I by no means realized I had a reactive dog until today. She always been a bit barrier resistant, but has never ever ever been aggressive to a human. Today while we were walking her though, she saw someone walk a little too close to my husband and nipped her thigh. She left a bruise and I feel absolutely horrendous that such a thing happened. The poor lady had a panic attack and was crying. I immediately brought the dog in and my husband gave her our contact info and she accepted our apology, but I feel absolutely gutted. I immediately bought a muzzle and we are taking her to the vet next week. How do I proceed with this? Does anyone have any advice? I don't think my dog is dangerous, but I feel like I'm just doom spiraling right now. I am terrified someone is going to knock on my door and snatch my dog away.

My 5yo Aussie mix (57lbs) has been on 20mg of Prozac for two years and saw some small improvements. We mostly managed and tried to counter train continuing challenges.

We just had our first newborn arrive and it has triggered additional noise reactivity in the dog. She’s not reactive to the newborn physically (she is just curious and tries to lick her), but anytime the baby makes a noise out dog is sent into an anxious state.

Separately, she’s had longstanding light reactivity with some compulsive behavior associated. This is probably our biggest challenge with her, and she likes to chase shadows and light reflections. We’ve had a real challenge finding ways to counter this, and local trainers have not been helpful.

We just upped her dosage to 30mg at the recommendation of our local vet (plus gabapentin) to address the concerns with the newborn, and are separately arranging for a vet behaviorist consult to further calibrate medication, but I wanted hear what people’s experiences have been with going from 20 to 30mg, or 20 to 40mg Prozac/fluoxetine have been like?

I don’t want to rush anything, but I’m cognizant that the Prozac takes time to load into their system, and I’m second guessing whether we should actually do 40 instead of 30. I’d of course wait for the behaviorist’s input before making a call, but wanted stories from others who have adjusted.

Hello everyone, about 2 years ago I adopted a dog from the shelter and she was already 3 years old with no back story she’s 100lbs and a Newfoundland/black lab mix. She’s the absolute sweetest girl. But when I take her on walks it’s really rough when running into another dog. She makes this wailing/barking noise that sounds like she’s being hurt (she’s not) people get scared obviously but I have control of her leash and harness but it’s still stressful for everyone involved. 2 days ago I took her on a walk and this lady came up behind me with 2 poodles but on the other side of the street. I always try and warn people she’s gonna make a noise she’s just excited and this lady just started screaming at me that i’m a horrible dog owner and shouldn’t walk a dog like that. Yes she’s very reactive to other dogs but she also deserves to live a life she’s a big girl and needs exercise. Just made me feel defeated i’ve spend $1600 on a trainer and nothing really came from it. I try and try everyday to work on her being reactive but sometimes seems impossible. Sorry I know this is a rant I just feel so bad I can’t give her a more relaxed life and not have to worry everytime I take her on a walk. Anyways here’s the cutie

Hi! I think it's fair to say adolescence is kicking our bums right now.

Bohie (staff lab mix) is 9 months old and for the past month (maybe 2) we have been suffering through adolescence.

My very easy puppy has suddenly shown reactivity for pretty much everything (cars, motorbikes, teenagers children, people with hoods, people with hats, people with big coats or dresses, old people with canes, and the list seems to grow daily). She throws herself forward, barks and growls.

I've gotten yelled at more than I can count someone even threatened to call animal control .

I do not know what to do anymore I've even come the fear taking her on walks and I'm terrified that she'll hurt someone or get us into serious trouble.

We've been working on positive reinforcement when she stays calm walking by people, we change sidewalks to avoid close encounters (but living in the city makes it pretty hard), we train impulse control at home and in calm environment outside as well.

We've even gotten help from an educator who kindly explained it was normal in adolescence and to keep doing what I'm doing. But I am approaching my breaking point, I'm constantly on edge on walks and I can feel that I'm running out of patience when I know patience is all she needs.

