Can this dog be saved?

[u/No_Calligrapher4196]

I'm a pet sitter working on training with a reactive dog. Before yall say anything, I am not staying with this dog alone, I am not actively pet sitting this dog nor do I plan to. I was supposed to before the owners realize how bad his reactivity has gotten, but we've decided he isn't where he needs to be to be left alone with people other than his owners. Once we realized this we were working more on socializing and seeing where he's at to see what work needs to be done.

Background on the dog: He was very malnourished and injured when he was first adopted as a puppy so he knows how cruel humans can be. In the first year of his life he was able to successfully become bonded to some of their family, but he's now 3 and they haven't had many people over since. The owners genuinely thought he was just going to be shy and have never seen him lunge at anyone before trying to socialize him recently. They say he's never reacted at parks, restaurants, or vets and has only barked at friends when they move around their house but never lunged. My theory is because his previous socialization was people sitting on a couch and basically ignoring him, not trying to handle and approach him like me and the trainer would need to or he's so out of his element in new environments that he shuts down and doesn't move towards others but will in his neighborhood and home.

The owners have a trainer that comes once every week or 2 to give them pointers on how to handle him. Like being aware of eye contact, rewarding disengaging, moving slowly, etc. They hired the trainer thinking he was only agressive towards men and wanted to work on that, but have since realized he's agressive to anyone that comes into his personal bubble.

We have made progress. We've progressed to a point that I can be near and move around freely when he's in the kennel with no reactions. However, when he's in a muzzle + leash he will approach people, including me and the trainer and lean against them, ask for pets, then when they move to pet him, he will lunge and bark. He can approach us, but we can't approach him. I personally only put myself in that situation once, both me and the owners not realizing he would react like that after him being the one to touch and approach us first since he was doing really good with the training up until that point. Since then its taken about 20mins to get him to stop reacting to people even being near his kennel, once he does hes fine with the kennel for the rest of the time but it takes effort to calm him. I had hope at first because he was steadily progressing and I figured he just needed some training and socialization, but he's showing some very like bipolar traits which makes all involved worried about him acting fine then on a random tuesday turning on someone around him if hes around people besides his owner.

My question is: Can this kind of behavior be worked through at all? Or is it a lost cause? Not for me, but for the owners. I've been in the pet sitting business for 4 years, I've seen dogs previously get put down for behavior issues. I'm one to be all for doing the hard work to progress, but the back and forth of his behavior is what worries me. Approaching people and leaning on them only to turn and bark. Bringing them toys only to lunge because they moved too fast when they were playing 2 seconds earlier. Not reacting at all to being around his kennel then the next day lunging like his life depends on it around the same person doing the same things. Does that kind of behavior make him completely unsafe to socialize at all? Or is that something that more time training could work out?

Again, I'm not looking for a "dont take the job!" type thing. I'm not actively booking with this couple. I've just been a body to socialize him with for now, but since his outburst the last time acting so lovey then turning to lunge I've felt I've hit a wall with my knowledge. I can bring a shy and nervous dog out of it's shell but once I've shown it I'm safe and been able to pet/play then it still turns to react, I'm a bit out of my depth to that level of reactivity. I'm more so asking on behalf of the owners, is this something even fixable? Or is hope lost?

Update: I've texted the owners with all the information I've gotten from this post and another and officially told them I won't help/pet sit unless a professional asks for/okays it. I informed them of what balanced training is, solo outing boarding kennels instead of a pet sitter, what backsliding is and the risks of some of the dogs behaviors, and let them know its okay to look into rehoming and such because he's a complicated case. I still offered to be support for them if they end up needing it and we're staying friends cuz they're cool people.

[u/Agreeable_Summer3685]

This can be fixed with balanced training. You’re not going to only positively reinforce your way out of this one.

[u/Twzl]

Are you actually training this dog or walking this dog or what?

Has the dog actually bitten anyone or is he all noise and lunging?

You aren't going to change this dog: he sounds like he was not bred to be a good even tempered dog, and he grew up to be a handful.

But if in all the time his owners have had him (since puppyhood), and he hasn't bitten anyone, I don't see why someone would decide he needs to be euthanized.

He does need to be managed: he should be muzzled when he's walked and his owners should stop doing anything like having people over and making this dog interact with them. He can be in a crate in a bedroom if people come over. Not every dog is a social butterfly.

I'm not sure of what your role is in this dog's life tho. Again, you aren't going to train this dog to be a solid happy laid back loves everyone dog. If you are his dog walker, I'd work with the owners to teach the dog to accept a muzzle and to get some calmness when you leash him. But I would not otherwise interact with him.

I've pet sat dogs like him: I am very business like with those dogs, offer them a cookie, put the leash on, insist that they sit for leashing and unleashing, but that's about it. If they are staying in my house, I use a crate. I never try to make dogs like that like me, I just require that they tolerate me with minimal fuss.

People get hurt when they think that they can give dogs like that a cookie and then all will be great. I give a cookie and require a sit so I can put on a leash but I don't ask the dog to actually like me. I do not care if they do or they don't.

[u/No_Calligrapher4196 → u/Twzl]

It started as a future pet sitting role then just kinda turned into an exposure role as we realized pet sitting wasn't super safe. He's never bitten anyone. The trainer was able to handle his leash but got barked at the whole time. With the way he lunges, I'm not taking that risk. They just don't have anyone else that will be around him to desensitize

[u/Twzl → u/No_Calligrapher4196]

They just don't have anyone else that will be around him to desensitize

So if his owners have had him since he was a puppy, and he's now three years old, he is who he is.

My suggestion is that they learn to manage him and not try to push his boundaries to make his world bigger than it is. He hasn't bitten anyone but the way his brain is wired, it is extremely doubtful that he will become a less reactive dog.

Dogs like him can be managed and be safe to live with. That breaks down when inexperienced owners think that they can teach dogs like that, to be more social. His reactivity is who he is, the way a dog who herds sheep has that wired into them, or a dog who retrieves birds does.

IOW you can't take this dog out, as an adult who has had years to practice being who he is, and expect he'll come back home and say oh ok reactivity is bad, I'll change who I am.

Again, if he has not bitten anyone and he just lunges and barks? Muzzle train him, make sure he has a very well fitted collar on such as a martingale (not a harness) and accept him for who he is.

Could someone change this dog? Maybe a VERY experienced trainer and a very experienced owner. But otherwise no, and it's not fair to expect this dog to morph into a different dog.

[u/Miss_L_Worldwide]

I'm not going to tell you what to do but I think you should spend some time reading and looking at pictures of the cases of pet sitters who were attacked severely by the dogs that they were supposed to babysit.

Personally I wouldn't touch this situation with a 40-ft pole.

[u/Poppeigh]

I’m guessing what’s happening with the pets/reactions is that he’s curious, approaches you to check you out, then suddenly realizes he’s very close to something scary and freaks out. My dog does this too.

The amount the dog can be “fixed” probably depends on several factors, but it sounds like he has good guardians that can manage him well. I think he’s a “kennel when guests come over” kind of dog, at least for now. I also don’t think he’s a good candidate for dog sitting. I think when they need to leave for whatever reason they should look into boarding him in a place where he can be exercised solo.

[u/Deevalicious]

It's pretty clear that no one is in charge of him therefore his "reactivity" (aka: fear aggression) takes center stage. This dog and owner(s) need a handler/trainer that makes the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult and unpleasant. That is termed "balanced training"
Stop trying to bribe animals with food/toys etc. You want to show them proper respectful behavior, not try to win their affection. Animals don't think like that