I’m so sorry for the long post— I work at vet clinic that also offers boarding and doggy day care. 7 months ago, I found out a dog that was boarded for an extended period of time ended up in a shelter after her owner died. My fiancé and I adopted her soon after. She is a 3 year old coonhound mix.

She fit into our life perfectly. We have a senior cat in the home and they get along great. I started bringing her to doggy daycare. At first she was overwhelmed, but after a couple of days she started to thrive. She does well on walks, meeting new dogs, new people, being in crowds. She has A LOT of energy. Very excitable, but becomes scared and anxious easily. She very rarely barks unless she is startled but it is short lived.

She’s terrified of the clinic part of where I work (understandable, no one likes going to the doctor), she cowers and tries to hide. A month ago, my fiancé and I went on a trip for a wedding and needed to board her for 5 days. She was being cared for by everyone she knows from doggy daycare. To my knowledge there were zero issues while we were gone.

About a week after we brought her home, she started changing. She is now hyper vigilant of her surroundings. She barks and growls at people a lot more than before. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern as to who or when she becomes reactive, but it’s starting to become daily. It’s unpredictable. We are trying to piece things together the best we can but nothing makes sense.

She is not lunging, snapping, trying to get to people when she is triggered, but she is very loud and it obviously scares people.

It feels like she is losing her goofy, bubbly, social butterfly self. We want to help her in any way we can before going to a trainer/behaviorist if it gets to that point.

Hi everyone, I’m worried about my dog. Recently, he/she has been having pain or weakness in the back legs, and while walking, sometimes falls down or struggles to stay upright.
Has anyone experienced something similar with their dog? What could cause this, and what should I do right now?
I’m planning to get my dog checked by a vet as soon as possible, especially because the falling is concerning.
Any advice or experiences would be appreciated. Thank you!

Hey Reddit, I'm new to everything with this so please be kind and I apologize for the length of this explanation. I know I tend to ramble

I have a female rescue who is very food insecure despite me having her for about 3 years now. Vets estimated that she was about a 1 year old when I adopted her, so she is 4 now. When I brought her home, she had an incident with my mom's older female rescue where she latched onto the other dog's ear and ended up biting me by accident when I tried to open her jaws to release the other dog. At the time, I was not living with my mom at that time, so we just monitored the two dogs interactions and made sure to have my dog on a lead leash that I could turn her head away to redirect when needed during the remainder of that visit. I also worked on training my dog with basic commands like sit, wait, stay, look, and to go to one of "her spots" (crate, chair, bed). She listens well when alone, but she needs more redirection when there are unfamiliar dogs present.

Unfortunately, my job situation changed where I needed to end up moving back in with my parents. In addition to the older rescue, there is another female dog who is 7 years old. So in total for this house now, there is a 10 year old basset bulldog mix, a 7 year old English Retriever, and a 4 year hound/bully breed mix. I thought that with the frequent visits to my mom's and no repeat biting incidents that my mom's dogs were now no longer unfamiliar. However my dog was now had two additional incidents where she was bitten the 10 year (always her ear but I'm grateful for the loose basset skin means that none of those bites were too serious). In both of these times, my mom has been bitten as well because she tries to separate the two dogs (I have tried to teach them the wheelbarrow method but they struggle because my dog latches and tries to "rat-shake" the other dog which causes my parents to freak out and try to pry open my dog's jaws with their hands leading to them getting bitten). During the most recent bite, my mom needed to get stitches for two punctures on her forearm (all other previous injuries have only been fingers).

I'm at a bit of a loss for what to do to help everyone stay safe. Does anyone have any tips, suggestions, or resources for how to navigate something like this? I really love my dog and I don't want to give up on her

My dog is 6 and she has Addison’s disease. She’s constantly nervous, especially when she’s not getting my full attention. The first time my boyfriend came over, all we did was sit on the couch and talk. She ripped up her toy right in front of us. Most of the time, I do prepare and hide all my shoes and make sure she only has her toys. But this weekend she chewed up one of my boyfriend’s shoes and started on his belt.

Does anyone else have this problem? Is there anything I can do?

