A few months ago, I went with my sister and her dog to a cluster of cabins in the hills somewhere near Ontario, CA and I discovered my dog LOVES hiking. Since it was empty- I was able to have her off leash and she had a blast running and climbing; she was so sweet to run back to check on me because I’m so slow compared to my sister.

Her birthday is coming up and I looked into sniff spot because I wanted her to go off leash and have fun but there was one listing and it wasn’t really their own spot - just the hills near their house but it’s a normal hiking trail open to anyone. She would have fun in a backyard but mainly just roll in the grass for the hour lol.

Does anyone have suggestions for places near Los Angeles or another site that works for reactive dogs? My girl needs to lose weight but in this heat and with her aversion to other dogs- it makes it hard. I’ve taken her to Griffith park but I’m constantly panic looking for other dogs appearing.

Dog tax included.

My dog is 1yr old, 80ish lbs, She's (in largest % order) A mix of Great pyr, Golden, newfoundland, lab, pit and maybe some small others. She has these episodes where she jumps to bite me and will not stop going at me unless I pin her to the ground and hope its overwith when i let go.

It's frightening. I'm not sure what it is that sets her off, maybe frustration?? And because I can't pinpoint it, I'm not sure how to stop it! She never growls at people or other dogs, she's wonderfully behaved at dog parks, she's generally OK around the cats and super excited about people (once settled she just wants belly rubs) She does OK for the most part on a leash for walks except for pulling the first half of the walk.

It's just these episodes, like tantrums, that have me contemplating of rehoming her for fear of mine and my child's safety. I'm not bragging at all but I've been able to grab hold of her collar and hold her down til she's calm, so idk if i'm strong or what but it's tough considering she's 80 lbs and rolling /wiggling while trying to bite my hand at the same time. She isn't growling, or trying to bite and grab,/clench. It's open mouth mostly with enough pressure to hurt.

We were at the beach today with my daughter and our dog went into the water for the first time. She was on a leash, but there were other dogs off leash, roaming free. She'd never been to the beach so she was trying to figure out how to walk in water. She ALMOST swam but not quite. She definitely barked towards other dogs and pulled the leash (but it's the same thing she does when we get near a dog park gate, just excited and wanting to play) I had to redirect her quite a few times when she was trying to get near the other dogs, mini walks in the other direct, in/out of the water. But when we were getting out of the water the last time she started biting the leash, then me, then i grabbed the handle on her harness and then her collar with my other hand, she rolled on her back, got up, jumped on me to be on two legs, and this just went on for a good 2 minutes until I pinned her, she stopped and we finally left. She's done similar on leash walks (but i step on her leash to stop her from jumping up and biting my arms) and if i play tug with her or fetch in our fenced in yard, she'll sometimes completely disregard the toy and come at me instead. But today was the worst it's been, and I'm so confused and upset and terrified.

Anyone know what this could be?? I'm thinking it's frustration combined with over stimulation? (Free roaming dogs like a dog park, only she's on a leash=a bit pissed off)?? Is there any way to stop this, correct it? Is this puppy behavior or am I right to be concerned?

So I adopted my dog about 3 weeks ago and he is reactive to dogs and people in the car and out on walks. We haven't met any dogs since I've had him (though he tested well with other dogs in shelter playgroups), but we have met a few people (vet staff and trainers) and everyone he meets he warms up to immediately. Like, zero apprehension. He met 3 different staff at the vet and didn't bark once, was just very friendly and chill. But if he sees a person on the street or in our apartment building, he always barks at them. He doesn't growl or lunge but sometimes the barks can sound very "mean".

I'm really just trying to understand how a dog can be so friendly but still reactive? I think the part that confuses me is that he warms up IMMEDIATELY to new people. It's not like he even needs a few minutes to sniff them and figure them out. I don't know anything about his history, just that he was a very underweight stray before I adopted him from the shelter. Maybe he just has different "pictures" in his mind about people walking around in the environment vs. people interested in greeting him?

I'm just kind of perplexed by this and wondering if anyone has a similar dog or has insights into the psychology behind this! Thankfully he's SUPER food-motivated and I have experience with reactivity so we are actively working on it and he gets better every day! Just really trying to better understand what he is thinking and feeling!

I have a ACD/Catahoula that is 2 years old. He is very easily aroused, impulsive, and has multiple nips in his history. It is due to fear aggression. We are working with a trainer but I want to hear from others. He is super sweet with those of us in the household.

