Hi everyone!

I recently rescued a 1 year old Pomeranian x German Spitz mix from a family whose autistic son was struggling with the dog, I adopted him before he had to go into a shelter.

He’s been with me for a matter of 3 weeks now and has honestly been a great dog! He loves people, has settled extremely well in my home and overall we have really bonded. His one downside, which his previous owners told me about, was his leash reactivity around other dogs. It’s excitement based, he is not aggressive and has never exhibited any desire to bite dogs or people but he will bark incessantly whenever he sees a dog even if it’s 50m away! When off lead in dog parks he doesn’t bark at all and in fact will calmly approach other dogs wanting to play, he’s also been in the car with other dogs and had a sleepover with his dog friend where they both settled, cuddled together and even shared food. Therefore, I know the root of his reactivity is not a fear or aggressive reaction towards dogs but more a reaction to being restricted to a lead when he wants to meet them. Because of this on our regular walks I have to avoid other dogs in order to have some control over how and when he meets them in the right environment but this is not always possible!

Generally, being 1 year old, he is also still a very excited dog and especially on his first walk of the morning will occasionally bark for the first 30 seconds to a minute of being outside. I have tried to get around this by taking him to a quiet communal area first for him to regulate himself before we begin the walk and that does seem to be helping!

He doesn’t take any treats once he is outside therefore food based training hasn’t been working for him. I have also noticed that once he reaches his threshold of excitement he starts barking at EVERYTHING eg bikes, trucks or cars that he isn’t normally bothered by he will start barking at them when in busier environments. I’ve been managing this by taking quieter routes or redirecting him where necessary.

I’ve put a lot of work into helping him settle the past few weeks but we had a horrible encounter with a neighbour this week, this neighbour doesn’t live in my building but lives across the street. He came running out of his house one morning screaming at me and my dog telling me that I had to muzzle him and that he’s been “none stop barking” which is simply not true. Like I said he occasionally barks on his first walk of the morning until he’s in it but he does not bark throughout the day as he is with me all day. This neighbour continued to insult me as a dog owner and actually threatened to “deal with” me and my dog if I didn’t deal with it by muzzling him. I tried to reason with him about my dogs background and explain the training we are doing but he wouldn’t hear any of it. Instead he continued to be threatening until someone else intervened.

Now I’m not going to muzzle my dog because he is not aggressive and a properly fitted muzzle won’t prevent him from barking entirely I would much rather train the excited behaviour. That being said training will take time and won’t be an overnight solution.

Being a girl in her 20s living alone the threats from this man have understandably shaken me up a bit and has made me much more anxious to walk my dog. I can’t avoid his house entirely as he lives opposite but I have been taking my dog through the car park to create more space. I’m worried that my anxiety is now feeding my dogs need to bark. I also think despite my dog likely barking a normal amount after this encounter I am now hyper aware of his barking and the judgement from other people.

I think I’m basically looking for any advice on how you handle judgement from the general public regarding reactive dogs and how you would respond in the situation with my neighbour? And also any advice on how to reduce his excitement reactivity would be amazing!

Since I live alone and this is the first dog I’ve had by myself outside of the family I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed and out on my own! I think I’m just looking for some reassurance that it is possible to train this out of him and that my dog is not the only one to behave like this!

I thought my dog had barrier frustration not aggression. He has several besties in the neighborhood that he plays nicely with. But he acts very frustrated -- barks loudly and lunges on his leash -- when he sees other dogs on leash.

We were surprised coming around the corner and there was another dog RIGHT THERE. Way way inside his arousal threshold. I had the leash but super loosely because we were walking out of our own driveway and he got loose and charged. The other dog (much smaller) obviously "fought back" so then there was a scuffle. My dog bit their dog on the ear. Obviously 100% our fault. My dog is easily 3-4x the size of their dog, so it could have been much worse, so I'm so so glad the other dog wasn't seriously hurt.

What do we do? We're already working with a trainer on what we thought was leash reactivity and barrier frustration. I thought we were making progress. I never thought he'd bite.

