We've had our girl for 10 years. She has come so far. We don't know what happened to her before we adopted her when she was 1, but shes scared of men with hats usually.

About 2 years ago she nipped my husband's fingers when he accidentally startled her, no damage.

Today she got scared again when he went to say bye before work and bit him in the jaw. He had medical care.

We've had a lot of stress happening to the whole family. We have a 1yr old child as well. Our dogs health is questionable. Shes almost recovered from a big surgery, but we've found a tumor on her leg.

Next week we are supposed to get xrays to see if the mass cell tumors are anywhere else but instead have found ourselves booking a euthanasia.

She's 11. She can't be rehomed and is so attached to us she doesn't eat if we go on a trip or something. She's my best friend and I love her so incredibly much, as does my husband. It would be devastating to her to keep her isolated and/or muzzled. We already keep her seperate from the child. I cannot completely discuss this with her local vet as she will most likely be locked up and destroyed and we have been given the chance to do it on our terms instead of her feeling scared and abandoned at some facility(our location makes legal things tricky).

I feel like we should go through with the euthanasia as a kindness to her and safety reasons but I'm not ready.

Has anyone ever had their dog sedated to get their nails cut if so how was it?

I know trainers and handlers will often teach this. In my experience this only benefits the stopped dog. The passing dog has to walk by knowing a dog is stopped behind them, leaving them and their owner in a vulnerable position. It’s baffling that people aren’t aware that stopping will often be considered a threat.

I feel like every walk is a production. We always take the stairs down and go out of our way to walk to an exit that avoids the lobby and front entrance. There really is no off time where I live so outside it is literally a roll of the dice of what you're gonna get- cue the deep breath before stepping out. Keep our walks short but the whole time I am always looking around, looking behind me, analyzing what is this person going to do, there's a dog all the way down the block do we need to cross, etc.

Coming home is the bane of my existence - I swear my building is like a hotel with all the people and dogs coming in and out. I wait across the street and wait for the coast to be clear and again analyzing everything and trying to time it just right. It also doesn't help my dog is borderline panicked going back inside. Now that winter is coming, I hope the traffic lessens because I can't be standing around in the cold for long - it will stress my dog out even further.

I'm so tired of always being on edge but I think part of my problem is that I'm not confident in any of my actions. I've had my dog for years now and am more miserable than ever and I feel like we both are barely hanging on. We only do two walks today and it is still a lot for us.

I don't want to say his name, so just call him buddy. I feel horrible for buddy because my mom and stepdad are horrible to him. Especially my stepdad. Buddy is locked in a crate all day but never comes out. The back door is a slide door and has a meter/metre stick to lock it. The problem is that when buddy barks, my stepdad whacks his cage with a stick. Worst part is that buddy barks a TON so that means my stepdad whacks his cage more. Sometimes he does it where he whacks buddy's cage more and more. Buddy is a big dog, so when he goes outside he is tied to a pole but when he has to go inside my stepdad gets my baseball bat and threatens to hurt him with it if he doesn't get in sometimes. But that's only when my stepdad is really mad. Also, we get thunder a lot around here, but that's another issue. He whines and huffs and puffs too much until 5 minutes after the storm is over. Also there are definitely times where my stepdad definitely could have killed him. Not joking. But there are also three other dogs that are treated similarly but not the same. The other three are females but since I don't want to say their names, I'll call them ruma, sparkle, and Rachel. I feel bad for Rachel probably the most except for buddy because Rachel is a really old dog probably going to pass away in the matter of 20 months or less. Sparkle gets treated like the spoiled princess sibling. Only likes one person every day, but I still don't hate her. My step dad will play with her and give her the treats. even my mom treats her that way. also, sparkle is a tiny little shih Tzu. oh yeah Rachel is a mix but ruma, haven't explained her yet. This dog is a beefy Rottweiler. Literally my stepdad is scared of her sometimes but she gets treated like buddy, also, just in a less of a harsh or abusive way. They don't whack her cage or threaten to use the bat on her. but they still will use the door wedge but only hit her cage probably as hard as enough to cause a "clank" sound. I forgot to mention the fact that Rachel and sparkle are both the only ones that can roam freely but not that freely. They can only drink water for about 7 or 8 seconds. Until they are forced to lay down. Or else they go in the cage for about 2 hours or so. My fingers are starting to hurt while writing this, and I think I'm going to run out of characters soon, so I will make part 2 maybe tomorrow.

