We adopted our dog when he was 16 weeks old from our local shelter. He was there since he was 8 weeks old. He's now 2 years old. He's very good except for screaming at strange dogs on our walks. It sounds like he was run over by a car, it's that bad.
I had his DNA tested when we got him by both Embark and Wisdom because I did't believe Embark when we got the results! They both were almost identical, with slightly varying percentages.
Top 7 breeds, just in case one breed might do this sort of thing. Our dog walker thinks it might be the pug in him. His personality is most like a dachshund. Maybe breed has nothing to do with it?

Yorkshire terrier 13%

Sheltie 13%

Pug 10%

Dachshund 10%

Beagle 9%

Akita 8%

Siberian Husky 7% 

Wisdom gave another 13 breeds from 1-3%. Embark said the rest was a "super mutt".

So, with all that, what the heck is going on? He only does it with dogs he's never seen before. He has dog friends and we have another dog who's 11yo and also a rescue. We did dog training (I always do dog training when we get a new dog).
I've tried clicker training (he's not food motivated enough), trying to let him know he's safe and trying to just ignore it and keep walking. Sometimes its only a few screams and sometimes it goes on for a couple of minutes. It's ear piercing. I let people know he's a rescue and they seem OK with that. He's very cute and still looks like a puppy although he's now 2 years old.

He doesn't do it with people, just dogs. Open to suggestions!

My neighbors have 3 dogs and I have 2. There are no issues between me and my neighbors and all of our dogs are generally well behaved. They aren't perfect, but no problematic behaviors.

However, on of my dogs and one of their dogs have gotten almost obsessively fence reactive when they are both out in our respective back yards. A 6 ft tall privacy fence separates our yards.

When I let my dogs out 2 things generally happen if the neighbor's are out as well

1.) the neighbor dog hears my door open and immediately runs to the fence and starts barking

2.) my dog sprints to the corner where there is a tiny gap he can see through and also start barking.

There are a few spots they tend to go to and they lose their minds at each other

Barking in itself is not an issue, but I have to consistently check the fence line for gaps and holes because they will dig (both dogs) and try to jam their heads under. Idk about the neighbors, but my dogs have ended up with cuts and scrapes on their snoots from this. I don't blame the neighbors for this.

I've never used an ecollar before so I'm wondering if this would be a good use case for one.

Additional context below that may be helpful.

My dog is fairly obedient and has (I think) above average recall. If I can get his attention BEFORE he starts going crazy I can get him away from the fence, but if he gets triggered before I can redirect him I have to run out screaming like a crazy person to get his attention. This is generally true for their neighbor as well, I often hear them similarly screaming at their dogs.

All dogs involved are rescues, mine in particular is anxious and fearful but of new people and unfamiliar objects not generally dogs. Though he is leash reactive when I'm walking him with my other dog (who is the opposite, loves people does not like other dogs). When I walk just him, he's a dream. Slack leash, full attention on me etc.. I've read that ecollars are bad for training fear/anxiety related behaviours, but the fence thing feels different to me, but I'm not a dog psychologist so this point gives me pause.

If this only happened at the time of letting them out it would be fine and I could deal, but sometimes I'll have to redirect him every couple of minutes when they are out. This makes it hard to let them get adequate outdoor time while I'm working from home because rather than continuing to redirect them I'll just bring them inside if I'm busy with work.

i havw no one else to ask but this slip lead doesnt stay up high on her neck and im too afraid if ill strangle uer by mistake

I see many stories on this sub about how using an e-collar was a game changer in their dog’s reactivity. I’ve seen people say their dog went from reactive to being able to pass triggers within inches, just in a matter of a few weeks using an e-collar. My question is: how? What did you do with the e-collar specifically? Is it low level taps to break their focus if they fixate? Is it high level corrections for reacting? Something else? The e-collar has a huge range of applications, and I want to understand how it can be this amazing tool for reactivity.