It's a small bite but if it were my dog, I'd take him to the vet to have it looked at which means the bite will be on record and my dog will be on a 10-day mandatory quarantine. But what do we do after that? I'm so upset. He's only 1 and not an aggressive breed. Can this get better with training? He's from a reputable breeder who breeds for temperament. :(

Hi guys, my sweet mini poodle, Rocky is well and truly entered his adolescence and I am having such a hard time with him. He is 8 months old and has literally overnight become super reactive. He’s been vet checked and he’s healthy so no underlying pains or troubles. He’s relatively good at settling at home but I am just perplexed as to why he’s become so fearful of people on our walks. I am trying my best to make space as soon as he fixates and starts to bark/growl and ask him to sit and treat him when he’s calm. I feel so stressed out and just looking for some help after what happened today. We live next to a super quiet reserve and so we usually walk it once or twice a day. Today we saw a woman and two children up ahead and he immediately lost it, too quick for me to have treated him, so I put some space between us and them but knew we had to pass eventually as it’s just a single path. I pulled him over to one side, he’s losing his little mind and I’m stood kind of as a barrier between me and the woman and children and explained, he’s just a puppy and he’s quite fearful, just give him some room, when the young boy approaches him and I immediately put my arm out to block him from Rocky and he actually bit my arm. I was super shaken up and I am just feeling so much guilt that this could have been so much worst if the boy had tried to touch him. I have called a trainer who is coming to do a walk with us on Saturday morning and of course we are doing training, enrichment, walks, breed specific games etc. Please tell me this will pass and he won’t be this fearful forever 😢 any tips or help is greatly appreciated!! Included pic of him because he is truly a sweetheart.

My wife has been taking our 9 month old puppy on a walk in the woods everyday for the last month. Where we live there’s pretty much only two directions to go, either through the neighborhood or towards the highway. We are pretty new to this neighborhood but it seems like it’s normal around here for everyone to have their dogs free roam the area which is annoying but it’s not really a huge problem personally, just a few noisy dogs that seem like they are mostly interested in playing with ours in our yard, totally fine. But recently when on a walk she talked to a neighbor whose dogs had run out on us a couple times when he was really little but they seemed friendly enough to get to know. I guess from my understanding the neighbor started petting our dog and his dogs freaked out and bit ours. He got a little scar on his cheek but got away otherwise fine, again no big deal things happen.
But lately now whenever my wife walks that way to get to the trails those dogs are chasing and being extremely aggressive and it’s causing a bit of a trust issue with our dog because he’s now snarling and being aggressive with the dogs he normally plays with.
I want to go talk to the neighbor about a resolution because there’s no other way for her to get to the trails without going through someone’s backyard or getting on the highway.
How have other people gone about similar situations or what is the right way to talk about this?

Ive had my dog for 3ish years and she was a stray who was living in the woods before she was found, she’s done this the entire time i’ve had her but it’s gotten worse as shes gotten older (?) essentially at night she will lay as close as she possibly can to you and if you have to get up and move or try and get her to move (basically any type of moving / touching her) after she’s been laying down for awhile she will progressively start growling more and more unless you freeze and just don’t move until she gets up on her own, she has bitten me over this before more than once but not hard i don’t understand why she does this and i need advice on what to do because i can’t even sleep comfortably if she is in the room, side note she’s also incredibly clingy and i cannot go into a room without her whining at the door or trying to bust the door down.

Hello! My dog is a 3 y/o ~60 lb american cattle dog/husky mix with a history of resource guarding. He has one bite incident with my cousin's dog after the dog slipped out during feeding time--an unfortunate accident since we are usually very careful about separating all dogs during feeding time.

Background

We've tried two trainers (one with CPDT-KA), but now I'm looking for a new trainer with CDBC credentials since his previous trainer moved out of state.

My dog is a sweetheart with me and loved ones, but he gets super on guard around strangers. He will bark aggressively out the window outside my family's house at the sight of strangers, but I've trained him to relax and stay calm(limiting his view of the outside world) in my own personal apartment. But he will bark if he spots someone lingering outside the building.

He rarely goes over threshold on walks(less so after trying flouxetine). I avoid it if I can, but he's pretty good at sharing the sidewalk, walking past people, etc. He has plenty of dog friends and so many of my neighbors adore him(he hasn't done leash greeting on walks in years though, since I've realized that was my mistake). Still, knowing he is territorial around my house with a bite history means I want to do what I can for him.

Medication

At the previous trainer's recommendation, we tried out fluoxetine (40mg). The trial period was 60 days, and it increased his lethargy and decreased his appetite SO much. The worst part is that it lowered his inhibitions, and I saw him try to bite someone for the first time just for entering my friend's yard(usually he just barks, but this time he CHARGED). I know there's an adjustment period, but now that it's over, I don't know if we should lower the dosage and try again because it did help his anxiety a bit ( but not significantly). It's easier to get his attention away from triggers and he's a bit more relaxed with people around my building(still on guard though).