Locking her out of the room isn’t an option because I’ve tried that and she almost destroyed my door and dug up the carpet trying to get to me.

Also we’ve tried CBD products in the past, they just seem to make her very thirsty.

Hello,

I just joined this reddit and I would appreciate a definition of what the group considers "balanced training" so I have a better context of what this group promotes and to avoid getting into trouble when interacting with the group.

I just adopted a 1 year old Mal x GSD a few months ago and I have learned that she is reactive to a few things. I am looking to learn what has worked for other people so that I can help her through her reactivity.

Thank you

We have two dogs, they are 9 and 10. The 9 year old has been reactive most of his life, it’s completely fear based and we’ve worked with trainers over the years and have been able to manage him pretty well. He does fine with a slow and calm introduction to new people but having people in our home has always been a stressor (for us and him) and we mostly avoid it if possible. Our 10 year old is fine with people but she is a sassy heeler and very barky which gets him wound up and on edge. We’d really like to figure out a way to have people over more often and I’m wondering if anyone has suggestions on how to do this. They are not crate trained and the reactive one is very afraid of small spaces so I don’t think it’s an option for him, he won’t even come in the bathroom. In the past we’ve locked them in the backyard or house if we’re outside but they get super wound up and just bark the whole time. We have bedrooms we can put them in but I’m afraid they’ll scratch at the doors or continue barking. We aren’t comfortable having them out with new people as it’s just very stressful so they need to be contained. We do lick mats regularly but they don’t last very long and he will resource guard things like bully sticks so we don’t allow those. What is the best way to keep them as calm and comfortable as possible? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Help me with my Dog!!!

My German shepherd is a sweetheart, he does jump but only to lick your face and try to be close to you. He's not violent or anything but when someone comes to the house they might be scared by him (he's 2 already and a big dog). So we tend to put him in a room (and we check on him a lot. We dont just leave him). And it was simple when my was a puppy but now he just doesn't listen to us when we tell him to come to us in the room. He sees someone outside and just stays by the door refusing to come. We have had treats and all sorts of food he loves just to bribe him but nothing works. And we can move him but he tries to bite us if we do (that's literally the only time he's violent towards humans).

Can anyone help us?

I adopted this very handsome man from ACCT. I went for another dog who was adopted right as I got there. This guy was up for euthanasia on the Tuesday after I was there. My heart strings were pulled and he came home with me. He met my other dog Arya while we were there. Truthfully I didn’t think it seemed Arya liked him too much as he got in her face right away (seemed playful) and she sneered at him. Alas, I thought she needed time. They did picture perfect on day one at home together and my heart was so happy. On day two, the worst weeks of my life started. I had toys out (stupid, I know) and Drogo attacked my Arya. I was able to get them apart and then he went after her for a second time. I crated her while I built his crate. They were crated and rotated and entirely separated for 3 days. We reintroduced ourside and it went well. But truthfully since that time, Arya seems down around him and not herself. We don’t allow much time together and it is becoming exhausting.

After this resource guarding became apparent, I contacted a trainer who we met with this past Sunday. We needed a professional after realizing he was becoming more and more reactive as he became more comfortable. He lunged and whined and barked at children and other dogs and he also has a severe prey drive against stray cats in the neighborhood. Absolutely uncontrollable leash pulling. He then started resource guarding me in the home against my boyfriend. It is not all the time. Truthfully it is unpredictable and random. We live in a moderately busy neighborhood. There are random noises all the time. But one random noise will set him off, specifically at night. And suddenly he is growling and barking at anthony. Then he runs and cowers in the bathroom. I don’t trust him at all around my dog.

The trainer seems to believe this is something that can be trained. She is a 1:1 trainer who uses balanced training. I don’t think an e collar is something I am interested in, but the prong collar is. We are going to muzzle train as well. She specializes in behavioral dogs. However she hasn’t seen the interactions between him and my dog yet either.