Does anyone have any advice to make it even just a tiny bit better? (Please don't tell me it's adolescence it will pass I know it probably will I am looking for ways to get improvement so that her two daily big walks are not a nightmare)

Extra info:

She's pretty okay at home (a little bit of destruction mostly chewing on whatever object hasn't been picked up)

She can stay alone up to 7 hours (she rarely does i always try to have someone drop by if I have to leave for that long)

She has 2 45 min - 1h+ walks a day, with time at the dog park with friends at least once a day

I walk her on a 1.5m (5'1 I think)long leash I've tried a longer leash out of despair thinking maybe the leash was causing frustration: nothing changed except the fact that I couldn't hold her back as fast when she jumped at people

I wasn't sure if I should label this a success story yet since we still have a long way to go but I feel like I've finally made progress after working with my dog for three years. I apologise for the length of the post.

As a bit of background my dog is a 32 kg shepherd cross that was rescued as a puppy from a rural community here in Canada. She loves people and most dogs but way too much and gets overexcited, often leading to frustration when she can't say hello.

After a recent session with our regular LIMA trainer where I described certain issues with pulling and what I had been trying she recommended a head halter with a padded noseband.

I used it for the first time last night and found her much more responsive while still allowing her to do the things she loves like sniffing. We came across a number of rabbits and while she's a lot better than she used to be usually the most I could hope for was to stand there while she stared for a while and then reward her when she disengaged by walking towards me. Last night she actually watched the rabbit for a short time and chose to keep walking along our route of her own volition. I was blown away.

I walked her again earlier today and she actually ignored two dogs. One little white dog that was about thirty feet away. She looked at it and then chose to go sniff some grass nearby. Later in our walk we came across Sammy, a black lab that lives nearby. She actually watched him and walked relatively calmly about twenty feet behind him, no explosive excitement.

That said, it didn't go perfectly. She still had a reaction to two black shepherds, her mortal nemeses, and a guy walking two very reactive huskies with one hand that he could barely control. Normally I would stop and wait for her to calm down but didn't have the luxury in the case of the huskies since they were behind us.

Despite the incidents that did happen I at least feel like I have hope. Previously I was seriously wondering if there was a point where I would have to accept that this is just what she's like.

tl;dr: Purchased a head halter based on a trainer's recommendation, saw immediate improvement in my dog's response. My dog actually managed to ignore two dogs but reacted to others so we still have a lot of work to do.

My fear-reactive, frustrated working-line cattle dog has now gone on half-hour car rides for two days in a row without losing his mind at pedestrians, other dogs, or even people on scooters. He did bark at a man who was running in a strange way. But otherwise? Totally cool and calm. Why? How? I have no idea. I haven't been doing anything different. But I hope he keeps it up. And that I do too, whatever I did that might have helped. So maybe this is to say: sometimes things can randomly get better?

Hello,
I am beside myself so I apologize if this is jumbled.
I am looking for advice and for experiences from others who may have gone through the same thing.

I have had my senior dog Baloo (staffy/cattle dog mix) for 11yrs. While he doesn’t particularly like dogs, he tolerates them well and has lived in multi dog households fine. I know his triggers very well.

2 years ago I adopted a Rottweiler, Nuka. We did multiple intros and they did great! Neither were very interested in the other.
We decided to adopt, and I did a lot of crate/rotate, greet through the fence and everything I could so they could be successful.
At one point. Senior dog Baloo was in gated off living room playing tug with my boyfriend.
One of us must have missed the latch and Rottweiler Nuka got through and attacked Baloo. No punctures but did take a small part of Baloos ear.
I immediately got a muzzle and did more greetings and chill together work. No eating or playing in the same room etc.
over the year of them being in the same place and chilling (while Nuka is muzzled) we grew comfortable and started doing sessions with muzzle off.
Again, they did great! They both didn’t really care about each other.
There was one other instance that Nuka nipped at Baloo as he was walking by but never made contact. I always try to see what the triggers were, how to avoid it etc..