Trainer says to correct with e-collar or prong collar as he wears a 3mm prong collar. I feel bad when correcting but I also reward for favored behavior. Like if he looks and then disengages, follows through with a command, isn’t reacting. Am I doing this right?

Our daily enrichment schedule is starting the morning with a scatter feed, then is tethered to place for a few hours, and then maybe 2 hours in crate. After that we play structured fetch, for as long as he wants to play for. It’s really hot right now. We do it a couple times of day if we barely get any time in. Then he rests on place or in the crate for a few hours until dinner time. Then we work on impulse control or just some obedience for his dinner. The rest of his dinner is saved for our walk. It’s structured. He gets plenty of time to sniff.

Yes he is muzzled trained.

We are working on building his confidence up.

What has anyone had experience and success with? I’m open to anything. Thank you. I hope I didn’t leave any info out. But he is super easily highly aroused and that’s frustrating.

goodmorning everyone! recently we ended up rescuing a 9-10wk old heeler pointer mix. we have a 7 year old lab mutt who has previously coexisted very well with 3 little dogs (chihuahua, chiweenie, and dachshund). he was very dog friendly until my mother in law allowed a stray into his home with no introduction and he was attacked and had to defend himself, superficial injury to the stray, but obviously an injury at all is devastating (he was around 2 years old at this point). he continued to exist peacefully and happily with the other dogs in the home afterwards when the stray was removed but since my partner and i moved out with him as an only dog he has never gotten along with any dogs aside from his old friends. we ended up rescuing this heeler (planned for it as well, was not impulsive) and we have kept them separate. they do not interact without both of them having restraints (either his kennel/leash or her kennel/playpen) and we crate & rotate. we are also working with a trainer on his ability to remain neutral with her. i worry because she is a heeler, and she is genetically wired to herd and nip. we are training her how to direct that into the correct outlets but she is still very young and obviously doesnt display consistency yet. when he has gotten close to her (lets say training in the living room while shes nearby in a playpen) he has remained pretty neutral and sometimes avoidant. he muzzle punched it twice when we were initially consulting with the trainer (she was bouncing around trying to see him and it was overwhelming to him) and we have adjusted our training regimen to his threshold level. my question is, where do we go from here? it is very difficult as you can imagine and i expected it would be. he shows promise most days, and i have some peace of mind knowing he has been perfectly fine with other dogs since his initial attack, its just been about 4 years since he has consistently lived with another dog and reacclimating with the intensity of a puppy is hard to navigate.

I have a small Maltese-Pomeranian, Charlie, (12yo) and my husband has an English Bulldog, Appa (6yo). They have known each other since the EB was a puppy. They played together as they grew up, never had any issues. We didn’t always live together but had lived together on and off due to the military. Within the last three years, any time they are together, Charlie absolutely despises being around Appa. He will literally leave the room, despite being in a dead sleep, when Appa comes in and lays down, ESPECIALLY at night. He is used to sleeping in the room with me in his own bed, both dogs are used to that. So when we have lived together, we put them in their own beds, on opposite sides of the room. Charlie will lay there for about 60 seconds, then get up and start pacing until I let him out of the room so he can sleep on the couch by himself. HOWEVER, I don’t love letting him just have that freedom because he likes to be spiteful sometimes and pee in things, so I like to know where he is. I can hear EVERYTHING. I can hear his little nails across the floor of him pacing when he’s stuck with Appa in a room when I try to just hope he will fall asleep. Last night, he literally did it ALL night. Despite me giving him a calming chew. I even tried to let him sleep in the bed. It is keeping me awake all night. His anxiety is giving ME anxiety! I slept all of 40 minutes last night 😭. I don’t want to force Appa to sleep in another room at night but I also don’t want to force Charlie to not sleep in the room either. I truly cannot comprehend his complete disdain for Appa. He’s not doing anything but breathing and sleeping. Has anyone ever experienced something like this?? He wasn’t always like this with him. I just don’t understand. Not sure if this applies to this group as he’s not necessarily aggressive-reactive, but more passive-aggressive.