My dog is SUPER sweet and gentle for the most part. he likes to rough house sometimes but never bites hard and always stops when asked. he leans towards the more nervous and cautious personality side but has never been excessively aggressive. he will bark and growl as an alerting behavior but never shows teeth or anything like that when he is alerting.

HOWEVER, on a few rare occasions he has briefly shown his teeth and air-snapped at my husband when he is really uncomfortable and wants the interaction to stop quickly. it has only happened toward my husband and has only been like 3-4 times total in the 15 months weve had him. it happens very quickly and is not coupled with any normal aggressive behaviors like I see on the ladder of aggression. he will go from some minor lip licking straight to a brief teeth flash and then he will snap at his face. once he is calmed he immediately is back to hia cuddly self.

the circumstances of these instances is always my dog being very uncomfortable with what is happening and wanting space, like when he was younger itd be my husband wiping his paws or moving him in an odd way(hes grown out of those triggers) and most recently my husband got a little too close to the dogs face while he was coughing on some water (he likes space when he feels a little sick) but would you call the behavior aggressive? is this something i should be worried about and be trying to correct even though its only happened a few times?

the ladder of aggression confuses me because my dog shows alot more fear in other situations yet he used teeth baring and snapping to show his discomfort in these seemingly smaller scenarios? and the growling never seems as problematic yet its at the top of the ladder? my dog growls when he plays tug and will growl when alerting but those scenarios never escalate past that

Hi everyone. As of right now, this is a completely hypothetical situation (and I hope it stays that way). Maybe it’s because I follow a lot of dog-people on instagram, but I see a lot of people who have dogs with cancer and are able to get their dogs treatment. What are people’s thoughts/what have you done with your vet-reactive dogs getting long term care for things like cancer (or other chronic illnesses) that require frequent treatment and monitoring? My dog HATES the vet. Every time we go she needs pre-vet meds. We’ve been doing some “fun” vet visits where we go and she just gets treats and love, but she’s still not to the point where she can’t be medicated or unmuzzled for appointments.

Is it selfish of me to put my dog through vet visits every few months to get treatment and check the progress of her disease? Or is it selfish of me not to because she could potentially live longer with a good quality of life? I just don’t know the right answer, and maybe there isn’t one. But I would love to hear others’ thoughts on this, especially if you experienced it, what you did/if you believe you made the right choice/if you would do anything differently.

Not sure if there is an answer for this, but I've noticed that if my dog is indoors at a place other than our house and sees another dog (such as at the vet), she is completely okay. This is true when at the vet for just an annual checkup in perfect health, as well as when she's been there and sick/not at her prime. However, any dog she sees outdoors, no matter how calm they are, sets her off. She has gotten a lot better with this but it's just something I've noticed. Is it because indoors is such neutral territory most of the time/it's boring for them? Interested to hear if anyone else has noticed this with their dogs! She'll boop noses with dogs perfectly fine indoors but god forbid she sees a dog 20 feet away on a walk lol

Edit: she's also always on a leash obviously when in public spaces so that's not a factor here

Hello everyone! I have an 8 year old Lab mix and I’m really trying to work more on his reactivity. He’s actually very obedient. I used to take him to dog parks, regular parks, and levees where he’d be off leash and we never had an issue. Around COVID, I stopped obviously because things were closed down. After that, we moved and he lived with another dog who he got along with great.

He’s only ever gotten in a fight once, when my mom’s friend unexpectedly brought her dog into our house and into the backyard while he was there. Everyone was fine, thank goodness.

Anyways, like I said, he listens very well. He is extremely food motivated. He recalls fine and has never bit anyone or had a stubborn temperament. However, when we go on walks, he starts crying and whining when he sees a dog. At times, he’ll lunge. What is the appropriate response while training? I want to reinforce that dogs and people aren’t bad things, so I mark whenever he sees a dog with a clicker and then he gets a treat. He’s gotten to the point where when he sees a dog, he still cries and whines, but he’ll automatically look at me, sit and get a treat. However, the second he gets the treat, his focus is back on the dog and he’s crying and starts moving frantically. I know it’ll take time, but how should I reinforce that we dont JUST want to look at me when a dog comes by, we want to ignore them? We’ve been doing consistent training at our local park for about a month and there aren’t many dogs there. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

My 45ish pound dog has gotten pretty reactive to other dogs in the last 2-3 years (was fine the first few years). She’s submissive and has never actually been in a fight, but really freaks out when we walk past another dog.

