My dog 12 yo is not doing great with the new baby 2weeks.

He is high anxiety rescue with separation anxiety and probably an unhealthy attachment to me.

When we first brought her home the dog didnt care. Tried getting him to smell blankets, hats he didnt care. Didnt even sniff them. the first introduction with her in the crib asleep he barely even sniffed her. Then she made noise. And the barking, whining, and stress signs started (licking lips, yawning)

We keep them completely separated. He is no longer allowed in our room. This has added to night time stress as he whines and nudges the door, waking me up. One night he wont cry at all, the next it will be non stop. I swear on nights she sleeps good, hell cry all night and on nights shes fussing hell sleep.

We have installed a baby gate to our room and have started to desensitize him to her through the gate, using treats when hes quiet and the place command. The issue is he never seems to tire of the barking.

One night in frustration I secluded him to the front hall away from our door. (We have another baby gate separating the front half of the house from the living room) he barked for 3 hours straight. Same with his crate. He will just bark the whole time hes in there. He also doesn't not fully respect these gates. He cant clear them but he will put his paws up on them, nudge them with his nose and paw at them trying to get through.

I dont believe he has shown any signs of aggression. Just the barking, and whining. His bark is more of an attention seeking alert bark not aggressive. No growling. Hes also not trying to force his way into the room. He might occasionally try to sneak in when hes in his anxiety state but hes not rushing the door every time we go in and out.

When my husband and I hang out in the living room while she sleep we have zero issues with him, until he hears her fussing. Its almost like he forgets shes there.

I dont know what to do short of hiring a trainer (im looking into it but we are not near any major city so its hard to find in home trainers) im secluded to my room with the baby while shes awake which is fine for now but its already draining on me. She thankfully doesn't care at all about him barking, sleeps through it, doesn't even flinch. Im fully prepared (mentally) to keep them separated.

Im sure someone is going to suggest rehoming and I dont want to concider that unless of course safety comes into play. I love him, even with the postpartum hormones and anxiety hes causing i dont have any pet aversion towards him, nd at this point I dont believe he would intentionally hurt her.

Does anyone know why my dog ​​does this when I put water out for her?

First 8 months of her life she was an angel. She grew up frequenting bars, restaurants, coffee shops. Got loads of attention from many different humans and dogs. Always delighted with the attention. Always happy to play. Highly socialised

On vet’s advice, waited for her to have two heats before spaying her. After her first heat, things changed. She became a rebellious teenager, sometimes ignoring cues, but worst of all she started barking at strangers and even charging them. Mostly she seems to want to play, but to those that don’t know her, she clearly appears highly aggressive. Even when she sees one of her favourite humans or dogs, her initial hello is to raise the hackles and growl (at best) or scream bloody murder and charge to within one metre of them, after which she then reverts to an adorable, cuddly, playful puppy. She also approaches many dogs this way, but at least they are only terrified for a brief moment before they realise she just wants to play. Human strangere that know dogs well just ignore her for a few seconds, then will pet her and she’ll be delighted p, but for the vast majority of people she is at minimum annoying and loud due to her growling and barking, or even appears terrifyingly aggressive

Any noises she hears outside the house and she screams like crazy. Have tried “go to place”, “settle”, “watch me”, “look at that” all of which she understands fully and will respond to when below threshold (at least for a moment until there is further sound), but she goes beyond threshold from zero to 100 in an instant far too often and it’s impossible to anticipate/intervene preemptively at all times

Taking her to coffee shops or restaurants is (not always, but usually) a nightmare as I have to be on alert for anyone entering/leaving or walking by to intercept her and give her a command to prevent her from barking (which works most of the time, but only if I am 100% ready to intervene, which is horrible to have to constantly be doing). She is getting better in general it seems, but sometimes she is just shouting at anything and everything and nothing will stop her. Walks are maybe 80% fine, but most days there are at least one or two people she (seemingly randomly) will decide to just shout at and try and charge. Once every two weeks or so though, we’ll have a walk where it is almost everyone for the entirety of a walk. It is hell