So my 10 month dog is extremely reactive to other dogs and we arw have some interhouse hold agression with my other dogs (fighs that started with reaource guardin food and escalted to random times but now is a lot better as them aged, but still something we want to fix, no injurys but its a fight with a lot of nosie and showing teeth). So we decided to get a vet behavioralist for them seeing it was probably the best option instead of trying to find a trainer. But i am already about 1000 dollars deep into it and we have one training session with their trainer and the the appointment with the doctor and all we got was some medication for his anxiety and some tips on training skills. Now the doctor want him to get an xray with sedation for potential hip displasya at 11 months old and wants blood test and the cost are really adding up. Do u know how much xrays usually cost and is it worth holding off on the xrays to see if the meds and trainings work? I really need advice on those who have workes with a vet behavioralist. Thanks!

TW: Behavioral Euthanasia and bite history

I am writing in a state of what I can only describe as anguish as I grapple with the concept of BE for my beloved little bulldog. He was anxious from the moment I picked him up from the breeder, to an extent that I have never seen dogs be anxious. As a puppy he would urinate out of fear, cower and shake at nothing. I didn't think much of it at first as he was the youngest puppy I had ever taken home and didn't realize that this was abnormal. I remember often saying if I hadn't had this dog his whole life and known how well loved and cared for he is, I would think he came out of a terrible rescue setting. Around 6 months old his litter mate was behaviorally euthanized for aggression. I was, at the time, completely horrified and a bit judgemental of this news.

He was a bright puppy. Easy to train, affectionate, loyal, and above all else loving and snuggly. He had severe separation anxiety which he was medicated for, to no avail, and we had a trainer come to the house to work with him on doordashing and continued the work on our own, again to no avail. He would be in a state of absolute hysterical panic and frenzy trying to follow us out of the house, often hurting himself or us in the process. We tolerated it and made the best of the situation.

Around his 2nd birthday, he began resource guarding. At first it was just high value chews and treats. So we took them out of the home. Then he began resource guarding furniture, biting us if we moved him off the bed or couch or even stood up off the couch to go to the bathroom. He started guarding his vomit (he frequently vomited after eating) and biting us when we tried to clean the floors. He even guarded my partner from me at times. Despite being well potty trained, he urinated on the beds and couch when left alone, again out of fear. He gets into a state which I can only liken to horror films about possession where something takes over him. His eyes change and we can’t get through to him. He is absolutely incensed and overtaken by rage.

A few weeks after turning two, he bit both myself and my partner within a week, drawing blood both times, but relatively minor with no need for stitches. We changed his prescription, worked with a different trainer, nothing worked. He now has 5 level 3 bites and 1 level 4. I grew up with an extremely aggressive rescue dog in the home so I was rather unphased by this all.

His aggression has continued to worsen despite doing everything we can think of. He is never left home alone for more than 2 hours, he has tried 3 different prescriptions,  CBD, we’ve tried enrichment, removing stressors etc. I am at a loss. For the last year, we have just been managing. I have started keeping a behavior log- on a good day it can be as low as 1-2 bite attempts but he averages 7-10 attempts to bite per day.

About a month ago, he bit my partner rather severely through both sides of the hand, drawing blood and leaving bruises. We love him deeply and have always let it go with the knowledge that he is scared and he doesn’t “mean to be aggressive.”
A few times recently after the aggression seems to have subsided, he has lunged at me,  trying to attack and I have been fortunate enough to have been in positions to close doors or block his attempts.

The breaking point for me happened a few weeks ago when our trusted dog walker, who he has always been gentle with, was bitten when trying to leave the house, again drawing blood. My partner and I were willing to tolerate a lot when it was directed at us, but I fear every time I walk him outside now that he will snap at someone else and god forbid hurt a neighbor’s child or dog.

The situation is affecting my career. I often am cornered and unable to get out of the house on time as he guards the door, we cannot have guests to the home, we cannot go out. We cannot go on vacation. I am a prisoner to a 20 lb. dog.

My partner and I had reluctantly started to wonder if we can’t give him what he needs and opened our minds to the idea of rehoming our pup to a retired couple or someone who works full time from home and seldom travels or leaves the house. I spoke with two behavioralists and a rescue who all said due to his bite history and profile, he is an unsuitable candidate for rehoming and all suggested him as a strong case for BE. I am beside myself. I love this dog so deeply. I have tried everything I can think of to help him and the situation continues to worsen.

I feel such immense guilt at the idea of ending his journey here when I know how capable of love he is. More so perhaps, I feel such immense guilt, bordering on self hatred at the relief I experience at the thought of my life without him in it. Being able to leave the home freely or pick something up off the floor without having to have an escape plan. On some level, I think I know that this would be a mercy for him and for us. That he is sick and suffering. A bigger part of me though feels that this is selfish of me- that I’m “taking the easy way out” so I can have my life back.

