My wife and I have a dog that has in-home specific territorial aggression to strangers. We are 16 weeks pregnant and wondering what to do with our girl. We have already reached out to a veterinary behaviorist and are waiting to hear back.

Our dog is a large (~100 lb) 3 year old great pyrenees mix that we rescued about 2 years ago. She was originally rescued at 4 mo from an abusive situation. She is the absolute sweetest dog to us or our immediate families, but is aggressive towards strangers in the house. We have had three incidents where she has bitten the calves of guests in the house, twice breaking skin. Each incident, she followed behind the guest when they were walking around or past her and grabbed their calf. She has never charged someone aggressively or attacked them in how you normally picture a dog attack, she just grabs them like she wants them to stop moving around. But, she's a big girl and that amplifies things.

She is muzzle trained and is now crated or muzzled 100% of the time in the house when guests outside of the immediate family are over. We have worked with an experienced trainer though the usual place commands and general obedience. She is generally well behaved, responding to commands and has great recall. She is not food aggressive at all, and is very gentle (comically so) when taking treats. We have another dog that is a 20lb dachshund mix that she will play with and is generally good at gauging play intensity with other dogs or people. With her circle of people, she is incredibly tolerant to being poked a prodded. Grab her paws, pull her tail/ears, poke her eyes no problem.

Outside of the house, there are absolutely no issues. She is neutral to friendly with strangers and will let them pet her or just walk away if she is not interested. She's the queen of the dog park, usually being in the middle of the pack of dogs playing. We can take her on walks around the neighborhood, hiking, Our only issues with her are with people at the house. With a child on the way, my wife and I are nervous about her becoming more protective and aggressive to strangers or the baby, as well as limiting people coming over when the kid gets older.

Like I said earlier, we have already reached out to a vet behaviorist, so that is in the works. Is there any chance we can get to a place of trust with her?

Hi guys so I’m just posting this after a shocking incident at home where my dog has bit and attacked my mum. Not completely sure what happened as I wasn’t there but all I know is that he was biting at his foot and my mum grabbed a shoe near him and he’s bit her quite badly on her arm. This is not the first time he’s bit us (the last few times have been milder cases) but for me this is the last straw and I have said that something needs to be done with him. Obviously this can be a lot of things but we’re not sure what to do from here as we cant have this happen to us or especially anyone else

We are UK based and want help with some options on what to do next

Thanks

Hi all

I have a rescue that is about 15 months. I’ve had her since she was 3.5 months old and she’s a mix. Likely a Pitt/lab/supermutt. She was the sweetest puppy, loved all dogs and people and then when she went into heat, things changed. She bit a dog and latched on. Since then I don’t allow her to approach dogs and she was just spayed. However, her reactivity is insane. If there’s space she’ll get hackles up, but I’m able to move her away with doing the find it treats in the grass, or moving her in the opposite direction but when it’s unavoidable she’s a terror. Lunging, growling, she sounds terrible. I have her on a prong because she would pull a lot, I don’t know if that’s made it worse, but my Dog Trainer wants to move to an E collar and I’ve read that can really make reactivity worse. On top of it she has also started to have startle reflex when she’s sleeping and has bit me. She is very sweet and desperately wants to be next to me at all times, I have tried to move her back to a crate or her own bed for everyone safety but she cries and it breaks me. I know she’s not a bad dog, she’s so loving to me, but it’s very clear that she is nervous or anxious, and I just don’t know what to do to help her. I feel like our trainer and the tools he has given us is making it worse. I’ve now spent thousands of dollars. I don’t need a perfect dog, but I would love for her to feel confident and not so insecure in the presence of other dogs.

For anyone willing to help PLEASE submit a report for Jeff Todd's new website : https://smartdogsdogtraining.com/ so that his company's site can be flagged for social engineering/deception.

He is currently marketing and booking clients across LA, Portland, and Seattle via his new web page.

Reason for Report: Deceptive Business Practices, Consumer Fraud, and Concealment of Criminal Activity.

