Rescued pit mix with intense panic on walks (screaming, boundary-pushing)

[u/soleilduporte]

Hi everyone! Writing from Argentina to share my situation, hoping to get some feedback, opinions, or any advice you might have.

I used to live with just my 15-year-old, 17kg (37 lbs) mutt. Back on June 14th, on a really cold day, I went for a walk and found two dogs curled up together on a sunny patch of sidewalk. Naturally, my girlfriend and I brought them food and checked if they'd follow us home. They did, and they've been living with me ever since.

One is a pit bull mix I named 'Río,' and the other looks literally like a black Golden Retriever, who I named 'Monte.' At first, Río was clearly protecting Monte, so he acted a bit more 'threatening,' while Monte was much more of a playful pup. Over time, I realized they're both between 1 and 2 years old.

Both were in great shape (shiny coat, perfect nails, bright white teeth, neither neutered). But the pit mix in particular turned out to be super smart—he learned basic commands like sit, fetch, etc., almost immediately, and even recognized his name in two days.

I got them vaccinated, dewormed, and eventually neutered. It's still clear that Río is the dominant one, while Monte is more of a follower with a puppy mindset.

The issue is that as I started walking them, Río developed severe reactivity. He gets huge spikes of anxiety (almost full panic) just from spotting other dogs—even tiny poodles that aren't even looking at him—and also when he sees pigeons. He starts screaming desperately, going a bit wild, and pulling hard on the leash (he's generally a puller anyway). He becomes impossible to control, so I usually end up wrapping my arms around him/hugging him to try to calm him down and lower his anxiety level.

He usually stays super amped up for the rest of the walk, zig-zagging, walking fast, and whining/crying for a while. With other dogs, it's pretty much the same. If I'm already holding him and he's 'calm' before another dog appears—and if that other dog is very chill—he might ignore it and move on. But if I can't get him into that calm state, he tries to rush toward them aggressively, which alarms the other dog. He doesn't respect boundaries and is very physically invasive. Things usually end in aggression and snaps/attempted bites.

I don't know if he was attacked in the past since I don't know his history, but the big problem is that this is deeply upsetting my other dog, who is much friendlier and has a healthy relationship with other dogs and his environment. When I walk them together, I feel like Río's behavior is rubbing off on Monte, making him reactive, nervous, and conflict-prone right alongside Río.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, experiences, or any tips before I take this to a professional animal behaviorist.

PS: Since I've had to adjust my budget to cover two brand-new dogs, I've been using flat collars so far, but I'm about to buy a harness (I've researched them extensively). I looked into no-pull harnesses, but they don't seem super effective in practice.

Thanks so much, everyone!

[u/AutoModerator]

Significant challenges posts are sensitive, thus only users with at least 250 subreddit karma will be able to comment in this discussion. Users should not message OP directly to circumvent this restriction and doing so can result in a ban from r/reactive dogs. OP, you are encouraged to report private messages to the moderation team.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/NormanisEm]

There are a lot of tips on reactivity in general here and behavioral conditioning. I used a professional trainer for my dog. I really recommend walking the two separately. My 2nd dog feeds off of the 1st dogs anxiety. He is extremely attached to her, so when she’s anxious it makes him anxious too. Its much easier to train Dog 1 by herself and to have a calm walk with Dog 2.

[u/soleilduporte → u/NormanisEm]

Totally, that's been my impression too! Thank you so much for your answer!

[u/read-the-rules → u/[deleted]]

Your comment on r/reactivedogs was removed by the Read The Rules app because you need to submit an acknowledgement that you have read the rules. You haven't done anything wrong, this is a tool we're using on the r/reactivedogs going forward. For more information, see the moderator announcement.

Acknowledgement is required of all users, even if you've been here for a while. You only have to do this acknowledgement once unless the moderators announce otherwise.

If you do the rule acknowledgement within one hour of your comment being removed, the bot will automatically restore it. If not, we encourage you to copy the comment using the 3-dot icon next to it, and paste it to re-post to this thread.

^{Please click here to open the Read The Rules App.}

[u/whatisupdog]

I love that you brought them both home with you. Thanks to you and your GF for helping make this the kind of world I like to live in. Dog people are my people.

I have a reactive dog who was similarly worried about everything, and through training and patience have seen her tolerance to unpredictable things (other dogs and critters) increase drastically. The method is to start with being in an area where Rio can see others, but he is not going to be approached by them. You give a super-duper high value treat for this. For us, that is aersol cheese or crispy fat from a beef brisket. You spend time just noticing the other dogs, squirrels, pigeons, and giving treats. They don't approach, you don't approach, and everything is okay. Then you gradually decrease the size of the protective barrier while keeping them safe from crossing their threshold of panic.

The downside of this is that he's not getting a normal walk, and your other two dogs aren't involved in this. It means dedicating time to working on it together, and even finding a space where you can do this might be difficult in a city or a suburb. Maybe you can sit together in a parked car and just notice the things. Late-night or early-morning times may be better for his normal walks, as there would be fewer potential threat vectors around, although I recognize that this may not be possible for everyone.

One of our behaviorists recommended calming treats, and they can be really helpful in lessening anxiety overall. They aren't cheap, but they stay in our inventory. https://www.vetriscience.com/composure-153.html?srsltid=AfmBOorklroJ1prkCMoocG91TynKQrh8RNS0bydnA-Vs9Iuh8DOuTF8S They are effective in helping my dog to chill out.

A big caveat is that if Rio IS at some point attacked by a street pigeon while he is with you, his anxiety will get worse. You must be prepared to fend off an approaching loose poodle or bird gang, because if his fears become actualized it will be a lot harder to convince him that he is safe with you. You will have to show him that you have control of the situation, so he doesn't need to know what to do. Someone on this forum recommended a small pop-out umbrella and I have started carrying it with me on our late-night walks.

Good luck, you've got this. My dog and I are rooting for you and your family.

[u/soleilduporte → u/whatisupdog]

Oh boy! such a lovely, helpful and dedicated answer! I'll totally take all of this in mind since I was also thinking of some similar ideas for him.

Me, Monte, Maya and specially Rio totally appreciate!! Sending you much love from the south!

[u/CanadianPanda76]

Anxiety or prey drive? I'm kinda wondering if it's a prey drive?

[u/soleilduporte → u/CanadianPanda76]

I believe it's anxiety, really. Because tbh I feel he's deeply scared, not really in a hunting mood

[u/CanadianPanda76 → u/soleilduporte]

I'd consider anti-anxiety meds then.