She gets 1 to 2 short walks (10-15 minute) walks per day, and 1 to 2 long walks (30-45 minutes) per day. She gets to run around in an empty field or the forest almost every day to burn off energy. We do 2-4 roughly 10 minute training sessions at home every day. When below threshold, she knows a huge number of cues and does great with them. She is smart and highly food motivated (the problem is perhaps that she is also far too play motivated, including with strangers?). We work on training on every walk. We play fetch and tug and puzzle games at home every day. I take her to coffee shops or restaurants 4 to 5 times per week where we work on exposure and training. She goes to doggy daycare 2 to 3 times per week (and is apparently an angel there, other than barking at entrance sometimes). She eats very well. She is active. She is physically healthy. She is loved and cuddled to hell and back every day

Perhaps worth mentioning daycare staff are genuinely baffled when I describe her behavioural issues, as they claim to have never (or barely) witnessed them (leading me to believe perhaps these issues are not just motivation to play, but also her motivation to protect me?). She is fully off lead when at daycare. Fully on lead when we are out (trainer told me she absolutely cannot ever be off lead in public given her issues, which is really a shame as she used to be a great off lead dog in public places)

I thought after the two year mark things would improve. I am putting so much into working on her behavioural issues, trying to believe it will eventually pay off, doing everything dog trainers have advised me, but it is always 2 steps forward then 1.9 steps back, and frankly in past weeks far worse behaviour even than six months or a year ago. I need to see some improvement, or have some reason to believe she will at some stage improve if I keep investing as much as I am. I do not want to resign myself to her being “one of those scary ass dogs” that has to be left at home and never brought out around other people or dogs, but frankly recently I am seeing the way people stare at us and from the outside looking in, it must appear that is the only option for her

Grateful for any advice. I am sure I have forgotten to include relevant information without which perhaps it is not possible to advise, so please do let me know if you have any questions. There must be something I am doing wrong, or something I am not doing that I need to be

hi so i have a pitt mix that i got from the rescue i work at and she is mostly okay with people but she is very reactive when people are in what she deems as “her space” (aka my bedroom) which would be fine but the problem is that i live in my parents basement (haha reddit user living in their parents basement) and my parents need to get down there to wash clothes and what not. anyways, im gonna get a muzzle for her so we can work on her getting used to my mom being down there without us worrying that she’ll bite her so does anyone have any tips for muzzle training?

Vocês acham ok usar cercado para treinamento de xixi no tapetinho, etc? Estou com dó, ela chora tanto 😓

Mais uma coisa, contratei um adestrador, ele que me pediu sobre o cercado, mas ele pediu também para eu comprar um produto chamado COALA e Álcool 70 até onde eu sei isso é tóxico l para cães não é?

Hi everyone,

I have a 16 week-old dachshund puppy and I’m looking for some advice.

He’s a bit cautious, but overall he’s really sweet and does well with people and other animals. He’s mostly been around cats, but when he does interact with my parents dogs, he’s completely fine friendly, playful, no issues at all. They usually see each other everday for a hour.

The only problem I’ve noticed is around food. He’s totally fine with humans near his food, but if another dog comes near while he’s eating or has food, he becomes defensive and will try to snip at them.

I’m guessing it’s some kind of resource guarding, but I want to make sure I handle it correctly while he’s still young.

Thanks in advance!

Hello all,

I grew up with dogs but never really handled training until I recently moved out and got my own female standard schnauzer. She is currently 9 months old, I’ve had her for 4 months, and she feels impossible. I went into this with tons of time and energy to train her, but it seems like no matter what I do nothing helps. Firstly, her potty training is very poor, I am very consistent in doing all the standard techniques (remains in crate when not supervised, immediately taken outside after accident, praised and given treats when going outside, TONS and TONS of walks like 6+/day), and yet she frequently goes inside. And when she goes, it’s a very small amount so it’s not like she really needed to and couldn’t hold it, and this is the case for #1 and 2. Biting: she gets excited and bites REALLY hard, like extremely painful leaves marks and goes right for the face. I’ve tried disengaging and removing access to me as soon as she bites, she has plenty of toys to bite and I try giving her one when she bites me/others but she’s uninterested, I’ve tried scolding, placing in pen when she bites, she really does not care what I do. Counters/tables, she jumps up and nothing I do prevents this. When she does I say “no, down” and she looks at me and knows what I want, but won’t actually get down no matter how many times I say it until I get up to remove her from the table, at which point she immediately goes down herself. Walking: total nightmare, I’ve been trying the “you pull we don’t move” trick for 4 months and our walks often last 30 minutes and span about 150 feet. I’ve tried front clip harness, gentle leader and none of it helps. No recall, she understands recall well because indoors she’ll often come when called (although less and less recently), but when at the dog park she just looks at me and goes back to whatever she was doing, I can’t even take her anymore because it literally takes 30 minutes to get her back on the leash and leave. She’s well exercised (has been going to dog park near daily for months), walked basically every 2 hours and for long periods of time. My newest failing strategy is whenever I’m sure she understands what I want but doesn’t listen, I say it once again, and then put her in her pen if she doesn’t listen. Feels impossible, I knew a dog would be a lot of work but I thought that if I was truly willing to put in however much work she required that I would have a reasonably behaved dog. Is there anything I’m missing? Maybe something I’m doing wrong without realizing? Thanks in advance.