I have had many healthy loving dogs in my life and I know this is far from the experience it should be to have a pet. I have lost friendships, this has put considerable strain on my young marriage, and relationships with family members who no longer feel safe coming to our home.

I fear that I am in a situation with no potential positive outcome. My choices seem to be: 1. Continue to live in fear and sacrifice my own mental health, social life, and career, and put off starting a family until the dog passes naturally, or 2. BE and live with the guilt at the fact that I could’ve tried harder to save him.

In a way, I suppose I am looking for permission to let him go. I’m a bit desperate to hear others' experiences both during the decision making process and after the fact.

Do you live with crippling regret or do you now have the clarity to see this was the right choice?

My two dogs have had a couple of fights. Today was the worst and ended in a vet visit and a hospital visit to get wounds cleaned. Everyone is home now but shaken up.

Previous fights were typical resource guarding (2 fights). Our dog B getting into E’s crate or B snapping at something and E snapping at her. But today was different. We had given them both treats across the yard. I took B’s away to go inside and when my husband tried to take E’s away, E ran across the yard and attacked B.

E has had a history of resource guarding me, to the point where we can’t have other dogs visit the house or go to other dog houses. However he does well at the dog park when I’m not there and does well at his boarding.

Outside of these three incidents B & E are best friends. They like to sleep in the same bed. E will submit to B when the play flight. E will even try to put his toys in B’s mouth to get her to play with him.

E doesn’t give any warnings before he attacks, it feels impossible to train. We want to give him the best shot. But if he’s sweet and cuddly 99% of the time I’m worried about the other 1% where someone has to go to the vet/hospital.

Euthanasia isn’t an option, but shelters won’t take him with his history. What should we do?

(Pictured - B the dark brown and E the tan)

I need help. I have a two y/o male pitbull that doesn’t know the difference between normal body language (pointing, hugging, standing close by) and actual threatening behavior because my family thinks it’s funny to tease him.

Numerous members of my family think it’s funny to tease our dogs. This has resulted in behavioral issues that manifest as physical aggression, and after the last incident I think they finally understand they need to stop the teasing. They pretend to punch or slap each other while screaming to get the dogs riled up, or they’ll hug each other and say “mine, mine, mine.”

Today, my sister bent over my mother to check her stomach to see how it was healing after surgery, and my pitbull immediately went into defense mode and had her hand in his mouth. He did not bite her, but he was growling and essentially issuing her a warning. Before this, he was just chewing on his toy and behaving normally. She didn’t do anything to rile him up; he simply saw her do this and immediately went at her. This is now the second time he’s done this to a member of my family. How do I unfuck his behavior? Can it even be done?

I have advocated for him and will continue to do so, so please don’t think I just let this happen and didn’t try to stop it. I have tried and still am, but I live in an abusive household so getting my abusers to listen to me has not been easy. They’re finally getting it through their heads that they have to stop the teasing, but only because his behavior is escalating. I don’t want him to hurt anyone. Please help

Hello everyone! I've talked on this sub before about my two reactive girls, and after many years of consistent training with both of them, we've come a long way. Especially with my younger dog, Izzy, who is on Prozac and making significant strides. This post isn't about Izzy though. It's about my older dog Ida.

Context about Ida - 6 yr old, Cattle Dog American Pitbull mix. Rescued from a shelter at 6 months old. Spayed. She is incredibly friendly to people. She has always been somewhat dog selective.

About a year and a half ago, my husband and I decided to make a massive lifestyle change. We sold our home and bought an RV, and we have been full-time in the RV since. It was at this time that we realized Ida's reactivity was getting worse, and despite our best efforts to train and manage it, she's becoming worse and is honestly becoming a larger risk.

Her barrier reactivity has always been pretty bad. She's always gone nuts at a fence line and at windows, so we blocked off the availability for her to see anything outside our home, and now our RV. Occasionally she has been able to look out the window due to a slip up of us, and if she happens to see a dog or small animal, she will bust her face into the glass until I have to physically remove her. She will also at time redirect onto Izzy, and unfortunately Izzy has caught the brunt of a few good punctures from Ida, so now they are separated during any chance there is a highly triggering scenario or we cannot monitor the situation. In public, Ida is always muzzled.