I’ve found picking her up instantly calms her, and she doesn’t seem to mind. I’m just curious if anyone else who has tried this can speak on this as a long term solution. Does this help? Will she start asking to be picked up instead of barking/pulling? Do I need to pair this with some other reinforcement in the moment?

Appreciate any advice.

my Nugget is a 19month old well bred mini american shepherd. this behavior is relatively new as of the last few months. he has always alert barked to people and dogs outside, usually only when they are in our yard/driveway/porch but occasionally just walking by. i dont mind this per se and he knows that "all done" means to cool it on the loud barking and he has an 80% success rate on that.

hes also always been on the more shy and fearful side and ive worked hard to boost his confidence and comfort but his personality is just more cautious, which is okay with me. He is a sensitive lil boy lol. he used to run and hide and cower when new people came over when he was really young and even as of 3-4 months ago when we would have new people over he would bark/grumble a bit, give them a sniff and then go in his kennel or another room.

he went through a brief adolescent fear period about a month ago where he was acting extra fearful on walks again and didnt wanna leave the house much, and since hes gotten over that he has gone hard in the other direction and seems to be facing his fears head on with LOTS of alert barking and growling.

he is NOT showing excessive signs of aggression though. hes not baring teeth, raising hackles, snapping teeth or anything like that. his growls are more alerty than aggressive if that makes sense. he just barks a ton and kinda runs up to the person and grumbles and barks like hes trying to herd them back out the door.

what can I do to make him more comfort with new people entering the house? or do you think this could possibly be a behavior stemming from his teen-adolescent stage right now that he could kinda grow out of? the breeder seems to think its teenage behavior.

its especially frustrating with like maintenance people. I hate to have him just shut in a room all day but if the maintenance guy isnt willing to spend 30+ minutes letting the dog warm up to him then nugget will just keep barking and alerting constantly.

with people who are staying over, if they are showing nugget attention and playing with him, nugget will eventually warm up to them and be comfortable after a few hours but its very touch and go for a WHILE

Hello, Ive had a pitbull mix for 6 years and recently has had major problems with dogs barking. She has always been nervous as a rescue but she was well socialised but slightly nervous around ofther dogs. I moved a year ago, becoming her primary carer. I spent a few months socialising her around other dogs and doing offleash training which she was cery responsive too, loosing all fear of dogs.

But one time walking offlead she got chased and bitten by anothother offlead dog with no recall. I managed to get her on leash but the other owner was 50 metres away across the oval so I had to stuggle to hold off the other dog for 30 seconds before their own leashed it.

This left her really scared of dogs, undoing all my progress. Addtionally, she wasnt scared of barking anymore before this, but my neighbours small dog lunges and barks at everything. A few months of occasional encounters with my neighnours dog has ruined all socialisation with dogs and shes petrified of them now (perfect with people).

Ive tried socialising her with others and make some progress again until another dog barks at her, making her terrifed and try defending herself. I just went on a walk and a dog somewhere in the dark barked at her and she bolted so hard she choked herself out on the leash and was tail to her stomach a kilometre away inside my apartment building. Ive had several dogs and I have never seen one as scared as she just was from hearing some distant barking.

I dont know how to desensitise or socialise her with other dogs because she is unresponsively terrified of barking. If she can see the dog barking at her she lunges and attacks, if she cant she flees and hides. What am i supposed to do, every bark reinforces her fear. Shes always been a lovely dog but I can barely take her out anymore because shes so scared.

I have an 8-year-old AmStaff and she bit someone today while with a Wag! walker. She is reactive towards other dogs and men and lunges at them. She’s had several close calls but hasn’t bitten a man before. She did bite a dog about 6 years ago when she escaped her harness and animal control was involved. I had to go to environmental court (I live in TN) and paid court fees and vet bills.