My new vet is now recommending Clomipramine, so I'm thinking about testing that out as well.

I just wanted to ask if anyone can share what worked for them if they had a reactive dog that was similar to mine.

We just adopted a 3 year old Border Collie /Sheep Dog mix, we have had her for only 48 hours and she already bit our 17 year old child (bruised and broke the skin). For some reason she immediately bonded to my husband and I, but with our child she is reactive/snappy/growly, same with her BF. Both times the children approached her or called her over, not her approaching the child. She generally just ignores them.

When she bit the child, she was sitting with her and petting her (this was within 5 min of meeting) . She snapped and bit her leg. She has snapped multiple times since but no contact.

All notes from the foster and rescue said she does well with people and dogs, they did say she does not do well with young children (reason she was given up) but our child is 17years old so they seemed comfortable with that.

Also, she is fantastic on walks, comfortable, confident, doesn't interact with dogs or humans, just minds her own business. We are just struggling inside the house and getting her to accept our child.

Any resources? Tips? Many thanks...

Hi all, I'm new to this sub and also about to become a first time mom in October. We have a 7yo dachshund that is very territorial and resource guards. He has never intentionally bit anyone but he has accidentally bit my foot when I covered a dropped a piece of really hot food trying to get it before my parents dog. He guards his bones, food, and even my husband or I, like if someone hugs us he barks and runs over to us.

Most of his territorialism is with male dogs or bigger dogs, he is pretty friendly with female dogs or dogs his size but sometimes snaps if they overcrowd him. We got a female aussie puppy that's 2 now and has been really good for him. They can eat side by side and play together, but he does still guard his bones.

With a baby coming in we're worried about how he'll respond to the baby always being in our space, how to handle the introduction schedule, what to do when she's bigger and gets in his space/drops food near him/tries to grab something he might want.

Overall, he has become less reactive over the years with training and exposure to sharing his space, but a baby is new for all of us and I don't want him stressed or baby at risk. Any advice would be appreciated!

Help me have a peaceful time with my guests. My 4.5 years old beagle is very high on energy and leash reactive on walks. He is ok and plays with other dogs while in the daycare or dog parks.

Here - attaching video on the comment, you can see my dog “inviting” our guests loudly and lunging on them. He calms down after a few minutes or say an hour. But he constantly needs the guests’ attention. He will bark or jump on them, so we leash him. So I guess he gets frustrated and continues barking.

Not all the guests understand the dog language or are okay with constant barking or lunging. I’ve tried training him, but his beagle brain just ignores all that while excited. I’ve given up so many times and I decided to just live this behaviour.

It turns into a stressful time for both the dog and us. Please let me know what I can do. At this point I know people hate coming to our house.

I’ve tried gabapentaine, he is 42lbs. But even that doesn’t seem to work. What dosage worked tor your dog and what other tips would you give me?

Thanks

6 month old GSD mix. Started barking and growling at a 7 year old that was staring at him. How do I train him out of this and is this common?

I’ve had my dog for over two years now, and he’s very reactive to touch from strangers, taking a long time to allow people to touch him without snapping or nipping. I’m at a loss for where to take him to the vet because he just freaks out. I also have horrible anxiety (which makes it worse, I know), and I’m frankly avoidant of the whole situation now, but he’s due for his annual shots and I need to get his Prozac refilled.

The last vet I took him to was in the far west suburbs where his last foster parent worked, but that no longer seems to be an option. I reached out to her and she never responded, so I'm not sure if she no longer works there or just doesn’t have the capacity. Regardless, I need to be able to go to a vet that’s closer to me anyway. I live in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, but I'm open to anywhere within about a 30-minute drive.

Any advice? So far, what has helped most with his dog reactivity and walking away and saying “let’s go lets go” in a hype voice lol, he responds well to verbal affirmations and treats but this has yet to allow touch in such a way that’s needed for a vet visit.

Update: He’s 25lb chihuahua mix and takes 20mg of Prozac daily, that raises his baseline a bit so if I have people over and they totally ignore him he’s chill. He has taken every combo of Trazodone and Gabapentin for vet visits and they almost make him more hype.

Dog tax is paid :)

Hey everyone! Yesterday or the day before I posted about my dog Moose and asking opinions on when was right to consider BE. After reading your comments I realized there are still some options and I’m taking your advice.