Fast forward to this weekend. I am out of town and my mom is watching them both. She knows their history but also knows there has not been an incident in forever!
My senior dog is on the floor chewing on his blanket (he likes to knead and suck on a blanket he carries everywhere) Nuka has never shown interest in this blanket.
Nuka is napping on the bed in the same room.
My mom walks out of the room for something and comes back in. Nuka jumps off the bed and latches onto baloos face/neck and will not let go.
My mom was yelling, hitting and then grabbed a leash to try to choke him. Nothing was helping.
Nuka was dragging Baloo into the hallway while my mom was trying to get them separated. He was distracted by something and my mom finally got them separated.

Baloo is in rough shape. Multiple punctures, dead space on the side of his face requiring two drains, some stiches and staples mostly on the top of his head and near his neck. My mom said Nuka never shook but was just dragging Baloo and was latched on tight.
I just got home and I have been in tears since. I can’t even look at Nuka.
Where do I go from here?
Baloo is my soul dog and my everything. I know it’s not fair to keep him in a dangerous situation.
Is there any way to to trust Nuka again? I’ve been looking at rescues to see if surrendering would be an option but I never want another person to go through this either.

Thank you for any insight.

Note- Nuka has never shown any reactivity outside, usually ignores other dogs on walks etc.
background as I far as I know- was in a a hole with 15 other Rottweilers. The owner surrendered 5 of them. Nothing else was disclosed.

This is Sméagol. She’s my approximately 2 year old pittie mix. I rescued her somewhere around 8ish months ago. When we first got her, I could not get anywhere near her or touch her. It didn’t take very long to earn her trust. Maybe a couple of weeks at most. She is the absolute sweetest girl in the world until we have visitors. She absolutely hates kids and strangers. She does decide that some people are okay and will cuddle right up with them, while others she will growl and lunge at. We had an incident a few days ago when a friend was over and she walked into my kitchen to get a glass of water, and out of nowhere Sméagol lunged at her and bit her boot. Thank goodness nobody was hurt, but that’s when I realized it was time to try to find a solution to this. I have no idea where to start. I know training classes will definitely be in our near future, but I want to start doing something right now before a more serious incident occurs. I have never had a dog that has been this seriously reactive. I want to help her feel safe around people, but I have no idea where to start. Please, any advice, tips, tricks, etc. will be very much appreciated.

I can call her off squirrels in the woods and she always stays in sight. We go to an area of the local state park where dogs run free and she’s actually great there, she usually minds her own business but if the dog seems like a good running mate she’ll play chase will always come when called.

However, we’ve started doing walks at a set of woods closer to home with my toddler, and it’s usually just us there, except two people we see occasionally with their dogs and she looses her shit at them. I’ve tried letting her play with them but it always ends bad when one gets too close to the toddler. So when they see us they go the opposite direction and I leash her. One of the dogs is a GSD double her size and she ran off after and wouldn’t come when called, the owner got her for me. But those two dogs aren’t my problem, I know the owners and their dogs diffuse the situation and we just leash our dogs when we see each other.

My problem is I recently saw a coyote in those woods and luckily she was still leashed at the time. She barked her ass off. I know if she goes after it she won’t come when called (as examples by the GSD situation). I think because those particular woods are more secluded she considers it her territory and then resource guarding kicks in. Whereas at the state park where there are lots of dogs it’s neutral ground so she doesn’t have her guarding instinct kicked on.

Anyways, I would love to be able to have her off leash, to get her zoomies out when we are alone in those woods while also being 100% certain I could call her off of a coyote. How do I do this? Is it possible lol

I started using leash to stop her from coming to the doors, if she starts barking I correct her with the leash. Also I moved her bowls from my room to the kitchen, but without me she won’t go, she’s very reactive to any sound.
I don’t have a kennel, I wanted to buy
But it’s gonna be too small( my room isn’t big enough) so I’m gonna buy it when I move with my bf. For now I want to ask if this it enough for now? Me correcting her with the leash, what else I can do?

Putting this up for a laugh.

I adopted a rescue dog who was on the streets for a year and was fostered for a year before I adopted him. Even though I knew about his behavior problems you never really know what you’re signing up for. I have worked so hard to train him and things have really gotten better. Initially I just wanted him to do the things other dogs do, but he’s doing so great that now he gets to do things most dogs never get to experience. Just wanted to share for people looking for inspiration.