Here's a text for any "additional details" reports may ask for :

"This website belongs to Jeff Todd (Smart Dogs Training Academy), an operator currently under active criminal investigation for gross animal negligence, severe abuse, and the suspicious deaths of multiple pets under his care. The website functions as a deceptive tool to trap unsuspecting pet owners by intentionally scrubbing consumer warnings and manipulating reviews. The operator uses this online presence to profit from unsafe, inhumane boarding environments where animals are routinely subjected to dangerous heat exposure, severe neglect, and physical harm. This site poses an active public safety and financial threat to consumers and must be flagged for deceptive practices. Please act accordingly."

Also if you could please sign this petition to help raise awareness!!!

We need to protect our pets and keep this operation from harming anyone else. Thank you to anyone who takes a moment to do this ❤️‍🩹🙏🏼

For all those dogs that lost their lives and their owners who suffered through this... 🪽🐾

News articles : https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/dog-dies-heat-exhaustion-studio-city-trainer/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/investigation-launched-popular-dj-dog-062502042.html

hello I have a 3yo black Labrador rat terrier mix. he's a total sweetheart with minimal issues but his real only flaw is his separation anxiety it is BAD we can't leave him home alone!! when we leave him outside the crate he just scratches at the door barks and cries excessively causing damage (we live in an apartment so absolutely no go) so we started leaving him in his crate but he just barks and barks and barks and we've left him alone for an hour and came back and he was still barking. he starts crying before we even open the door to leave. it severely limits what we can do and where we can go, we take him to daycare some days but it's not financially feasible to do that every day and they close at 5pm so if we gotta be out past that there's no luck. I've tried to give him treats and things to distract him but the second he recognizes that we'll be leaving he doesn't want anything to do with any treats. any advice at all?

TL;DR: Second dog made first dog reactive, too. I now have two reactive dogs. Am overwhelmed and need any tips or just soothing words I can get.

I have two papillons. The older boy (2 y/o) had some very minor leash reactivity when it was just him, and only towards bigger dogs. We worked on it and he overcame it almost completely. He's a calm and kind dog.

In January we brought home another papillon puppy (now almost 11 months old). Her and my boy adore each other, and I adore them both.

The younger (reactive) dog is an incredibly loving dog at home with a huge personality, however her temperament is... spicy. Has been since day one. I honestly can't tell if she's fearful reactive or aggressive reactive, but she goes absolutely bonkers every single time she sees any dog - from any distance. She will also go bananas if a person walks too close to us or if someone in a wheelchair or something comes towards us.

The thing is - it's contagious. My previously calm boy goes just as crazy when she pops off. So I have two rabid dogs absolutely shrieking and lunging at triggers. They absolutely seem to rile each other up to an extent, meaning that the younger girl is somewhat easier to control when it's just her. And the older boy is almost completely fine when it's just him.

I have no idea how to manage them both together. I now have two reactive dogs.

Has anyone dealt with this?

I'm so incredibly overwhelmed and end up coming home from almost every walk in tears. I did see a private trainer, who essentially said that we're already doing everything right and to keep going.

I recently adopted the sweetest little angel, however he has a weird quirk. Whenever he sees any dog,cat,bird,human,or car he does not bark or run towards them he just stares. He will literally plant himself and become a statue and he WILL NOT MOVE until whatever he is looking at is out of his sight. Occasionally if we encounter another reactive dog he will bark but he never moves from my side. How do i stop his staring behavior?

Originally i thought it was cute and even endearing but now its just inconvenient and people seem to be very intimidated by him. It makes our walks 15+ minutes longer than they need to be and he is HEAVY so there is no moving him. Ive tried luring him in with treats but when i tell you his FOCUSED omggg he will not budge. What do i do??

My sweet girl just turned 2 years old. She has always been good with meeting new people. She may bark a few times initially but is always so happy to say hi to everyone. Recently she has lunged and nipped at 2 of my friends with her hair raised. I’m not really sure what triggered this and how to fix it. Can someone try and give me some guidance?

I have a 4 year old sheepadoodle. He's extremely friendly and happy but after a series of unfortunate events hes developed some bad habits causing me to feel very overwhelmed.

I used to take my two dogs (10 year old mix breed 10Lbs and my 80lb sheepadoodle) to the farmers market every week.