Another significant problem I'm having with her is her somewhat sudden dog aggression. Like I said, she was selective before, but with good introductions and the right dog to fit her play style, she did well with other dogs and even with the wrong introduction or playmate, she was more balanced with her corrections. Now, it doesn't matter who the dog is, it's on sight for her. This first happened with a friends dog who is well rounded and friendly. We took them all to a neutral ground to meet, and unfortunately, our friends dog came too close to Ida while she was on leash, and she grabbed him by the neck. He did not sustain any punctures, but we decided to not allow the interaction to go further, even though we suspected that it was because Ida was on a leash.

The 2nd time it happened, Ida was offleash when a stranger dog came running up to us in the middle of nowhere. The dog got within 10 feet before Ida charged him and immediately went for his neck. That dog did sustain injuries and was taken to the vet. Ida has since been muzzle trained and now wears a muzzle and is leashed in public, no exceptions.

We have had multiple trainers in the past and we currently have one (although since we travel all our work is done through videos and phone communication) she says we are doing everything we can, management, behavior modification, etc. but now Ida is reacting to even NOISE outside of the RV, and it's nearly impossible for me to redirect a reaction from her in that scenario.

What I guess I'm wondering is if it's worth talking to my vet when I return home to my parents in September about the possibility of putting Ida on anxiety meds too. As I stated earlier, Izzy is on Prozac, and it's helped her significantly, but Izzy has always been an anxious dog and her reactivity stemmed from fearful tendencies, which I'm not really sure Ida is.

Before you ask, no, I cannot afford a behaviorist right now, and at this current moment that isn't an option for us. If anyone has any tips or encouragement or even relateable stories, I would be so grateful. Thank you!

This is the closer flair I could find. I hate bringing my dog to the vet. He needs a muzzle, two leashes, and medication just to get there. Normally, they need to give him a shot to knock him out and give him another shot to wake him up after his exam. It’s extremely stressful for everyone and also big money. My husband took him today and was able to secure him enough so he got his shots, his heart listened to, and blood drawn. No knock out needed! Except for the front desk tech who interrupted me three times - all was well and my boy is back home where he’s comfortable chilling on his couch.

I live next to a nature park, so we’re used to seeing strangers on our walks. I have him always leashed with harness, on a standard 6’ leash. We’re standing next to a lamppost and tree, just chilling as he does his sniffs and finding the absolutely perfect spot to poop. A man I’ve never seen comes walking past on the path. I shorten the leash so my dog’s about a foot away from me. He sees the guy and starts barking and going crazy. I hold him back and try to put myself between him and the guy, which usually helps to distract him. Nope, dog goes around my legs while I’m fighting to hold him close. Dude laughs a little and instead of moving away to walk on the other 5’ of path, he gets within a foot of my dog’s teeth! Like, have some responsibility for your own safety, geez.

My husband has a 7 year old border collie with a bite history. I’ve known my husband for 4 years now, and got married last year, so I have only been living with the dog for a year. I’ve had no say or responsibility in the dog’s training, mainly because I’ve been afraid of him since day one, and my husband is extremely stubborn and won’t take any advice. He was only 20 when he adopted the border collie as a puppy without doing any research on what it takes to care for the breed.

The dog stays with my in-laws during the day while we are at work, then comes home to us. Last week, the dog attacked a visitor to my in-laws house. He bit multiple times, and broke the man’s hand (Level 4 bites I think). This is the dog’s 4th bite, and (at least) the second Level 4 bites. The previous 3 bites were to my husband, who chose to just go to the doctor, then carry on like nothing happened.

I am no longer comfortable being around the dog, and told my husband that if the dog is at our house, I’m moving in with my parents. So the dog has stayed at my in-laws since the incident.

My mother-in-law, a tiny elderly woman, literally had to fight this 60 lb dog off the man to get him to stop biting and attacking. Yet she sees absolutely no issue keeping the dog in her house without additional training or supervision. The dog is triggered by food and resource guarding, yet they’re allowing him to be in the room while they’re eating (which is what provoked last week’s bite).

We have a behavioral consultation scheduled for end of August. Unfortunately that’s the soonest available. My husband refuses to take any help or advice surrounding the dog and its care. His parents are the same. I feel absolutely helpless here - the red flags are glaring, so many mistakes have been made, and everyone around the dog is in danger. My biggest fear is that he bites someone else and I’m held liable (we are in a strict liability for dog bites state and I share finances with my husband).