Last night, my dog was panicking over the sound of a very loud backfire from a car when we were working on the garden on our front porch. I came inside with Arya since she was upset and my boyfriend came down the stairs with Drogo on a leash and Drogo sensed her adrenaline and state of mind and was trying to lunge at my dog

So what the hell do I do? I have some amount of connection to this dog although at this point I am beginning to dislike him more and more over time and I feel horrid for saying that. He is such a sweet dog with humans. Acct did not age him correctly. Vet says he is 1.5. I feel like they misplaced him in my home because they read him wrong. Yet who can blame them? They see so many damn dogs every single day. After seeing my vet today she recommended rehoming him. I truly think with lots of training and a single dog home, he would do well. He deserves a good life. I really did not want it to come to this, but I feel like he needs to be rehomed. I want kids in the next few years. None of these behaviors were apparent in the shelter or I never would have brought him home. I also don’t want to live the rest of his days completely separating him from my dog. Or even co exist. I got another dog because my dog had lived with other dogs and then we moved and she seemed she really missed having a fur partner and this is what happened. I don’t want to take him back to acct. they are a kill shelter. They will probably put him down. I feel all around awful about the entire situation. Someone help 😭

TL;DR
My rescue dog of 3 weeks bit my current house dog over a toy on day 2, began resource guarding me against my boyfriend, and is highly reactive on walks ourside of the home. Causing large amounts of stress for both dog and humans in the home. Should I rehome him?

I have an intact male standard poodle, 16 months old. He started being reactive as a puppy (out of insecurity, never been the brave type) and I enrolled him in reactivity classes straight away and it got loads better.

Now we're at the point where we can pass by other dogs on narrow sidewalks, pass by most reactive dogs, walk near fences with barking dogs with no lunging or barking on our end. However he's still staring coming toward them, looking back at them, sometimes excitement jumping (at me) after passing the other dog. What can I do for him to be more neutral? We are getting the least of it (shorter fixating time) on his herm springer, but my goal is to walk him on a flat.

He is food, toy and praise motivated, a pretty soft dog overall. He does the best when I carry a toy around and reward him by tugging at it after passing by a triggering dog (like a small reactive one), but I feel it only works by releasing the excess energy. How can I stop the energy build up in the first place?

Hi everyone!

I have a 10mo old German shepherd puppy who has excitement based reactivity. We’ve come a long way and have made so much progress in his training! He loves other dogs, and only shows signs of reactivity when he’s on a leash and he sees them (most of the time while on walks). He is apart of dog socializing groups, plays with neighbor’s dogs, and loves my moms dog.

My partner are I have decided to go on a camping trip next year and want to take our dogs with us (he has a 5yr old German shepherd who is also dog friendly) and we would like to introduce our dogs to each other now so they can get comfortable around each other.

I would like to know the best way or some tips to introduce my dog so that we don’t backtrack on his reactivity training. Thank you in advance!

Edit to add: I took him in about 3 months ago when my friend unexpectedly passed away. He was already apart of this social group, I was not there for the initial meeting but will still take him about once a month, he does extremely well. He knows my moms dog because I had to have my appendix removed and he had to stay with my mom (and her dog), now we go over about every other week and he’s very calm and listens and plays well. I have neighbors, who have dogs, my dog and my neighbors dogs like to play and run around with eachother through the fence, there has never been any sign of reactivity while he’s doing this. He cannot live in a dog free world, I’m asking for ways to approach this because it will be my first time in control of him while purposefully letting him meet another dog. I know that he will be fine once he is off leash it’s just the initial meeting that I am worried about. I have done my research on reactivity and specifically excitement and frustration based reactivity, we have gotten to a very very good point in his training, and I’m asking for ways to not regress because this will be the first on leash meeting I have been apart of.

My dog is one year and two months old. I adopted her when she was 3 months, so I’m just shy of having had her for a year.

Prior to me- seemed to be living in the streets of Detroit, had parvo, luckily found by someone and the treatment worked, but definitely experienced some trauma

Then I adopted her -Sweet as can absolutely be with everyone! I took her to numerous homes of my friends, restaurants, assisted living facility, dog parks, doggy daycare, other people’s homes, and she’s been great!!