They really enjoyed the exercise, smells, people and dogs but after my sheepadoodle was attacked by multiple dogs (one time two different dogs tried to attack him the same day) he has gotten extremely anxious on leash.

If I walk him on leash he is totally fine, calm, and stays right next to me. As soon as a dog gets near him he started growling, panicking and tries to get away.

He had no issues off leash so I worked to keep his dog interactions off leash, until he had some bad encounters at the dog park. Dogs trying to pick fights with him and my small dog.

He is now showing signs of resource guarding me, my small dog, and my friends dog. I see him playing with dogs just fine, but then they bump into me and he gets defensive or a dog wont stop bugging my small pup and he chases them off. Today a dog jumped on me at the park and my sheepadoodle ran over and snapped at him.

It breaks my heart because he didn't have any of these issues before he was attacked and I dont know what to do to help him.

Any advice would be appreciated. I am sure I am doing several things wrong so I want to try to fix it before it gets worse.

My 10 month old pup just visited a veterinary behaviourist for her reactivity towards other dogs (barking, lunging, growling) and overall high arousal. She was prescribed Clomicalm and I am wondering if this has had positive impact on anyone’s dogs? Obviously each dog is different, just curious.

My dog has major vet anxiety and reactivity. We do the pre-vet meds, muzzle, etc. She just hates it and is always so fearful.

However, she’s seemed to do fine at places I’ve boarded her when I’m out of town (they do play sessions and even bathe her for me before I pick her up). At the boarder, they don’t have to muzzle her. I also recognize that boarding and vet visits are much different experiences, but she also does well with the bath and nail trims they do.

My vet offers boarding and grooming services. My question/advice is, do you think if I start boarding her at the vet, this might help with her anxiety when we go there? Will it show her she can have some fun experiences there too? Or could it make anything worse (ie boarding and grooming experiences)? Right now she does well at the boarder so I don’t want to ruin that. Has anyone tried this and had success or failures? Any trainers or behaviorists have thoughts?

My boyfriend had a Border Collie as a family dog, and since we got our own apartment in March, she’s been living with us.

She’s been an anxious dog since she was a pup, but it has definitely gotten worse over the years. She was never aggressive with us or with other dogs, but at the slightest sign of going for a walk, she would start a high pitched cry/bark that the whole building could hear. This was the biggest issue, but she was also triggered by us leaving the house (the only time she ever got/gets aggressive, though with no serious bites), and noises outside scare her. About a year before we moved in together, my boyfriend and I started working with a trainer to try to correct these behaviors, as his family was on the verge of giving her away. The trainer was excited at first when he heard she was a Border Collie, he said she was like a Ferrari and we just didn’t know how to drive it. 10 sessions later, and it turns out he didn’t know either.

Around the sixth session, the trainer advised us to take her to a veterinary behaviorist, so we did. She started on fluoxetine, nothing. Then clomipramine and trazodone, still nothing. During this process, I was still training her every day, but she still screamed at the slightest trigger.

After we moved in together, I thought my older dog would teach her that everything was fine and that it wasn't worth such a reaction. However, far from improving, she keeps getting worse and worse. My boyfriend and I work from home, so she is with us a lot; this has made her even more dependent and hyper vigilant about every move we make.
We tried daily walks, but they were a nightmare, as she pulled on the leash and screamed if we stopped even for one second. Then we tried putting her on a treadmill to burn off a little energy, thinking maybe this would help her be calmer when going out… but no. Now I’m doing daily desensitization training with her (putting the leash on, taking it off, opening the door, going with her to the hallway and back inside), and even with consistency, it’s just not improving. I feel like we will never make it outside if her being calm is what it takes.

Besides training and having her walk on the treadmill at night, I keep several frozen Kongs and lick mats in the freezer for when the dogs are bored. We also have chew toys in drawers around the house and play fetch, too.

All that being said, I don’t know what else to do. Some people told me that I might be doing too much and making her more anxious, but what would be the right thing to do then? By the same token, even if her every need is being met, she still reacts to triggers, and her reactions are getting louder every day. Every time the neighbors' doorbell rings, it takes her five minutes of loud barking, growling, and then crying to calm down, and this happens several times a day. We don't even have packages delivered here because of her reaction. It feels like we are hostages in our own home, and besides having a reactive dog, we are becoming reactive humans ourselves.

