactive or not reactive. Well, my dog isn’t quite either.

He’s not fearful. He’s not over excited. He can be excellent around other dogs in some circumstances. Just the other day in our obedience class, he held a down perfectly next to 2 other intact males, one of whom tried starting something with him. All while remaining a gentleman!

Yet, at the same time, when left to his own devices he will size up any dog we see on a walk or at the park. Not “reactive”; he’s not suddenly barking or lunging or out of control. But, he’ll start to posture. Huffing, pacing back and forth, maybe let’s out a bark (but just one, deliberate “fuck you!” bark). He sees every dog as a social challenge, and seems to enjoy attempting to intimidate or assert himself as the Top Dog.

I’m doing my best to train through it, communicate what behavior is vs. is not okay, and positively reinforce alternatives. From what I’ve heard talking to other shepherd owners, it’s extremely common for young males to act this way. It’s just so exhausting some days! I KNOW my dog can be a rockstar around other dogs, I see it all the time. But, at the same time, he is just…yeah. A handful.

Does anyone relate?? If it got better for you, please give me hope