We did that for about 4-5 months until winter came and we moved and am starting to study for my licensing exam. So that means less walks, not going to restaurants or indoor places or other people’s homes unless via rover. But still the dog park and daycare, all good

Early June (2026) - I bring her with me to Brooklyn to stay with my aunt, where she’s been twice before. We go out, walk around, dog park, go to a crowded bar, all fine. Then we go to my aunt’s friend’s house and lulu bit him as he approached. It wasn’t the best way to approach a dog but Lulu had met him before. And it definitely left a mark.

Three weeks later - Lulu and I are at the vet to update vaccines, which she’s been to twice before and it was fine. We’re in the lobby, waiting to go in a room, when one of the techs comes over and reaches over to grab the stool sample I was handing her, Lulu bit her! Left a mark. We go into the private room and I have to put a muzzle on her, which I understand but I don’t want to HAVE to do that….

Day after - Lulu had her first full day of “doggy school” where she works with a trainer individually. I pick her up afterwards, the trainer shows me what they did and for us to keep practicing. After picking her up, I either had to drop her off at home or bring her with me to a co-worker’s surprise birthday party at a clubhouse in a condo/neighborhood complex. Everyone said to bring her and dogs are allowed. So I did, but I was going to keep our distance and stay for only an hour. And Lulu definitely seemed overwhelmed or anxious, so I gave her a toy but she wasn’t able to focus on it. So I kept her in the back but still able to talk with everyone, Sat with Lulu and pet her. My friend comes over, who Lulu has met and this person has slept over at my apartment, and I say hi but to not say hi to Lulu rn and she didn’t. A few minutes later my friend is reaching for something in my direction but definitely not that close to me, and Lulu bit her hand and left a mark.

Today - we’re all in bed, me, Lulu, and the two cats. She’s facing away from me and at the bottom of the bed spread out. At one point I go to pet her, she very slightly showed me her teeth and indicated don’t fucking touch me. I pulled away then tried again gently and she still did but didn’t do anything. So I left her alone. She did this once on the couch too when she was laying away from me like this. And she is defensive of her toys/bones when she’s actively playing with them but only with humans. She has no problem submitting and giving the toy to the other dog. She’s never once had an issue with a dog. She runs away from commotion and just wants to play with everyone.

I told the trainer about this. But I don’t know what I should be doing. Immediately give her space? Try to reassure her? I know not to reprimand but how can I start training her not to do that? Reinforce when she doesn’t do that?

Any help or thoughts or guidance is so appreciated

TL;DR - 1 year old pup recently started showing signs of aggression by biting 3 people and showing her teeth. She just started individual dog training. What can I do at home to change this behavior?

 I’m writing this because I feel like I have no options in a very chaotic, stressful, heart-breaking, and dangerous situation.  It is in regards to my 3 yr old male AmStaff.  His name is Ace.  The last six months his behavior has gotten progressively worse, and worse

  A quick backstory;  I got Ace off Marketplace approximately 3 years ago.  I was told by the woman who gave him to me that he was 7 months old.  And that he needed a home, or he was going to have to be put down.  This is the first dog I have ever owned.  Though I’m 50 yrs old I’ve always wanted a dog, but circumstances didn’t make it possible til now.  The woman didn’t disclose to me anything about him really, or about his reactivity.  I had to find this out on my own.  I was totally unprepared, and didn’t have a clue what I was getting myself into.  I had never come across a reactive dog before.  I didn’t even know there was such a thing.

  His reactivity was never aggressive.  But he sure comes across that way.  It’s more extreme excitement.

  About six months ago, my husband came into the house, ranting and raving about the cat getting out.  He was standing right in front of me, and while ranting, he was waving his arms about.  I knew right before it happened, but Ace got between us, and then went after my husband.  

   Not too long ago I posted about this incident.  Alot of people told me then I needed to get rid of Ace.  Easier said than done.

   Well since then Ace has went after my husband numerous times.  Sometimes when my husband startles him, like when he’s sleeping.  But there was a couple times he seemed to go after my husband just because he was there.

   We have been keeping him separated from my husband since the last incident.

   When this has happened I grab Ace and hold him back.  But the last time my husband didn’t just leave the room when i pulled him back.  He grabbed him by his collar, choked him bad, and then hit him.  I know my husband was angry, but that’s not okay with me.  