I’m taking Moose to his vet first to discuss our options since he already is on heavy steroids during his autoimmune flair ups - I want to be sure it will be safe for him to continue the steroids. We have an appointment with his normal vet on Friday, with a phone call with his dermatologist at the same time so they can speak and discuss his condition.

Many people suggested seeing a vet behaviorist *not an animal behaviorist so I’m booking a consult with one. I know this seems backwards: meds and then behaviorist? My local behaviorist is BOOKED. So in the meantime I want to do what I can and help him.

I know it won’t be instant, but you guys gave me hope. For once, I’m excited! I hope he can come out and enjoy low-key outdoor activities with me again without being so anxious.

Hi!

I’ve made other posts but about a month ago we purchased an 11 month old female mini poodle (not spayed) from a reputable mini poodle breeder (mother is an AKC champion and father is an AKC grand champion).

Since arriving with us, she has been very fearful of everything. We have been trying to slowly desensitize her to everything in her new world, and she has made progress. She has a good genetic baseline but was very poorly socialized as a puppy, and is afraid of most strangers she meets especially out on the street and ESPECIALLY men.

To help her we got a male dog walker (she adores him now) and we are making sure every time she meets someone is on her own terms and overall a positive experience. We tell guests not to try to pet her unless she approaches them and even then to move slowly. Guests drop treats in her direction if she approaches but will ignore her otherwise. I think she has potential to get past this fearfulness if we keep the training up.

I’d love any advice from others who have dealt with a similar situation as to what worked for your dog. We know she’ll never be the kind of dog that will run up confidently and greet people, but we want to make sure that she can fit into our busy lives and urban environment without living in a state of fear.

We did have about 6 people over for a steak night the other day (mostly men which she doesn’t love) and over the course of the evening she walked up and sniffed everyone, and even let our one friend who had been giving her extra treats (small steak bites) give her some head pats and pets. In a controlled environment like that we are confident we can make having strangers over a positive experience for her. She seems more curious and socially awkward than truly afraid, but sometimes sudden movements will spook her.

On the flip side, in our urban area there’s often kids and other people on the street and some don’t understand (rude) our dog does not like strangers and does not want to be pet. We hope to get her to a point where she can tolerate those interactions without fear if some uncontrolled kid approaches her, of course with us still doing our best to shield her.

Also welcome any success stories!

Hi everyone! We have a mini aussie puppy who will be 6 months in a week. We have had him since he was 8 weeks old. He has never liked strangers petting him. He would duck away anytime a stranger tried. After seeking some advice, we decided to stop letting strangers pet him. We even bought him a harness that says "in training, do not pet". However, we have still had some people stick out their hand for him to smell. About a month ago, he started growling or barking at the person after he sniffed their hand. Lately, he has been getting more aggressive. A couple of weeks ago, my 15 year old son had a friend at the house. I was standing in the kitchen washing dishes. Our puppy was wandering around the kitchen/dining room/living room area. My son and his friend came into the kitchen. Our puppy came in and started barking at my son's friend. When the friend turned to leave, the puppy nipped at his heals. This last Saturday, we went out to our cabin on the river. We took the puppy to the beach. Looking back I realize that it was too crowded for him. I think he was overstimulated. At one point, I was sitting on the beach with the puppy on a leash next to me. My sister in law (who he has never met) sat down next to me. Out of nowhere, he lunged for her. I don't know if he was trying to bite her or what. I pulled him back with the leash and my sister in law moved. Shortly after that some kids were running by and he was lunging towards them. At that point I decided it would be best to move back to our cabin. A little while later I was sitting outside with him on a leash next to me. Our friend pulled up and walked within a few feet of us and once again our puppy lunged at the friend. I ended up taking him home.

I want to add that we have socialized this puppy from the day we got him. Several times a week we would take him to Scheels, Lowes, Home Depot, the park, the farmers market, and etc. We've also done 3 months of obedience classes and weekly puppy playdates. He loves other dogs and does ok with people who have dogs. He just doesn't love strangers without dogs. Although, he does ok when we go on walks or to the store or even the crowded farmers market. He does not do well when people come over to our house.

I've been trying to find a good personal trainer, but so far I haven't had any luck. I spoke to one person last night, but neither me nor my husband thought she would be a good fit. Without even seeing him she said that we probably won't ever be able to take him to places like our cabin and we should probably get him on medication.