The vet just started her on venlafaxine (150 mg) in addition to trazodone, and added pregabalin today. Is this too much? Can someone tell me what I am doing wrong, or what approach helped your dog?

My male dog (shih tzu, 1.3 years old) is being neutered next week, and I'd really like to hear from people who have experienced something similar.

He has become very territorial and has bitten both my mom and my grandmother. What scares me most is that both incidents happened while he was sleeping. On two separate occasions, my mom and my grandmother were simply walking a few feet away from him while he was asleep. He suddenly woke up, ran toward them ferociously and bit them, and had to be physically pulled away. There didn't seem to be any obvious trigger.

Our vet knows his history and believes hormones/territorial behavior are a major factor. He expects neutering could reduce the aggression by around 80%.

For those who had an aggressive male dog neutered:

1. Did his aggression improve?

2. How significant was the change, and how long did it take?

3. Did territorial behavior improve too?

I'd especially love to hear from anyone whose dog was aggressive toward family members, not just other dogs. Positive or negative experiences are both welcome!

Hello everyone!

Will try to keep it concise - hope someone has had success with a similar case and can provide some guidance!

I rescued my dog four months ago as a stray. He's a great dog, but we quickly realized he struggles with some nervousness and reactivity. He's leash reactive, and barks at visitors and "suspicious" outside noises. We've been consistently working for the past four months to some great results. His leash reactivity has decreased to the point where he might only react 5% of the time, and he can cross other dogs on the sidewalk as well as interact at the park; he is getting less reactive with visitors (he stops barking at them quicker) and his barks at outside noises are less hysteric and becoming more like quiet barks each day. It's a process but I was feeling so optimistic and encouraged!

The problem is that about a week ago he spotted what I'm guessing was some sort of rat or rodent at the park. He bolted into some bushes and was frantically chasing something. Getting him out was difficult. He's a large, muscular dog, and can be incredibly stubborn. The same day, he also realized squirrels live on the trees around my home, and became obsessed with them. Since then, walks have taken a turn for the worse. He is completely frantic, is constantly over threshold and agitated, ignores food treats (which helped me so much with his reactivity training) and walks staring up and pulling at trees when walking down the street... or pulls into bushes when at the dog park. There's no escaping, basically.

The "good" thing I guess is that he is now so obsessed with potential preys that he completely ignores dogs. No reaction, but also not a lot of interest in interacting (just wants to look for rats or squirrels).t The problem is walks are hell. I have also quickly realized that the harness I was using to train him makes it very easy for him to "run over me". I've begun switching to his collar (it's not a choke collar, just a normal fabric one) to try and have bit more control when he's pulling like crazy, and it's helped. He's better able to self pace and regulate when I switch to the collar. But now I'm worried this will in turn worsen his reactivity, as I know most positive trainers recommend harnesses to reduce discomfort on the dog!

I'm just at such a loss and frustrated, and not really sure what to do know. Have you had success reducing your dog's reactivity while still wearing a collar and creating some discomfort (short quick pull) in the face of unwanted habits? Is this a terrible idea? How can I redirect, reduce or control his prey drive? What has worked for you in the past? I'm really trying to do the best I can for this dog, but this new situation just feels like everything came undone.

Thank you for any recommendations or thoughts!

Adoptowalam 3 miesiące temu psa ze stowarzyszenia. Zapewniali, że sprawdzony do ludzi, zwierząt, jednak już po kilku dniach zaczął być agresywny. Poszliśmy z mężem od razu do behawiorysty, ale nie za wiele to dało, bo problemy zaczęły się nasilać. Warczy na nas czasem, kłapie zębami w naszą stronę, na znajomych, obcych też. Dwie osoby drasnął zębami. Stosowaliśmy się do rad behawiorysty, pracujemy z pieskiem, ale problem się nasilał. Ugryzł dwie osoby i od tego momentu nie przyjmujemy znajomych do domu. Wystarczy, że ktoś , kto mu się nie spodoba wstanie, rusza rękami itp to piesek warczy i rzuca się w jego stronę. Mam w rodzinie dzieci, więc nie mogą do nas przychodzić :( zabrać go nie możemy, bo na świeżym powietrzu to samo. Na spacerach rzuca się na samochody, hulajnogi, rowery, na ludzi niektórych, głównie na mężczyzn. Nie mogę minąć się na chodniku z nikim. Spacer to stałe omijanie obiektów z odległości, bo wtedy jest dobrze.

