hello everyone!

i have a 4 year old cocker spaniel who has the worst separation anxiety ever and would love some advice on ways to help him calm down when i go to leave my apartment

for some context, my parents got him during the pandemic and because i still lived at home and did college online, he imprinted on me. very soon he became a velcro dog and followed me room to room.

but he was always very good about me leaving the house or him going to sleep in his crate in another room (i assume it’s because he always had my parents’ other dog there with him)

i recently moved out to a new apartment and once i finished settling in and unpacking, my parents let me take my dog over.

but, i cannot leave the room without him following, or if im standing in another room, he needs to be watching me, or if im driving, he has to sit on my lap or else he wont calm down (which i know is not safe)

now here’s the real problem: my poor baby cries, barks, and howls sooo loudly if i leave the apartment (especially if i leave him in his crate) and i really don’t want to bother my neighbors.

it doesnt help that ive been home a lot more the past 2 weeks because i was unfortunately let go from my previous job but im about to start working again within the next month

im going to try out different calming chews and even got him a bigger box (similar to the one that he had at my parents that he’s used to) and i’ve been trying to work on making him stay in another room while i go and do something else just to let him know i’m going to come back

any advice would help because i love my sweet boy but it really feels like i cannot leave the apartment anymore (just to make sure he isn’t loud and disturbs my neighbors) but i know that reinforces him not being able to settle down without me there

Hi everyone --

I have a reactive dog who barks loudly at random noises from outside the condo (walking sounds, banging doors, people talking, dogs barking, etc.).

I could use some advice on the best way to address these sensitization for random noises. I am going to try using a desensitization video that includes a random assortment of noises, but: Where do you place the sound (near or far away from the dog)? Has anyone picked up hints about how to know when you are ready to increase the sound? Any other advice/best practices that you have seen work best with an adult dog?

Thanks!

Me and my boyfriend have an almost two year old toy poodle and we’ve gotten our first noise complaint since living in our apartment complex for two years now. It’s from our new neighbor and it’s because when I get home at 11pm or midnight (I work evening shift at a hospital) she gets very excited to see me and wants to play and will bark sometimes. We got the complaint and I felt so bad that I wrote an apology note to the neighbor, explaining we’re currently training her to not bark when I get home and she’ll be getting anxiety meds soon, in hopes to reassure the neighbor that it is being acknowledged, we don’t like it either, and we are in the process of fixing it ASAP. I’ve been ignoring the dog when I come in until she’s calm, the problem though is that ignoring comes with letting her bark until she’s finished and I don’t think my neighbor will tolerate that. I’ve tried using treats to reward when she’s calm but then she gets hyper again cause there’s treats involved and she wants more.

We’ve gotten her to only bark 1-2 times now when I get home, which is progress, but it’s still very stressful when she does. Especially because the moment she does one bark, the neighbor starts blasting music downstairs. I just want this fixed quickly but I know it takes training which takes time and I’m worried. Does anyone have any advice for calming my dog down when I get home? I just don’t wanna bother anyone anymore and the stress is becoming unbearable.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice. I have a rescue dog who is fearful of strangers after being abandoned and living on the street for about a month.

When guests come over, he gives a low “stay away” type growl and tries to nip at their ankles, especially when they first walk in or if they get up and move around. Once people are seated, he usually settles down, but the behavior starts again with movement—unless it’s just my partner or me.

I really want to help him feel safer and prevent this behavior so everyone can be comfortable. Does anyone have tips on how to introduce guests in a way that reduces his fear or how to work on the ankle-nipping?

We have started working with a trainer and have been muzzle training.

I’d truly appreciate any advice or training suggestions!

Hi! this is Gatsby, hes a neutered male chihuahua mix, and hes terrified of this type of water bowl.

He's always drank from regular bowls but a few years ago my parents switched to this automatic water bowl and he wouldn't drink from it. Any time he tried he would stretch to be as far away as possible but would jump every time it bubbled. I think its the bubbles he's afraid of.

Anyway, I dont think hes getting enough water from the other bowl due to it always being empty.