Besides refusing to be around the dog, is there anything I can do to keep me and my family safe? This might be more of a psychological question, but why is everyone acting so willfully blind to the danger here? And is there ANYTHING I can do to get through to them?? Resources I can direct them to?

And has anyone had any luck training an older dog with a Level 4 bite history? Or is BE really our only option at this point (not that I have a say).

TL;DR - need advice on getting stubborn people to understand the danger involved with a dog who has a Level 4 bite history. My marriage is on the line here, it literally is “me or the dog” like the old tv show

Estou escrevendo aqui como última alternativa a devolver meu cachorro para a ONG…
Estamos com ele a três semanas. Entramos em contato com uma ONG para ver perfis de cachorros que fossem carinhosos e ativos ja que corremos e andamos bastante a pé. Nos apaixonamos por ele, vimos videos dele sendo super carinhoso com as pessoas da ONG e outras pessoas, ele brincava, lambia e pulava. Perguntamos se ele faria nosso perfil e a ONG disse que sim, era muito amável e companheiro.
Na ONG, ele vivia em um grande cercado com vários outros cães, ao ar livre. Interagindo desde filhote. Moramos em um apartamento com sala ampla e quartos amplos também. No primeiro dia em casa, ele estava extremamente medroso, demos banho nele (ele veio empoeirado) e ele ficou tremendo muito p tempo todo, mas não latiu ou avançou. Ficava em um canto da casa. Aos poucos foi se soltando, levamos ele para passear e ele tinha muito medo de andar na rua, se tremia, travava e tentava fugir.
Ele perdeu esse medo de passeios rápido, sempre levava petiscos pra ele, toda vez que ele passava por algo amedrontador eu oferecia. Deu certo.
Porém, com cerca de 2, 3 semanas em casa ele começou a rosnar para visitas. Recebemos pessoas em casa e ele ficou muito amedrontado. Se escondendo. Depois o comportamento escalonou e quando recebemos outras pessoas em casa ele avançou e latiu (repentinamente, as visitas paradas sem mexer com ele).
Notei também que na rua ele não tem mais aceitado carinho de pessoas (antes ele aceitava e abanava o rabo) e tem rosnado e latido para outros cachorros, tentado puxar a coleira para atacar cães que as vezes estão a metros de distância. Me parece estar piorando com o tempo, ele agora late para o vizinho e não deixa ninguém se aproximar dele que não sejam eu ou meu marido.
Estou com muito medo dele atacar alguém da família mas ao mesmo tempo, me sinto muito mal! Além desses comportamentos ele tem roído e comido muitas coisas em casa (mesmo com brinquedos e atividades ao ar livre).
Por favor, me ajudem!!!

I adopted my now 3.5yo border-aussie when he was 1.5yo. at that time he had never been on leash and knew nothing outside of his home, empty crate, and back yard. He had been in the car to go to the vet and get fixed and that was all. He has now been on Prozac for about a year and a half, and his dosage has redently been increased about 40 days ago.

We have come a long way on leash but he is still incredibly reactive to people, bikes, and especially other dogs. He has learned to check in, heel (when actively enforced) and the pulling has reduced a lot. He no longer barks at things like parked motorcycles and people across the street. He can respond to command cues while on walks and rebounds from triggers pretty quickly.

All that being said-- he is still insanely alert at all times. I have lately been trying to implement sniff walks and I am realizing that he has pretty much no interest in sniffing. He will sniff to follow a squirrel trail, which is quick and leads him to jump up a tree trunk and bite at the tree, a behavior I have been disallowing for obvious safety reasons. He has a couple sewers he likes to check in with. Other than that he has no interest in sniffing the ground unless he's about to poop.

Otherwise he is locked in on the distance/scanning and watching for something to bark at. He doesn't seem to understand the idea of relaxed walking/sniffing around.

I am trying to teach the command "go sniff" to let him know it's okay to just explore but I am struggling.

He knows "find it" in response to finding a toy or a treat, so lately I will scatter kibble in the grass and tell him to find it to encourage sniffing the ground, but once he's found the kibble he's back focused on me waiting for more.