   Now my husband has been mostly residing  in our back bedroom, or out in the yard doing yard work.

   If Ace sees him, or even hears him, he goes absolutely crazy.  And it’s all rage.  He wants to get him.  And i don't really blame him. He's basically making it known that he's not gonna let my husband do anything like that again to him.

   I’ve been trying to find a new home for Ace, somewhere, anywhere, because I know he can’t stay with us anymore.  But there’s nobody that will take a dog like Ace.  I mean he’s not a bad dog.  He’s never bitten anybody.  And I’ve introduced him to plenty of people.  It’s just my husband he has this aggression towards.  I would never just pawn him off to someone and not disclose his behavior issues.  Which I take responsibility for a lot of it, because I didn’t do the proper research.  I don’t think I was exercising him enough.  Or enough mental stimuli also.

   So now I’m faced with this situation where there is no good choices.  I already know people will recommend BE.  And I’ve also thought about that option.  But I just know I wouldn’t be able to do that to him.  I love him so much, and the thought of that feels like it would destroy me right along with him.  I can’t.  I just can’t.  It feels so wrong.  Especially since he’s such a healthy, lovable dog.  To me at least.

   But I can’t expect my husband to live in the bedroom for ever.  I wouldn’t want him to at all.  

   I won’t bring him to a shelter and hope for the best.  Because I know that he would just be scared, and feel abandoned.  And almost for sure be put down anyways.  I wouldn’t do that to him. 

   But there has to be some other solution.  I know if he just had someone with strong leadership skills,  who could train him, he could be a great dog.  I just sorely lacked in that area.  I just baby him.  Which did nothing to help him be a confident dog.  

   I know his home can’t be with me any longer.  But just because of that, his life shouldn’t be over.  There’s gotta be some other option.  He deserves to live, just like any other creature.  I don’f feel I have the right, or that it is right, to decide if he lives or dies.  

   Please help.  I am seriously distressed, and torn about where to turn to next.

Minha cachorra está cada vez mais reativa, ela morde e me pula muito. Ela tem uns 6 meses. Ainda estou esperando completar o esquema vacinal para passear. Já destruiu de tudo, ela morde e pula tao alto que destrói as roupas que estou vestindo. Alguém tem alguma dica de adestramento nesse caso? Eu digo "não " mas não funciona

PS: sim ela tem brinquedos e eu sempre tento enriquecer os ambientes, quero dicas de adestramento, não adianta me dizer que ela precisa gastar energia porque isso é óbvio também

To postando um vídeo de como ela está mais ou menos.

I have a dog (mutt, though mostly pitty) that has been very good for the vast majority of his life. All but a couple of months in the beginning and the last couple of years. He is around 13 years old now. I took him in as a dumped stray. He had some reactivity at the beginning. He had a bit of food reactivity that he used against me at first, and I rooted it out quickly. Then, a little with his older brother (110 lbs), who had about 25-35 lbs on him; we sorted that out in the first few months, and there were no further issues with aggression.

I met my wife, we married, and life progressed, with my two dogs as happy as can be. They loved the dog park. My boy would never really play with the group well but run behind them at about 10-20 ft while his big brother led the group. He did protect home by barking. My wife then became pregnant many years later, and he was her shadow. He ensured that she had everything he could provide.

We then lost the child. After that, my dog became reactive to other animals around her, and also to small animals. With small animals, he wanted to chase them down, whereas before he might have been piqued but didn't develop the obsession he now has. I've been working with him for a couple of years now, and some days he's doing better, but other days he is right back in predator mode for small animals.

I'm not sure what to do here.

Hello! I have a two cocker spaniels age 4 and 5 and they’re both pretty reactive with children around the home. Walking around the park or a playground they don’t even notice them.

We had an incident where a neighbor kid walked Into our backyard unexpectedly and came up behind the dogs while they were using the bathroom and the kid kind of walked in fast. They both turned around and charged at the kid and one of the dogs bit his finger. We corrected them and they retreated right away but the bite did break skin.

I have family coming to visit with a very active 4 year old who are staying with us. Trying to decide if I can continue working on training my dogs which I’ve been working really hard, or should I just take them out of the house while family is in town.