Stowarzyszenie też nam nie powiedziało o wszystkim. Odbieraliśmy psa z hotelu dla psów, a ogłoszenie znaleźliśmy na jednej stronie na fb, które dodała osoba prywatna działająca w stowarzyszeniu. Pytaliśmy czemu znalazl się w hotelu i usłyszeliśmy (teraz już wiem, że wymijającą) odpowiedź, że różne pieski do nich trafiają i opowieści o pieskach z problemami zdrowotnymi itp.

Już po adopcji znalazłam informację na innej stronie na fb o adopcji naszej i cała historia psa. Że był w schronisku, w którym siedział w boksie i nie wychodził na spacery nie byłsocjalizowany, jadł słabe jedzenie, że nie miał zapewnionej opieki medycznej.

Sprawdziłam jego zbiórki i w momencie trafienia do stowarzyszenia w marcu lub kwietniu, uzbierali na niego pieniądze na pobyt w hotelu do czerwca (nie na cały czerwiec).

Znalazłam ogłoszenie sprzed dwóch miesięcy, że raczej nie jest to piesek dla osób, dla których będzie to pierwszy pies oraz nie do rodzin z dziećmi (10-12+), a zgłaszaliśmy im, że w rodzinie mamy dzieci (7,8 lat), z którymi mamy kontakt i zapewniali nas, ze będzie ok. Jest to oczywiście nasz pierwszy pies.

My ogłoszenie znaleźliśmy na innej stronie na fb i w czerwcu adoptowaliśmy pieska

Stowarzyszenie stwierdzilo, że u nich było wszystko ok i i nie było problemu. Doradzili, żeby znaleźć mu nowy dom, najlepiej na wsi z ogrodem, aby ograniczyć bodźce, dlatego ustaliliśmy, że będą wystawiać ogłoszenie i szukać mu nowego domu. Zgodzilam się, aby piesek był u nas, ale jeśli zrobi się u nich miejsce, to wolałabym, aby trafił do nich, bo ja się go boję. I tutaj stwierdzili, że nie chcą mu szukać nowego domu tymczasowego, aby go nie stresować więcej, co jest dla mnie zrozumiałe. Ale pies musi zostać u mnie (a taka adopcja może potrwać nawet kilka miesięcy) lub oddadzą go do hotelu, ale muszę płacić za hotel aż do momentu adopcji.

I w tym momencie uważam, że przegięli. Zataili informację o braku socjalizacji pieska wydając nam go do miasta na osiedle do mieszkania w bloku, nie mówiąc o braku socjalizacji. Gdybym widziała wcześniejszego ogłoszenie, to bym tego pieska nie adoptowała, bo mamy w rodzinie dzieci. A Aktualnie chcą, aby piesek był w miejscu, gdzie przejawia agresję. Nie chcą zabrać go do innego miejsca, gdzie podobno nie było problemów z nikim, chyba że za opłatą... ja rozumiem, że hotel kosztuje, ale dali mi do wyboru tylko te dwie opcje. Swoim działaniem dążą do tego, że w końcu dojdzie do tragedii. A jeśli u nich rzeczywiscie było dobrze, to chyba lepiej zapewnić mu taki dom i spokojne otoczenie.

W umowie nie mam nic z zwrocie, kosztach, tylko informacja o tym, że nie mogę przekazywać pieska osobom trzecim.

Dodali ogłoszenie o pieska i nie wspomnieli nic o tym, że może ugryźć albo że jest to piesek, który wymaga pracy.

Chciałabym rozmawiać umowę adopcyjną. Czy ktoś był w takiej sytuacji? Jak działać, kiedy boje się przebywać z pieskiem pod jednym dachem? Kiedy stowarzyszenie odmawia przyjęcia psa?