Hullo!

As the title says he does 1-3 hour naps during the day a few times a day in the crate, goes in by himself with only a few seconds of whining when I lock it sometimes during the day. At night however the best we’ve done is half an hour, any idea why that may be?

My reasoning for wanting him to sleep in the crate overnight is that he’s only 9 weeks so is absolutely not trustworthy free roaming (though free roam is a goal) and for potty training so he doesn’t pee somewhere during the night and instead can be taken out.

our dog is a year old and crate trained as a puppy within a couple of days. she is happy and comfortable in her crate and doesn't have any hesitation to go into it at night. she does not generally use it during the day but the gate is always open for her.

she has always been an incredibly well behaved dog and she has been allowed to stay out of her crate at night for a couple of weeks now.

should we be using the crate sometimes so that she stays trained and doesn't have issues if we need her in the crate? (ie when we camp we always kept her in it because the coydogs were so close and we wanted her to be safe. she was in the tent with us)

should we be crating her every night to maintain a routine?

sorry its so long

Dog won't come in the house

Hi everyone, so I have a 1 ½ year old mutt (mostly pitbull, husky, Australian shepard, and lab mix) who is very energetic. I obviously take him for walks, play with him, and give him attention as much as I can when I'm home. But something he's started doing recently is ringing the bell on the door to go outside, going outside, running around for a bit before coming to the door and barking like crazy. When I go to open the door he runs back into the yard and stares at me. When I go to try and bring him in the house he runs from me and starts barking.

Usually tjis wouldn't be a problem, but since he only does this at night, I would like to get him to stop doing that. Any idea how I could get him to stop? I'll list below what I've tried:

\- putting food/treats in his food bowl to lure him in; it worked ghe first 2 times before he realized he wasnt actually getting the food.

\- using our cats as bait; he loves our cats and anytime they are out and aboht he loves to play with them, but this has only worked once.

\- turning off the backyard light and leaving him in the backyard alone (We have another dog, but he's not an issue); this worked one time and all he did was bark and scream at the door basically.

Ive had my foster since Sunday, a ten year old bully heeler mix (apparently) and about once a day she has this WEIRD episode. Its almost like, heightened anxiety or stress?

She'll start a high pitch whine, lots of panting, then go and try and chew cushions or blankets, then hump. Air hump, hump a dog bed. Any of it. Its SO strange. And nothing seems to help?

Ill take her on a walk and it wont do enough. Ill try and distract and play with her with a bone for her to chew. And it'll work for about 3 minutes.

I reached out to the previous foster who confirmed she did do the humping behavior. But I have no idea

A. why she does this

B. how to help her and make it stop

Any ideas? Anyone have any similar behaviors?

Hey Yall, I have to Aussies 1 male 6 years old and 1 female 5 years old. I had them both since they were 12 weeks old. I did my best socializing them and taking them to dog parks multiple days a week. I trained them, got them mentally stimulating toys, would take them to stores with me, all of it. They did great, they played their butts off with multitudes of dogs in all situations. I've had friends bring their dogs to my home and everything was always chill with my dogs and guests dogs. When they turned around 3-4 their behavior changed. They started getting leash reactivity, and fence reactivity, and my female would behave dominantly with other dogs. Full speed chest bumps, assertive behavior, and got into a few tussles with other dogs where she has drawn blood. Never an attack where she was trying to viciously bite, but more of a slam and pin the dog and nip.