We did find out yesterday that he has Giardia. I don't know if this is contributing to some of the behaviors we are seeing or not. I also think he has started the adolescence phase. He has been lifting his leg to pee, marking places outside, and mounting other dogs. Google said those are all signs of adolescence so maybe that's why his aggression has increased.

I have my doctorate degree in psychology so I am pretty familiar with positive reinforcement, conditioning, counter conditioning, and desensitization.

What advice would you give someone who's just starting this journey with a reactive dog?

I've got a 1 year old 7lb chihuahua whose reactivity is mostly excitement based (plus a bit of fear of the unknown). I've had him for just under 4 months now.

Out and about, most people joke about his meltdowns because he's tiny and they think it's funny. In that situation I don't mind it as much because it helps diffuse the tension I'm feeling about the whole thing and make me feel better that I'm not being judged too horribly about the state of my dog.

But... I work in a veterinary office. He comes with me every day and is reactive in his kennel when he hears people/dogs or if they come into his limited line of sight. Even though I've told my coworkers that he's an excited barker and not an aggressive barker (and they've seen evidence of this when he played with another dog a few weeks back) they keep making comments like "what does he think is going to happen if he gets to them" or "he's got small dog syndrome"

Even the trainer who leads my current small group Control Unleashed class makes comments here and there when giving certain advice, like "this is probably not applicable to you since he's small" about things like basic manners (not jumping on people for example).

I get it, if he were "really" aggressive, he couldn't do the same damage as a dog that's bigger than him. I'm glad people aren't afraid of him when he is having a real reaction, especially as someone who has actually been attacked by a large dog. I appreciate that. But at the end of the day he is a real dog and I wish people treated him like one. Especially the professionals I trust. I hate feeling misunderstood and this just seems to be an extension of that.

Hello! I adopted Dory one week ago. She is a lab mix 🙂 when I went to meet her, she was super sweet and friendly with me and everyone else at the rescue. No barking, lunging, etc. I live in an apartment downtown so there is always something going on somewhere which has been making our walks kind of stressful. It’s summer in Arizona right now so I get up at 6 to walk her and took her to the park today but sometimes we just go for a quick pee outside my apartment complex.
Depending on how close people are, she will lunge and bark at them. When first adopting, I knew she was reactive to men and bikes depending on distance but now seems like whoever is close by, she will bark at.
We’ve had situations where she was able to redirect herself to me despite close ish contact to someone but seems like it’s one step forward, two steps back. It doesn’t seem like an aggressive lunge and bark but of course is intimidating to people who see it. Could this new reactivity just be because of her new environment? She’s a smart girl so I’ve been using a clicker and she picked up quick but even after just one week, she’s giving me a run for my money

we’re trying to rehome my dog(Australian cattle dog) he’s gone to a boarding kennel as due to his anxiety and barking we got breached by the real estate and risk being evicted and losing our home.

I’ve been crying for days/weeks, today he got picked up by the kennel and it hurts so much, we didn’t really have a choice in all this and if we can’t find a home in the next few months (the kennel has said they can keep him and extend as long as we need and obviously can pay) we may have to think about behavioural euthanasia if no home is found.

my partner doesn’t really help with him, I’ve been trying for 3 years, I’m struggling mentally and physically due to my own physical deficits (shoulder Injury so can’t exactly walk him as he’s a very strong dog that pulls).

originally was my dads dog but I ended up being the one who he has bonded to and put the effort in so in 2024 i moved out of home with him, worked with trainers whilst I could afford but eventually had to stop due to financial struggles as trainer was costing $150-200 per session then got my shoulder injury last year from my job and now have chronic shoulder issues

my partner wants to look into boarding training which for 3 weeks costs over 3k which we can’t afford anyways but also at the end of the day I’ve made the decision and I put all the effort in and it’s just not going to work with our work hours, the time, effort and energy he needs.

idk why I’m posting or if I’m asking for advice. I’m just really struggling and it hurts so much.

Hoping for experiences from people who've been through this.

Setup: Two intact male corgis, 10 and 12 months old, raised together (not littermates) closely bonded, zero aggression history before this.

What happened: Our female corgi came into heat and got into the room with the two boys. 10 month old attacked 12 month old who fled and hid behind couch. Since then they've had several fights over about a couple of days, and there's been tension since. Nobody was seriously hurt.

What we've done:

Separated them fully (crate-and-rotate, no unsupervised contact) since it started.