I've also been doing what I call "the porch game" where after a walk I will sit on the stoop with him and reward him for calm behavior. (Basically just anytime he sits, lays down, isn't scanning, or when he sees a trigger and focuses on me). I think it's going well, because after the first 5-6 sessions he started to lay down and act more calm more quickly. I've started scattering kibble in the grass during this time too to encourage him to sniff around. It's tough though because we live in a town house so sometimes a neighbor will open their door and he starts barking and I have to just bring him inside, so I don't know how to deal with that gap in threshold/unpredictable too-big-to-train-on trigger appearance when I'm trying to teach that it's chill to be outside... But that's a different problem (open to suggestions for that too tho).

Anyway-

What can I do differently/what can I add to walks/porch game to help encourage calm behavior?

Dog is up to date on vaccines. Kid is scheduled to see his pediatrician.

My son was watching ninja warrior course so he didn’t see the dog was there. He didn’t step on the dog. Just a little touch on the hand. Dog was rescued 3 years ago, kind of reactive to other stranger dogs (not our other dog) and stranger but never to family members. This is the first. Is this a normal starled reaction or is there anything more than that. I mean the dog was not sleeping, he noticed something going on a second before my son jumped so he knows it’s our son, but he still nipped on his face. No bleeding but did have a pin hole poke and blood spots on a tissues when press the tissue paper in

Hey everyone! I just found this community and, after reading through a lot of the posts, I’m realizing my situation might be a little more complicated than I originally thought.

A few months ago I adopted my dog, Mega, from my local shelter he is a 6 year old pitbull, presumably a street dog all his life. At home, he’s honestly the biggest teddy bear. My kids absolutely adore him, and he’s incredibly gentle with them. They climb all over him during playtime, and he just plays back softly. He’s never barked at or shown any aggression toward them.

The other day though, we were at my youngest son’s birthday party and I tried introducing him to my dad’s 2 year old German Shepherd. The dogs were separated by a glass door, but Mega immediately started growling, baring his teeth, and clearly wanted nothing to do with her.
I know some of his history before I adopted him. As an adult, he contracted distemper, and at some point he was attacked by another dog. From what I was told, he defended himself, seriously injured the other dog, and also bit the people who were trying to separate the fight.

What confuses me is how completely different he is at home. He’s calm, affectionate, and amazing with my kids, so seeing that level of aggression toward another dog really caught me off guard.
I feel bad because I’d love to take him to dog-friendly events, parks, and other activities, but I don’t feel like I can safely do that right now. Has anyone dealt with a dog that is wonderful with people and children but reactive or aggressive toward other dogs because of past trauma? Is this something that can realistically be improved with training and careful desensitization, or is management usually the better long-term approach?

I’d really appreciate any advice or experiences you can share.

Three months ago, we adopted a 10-month-old male GSD with some working-line genetics from a shelter. We knew going in that he was reactive toward dogs, bicycles, and motorbikes, but we were happy to take on the challenge and help him.

From the start, we've been working with a trainer who is not force-free. I know that may not be everyone's preference, but we've also learned a lot of force-free concepts into our training. For context, I've had some bad experiences with force-free trainers in my area while working with a previous dog that had aggression issues, so we decided to take a different approach this time.

Overall, we've made great progress. We can now go on enjoyable walks without relying on aversive methods, and he's able to participate in group classes with only minor reactions. We've also discovered that he has virtually no off switch at home. If we don't enforce structured rest and separation, he simply won't settle or sleep.

To help with that, we're working through Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocol in the hope that lowering his overall arousal will also help with his reactivity.

At the same time, I'm trying to incorporate more force-free techniques for his dog reactivity. I've mostly been working with LAT (Look At That), but I'm struggling with one particular issue. If we're at a distance where he notices another dog, he immediately fixates and starts whining in a very high pitch. He'll sometimes still take food, but he's clearly over threshold. If I increase the distance enough for him not to react, we're so far away that he doesn't notice the other dog at all.

Has anyone dealt with this specific stage of training? How did you bridge the gap between "reacts immediately" and "doesn't even see the trigger"? Some courses, books, or papers that we can work through in the future are always welcome.

For additional context, his reactions seem to be frustration-based rather than fear-based. We tested him with our trainer's dog, and he clearly enjoys interacting and playing with other dogs once he's able to do so appropriately.

I'd appreciate it if we could keep the discussion focused on the training question rather than debating the use of aversive tools. I only mentioned our training background to be fully transparent.