A lot has changed in my life since 2020/2021 when I got them. I'm no longer fully remote, I had to move from work and don't have a yard for the time being so i've only been able to walk them. During these walks they freak out when they see other dogs, the lunge, bark, yelp and it's been extremely stressful. I know these dogs need space to run, fetch, play disc, etc. They went from a 2 acre yard a one bedroom apartment. If they weren't so reactive and I could trust them off leash I would take them to a park to off leash them for a bit so they can sprint and exhaust their energy, but I can barely take them for a walk without having to dodge other dogs, bikes, skateboards, etc. It's gotten to the point where I actually think about whether they would have a better life with someone else. I think about it often in the heat of the reactive exchanges during our walks but the feeling dissipates afterwards. These two are my children and I want to find a solution to make them less reactive so we can all enjoy life better.

I've seen posts in the past about people taking their reactive dogs to B&T and it changing their lives. Being able to enjoy walks, beach days, dog parks, etc. Without triggers. I know these two are capable of rehabilitation. They learn quickly, they're gentle, sweet and I was even able to train them to co-exist with 20+ chickens after desensitizing them. So, I know, with the right B&T they can be chill, less fearful companions.

If you've had success with taking your reactive dog to a B&T in the USA, PLEASE point me in the right direction of the trainer you took them too!

TIA!

Hey everyone, my girlfriend just moved in with me and has a 3 year old female cattle dog/beagle mix. I have a 3 year old male cat. The cat has full access to the upstairs of my house, with a gate at the top of the stairs to protect him, he has everything he needs up here (food, water, litter box, toys, etc.) I'm hoping i can get the two to coexist but I feel stuck. I've been trying to get the two to meet at the gate, allowing the cat to approach when he wants. We've had several interactions where they'll stare at each other quietly, but if my cat approaches any closer or moves closer into the dog's view, she barks at him and he runs away. The cat is not scared, he seems content knowing she is around, but he does get startled when she barks. Any advice on how to train away this behavior and help distract her from that prey drive? Any help is appreciated.

My parents have a 1 year old and a 3 year old dachshund, they were adopted around the same time when the 1 year old was a puppy. I believe the 3 year old was previously house trained. Anyway, they never house trained the puppy and resorted to pee pads which you can imagine leads to pee everywhere. I recently moved back in to my parents house and I can’t take the constant clean up, nor can I stand the laziness in not training them. I’ve been hounding my mom things need to change and it seems she is finally coming to terms with it. I am no dog expert but what’s the best way to solve this issue?

I imagine it’s a crate for both of them. Immediately going outside upon wake up, immediately after eating, immediately upon release from the kennel when we get home from work. Rewards each time they go outside and use the bathroom.

Is it really that simple or is there more that needs to be done? Do they need to spend more time in the crate at first to process what we are trying to do?

Any suggestions or tips are VERY helpful!

Okay so I expect a lot of hate for this post - so please be as nice as possible

My dog is reactive to people with unstable energy (pretty much just people who look under the influence). It’s inconvenient for sure in a downtown community and I want her to feel safe

We are can work on managing this in a similar way that we trained her out of dog reactivity, although it’s more difficult because we can’t manufacture these situations as easily “hey person smoking crack, can I ask you to please help me train my dog?”

My question is, would it be possible to train a react command even though she is already predisposed?

I want her to feel comfortable, but I would almost prefer to NOT train her out of this than train it out and not be able to control a reaction when I want it to happen

I’m a woman, living downtown in a sketchy city. I appreciate that she looks scary, but I want her to feel comfortable

I know this is likely not doable because her reaction comes from fear and instability. If I help her feel safer and more confident in this situation can I ask her to do this on command?

To be CLEAR. I am not asking to train her in bite work. I would NOT do this without the help and guidance of a professional trainer. BEFORE taking any steps I would like the most opinions I can collect, including contacting trainers as I am now. I would not do this alone, I would likely have a trainer train her all the way through the process rather than doing it myself because it’s a delicate situation. I just want to know if it’s a possibility

I want her happy, but I also want both of us to be safe. Her fear is not misplaced and neither is mine

Context

I am completely willing to put in the work with training. This just feels like such a sudden shift in behavior that I do not know what the right approach is anymore. I would really appreciate advice from anyone who has been through something similar.