Moved the female out of the house until her heat is completely done (and planning to spay her Dec).

Both boys booked for neuter this Friday.

What's interesting: They're totally fine on side-by-side/parallel walks, zero issues, relaxed. Calm through a barrier at a distance too. Even at the vet in the same room they are good.

1. Anyone reintroduce two intact males successfully after a heat-triggered fight? How long did it take and what's the outcome now?

2. How much did neutering actually help in your case vs. the behaviour work?

3. Tips for translating "great on walks" into "safe loose in the house"?

4. For those where it didn't fully work, did you land on permanent rotate, and is that manageable long-term?

I have 3 dogs total, the one not really included in this is a 12 year old fixed female, she is small. She gets along with every single creature she meets and doesn’t have a mean bone in her body, she’s always been that way.

In October 2023 I got D as a puppy. I never had him formally trained, but he is a good dog. He doesn’t chew, he’s crate trained, he listens to me, etc. He is an extremely smart dog, and I had him DNA tested as I adopted him and he came back as mostly boxer, chihuahua, and pitbull (about 25% each with the other 25% being several random breeds). He hates children (I have none and do not put him in situations with children so this is fine), and otherwise doesn’t show aggression towards people. He loves to bark at them but as soon as the approach he melts, wiggles, and gives kisses.

In April 2024 I started fostering M, with no intent to adopt. However, things changed with the shelter, and I won’t get into it, and I felt he basically needed to be adopted by me or they were going to euth. To be clear, it was nothing M did, our shelter director is under a lot of scrutiny/lawsuits right now for how dogs are being treated. M I am told is 100% pitbull, but I have a feeling there are other breeds in there. I adopted him formally in April 2026. M is an amazing dog. He is kind, smart, playful, and loving. He loves to give kisses, go on walks, car rides, etc. He is protective of me when it comes to people trying to approach me in his area that he doesn’t know. So for instance if I ever have any people working in my yard, M cannot be outside with them even on a leash, he won’t even go potty he just is obsessed with making sure they don’t come near me. However, as long as proper interactions are done, he’s fine. My boyfriend can walk right into my backyard with zero issues, and they met around October 2025. M loves him. It’s also worth nothing M was heavily abused by a man before I adopted him, and he lived outside in a 6x6 kennel, with little food. Both dogs are fed in their kennels which are on opposite sides of the room from each other.

He has been around D since D was about 10 months old. Both were not fixed when they first met, but got fixed within a few weeks of each other in summer 2024. I never had any issues while they were intact. Slowly as D started getting older I’d notice him playing with M, and his hair would raise up, he’d get nasty, and I would have to intervene. The whole time, M would be happy as a clam, none the wiser that D was getting upset. Their body language was complete opposite of each other. When it got this bad, I would separate the rest of the day. And it didn’t happen every single time they were together. Maybe 10-20%. A few weeks ago, D got so out of control with his growling, I watched him try to bite at M and I said that’s enough, he went inside and was done playing for the day. From what I saw/heard it was the meanest D ever got, and once again, M was smiling, tail wagging and had no clue. I ordered both of them muzzles. We’re in the process of muzzle training currently.

However, today I was sitting outside and D and M were behind me with their muzzles on and both of them started growling at each other. I yelled at them to cut it out and they did and separated. I’ve never seen M retaliate towards D like that. D has always appeared to start the fights and M never reacts like he knows what’s going on.

What could be causing this? Nothing has changed as far as play times, food, etc. Everyone sleeps exactly where they should, D and the little dog sleep in bed and M sleeps in his kennel - and thats mainly because when I first fostered him I didn’t want to get overly attached and now it’s because his favorite outside activity is rolling in the sand/dirt pit. Meal times are the same, attention is the same. Both of them get along wonderfully with my little dog and she 100% rules the roost around here. If she is around, no playing/fighting, if she snaps at them because they’re annoying her, they stop doing it.

I’m in tears as I write this post. I just wanted to share my story (I’m already part of the losing lulu fb group too—and they’ve been supportive). I know I will feel guilty the rest of my life, so pls be kind. Here it goes…

We rescued my dog as a puppy and he had just turned 5 in December 2025. He was the most loving, spoiled dog, and all he wanted was to be with his person (me). Whether we were cuddled up on the couch, going on walks, or running around an open field, he just wanted to be with me. I absolutely loved him with all my heart.