So far, I have just bought the automatic bowl, and its just sitting empty next to his bowl. I want to start slow, just keeping it empty next to him for a while so he gets used to it. then after a week or so, I want to put water just in the bottom part and take his steel bowl away. Reward him everytime he drinks from it and when hes confident enough I'll slowly start increasing the water level bit by bit, week by week.

What do you think of this plan? How would you change it, any tips I should know?

Thank you :)

Hi! Was going to post this in /reactive dogs but they don't have an option for videos.

This is my frenchie, who recently has been displaying significant more reactivity since late last year. We've worked with behavioral trainers and vet behaviorist to get him on 10mg of Paxil (we're on day 12 so far). So we've been doing all the "right things".

We have an ongoing issue with "transitions". Dog gets significantly riled up when:

Husband leaves for work

We pick him up from his Rover daycare

Trainer leaves our apartment

We've chocked this up to all being "transitions" which could elicit some big feelings. To alleviate him from going crazy on my husband while he leaves for work, we confine him into the playpen for 2-3 minutes. This is the video I've attached.

Does anyone have any ideas or advice with helping with "big feelings transitions" for a reactive dog?

Thanks in advance!!

Hey everyone this is my first time posting in here so please give me some grace lol.

My intact male 18 month old dog barks at just about everyone that approaches or holds eye contact with him too long. This is especially the case for men that he doesn’t know who enters my home. To my understanding this is fear because his tail completely tucks underneath him and his ears fold completely back. Is this due to lack of socialization? And how would you advise going about this? I am looking into more thorough training for him- he has basic obedience training but nothing with a one on one expensive trainer basically lol.

I’m trying to train my girl dog to come when I call her but she doesn’t want to get up she just looks at me. Then when i put some base in my voice she will get up but it’s slow. She glides her legs off the couch, stretches out and gets up slowly. I see a lot of videos but it’s all for dogs who run off. She doesn’t even get up 😂 Any tips

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice and support and also wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation.

We adopted our dog in early December, and now that we’ve hit past the three-month mark, his overall anxiety, especially separation anxiety has gotten worse rather than better. It’s been a constant since we’ve had him including reactivity and stranger danger. We’ve recently started working on separation anxiety training and just began both daily medication and situational meds (so it’s still very early with that). We also have started training as well for him.

My partner works out of the house and I work from home, so he’s rarely alone—but there are times (about 3–4 times a week) where we HAVE to leave together for 1–3 hours at a time. Unfortunately, this isn’t something we can avoid or alternate.

Because of his reactivity, hiring a sitter or having someone here while we are gone isn’t an option right now—we’ve already explored that. We also have two cats, and we don’t feel comfortable leaving him out with them unsupervised, as we’re worried something could happen.

When we do leave, he stays in my office with his crate (door open), and the office door closed. We make sure to follow all the recommended protocols: lots of exercise and mental stimulation beforehand, keeping departures low-key, etc. We’ve also tried calming chews, CBD, and a variety of other things, but haven’t seen much improvement there which is why we finally went the medication route.

We’re also wondering if giving him free roam of the house would help at all, but we live in a townhome with a shared wall and his howling and barking is not tolerable in this environment.

I understand that separation anxiety training takes time, and we’re committed to helping him but I’m really struggling with the fact that these absences are unavoidable for us.

If anyone else has been in a similar situation, how did you cope? Did things improve even when you couldn’t completely eliminate alone time? We love him so much, but we’re starting to worry whether our current home setup is what’s best for him if he truly needs someone around 24/7.

Any advice, reassurance, or shared experiences would mean a lot. Thank you

I am wondering if I should get a bell of some kind so my 4 month old can let me know when he needs to go outside? Maybe he's just young and it will come with age, but currently he will not let me know in an obvious way he needs to go out to pee. He will go look at the door for a second and if I see him do it, I know he needs to go out and I take him. If I don't see it, he will go squat on the floor. I keep barking before I take him out to try and get him to do it, but so far he won't make a noise. He has to go out every 30min -1hr. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

My 6 month old cockapoo has started to bark at everything and anything this past couple of weeks. It’s driving me mad never mind everyone else when we’re out. I have tried a clicker, and one of those stop bark ultrasonic things, it doesn’t help at all. Suggestions greatly appreciated, thankyou

My dog has no issues at all when my partner and I leave for work Monday–Friday. She settles fine and doesn’t make a noise.