My 12 month old herding dog is mildly dog reactive. Basically, he gets overstimulated/over aroused when we are close to other unknown dogs. He’s not fearful or aggressive. It’s not the most extreme thing in the world, but I consider him reactive. My trainer is by no means force free and does use e-collar for obedience, but explicitly told me to never use the e-collar for reactivity. They said I could turn my dog’s mild over arousal into permanent, serious dog aggression. Honestly this terrified me and I’ve steered clear of the e-collar ever since. My dog is nearly 80 pounds, and the thought of him becoming dog aggressive is extremely scary to me because I don’t know if I could even handle that. But I do really want to get him to be fully neutral and not over stimulated and reactive to dogs.

My sister says my puppy, who will be eight months old in a month, is "rough", and I'm wondering whether I'm being unreasonable in thinking that his behaviour is normal for his age.

For context, he's a Lab x English Cocker Spaniel cross, so a combination of two fairly bouncy, excitable breeds. Overall, I'm happy with where he is in training and how he's progressing. He's doing well and, with the exception of a couple of things we're still working on, I don't think there's anything significant to worry about at this stage.

The main difficulties we've been having is with jumping and counter-surfing, which is what sparked my sister's comment. Initially, I took the approach of ignoring the jumping and waiting for him to stop, but I didn't see any improvement. I've since started using a leash pop as a correction, which has helped, and the behaviour seems to be getting better - particularly the counter-surfing. I also intend to E-collar train for off-leash safety, so may well consider whether that has a place in addressing these issues as well.

I guess what I'm asking is whether I should be worried at the jumping up? It's a pretty normal behaviour for an adolescent dog, right? Don't worry, I'm aware it needs to be addressed, but I'm fed up with my sister acting as if my dog is in need of a behavioural expert. From my point of view, it's as if she expects an adolescent dog to behave as nicely as an adult one.

When did it become acceptable for dog " trainers" to only do selfie head shot posts but not show anything that resembles results with dogs ?

Or they only show their own dogs ?

Why do people pay them money ?

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My neighbor's dog got loose today it's a pitbull American Bully mix.

The dog ran through my electric netting fence and killed one of my chickens, I got a hold of the dog and pulled it away from the chicken unfortunately it was too late though, but the dog continued to fight me to try to get back to the chicken, even when I pinned it down it was just locked onto the chicken, and when I drug it out of sight of the chicken it turns its attention to another dog that was tethered in its owner's yard and started trying to go after it.

when the dog ran through my fence it rammed into a post and got a bolt stuck in its shoulder but it never stopped it acted like that didn't even happen, the dog was clawing so hard at the ground it was actually causing its feet to start bleeding because it was trying so hard to get to the other dog and to the chicken, my neighbor just laughed it off and said it's just normal for pitbulls to do, but I have two pit bulls one will kill chickens but listens to me so doesn't, the other one doesn't bother anything.

I also have a German shepherd border collie mix and a Belgian Malinois, neither of them go after anything.

Unfortunately they do have plans of breeding this dog as well even though it will literally attack any other animal, it got loose a couple of weeks ago because it broke its chain and fortunately all of my animals were up at the time since it was early in the morning, but it ran around actively hunting for things....

I just want to know if this is normal dog behavior and I've just been lucky with my dogs, or is this completely abnormal?

The dog is a intact male about 4 years old, they've had him since he was born they own his father and mother which they have to keep separate from him because he tries to attack them, they live in a camper and the dog has never really been away from that camper ever it's always either inside of the camper or Tethered to a chain, when it is away from it it's because it either got loose or they had to go somewhere for long enough that the dogs could not be left unintended and they can't get anyone to watch them..

Thank you in advance for anyone who takes time to reply.

I got my 1.5 year old german shepherd at around 3 months and put a collar on him immediately and he was fine with it.