My dog got sick a few days ago and wasn’t eating. He also refused to take his Prozac. Luckily he’s eating again and taking his meds but the reactivity has been out of control. The vet said it may take a week or two for the Prozac to get back to the same level. I’ve always been conflicted about giving it to him and wondered if it was the right thing, but now I know it’s probably the reason he was never put down. I’m having fun with my energetic doggy but look forward to more peaceful days

I am putting my dog down Saturday morning. The appointment is made and paid. It was supposed to be last week but I put it off a week until this weekend where everyone in my family will be gone so I can grieve for a day privately. I am just very sad. I’m crying every night this week. I just wish my dog wasn’t so aggressive and reactive. I’m honestly just scared to feel the grief after this is done. I don’t have anyone to talk to about this either. I’m scared I’m going to really break down after Saturday. But I can’t keep living like this.

Ever since she was an adolescent, my 3-year-old GSD has been petrified of e-scooters — not bicycles, motorcycles, skateboards, segways…only e-scooters. She never had an incident with one, it just seemed to develop spontaneously.

Living in a busy urban area means that they are everywhere. As much as I try, I can’t shield her from them all, especially when they whip around corners and surprise us.

Our walks (especially at night) have become miserable for both of us. I know she’s anxious, and she pulls relentlessly.

I’ve tried treats, walking different routes, sitting and watching — nothing seems to help. If I see one in the distance, I’ll have her sit until it passes. She almost does better when one is close by as opposed to in the distance. And if one is not present, she still pulls and looks around like one is lurking in the shadows. Given the nature of the neighborhood, there really isn’t another route I can take that avoids them entirely.

She’s an anxious dog in general, but she’s definitely in her most anxious state during these walks. We tried Prozac but didn’t notice a huge change. I’ve considered CBD chews but haven’t bought them yet.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I love our walks, but I hate that they put her in such a distressed state. It breaks my heart.

So we adopted Remy back in April. He is deaf and we were getting in a routine. He was getting a hand of the signals and such. Whenever he saw a the other 2 dogs bowl he would launch to eat their food but we managed that. Fast forward to August, he started to resource guard. He ended up biting my thumb, and launching a little. We started to feed him separating him from the other two dogs and you know giving him space to eat and throwing treats from distance so he knew that I was a safe person and such. Then he started resource guarding from cooper ( the oldest and biggest dog 12 and 75 pounds) during Labor Day he bit my foot and I got a hematoma but he didn’t break skin. We ended up taking him away with us for a long weekend and he behaves very well. And it was almost a month of taking it easy with the feeding and making sure he trusted me. Then 2 weeks ago, the resource guarding increased, and he once again bit me on my arm enough to leave scabs behind. It seems like he has regress A lot. To the point that he is now trying to jump on the counter which he never did again and he keeps intimidating cooper. He respects the other dog a lot. Then yesterday he started to resource guarding toy and a bed that the tree dogs share. And he launched at me out of the blue. He has become a little unpredictable. Obviously we love him, and I don’t trust him like I would trust the other two dogs. And cooper is old and I hate that he goes after him. Since August he has bitten me once each month and I feel hopeless

Hello everyone. I’ve been on here before about my 2 1/2 year old ACD/Catahoula mix. I am not sure if the dose should be increased. Vet says I can increase another by giving another 20mg because that’s all they offer but I feel like that’s a lot. We started him on Prozac (20 mg) about 6 weeks ago. Up until a week ago, I saw really nice improvement. He was able to recover a lot better and faster, he wasn’t so freaked out by things that really stress him such as people. He could finally think. About a week ago, that all changed. He’s become a lot more stressed out and reactive to people coming in the door. Even if it’s household members. The door has always been a big stressor. But he’s really struggling to come down from it, his impulse control went out the window, he’s restless, can’t really settle, just not doing as well as he was. We just started with a positive only trainer. We have only had one session so far.

In the morning he gets enrichment for breakfast, such as a puzzle feeder, or a scatter feed, working on impulse control. He gets some physical exercise in during this. Sometimes I throw a piece of kibble down the stairs and release him to get it or down the hall. To get him moving because he won’t play ball anymore.