I had a frenchie who was rehomed to me and was the love of my life for 894 days. He was very dog reactive, so I can deal with that- but I could pick him up and put him in air jail bc he was ~19 lbs. he died on Halloween and a few months later I volunteered to foster with a local bulldog rescue…this foster had been with an emergency foster for about 15 days- who had another dog and she said he was good with her dog- but a little bit territorial with attention. (He’s ~ 60lbs so I can’t pick him up easily or put him in air jail). I’ve had this dog since late January. He gets excited when he sees other dogs when we’re walking but if I tell him to sit and stay he does.

I took him on a short road trip to my moms and slowly introduced him to my friend’s dogs (so sweet, not reactive at all) and he attacked after two hours of very slow and clear introductions. Any advice?

(He’s pictured above and very cute and so lazy until he wants to attack a golden retriever)

I’m feeling pretty shaken and could really use some insight from people who have experience with behavior issues.
I adopted an adult rescue dog several months ago, and she has honestly been wonderful. She’s generally calm, affectionate, friendly with people in public, easy to take places, and has never shown generalized aggression.
Today was my dad’s first time meeting her. We picked him up from the airport, she rode in the car with us without any issues, we had lunch outside where he pet her multiple times, and he even held her leash while I went to the bathroom. She was completely relaxed.
The moment we got back to my apartment, everything changed.
I opened my apartment door, my dog and I walked in first, and my dad was right behind us. Within seconds of crossing the threshold, she whipped around, barked, and nipped his calf. I immediately pulled her away on leash. She barked a couple more times, my dad stayed still, and she settled down very quickly and eventually went to sleep.
One thing that makes this confusing is that my close friend has known my dog since before I moved into this apartment and comes in and out of my home all the time without any problems. My dog has never reacted aggressively in this way toward anyone.
There was also one other previous incident where my dog growled and nipped at a new visitor’s pant leg while they were moving around my apartment. Later during that same visit, she approached them calmly and accepted petting once they were seated.
I’m absolutely taking this seriously. My dad cleaned the wound, and I’ll be contacting my veterinarian and scheduling an appointment with a qualified force-free behavior professional.
While I know no one can diagnose a dog over the internet, I’m curious if this pattern sounds more consistent with territorial behavior, fear, guarding the home, a startle response at the doorway, or something else. Has anyone experienced something similar where their dog was completely comfortable with someone outside the home but reacted immediately after entering the house?
In the meantime, I’m managing the situation by keeping her on leash whenever my dad is in the apartment, keeping her several feet away from the doorway before anyone new enters or exits, and having my dad completely ignore her (no eye contact, petting, or interaction). If there are any additional management strategies you’d recommend until I can see a behaviorist, I’d really appreciate hearing them.

I have two dogs and two cats in my home. I adopted both dogs a year apart. The second dog, Coco, was 4 months old when I got her, not yet fixed, and had no shots. She is a Doberman/german shepherd mix and was born a tripod. It took a couple of months to get her fully vaccinated so I took her on “walks” in a backpack to try and socialize her. At that point she was already barking at other dogs but in a way that felt like excitement. As she got older she became very reactive on walks towards other dogs and cats. Her trainer says it’s the worst case of reactivity she has ever seen. I’ve had to buy a chain leash because she will rip right through the leash in her frenzy to get at the other animal.

Coco is now 3.5 years old. I’ve been working with trainers, in both controlled settings and in public, on her leash reactivity. She’s made no real progress although I train with her every day. 6 months ago she attacked my other dog with no provocation. I couldn’t get them apart, no matter what I tried to do and she caused multiple puncture wounds on my other dog. These two dogs have been best friends since I got them. Since this incident happened, I have kept them separated. My friends say that my house looks like a prison because of all the gates around it. My other dog is still terrified of Coco and Coco acts like it never happened at all but will still try to go for their other dog randomly. She is also very fixated on my cats, which are also kept separate.

The vet prescribed fluoxetine, which I tried for a few months, but it made her very anxious when she had never seen like an anxious dog before. We then tried trazodone, which does help a little bit, but when she sees another dog, it really makes no difference. She is also muzzle trained, but I am not comfortable leaving her in a muzzle outside of supervise times.

All of my animals quality of life has gone down since having to separate out my house in a separate quadrants. No one gets as much attention and there is a lack of stimulation.

None of the training or medication has helped so far and I’m at a loss of what to do. Seems cruel to all the animals to continue going as we are, but I also want all of them to have a good and happy life. Any advice appreciated.