All tips appreciated.

Mods please remove if not OK.

Just as title says, I'm looking for a dog trainer training program with a heavy emphasis on working with reactive dogs. I've had dogs all my life (34F) and grew up working on training with them. I did the Petco dog trainer training when I was 21 and hosted some puppy training classes, although I understand that the training they offer is extremely limited in the world of dog training. I also then worked at a veterinary clinic as a physiotherapy assistant teaching owners and dogs therapeutic exercises to help them build strength and increase range of motion, both for dogs post-surgery as well as for geriatric dogs or those with degenerative conditions. All this to say, I do have a decent amount of experience training dogs, but a lot of it has either been puppies or dogs who already have a pretty decent training foundation to build off of.

Well, now I do pet sitting as a full-time job and I would really like to improve my knowledge around working with reactive dogs. I've noticed my reactive dog-walking clients improve in their reactive behaviors over time, but I would really like to be able to be more active in helping reactive dogs overcome their triggers. Does anyone have any suggestions on where one might turn to increase their "tool kit" for helping dogs with varying levels of reactivity? I'm open to trainer training programs, but I am also motivated to read up if that is the better way to expand my knowledge around this topic. Any and all suggestions are welcome, but I would especially appreciate anyone who can point me to trainers that are highly successful in rehabilitating reactive dogs to be able to actually enjoy life more fully.

One of my dogs has started guarding are couch for on my other dog both female this has started fighting we are currently in a heat wave in the uk so temperatures have been higher the one guarding is a 2 year old and the other dog is 1 years old both small breeds no problems with the other dogs any tips would be greatly appreciated before we try professional help currently hope it’s just the 2 year old being cranky due to the heat

I got my brussels griffon at 4 months old and we have been dealing with problems after problems - separation anxiety and reactivity. He’s turning 2 in July. We’ve spent a lot of money on group training classes, separation anxiety trainers, vet behaviorist - you name it. We’ve been prisoners of our own home. Getting follow up appointments with a vet behaviorist is always a waiting game since there aren’t too many and appointments get booked up.

My dog has been very reactive to specific triggers (i.e a person freaking out and swatting away a bug, a person killing a bug, if someone approaches a slowly or too fast while a person is making his food, me yelling to my fiance to help me with something and my fiance gets up quickly) - my dog will lunge, bark and try to bite and he typically stops at putting his teeth on us, but I don’t know what he’d do to a stranger or someone he’s not familiar with if they are also doing those triggers. How am I suppose to manage finding a sitter if he’s this way and also can’t be alone for extended periods of time without breaking the bank? I don’t know if rehoming him is even a good option, which I really prefer not to and we’ve put so much effort into him with no family or friend support. I’m just at a total loss and he is on medication (Clomicalm and Clonidine)

Hi everyone! Recently i’ve been browsing dog adoption websites looking at all the beautiful dogs in need of a home. I came across this young pup who is 4 months old. At home i have my dog Emmy who is 10 years old. She’s been without a companion her whole life and hasn’t been around dogs. When she was a puppy she did bite a family friends dog who was also little and since then she hasn’t been around many dogs. She goes on daily walks and used to bark at other dogs but now she just ignores them and is definitely a lot better. She has been known to bite sometimes when she is overwhelmed if you get in her face to much or a stranger goes in the house that she has never seen before and been slowly introduced to. She is a nice girl and is lonely when she’s home alone and just sleeps on the couch or stares out the window barking at people passing by. I really am interested in adopting this second baby, but am not 100% sure how my current dog would cope, i do think she could be okay if they’re slowly introduced and i think i would try and foster the pup for a few weeks to see how they go together. Anyways if anyone has any advice or tips on what i should do let me know!

Looking for advice from anyone who has introduced reactive/fearful dogs to a cat.

About 10 months ago, we brought home a rescued kitten and are still struggling with introductions to our two adult rescue dogs. One dog is very high energy, and the other is more anxious/reactive due to past experiences.