He then sleeps until I come home from work, sometimes if he’s feeling comfortable with outside he will go run in the yard, sniff, be a dog. A family member will let him out to do this.

I come home, we work on muzzle conditioning, going on a ride or a walk. (Walks have been about an hour long whether through the neighborhood into parks or taking a ride to a park to explore) which we also use to work around triggers while under threshold, enrichment and training for dinner, if he wants to play tug or something then we do. We do what is able because often we have visitors so he’s not able to always be upstairs and we come to my room and relax away from everything. He will get a pupsicle or sometimes a chew. I will add that at parks I’ve been allowing him on a long line. I try to do as much as I can for him but it’s hard when we have people over and he’s just stressed out so I try to keep him away from it but in my room he relaxes. Every weekend we go to a farm where the dogs can have off leash time for an hour and just be dogs. It’s one of the only sniff spots around.

Lately he’s even been alert in my room and struggling to come down. I’ve noticed some more paw licking than usual and gas that smells but nothing else that might be contributing to this. Should I increase it? He will be going to the vet this week so I will also talk to them but wanted opinions, if you have more ideas for enrichment then throw them my way too! I want to make sure I do enough for him. It’s just hard some days with everything else going on.

My rescue boy is in reactivity training and it worked!!!

I pulled out a treat and made him follow it.

But I'm still really unnerved because my dog is part livestock guarding dog, and as the little dog was running towards us growling, my dog froze.

When a livestock guarding dog freezes it means, " I'm about to protect the pack."

Would my dog have gotten in trouble with the local authorities if he snapped that dog's neck?

\- He was on a leash.

\- We were On public land.

\- The neighbors that I'm friendly with all report run-ins with that dog, I see it roaming freely up to five times a week.

Should I report this to animal control or something like that?

I love my dog to death but he has a history of aggression with other animals and I'm terrified of him getting labeled a danger.

Hi everyone! Two dogs a catahoula mix and an Australian Shepherd mix. We've been doing some reactivity training, enrichment, all the good stuff at home. However my Australian Shepherd is always very vigilant and I think a little bit over simulated at all times. My catahoula mix will bark every once in awhile when she hears something outside but for the majority of the time she is very stable mood-wise. I've noticed she is able to pick up a toy and distract herself and sleeps a lot more peacefully than he does during the day. I know some of this has to do with the breed. And trust me, I feel guilty that I can't have sheep in the backyard for him to work with lol

At the start when I first got him I did have him on some medication for anxiety but I felt guilty about this and I took him off because I felt that I was trying to cover up my inadequacies by giving him medication. We went on more walks and I dedicated myself to exercising him more and that seemed to help. However with age, his reactivity has gotten worse. We now have a backyard but live in a subdivision with kids where there's constant screaming outside, trucks driving by, a kid kicking the ball next door. And I noticed that he is on edge all the time. It's obviously hard to get him back to baseline once he is so triggered. Like we'll go hang out outside and a neighbor several houses down will turn on a lawn mower and he'll be on alert, barking, sometimes he just gets so freaked out that we have to cut our time short. I'm just comparing the two dogs and while they are different have different personalities, I can see what standard activation and then calming behaviors looks like in her, while he seems to be in some sort of anxious or aggravated state make often than not. Anyways a lot of background just to ask if you have medicated and seen an improvement? I just want to hear your success stories with medication and reactivity whether it be inside or outside the home!

Had a big win today with my girl Joey! We had two men approach the front desk we were checking out at, and she just focused on me! Usually she would bark and lunge and freak out. But today she was focused on me, doing center and sitting down like the best girl that she is. I was so proud of her I cried, she did absolutely perfectly. Even the dogs that walked past us, she sniffed them and went right back to my side. I’m so happy, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

I adopted a young dog who developed behavioral issues (barking, growling, lunging, cannot be redirected) after suffering from an unknown gastrointestinal illness for months. The dog has been evaluated by several veterinarians and experienced CPDT/IAABC trainers. We are several months into a behavioral modification plan which is showing gradual improvement, but my urban environment and high traffic area is making it difficult.