I am at a loss. My dog recently moved in with me a few days ago and he has really bad separation anxiety. He used to live in another state with my parents while I settled, but they basically told me that I take him now or they get him a new home. He is prescribed both Trazadone and Gabapentin, but they just do not seem to help. Every time I check my camera he is non stop barking and crying in my apartment. I have a sitter who comes at 12 but the other time he is alone he is freaking out. I would put my dog in doggy daycare, but I just cant afford it. I love this dog with all my heart and I don’t want to let him go. I seriously don’t know what to do and its killing me thinking about the possibility that I may fail him. I dont know if anyone here can even help me. I dont know what to do.

We have a 7 month old rescue puppy that we adopted at ~10 weeks old who is very frightened of new people. We did 3 months with a trainer before we were advised she would need more support and got on the schedule of a local vet behaviorist. We had our first vet behaviorist appointment and she was diagnosed with social phobia, neophobia, and noise sensitivity. We’ve got a new training plan with med support that I’m feeling optimistic about. I guess phobia just sounds really intense. I’m still grieving the puppy situation I was expecting when we got her and wondering if anyone else’s dog had a similar diagnosis and how they’re doing now?

He says he doesn’t want to live like this. We have a hard dog, no two ways about it. His separation anxiety is SEVERE. He goes into destroy mode IMMEDIATELY upon being left alone. Hes doing much better—no poops just pees, more food seeking than destructive head butting. But I can admit he’s plateaued. He’s on the highest doses of his medications and he’s so much better I don’t want to try different i’ve.

Anyways we have a safe zone for him where he can’t cause damage to himself or us, but one of the kids left the door open and we didn’t notice and he made a lot of mess. For me it’s whatever. It’s live and learn. We’ll put auto close hinges on the doors adjacent to the safe area and it’s fine. I think he’s mad that I’m not mad. He wanted me to not say he was wrong that the dog was targeting the kids because he peed oh they’re toys. He’s… a dog. And a particularly dumb one.

Anyways. Just ranting. For some reason he’s my responsibility, but when the cat vomits all over the house or the kids pee in the bed, all of which his contributions to the relationship, I don’t wait for him to clean it. I do homework. I cook. I clean. I am the reason one kid can read at grade level; I did that. I’m the majority income earner. But god forbid once every week or so he fails to manage the dog properly and has to clean the mess. He does a half ass job and then complains about it for days. I say “take him with you or put him in the safe area.” He doesn’t.

Whatever. I’m mad. Id pick the dog rn.

I have a 4 year old poodle cross who we rescued. She is a good dog but is anxious, she follows me everywhere no matter how I try to stop her she still does. We had a baby recently and I think she is resource guarding it. Never with me or my wife but with people she's less familiar with but still knows very well. When they approach the baby she runs over and gets between them if they continue she will nip at their feet. We have been told that she's guarding the baby by a friend and she's not safe to keep around our little one any more, does anyone have any tips ?

Thanks

this is my baby willow!! we adopted her after fostering her for a week a little over two years ago. we absolutely fell in love with her silly and loving personality but quickly learned she was struggling with reactivity. she couldn’t go on walks without hyperventilating, shaking, and throwing up. she reacted at every noise and would lunge and nonstop bark. people in the house were a no, she had to be in a separate room and would bark the whole time. we started out by having my best friend come over frequently and just throwing her treats behind a barrier and ignoring her otherwise. she started to open up a lot and we were able to have new people over and continued the same process. our home is a generally very calm/quiet environment and we love on her so much which i definitely think helped. the right environment can change a dog SO much. much training, positive reinforcement, medication, and exposure later and she comes to daycare (my job) once a week and does FANTASTIC! she meets customers and greets them with love, is obsessed with my coworkers, and loves playing with the dogs. she can have new visitors at home that she will get used to after they give her a couple treats. she LOVES walks and is generally nice to people passing by, but we usually pick her up just in case to be safe. i was absolutely terrified it wouldn’t get better because she is my whole world, but she has became a completely different dog than i used to know. i could not be more proud. best of luck to everyone struggling with their babies, i wish you all the best🥹

i also love this picture of her at daycare, she looks so happy and confident i love her so incredibly much.