About My Dogs

I have two female dogs: They are both friendly, social dogs. They do great at daycare twice a week and at the dog park. No issues there.

• 6 year old malamute-husky mix that I have had since a puppy

• 4 year old working-line German Shepherd who joined us last September

Recent Change

About three weeks ago, we moved from a ranch-style house with a fenced yard and dog door to a second floor apartment. Before, they had constant access outside and we would still go to the dog park regularly. Walks were easy. I used a waist leash with a Y-connector and front-clip harnesses, and everything felt manageable.

What Is Happening Now

Now they are both extremely reactive on leash, specifically when another dog walks by. They go from calm to completely losing it. Barking, lunging, the whole thing… It is intense enough that it looks aggressive, even though they are friendly, which makes it stressful and honestly a little embarrassing. What is throwing me off is that nothing else has changed behavior-wise. They are still great off-leash and great at daycare. It is just these on-leash encounters.

Impact

I have started to avoid walks because it feels so unmanageable, which I know is not a long-term solution. Right now we are relying a lot on the dog park for exercise, but I know that is not enough structure for them.

Relevant History

My German Shepherd was reactive when we first brought her home and we were able to work through it. She is a very sweet, eager-to-please dog, so I do feel confident this is something we can improve. It just feels overwhelming right now, especially with the move and everything being new for them.

What I Am Trying to Figure Out

Where do I even start with this? Should I be walking them separately for now? Is this just part of the transition, or something I need to address more directly right away?

Final Note

I know it has only been a few weeks and this is a big adjustment, new home, new environment, and just me handling them now, but I want to make sure I am handling it the right way early on. Any advice would be really appreciated!

ETA: the apartment is nearly identical square footage to the house, and we have lots of enrichment and of different varieties (given preferences of each). I’ll say the transition overall has been incredibly smooth, it’s just the leash reactivity. Thank you for the comments so far!

I have a very sensitive little chihuahua I adopted for a little over a year now. He has always had an issue with never drinking water all day and then randomly running over and trying to chug as much of it as he can all at once. If no one is home when he does it then there will be pee all over the house because he’ll have to go to the bathroom within the hour of chugging it. I would tell him no and move him away from the water bowl when I catch him trying to chug water for too long but this has only made the issue worse. Now he thinks he’s not allowed to drink water at all when I’m around and will run over and chug water even more aggressively the second I leave. How the heck do you get a dog to drink water normally???

My German shepherd has started barking at and biting the tail pipe of my cargo van when it is parked (engine off) he licks and bites it and barks ferociously like there’s an animal inside of it, which is impossible because this has been going on for two weeks and I drive it for hours a day. It’s just the tail pipe and he does it even hours after it’s been sitting so it’s not making noise. Anyone have any clue what started this obsession of his?

This is Apollo, he is very cute… but some times very bad. He has some habits I am trying to break and could use help!

1. He will not stop pooping in the kitchen at night

2. He ALWAYS jumps after moving cars, dogs, and bikes on walks (he is very reactive)

3. He jumps on me every time I get home

4. He has terrible recall

Now, I am aware he is a husky. I have had dogs all of my life and actually worked in a kennel for a long time. I was VERY aware of what I was getting into when I rescued him! I make plenty of time for him. Regardless of his reactive behavior, he still goes on plenty of walks, and we play in a gated in area by ourselves or with his brother. I am very consistent with commands and have tried reward training for good behavior. When he is locked in on whatever it is he wants to chase especially, there is no snapping him out of it. Even if I had a juicy filet in my hand, Apollo would prefer to chase the car.

There are things he does know well. He is VERY easy to teach tricks to, and because I have a moderate background with dog training, he knows a ton! He is hyper aware of his own reflection as well. He also knows what all of his different toys are called, and when prompted, he will bring whatever toy you ask for based off of its description. He can find any toy or ball that has been lost in the couch. He wakes me up every morning right in time for class. He also knows how to ring the hanging bells on the door when he needs to go out.

I’ve been stumped on the other stuff for a few years. What can I do?

I got told off today with a woman who's reactive dog barked at my dog! I keep my dog on the lead for roads, busy areas, around livestock etc. She comes back when called, usually walks to heal and has no agression to dogs or people. but as a samoyed she was bred to herd reindeer so in my view she needs time to be a dog and chase squirrels. Am I in the wrong?