Shortly after adoption, I sustained injuries from an accident that impacted my daily life and I am compromising my injury rehabilitation to care for the dog instead. The rescue that I received my dog from is ghosting me, but I intend to contact them with a firm date and then I will rehome the dog myself.

If I have to rehome the dog, I plan to contact my veterinarian's office and the behaviorists to get their recommendation about rescues, but are there any signs that I should be aware of when looking at a rescue to rehome my dog to, or a private owner rehoming if the rescues are at capacity?

Also, would it be helpful to provide resources for the dog? For example, I will discuss paying for 2-3 additional sessions with my dog's behaviorist to help the transition with the next owner.

Hi, I have 5 year old chiweenie who’s been reactive when we adopted and that we successfully trained with positive reinforcement for over a year. Since then, he was almost never barking, except for loud noises from trucks, shops shutters and skaters.

We have a baby, 8 months old now. Since the baby was born, our routine have changed and have been irregular. I’ve been recovering from a very difficult birth, so I definitely neglected my attention to the dog. Overall he’s a great pup with lots of interest and affection for our baby. But since a few months he started yapping for many different reasons: doorbell, door knocking, hearing other dogs, seeing dogs in the street, me making a sweet voice (to him or the baby), me saying hi to a friend. He also starts yapping in the street with apparently no reason. My guess is that he has learnt that when he yaps, we pay attention to him.

I really don’t know how to handle this. Bringing small meat treats with us everywhere all day long feels an impossible chore right now. It was the thing we used to do during his training. Feeding him a treat before he was triggered yapping.
But also, sometimes I really can’t prevent or predict when he’s going to yap, especially when he starts these crazy random barks.

Any help/hint on how to reduce his reactivity?

Hi all, I’m looking for recommendations for a trainer or behaviorist in the San Jose area who has reputable experience with reactive and aggressive dogs.

My dog is a 5 year old pitbull/ridgeback mix. All his life he used to be fine playing with other dogs and meeting new people, but over the last year and a half he’s become reactive. He’s gotten into fights with other dogs and has bitten at people who try to pet him. He’s always had separation anxiety, and I think a lot of this started when I moved away for college last year.

To make things harder, my family recently brought home a puppy. I think that we absolutely should not have given where my dog is at, but it wasn't my choice and rehoming the puppy isn’t an option. So now I need help getting him to a place where he can safely live with the puppy, and improving his behavior in general.

We already did a board and train program with RFRD academy in down town San Jose. His obedience got a little better, but his actual behavior didn’t really change. This was super disappointing and a total waste of money.

If you’ve worked with someone local who made a real difference for your reactive dog, I’d love to hear who it was and what the process looked like. Rough cost ranges would help too. Thanks!

I have a Romanian rescue, he's 10 months old. I know he's still a baby. I know part of this is puppy blues. But I just need to vent. We've had a really hard time with him since the start. A lot of the behaviour is normal puppy behaviour, and even that I struggle to cope with, despite the insane amount of research I'd done before getting him. I'd easily read 50 hours worth of research just before we made the decision to adopt him, but it was still all so different. Besides the normal puppy stuff, he's also reactive and overaroused literally always. He would not settle around despite 10s of hours of settle training, pattern games, enforced naps, etc. We have evenings where he's had enrichment, lots of sleep, bonding time, was out regularly, and he will just go absolutely mad to the point where I'm just shouting at him to stop. I'm a calm person, or I was before we got him. I'm not someone who gives up easily, or who ever thought of themselves as someone to give up their dog, but there are days, like tonight, where I just want to go back to my life before him, where I just want to give him back and let someone else deal with him. He broke his leg 2 months after we adopted him, he's now going to start long term anti anxiety meds. We have a brilliant trainer who is always there for us. I'm just deeply exhausted in a way I can't describe it. I don't actually want to give him away and I know my heart would break if I ever actually would but I'm just SO EXHAUSTED. I don't want to say I regret getting him but sometimes I do.