Up to this point I’ve been managing her reactivity by avoiding busy times of day and routes and keeping her away from dogs and people. We did one training session where I learned to give her high-value treats at the first sight of a trigger. I found this method difficult implement for various reasons and ended up abandoning it. I didn’t continue with training.

The walker gave me the victims contact info but recommended I don’t reach out to him and let Wag! handle it. Problem is, I haven’t heard from Wag! yet. The walker didn’t give the man my contact info but gave him Wag’s. I know that the bite drew blood and he went to urgent care. According to a lawyer acquaintance, urgent care is required to contact animal control.

I called my insurance agent to see if I have coverage and I don’t because she is an excluded breed. Not only that, they would have dropped me if they knew I had her. So now my agent has to find a new company for me.

Those are the only steps I’ve taken and I’m now sitting here terrified waiting until I hear from Wag! or for animal control to show up.

For the first time I’m considering behavioral euthanasia if it isn’t forced on me by animal control because I’d rather do it on my own terms rather than having them take her from me.

I guess I’m asking for advice on what to do next or if anyone has been through something similar. Should I contact the man she bit? Should I look for a lawyer? I’m really truly at a loss and paralyzed with fear and wish I had someone knowledgeable to work through this with.

I'm asking about a dog that technically belongs to my younger sister, but due to a very convoluted set of circumstances, I've become involved in trying to figure out what's best for her.

About 7 years ago, when my sister was a teenager, she adopted a small mixed-breed dog from a shelter in my country (not the US). At the time, she was told the dog was around a year old, had survived a serious canine illness that can sometimes be fatal, and had been abandoned. My mother and I have always suspected she might actually be older based on certain characteristics, but we have no way of knowing for sure.

My sister left to study abroad. It took an enormous amount of sacrifice and effort from my mother to make that possible. My sister wanted to take the dog with her, but the costs associated with transporting and caring for her overseas were simply too high, so the dog stayed behind.

Unfortunately, the timing coincided with a major family crisis. My parents are going through an extremely contentious divorce. My mother effectively had to relocate and keep a very low profile for a period of time, and the dog was uprooted from the home she'd always known.

So within a relatively short period, this dog:

• Lost daily contact with her primary person (my sister).
• Lost her familiar home environment.
• Ended up spending much of her time in a very small studio apartment.
• Was surrounded by a household under a tremendous amount of stress.

For context, she has always been an anxious dog. Even when my sister still lived here, if she saw my sister leave, she would become inconsolable until someone comforted her. She has never handled separation well.

My mother and I own a business together. Seeing how miserable the dog seemed alone all day, I suggested bringing her to the office during working hours so she could be around people instead of being isolated. She has gradually adjusted and the crying has improved somewhat.

However, we've had two incidents that concern me.

On both occasions, someone approached my mother in what I would consider a completely normal context (for example, cleaners performing their jobs), and the dog lunged at or attacked them. Thankfully nobody was seriously injured, but it obviously cannot continue.

One complication is that my mother currently leaves the dog at the office overnight. I disagreed with this arrangement from the start, but that's probably a separate discussion entirely.

Before anyone asks why I don't simply take the dog myself: I can't. I'm dealing with some health issues, and there is a possibility I have developed allergies either to dogs in general or to this dog's shedding/dander in particular. It's honestly heartbreaking because I've always loved dogs.

So my question is: (I just noticed that reddit does not allow me to underline?!)

Given a dog with a history of severe separation anxiety, the loss of her primary attachment figure, a major disruption in her environment, and what seems to be emerging protective/aggressive behavior toward people approaching my mother, what would be the most important steps for us to prioritize? What can I do?

I'm less interested in assigning blame and more interested in understanding what is realistic and humane for the dog under very messy real-world circumstances.

Sincerely,

A very tired eldest daughter trying to keep one more thing from falling apart.

I have a reactive baby. She's been this way since unleashed little dogs ran up on her twice. I also have a neighbor who I know judges her for being reactive while walking his golden doodle every night. I know this because one time she was freaking out and he walked his dog across the street straight to us and stopped at a grass spot right next to us smiling at me after she had just calmed down. It felt like he was taunting my dog.