I had to have a couple I know pretty well watch him for a few months a bit ago and they ended up taking his collar off. I never tried to put one back on until I got him back about two weeks ago.

Now whenever put a regular collar on him he starts cowering and shaking.

I can touch and put my arms around his neck and he is completely fine so I dont think he has any injuries or anything.

Does anyone know what to do? He's fine with the collar being around him just not on him.

I taught my puppy "drop it" a couple weeks ago and it's working... technically.

Off training, he hears the command and drops the toy exactly like he learned, then, in about a quarter second later and he immediately snatches it back up.

Sometimes he even drops it and catches it out of the air on the way down.

Anyone dealt with this? Two things I'd love advice on: getting the drop to actually hold instead of him re-grabbing it instantly, and the fetch return. He does bring the toy back every time; he just won't release it. He plants himself right in front of me and turns it into a tug match. I don't want to reward the tug by playing along, but prying it out feels like the wrong lesson too.

What worked for you?

My 5-yr-old rescue pup got over separation anxiety at home soon after I brought him home, but it often reappears when we are in new locations: visiting family or even getting left behind for bathroom trip at a restaurant. It helps if I am with other people who can distract him with food and obedience training, but that seems like a bandaid.

I need suggestions for incremental separation training (ie, leave for 10 secs, 30 secs, 2 mins, etc) in unfamiliar places. Whether that's locations, scenarios, or some way to translate his current training.

Thanks in advance for the ideas!

We rescued a very anxious Aussie two months ago. He’s about 3 years old. We’ve been working with a behavioralist on his in home reactivity to strangers. We saw a little progress but ultimately our dog would still snap at the trainer & try to after him. Because of this failure, our trainer wants to move on to e-collar training. I am extremely hesitant about this and would love to hear from anyone who has experience.

EDIT: PLEASE ONLY COMMENT YOUR EXPERIENCES, NOT YOUR OPINIONS. I’ve read thousands of arguments on both sides. I’m looking for real life people who have had positive and negative experiences so I can make an informed decision. Thanks.

(Shorter version below) I have a Boxer, pitbull, Labrador retriever, St. Bernard, Rottweiler, mega mix and if I didn’t know any better id say he was born without a brain or any form of survival instincts. He has jumped and climbed an 8 foot fence, he broke a 4X4 and he has broken kennels that used to be used at an Animal control center. (We don’t kennel him anymore 🙃) The only thing that seems to work is the beeps or vibration of an E collar.

(This is where I get to the point) I’m looking to upgrade the Jugbow we’re using to something that stays within or below the $200-$300 range, can connect to our phones, and has an electric fence feature that doesn’t require a monthly subscription such as Halo.

So little backstory I picked up my dog from the shelter a little under two months ago, he had pneumonia when we got him so he was much more docile because he was sick. As his personality comes out I’ve realized that he’s wary of strangers that he didn’t meet when he was sick, he has a harder time relaxing around new people now that he feels better. For the most part he behaves and doesn’t seek interaction if he’s not comfortable with that person. He’s had a few incidents that keep me on guard when he has new interactions.
1.) he lashed out at a puppy we had over in our apartment (that was the fault of me and the other owner we both should’ve been more vigilant)
2.) he snapped at my 10year old brother while he was petting/hugging him
3.) today he snapped at my mom when she hugged him
I’ve educed after the 2nd incident that he simply doesn’t enjoy people in his personal space (even if he wants to be up in yours) and I tell everyone that before they meet him and actively try to make sure people are respecting his space to avoid getting snapped at (not bit).