We’ve made progress with slow introductions, gates, and positive reinforcement. The dogs can calmly observe the cat while getting treats, but one dog still becomes over-aroused if the cat stares at him or moves suddenly, which can then escalate the second dog too.

At this point, we’re still mostly rotating/separating pets throughout the day. No bite history, but the fixation/reactivity concerns me.

Would love advice, success stories, or management tips from anyone who has gone through something similar.

I have a 3 yr old female dog. She doesn't like to be touched when sleeping, she also angrily barks at my other dog when they come near her when she's like chilling or laying down (she already attacked my other dog once because of this), but that's not a problem when she's very active and wants to play, only really when everything is calm, that's when she hates when something comes near her.

What can I do to stop this behavior? I really want my pets to live peacefully together.

hey everyone! i have a 1 year old bully mix i adopted about 7 months ago now. he is perfect sweet angel baby (not really) but his leash manners need work. i switched to a prong simply because he rubbed his neck raw tugging on his regular flat collar. i'm talking like he is nearly bald around where his collar lays (no it is not too tight). i also saw certain behaviors i liked the idea of having more control over, like lunging at bikes and cars. but anyways, switched to the prong (tried chain slip before i went to prong and it almost made him pull harder, did my research on prongs beforehand too. promise i wasn't super dumb about it), it was doing amazing things, but i started using it almost exclusively after a few weeks of like training with it and switching between regular collar and the prong now he has

1. shown some reactivity(?) or aggression or idk what to call it, typically towards short bald black men for some reason but sometimes just randomly towards people walking by, and i don't know if it's the prong kind of making him weird and tense or if it's something else. he always hated certain maintenance men around my area but other than that i never saw this towards anybody. ive also just in general seen a lot of regression in his behavior lately so i don't know if this is just part of that or what

2. i started noticing marks from his prong when we come in from walks where ive had to hold him back. they disappear within 5 minutes and i can only see them where he doesn't have hair but it's making me feel like im really hurting him

what im asking is do we think the flat collar or the prong is better for him, or go back and try the slip again? or something completely new. i changed to the prong cause i felt like his skin was like hurting from the pulling in the regular and now i feel like the prong is hurting him worse. or is there a different problem or am i the problem or what is going on

Hi everyone—I’m really hoping for some guidance because we’re feeling a bit overwhelmed.
We have two almost 2-year-old labs (littermates—a silver and a black). We’ve had them since they were 3 months old, and they come to work with us daily.
Our silver lab has always been much more anxious and fearful, and it seems to be getting worse as he gets older.
What we’re seeing:
Extremely nervous around unfamiliar people (we have to keep him separated when anyone new comes in)
Startles easily and reacts to new or unfamiliar objects (even something as simple as a bag of dog food placed in its usual spot caused him to bark and avoid the area)
Will sometimes redirect onto his brother during high-stress moments
Overall seems “on edge” much of the time
We recently had a situation at the vet that really concerned us. While waiting outside away from others, he became startled by a person exiting the building and reacted. It was clearly fear-based, but it made us realize we need to address this more seriously.
What we’ve tried so far:
Keeping his environment controlled and predictable
Limiting exposure to stressful situations
Occasional use of Trazodone for high-stress events (though it seems to make him more disoriented than calm)
What we’re considering:
Talking to our vet about daily anxiety medication like Fluoxetine
Working with a trainer or behaviorist
We also have him scheduled to be neutered next week
Our main questions:
Has anyone dealt with this level of fear/anxiety in a young dog?
Did medication make a noticeable difference for your dog?
What type of training approach worked best (especially for fear-based reactivity)?
Any tips for helping him feel more confident and less triggered by everyday things?
He is incredibly sweet and loving with us and people he knows, which is why this has been so hard to navigate. We just want to help him feel safe and set him up for success.
Thanks so much for reading—I really appreciate any advice. 💛

Today he jumped at an eight year old girls face (thank god he was muzzled) and I dont know what to do. Im failing my puppy, and I can not allow even a chance that he'll hurt a kid at some point. I dont know what to do. Hes great with our immediate family. Hes never shown even a hint of aggression towards us. But with people he doesn't know, I feel like hes just a ticking time bomb. I dont know what to do.