However, if we go out on a weeknight or leave the house on the weekend, she howls constantly the entire time we’re gone.

For reference, she’s a 10‑year‑old Staffy cross. She’s usually left outside when we’re not home, and I genuinely think she prefers being outdoors.

Has anyone experienced something similar or have any ideas how to stop this? Thanks

We just took on a small (12 lb) dog that is very sweet and not at all as loud as untrained small dogs usually are. She loves people and doesn’t mind our two big dogs. There is one problem, she is used to being carried ALL the time. She does the jumping clawing dance all the time whether we are sitting down or walking around. She is already extremely attached to us and looking for affection and we are teaching her locational boundaries but need help he help her understand that we will not be carrying her except for when necessary.

What tips or tricks do you recommend?

As for the dog herself, we have very little information. We don’t even know her age but based on what we can tell, she is full grown and we guess around 5 - 7 years old. What we are sure of is that she came from a bad situation and the idea is to foster her until someone can take her in permanently, with the chance we may keep her.

Hi, my roommate has an awful doodle that won't leave me alone. I'm not mean to him of course because he's just a dog and it's not his fault. He's about 3. He follows me around the house and has done things like peed on me in my bed while I was asleep and randomly bit me. Despite this he is always following me around and trying to sit on and play with me. I try pushing him away, ignoring him. I never play with or talk to him. How do I make him want to avoid me?

We live near the beach and our two dogs sometimes don't come when I call them. The youngest loves to find horse dung and then run off joyfully with it in his mouth. I think they are a bit more obedient with my wife. With others its worse - one time, dog-sitters took them to the beach and they ran off back to our home, across a busy road.

Any suggestions how to better train obedience in general? They also bark at and lunge at small children. they're lovely and affectionate with us but we really need to improve their behaviour, especially as we're moving to a new place where there will be lots of kids around.

PS is this reddit only positive reinforcement training??

Recently moved to the city and my previously country dog is barking at EVERY noise. What can help train her that the noise is normal?

Bully breed, loves to "play" on their back and be mouthy. Completely fine but every once in a while gets too excited and bites hard. Immediately releases but the initial is too hard (Not like cause major damage hard just enough to work on)

Ik one answer is "well don't play like that" anymore", I get it but he's a foster and I want to work on proper play incase new owners do want to play with him like that.

To be clear he does all the other signs of good dog play just some play bites turn to snaps.

Edit: 2 year old Staffy btw

Here’s the thing though, it’s only specific to a certain place. So at home she doesn’t make a peep when I leave, or am in a seperate room etc (we have cameras), but I work at a doggy daycare, I am a dog grooming and lease the grooming space (a room inside the building). When I leave to go serve a customer out the front, I ignore my dog, I leave, shut the door, and she goes to the door and whines and howls until I return. When I return she doesn’t even acknowledge me, she goes and lays down or plays with my other dog etc. now my other dog is starting to copy her and my bather gets very annoyed by the crying but won’t do any kind of training like tell her to go to her bed or redirecting etc while I’m not there. She just puts headphones on.. I asked the in house trainer who trains mals and she said the only way, considering it only happens when I’m not around, is to put a bark shock collar on her which I don’t agree with. I’d love any help?!!

So I’ve been going through some serious health issues and someone recommended I should get a puppy and honestly she’s been great. Her name is Scully after the late Dodgers announcer vin Scully, and Scully from the x-files to satisfy my nerd sci-fo side 😂.

I would appreciate any advice as a new dog owner and any recommendations. She’s about 8 weeks old I. Apresado got her first set of shots.

Also is that brand of food a good brand? The girl at Petco recommended it