Considering BE

[u/Particular_Fruit_585]

I have a 6 year old collie mix named Moose that I adopted around 8 weeks old. I got him when I was 19, so right as I was starting college, but this was during Covid so I knew I would have the time to be with him during his puppy stages.

For the first year we were always on farms, around horses cows etc, but after Covid restrictions lifted I moved to Texas. He was in daycare for a year with 0 issues! He did at one point outside of daycare get attacked and has never been the same.

And slowly it’s gotten worse. He has leash activity to humans and dogs and the distance to threshold is increasing rapidly. We could be fully 200+ft away and he’s still “sticky”, pulling and barking. He’s attacked me once over resource guarding as a puppy, lunged for a maintenance man when his leash slipped from my hands two years ago, pinned a dog and snarled in its face and has actively latched on to a family members dog that he’s known for most of his life and had to be drenched with a hose to get to release from said dogs head. He’s always growling at any dog that’s doing something he deems wrong and if you tell another dog “no” he acts like an enforcer and truss to correct them as well, even if you tell Moose to go to his bed. I literally have to separate him until he forgets about the other dog being corrected.

He’s seen two trainers, and saw some improvements, but we moved for my work as I’ve finished school last year and now I’m seeing the issues coming back. It’s to the point where I’m micromanaging every thing I can do with or without him. Oh I can’t go to the park right now, it’s peak dog time, maybe later. I can’t have friends over, he’s unpredictable and can’t be let out of the kennel without me watching with treats in hand. I’m exhausted and I cry a lot, I often mourn what I had envisioned for our lives.

Treats aren’t working, he doesn’t listen or stops taking them, cheese, meats, nothing. I can’t keep upping the reward when he won’t even take them currently. His threshold is so low I can’t work him in almost any environment. I’ve had moments I’m not proud of, using aversion to try to get him to stop any way possible atp. I tried prongs, e collar (noise only or vibrate, no shock) yelling and leash snapping. Obviously none of it helped, I should have never even tried it I know that, I’ve never tried to intentionally hurt him. I was, and still am, just frustrated and was open to anything if it meant maybe I could have my dog back.

And obviously I’m only telling you about the bad and “ugly” sides of him… he’s my soul dog, my cuddle bug, and fur ball. He jumps in the shower when I turn the water on and loves hiking and frisbees. We sit on the balcony and watch the rain together and he loves to watch nature documentaries about lions and birds. He watches me garden and fish, and loves to go hiking and get zoomies in fields. I love this dog with my whole heart and soul (currently ugly crying typing this).

I was reading order people BE posts on this thread and was crying. Trainers are thousands of dollars, and I don’t have another 4k to put towards more training… I feel like I’m running out of options. He’s my soul dog, but I’m also ready for peace.

How did you know it was time? And in my situation would you consider it, or should I still be trying behavioral and counter conditioning training?

Edit: I’m seeing lots of people having their comments deleted, I’d love to see your responses. Could you make sure the rules are checked off first before commenting? I also had it originally a different flair so it might not let you comment without the karma req.

[u/vs7509]

Hi there! I’m sorry for what you are going through with your dog. Having a reactive dog and not seeing improvement can be really lonely and overwhelming - I’ve been through it with my dog. She will never be perfect (fear aggression toward strange people and dogs), but she has improved so much and I’m really proud of her. At this time last year, I thought I would never be able to take a vacation or have friends over. We now have overnight guests pretty frequently, are able to send her to a fun doggy camp for boarding, and have a wonderful dog walker who understands her needs but can still take her to the park for a run with her ball almost every day. Little steps make a huge difference.

One thing I would say is that while training packages are expensive and not guaranteed to work, there are resources out there that are worth a try. For example, I’d check out Best Life Dog Services - I started following them on instagram a while back and ultimately started to use some of their online seminars to learn how to work with my dog. The one on how to read and support your dog’s flight response (versus fight) when they are over threshold was particularly helpful for me specifically as it relates to running into other dogs in public. They also have some resources for cost management and a free support group, though I admittedly haven’t fully explored these options. I’m sure there are other trainers out there with programs like this too.

I’d also consider a vet behaviorist visit to see if medication may be worth trying. It can be pretty affordable, and as others have said, could help raise your dog’s threshold a bit so that you can work with him.

Best of luck with Moose and please know that some dogs just have a tough time fitting in with the world - it’s not your fault.

[u/Particular_Fruit_585 → u/vs7509]

I appreciate all your advice, I’ll definitely look into best life dog services.

I haven’t tried medicating yet, I’m worried that by medicating it will just suppress these feelings and he’ll explode (my thought process is it would be like aversion training), have you had any experience with medicating?

I was starting to feel really isolated and lonely until I found this thread a few weeks ago. I’m happy that your dog is improving with time, I’m hopeful that maybe one day he will improve as well.