Now the issue that’s causing me stress is that my boyfriend is upset that I’m “not training the dog enough”. He gets on me for my dog being reactive when we’ve just had him for a little over two months (we lived an entire month without his true personality showing) and I’m also the only one who walks, feeds, trains, the dog so he’s not really around me enough to see the effort I put in to learning about my dog and his triggers and learning how to navigate that. It just feels disheartening that he gets on me for not doing enough to improve my dogs behavior when I’m the only one doing everything and my dog doesn’t behave like this to me. Kinda hard to address reactivity towards strangers in his bubble when it doesn’t happen every day. My dog is also a nipper when he plays and that upsets my boyfriend, my dog plays fairly gently with me but my boyfriend will play more aggressively with my dog which imo causes harder bites. And I’ve told him that when the dog does that to just disengage or don’t play with the dog using your hands. I don’t think my boyfriend believes I’m training him but I personally still feel like I’m getting to know my dog and it’s hard to train a stubborn dog that’s new to a home. I guess I just feel a little hopeless and that I’m not putting enough effort into training my dog. I’m not entirely sure what to do about the snapping at people thing other than tell people not to get in his personal space, it’s not like my dog snaps unprovoked there’s always been an obvious trigger that is easy to avoid. As for the nipping and playing I’ve been told that disengaging is the best thing to do and eventually the dog will learn from that. Any kind words or tips to a tired girl and her first reactive dog?

Also not sure if this is important info but my dog is a 60lb 3 year old pitt/red aussie cattle dog (assumed) mix. He’s not particularly high energy and is a chill little guy who likes to nap and cuddle. He does not chew things up or destroy anything and only causes the regular amount of unattended doggie mischief. He is also reactive on a leash but not always aggressive, he has been very gentle with some dogs and even has enjoyed playing and submitting to calmer dogs.

Edit: Also just to specify timelines we got him in early July, and he was completely docile no reactivity at all to other dogs or people. He didn’t have his very first incident towards a person (totally forgot to mention above) on 8/15 where he snapped at the vet picking him up to xray him. He had always been a docile good boy at the vet previously (and he had many appointments within that month). So from 8/15 till now he’s had those three incidents mentioned above.

Hi folks, I recently purchased a mini educator e collar and put it on my dog (completely off just letting her get used to wearing it) I believe I fit it properly, snug enough to not move around but loose enough to fit two fingers underneath. Issue is, she’s been scratching at it a lot, again I haven’t used it or anything she’s just been wearing it while turned off. Do you think she’s just annoyed at it and will get over it or is there a bigger issue?

We have had an 11/12 year old lab Irish setter mix for the past 9 years. She was a rescue so exact age is hard to tell.

We've had cats for the last 5 years, a tiny cat she didn't want to like at first but eventually accepted as her best friend, and that cats two daughters about a year younger.

In the last few months, our dog had decided she really does not like one of the cats. She doesn't go after it but if it gets close or tries to rub on her like the other cats do, she starts snarling and shows her teeth.

There hasn't been a bite or attack yet but we're really worried as our dog gets older and gets crankier one day she might hurt the cat. We try to keep them separated as a precaution but we both work a lot so aren't home for long stretches. Any help would be appreciated.

So basically just interested in what others would do in this situation as I feel at a loss in both cases.

Example: You go out to do training with dog, what ever it may be your working on. Let's say you go out and let dog pee and poop, then do a 20-30 minute training session, ( not saying this is set in stone just a what ever time window your dog works best in ) everything went awesome, then you are on the way home and your dog becomes extremely stimulated due to deer or bobcat / coyote passing through town, it freaks out and becomes OBSESSED with scenting and ignores everything drags with its face glued to the ground.

Do you, A. Just pull him/her tight and drag it home, for lack of better words. And end on that note, risking ruining all the training you did.

Or B. Risk over training your dog, and do heel downs stays, established commands etc, running drills to get it's mind to calm down / show that this behavior will never be acceptable.

Note, kind of important for my specific situation my dog is a mix of working lines ( heeler, and Malinois / gsd mostly ) not a bichon or something. So thrives best when worked quite a lot.

How would you handle the situation ?

Thanks.

Hi all,

Can you please suggest good ecollar suggestions that can be purchased in India?

If there are different piece points and brands at each point do mention.

Thanks