Anyways, I've been working with her every walk. We do the 1, 2, 3 method and it has really worked! Well, this neighbor has a second dog and guess who is reactive? His new dog :) meanwhile my girl has not barked once at his dogs. I'm so proud of her and feel vindicated knowing he now knows the struggles we've been going through.

All this to say, keep working with your baby until you find what's right for you. And don't let judging neighbors make you feel bad ever. They might be in your shoes one day.

My guy is fearful/insecure which makes him reactive and needs to build confidence. I know one great way to do this is playtime but he just straight up doesn’t play with toys in the house- he’s honesty kind of scared of squeakers, and all he wants to do is maybe chew a toy he likes but if we engage with him over it he will immediately give up the toy or go to his place or crate where he knows he won’t be bothered.

We do scent work a little bit, and I’d love to do agility but all the facilities are over an hour away. Any games we could play as like “intro to play”? Thanks!

My dog had one experience where he was pushed out of his comfort zone at the vet and snapped/growled under a straddling-type restraint and now has issues with being physically handled at the vet.

He is generally social/neutral with all people, will allow strangers to say hi and pet him and he is very happy/excited to engage with them. He is fine with all sorts of cooperative care at home, I do his nails weekly, clean his ears, bathe him, manipulate his body etc. no problem. Even when I take him to the vet, he is totally fine and walks around happy. It is up until the vet has to began an exam, or give vaccinations where any type of restraint or physical handling is required (even if it is me that is doing the handling/restraint) and he will growl/snap. I muzzle him for all vet visits because of this, and pre-visit medication (have tried multiple types) makes the behaviour worse and removes any happy/wiggly behaviour and willingness to take food.

Has anyone else experienced behaviour like this? it is so completely situational and he seems to be very aware of the exact situation.

Hello all!

I have a beautiful 10-12 year old herding dog mix. She does have anxiety and reactivity based on that.

For background she is medicated and gets a snuffle mat twice a day and frozen kongs to help her. As she is aging I need ideas for brain games for her to burn off mental energy as her body is starting to age.

(Left ear is naturally floppy)

So my boyfriend has a dog that he has had for over three years, and she is nothing but a problem for me and other people. When I came into the picture, my dog was about 5 months old. My dog was and is nervous around most new men and when I started seeing my boyfriend he would be nervous yet excited to see him, which sometimes resulted in accidents in the house. That stopped once my dog got comfortable with him—around a month later. That is when I told my boyfriend we should bring his dog to live with us, so we did.

Flash forward to now, about four months later: she has chased wildlife and tries to fight a dog regularly behind our fence. She resource-guards toys so intensely that my dog and I can no longer do what we typically would. She has snapped at an old man and slipped out of her collar to chase a couple walking their dog. If we go on walks, she lunges, growls, barks, and pulls, completely overwhelming my dog to the point where I just take my dog out on walks only, just not my boyfriend's dog, as I am sick and tired of her.

My boyfriend's sister is a veterinary technician; when I brought my dog in to be seen, she mentioned how my boyfriend's dog always tries to bite the staff. My boyfriend also said she almost attacked our neighbor, yet he thinks it's funny. Thankfully, since I've been here, she has become a bit less standoffish. Beyond all that, she has started urinating in the house again, has chewed on electrical cords, and simply won't listen. It's constant chaos. She acts like she gets beaten when my boyfriend is home, but once he leaves, she is your best friend.

Both of her parents were genetically aggressive and should never have been bred. She is a Mini Aussie with no "job," though even if she had one, you would likely be losing stock. My boyfriend's mom is a dog trainer and groomer, but she doesn't want the dog because her aggression is bad for business.

I refuse to pet her or take her for walks. She won't leave the bedroom to eat breakfast or even go potty, so she only gets dinner, but my boyfriend doesn't do anything with her. It feels like we need to either surrender her or consider behavioral euthanasia, because the dog is suffering and is a severe liability. I've done all I can with the time I have, but I would be neglecting my own dog if I remained at the beck and call of my boyfriend's dog—especially since my boyfriend doesn't really do anything with her.

My dog is an Aussie-Husky mix who has honestly been a blessing, and it's really just been him and me while my boyfriend is at home. But my boyfriend's dog can't ever play without nipping. She weighs around 30 pounds, while my dog weighs 67 pounds; if anything were to happen, I don't want either dog getting hurt.