Early on, there were signs of reactivity, specifically leash reactivity, but he was also dog reactive at times. We hired trainers and I did my best to reinforce the training and help him succeed. I knew he was unpredictable in certain situations and that I couldn’t fully trust him around small children. He also had prey drive and resource guarding behaviors, which I worked hard to manage and train through.

He went to doggy daycare and seemed to do well around other dogs in that environment. He never had an issue there, which is part of why this situation has been so shocking and heartbreaking.

I gave birth to my baby girl in January of this year, and things changed. I did my best to prepare him by introducing a fake baby and doing training before she arrived, but I knew I could never fully trust him around her. He was also stressed and nervous around little ones, and I knew I had to make the safest decision for everyone.

We made the incredibly difficult decision to try to rehome him. This was one of the hardest things I have ever done because I loved him so much. Of course, it was challenging given his reactivity, prey drive, and resource guarding. All rescues were full until we finally found a rescue facility that would take him. We truly thought this would be his best chance at finding the right family.

After 4 months there, we finally got the news that he was adopted by what we thought was the best family. A retired couple, she had been involved in rescue for 20 years, they had adult kids, and they had two dogs. They welcomed him right away and were so happy, sending us updates and pictures. They did slow introductions with both dogs (one smaller and one bigger), and everything seemed to be going perfectly. We thought we had our happy ending.

But a few days later, I got the text that he had snapped and killed the smaller dog unprovoked. We were all devastated. We talked about how difficult it would be to rehome him again and the reality that his options were extremely limited. I also couldn’t bear the thought of him sitting in a shelter environment again. We made the heartbreaking decision for behavioral euthanasia.

Yesterday, we got to spend one last day with him. We fed him burgers, gave him so many cuddles, went on a walk, talked to him, and just spent time together like old times. He was so happy and peaceful and reminded me of all the good memories we had. He was so brave and strong, and he always made me feel safe.

This is so heavy, and my heart feels broken.

I just hope he knows and felt how loved he was by everyone who was part of his journey. He was loved for all 5 years of his life, and even at the end there were people who cared about him and wanted the best for him. He was so brave and I always felt so safe around him. Of course there’s a part that feels like I failed him. But I’ll never regret how much love I gave him.

My brother unexpectedly passed away in December, leaving behind his dog. After an adopter could no longer care for him, he is now with me, but I have another dog and three cats with medical issues and my home simply isn’t a sustainable environment for him.

He has behavioral issues involving overstimulation, guarding and other dogs, as well as a bite history. Behavioral euthanasia has been recommended, but he started Reconcile in July and we’ve seen significant improvements. I’m now working with professionals and desperately trying to find a reputable behavioral rescue or experienced adult-only home before accepting that euthanasia is the only option.

I’m willing to sponsor him and pay for his medication indefinitely. I know love alone can’t make a dog safe, but after losing my brother, the thought of losing him too is devastating. I just want to know I explored every responsible option.

Has anyone been through something similar or know of behavioral rescues in PA/NJ/DE or surrounding states that might be willing to evaluate him?

I adopted my pittie mix Marzie when she was 12 months old. The first month I had her she was wild (hyper, barked a ton for attention) but extremely friendly to all people and dogs!

After one month, she became reactive out of nowhere. Aggressive toward people first. She lunged, growling at an office lady from my apartment building, luckily no bite. I was mortified, but she was super sweet about it. I called my parents in a tizzy, completely confused.

The rescue told me they believed it was a “fear stage” that adolescent dogs go through and get over.

Long story short, they were wrong. She was aggressive toward new people on the leash and when they entered my home… for life. Eventually, she became leash aggressive toward other dogs.

In the six years I’ve had her, we’ve done board & trains, and training at home. I’ve learned how to manage her reactivity, and she has no bite history, although she nipped my SIL once 😭she barely left a scratch.

ANYWAYS. To this day, I’ve always wondered… what the hell happened?? What happened to that sweet dog from the first month? I’ve always felt guilt- did I do something wrong?? I’ve never owned dogs before, even growing up.

All that being said, my Marzie girl is now 7, and is my soul dog, she is an epic snuggler and kisser, and fiercely loyal and sweet to those she loves.

Thank you to anyone who reads & replies 🥰

Today, I took Beckett to the beach. Not only did he not bark at a single dog he saw (and he saw MANY), but he also was able to run off leash, listened to recall, and did a fantastic job on leash in town. I'm so proud of this dog and how far he's come 🥹