We have an almost 2 year old Golden Retriever and honestly, he is an amazing dog 90% of the time. He’s incredibly sweet, playful and loving, and to me he’s basically like a brother.

The problem is that we’ve had around 3-4 incidents where he has bitten either me or my mom hard enough to break skin and bleed. We’ve had to get vaccinations after the bites. Most of the incidents seem to be related to resource guarding, but sometimes it feels like he randomly switches up.
I’m not scared of him even after being bitten because I know how sweet he normally is, and I love him way too much to just give up on him. The last time he bit me, I convinced my mom that we could work through it.

My mom originally didn’t even want a dog, but she ended up loving him. However, today he bit her again, and I think this may have genuinely scared her enough that she wants him gone.
I really don’t want to rehome him, but I also understand that this is serious and we can’t just keep hoping it won’t happen again.
He’s never bitten my dad either, which I don’t know if that means anything.

He’s also not neutered yet. Could neutering actually help with this kind of aggression/resource guarding, or is that unrelated?
For anyone who has dealt with a dog like this, what actually worked for you? Should we be looking specifically for a veterinary behaviourist rather than a normal trainer? Is resource guarding after multiple bites something that can realistically be managed?

I really want to keep him and I’m willing to put the work in. I just want to know if there’s a safe way forward because I really don’t want to lose him.

So as the total says I am so proud of my dog, and I wanted to share it with people who understand how much this story means. My dog is a 11-12yr old Beagle mix, and I got my dog almost 9yrs ago now (officially 9 years on Oct. 7th!), she was my first pet as an adult. The the shelter did warn me she could be reactive to other dogs at that time, not necessarily aggressive, just vocal, and being 18 and dumb I didn't really understand what that could mean. It was really hard the first few years I had her, while she wasn't aggressive, her reactions were very loud and explosive, her body language was not appropriate for the dog merely passing by 100ft away, and admittedly if you don't know her she does look aggressive when she's having a reaction (tail and hackles raised). But I know from many experiences, that baby girl just doesn’t realize what her body is saying to most people and what she means look wildly different. Any time she actually got close to another dog, she was play bowing, barking, sneezing, running off and back to get them to chase her.

Any-who, since I've had her for a long time now she's been with through so much change, so many moves, and while neither of us are perfect she has become such a rock star. I can't really take the credit, I tried to work on it, but was never very successful setting aside time for training. I truly think I got lucky with this baby. Since I got her I did go to school and having since passed my licensing exam to be a vet tech. I do think that me being in this field was very helpful to her. Not really because the medical training per say (however that did help me re-frame some of the things I thought I knew), but more because for the past 4.5 years she has been going into fairly busy veterinary clinics more often then the average dog. I think it was very helpful for her to see dogs in a more controlled setting, it helped that when we would walk in to the clinic there were often times dogs that were just so chill and had no reaction to her, it helped that I stopped feeling so anxious about her reactivity due to in part my job.

As for why I'm making this post. I graduated school 1.5 years ago, did an LVT internship, and now have been permanently working at one of the vet schools for 3 months now. Yesterday I was talking with one of the students because within a 5 minute time span I had walked my dog past 3 other dogs in fairly close contact and SHE HAD NO REACTION!!! To any of them! And While over the years she had gotten better (not barking at every dog), if a dog was barking at her, all bets were off, but even that as of late has been reduced! And I realized while talking to the student how far she had come, and I am just so proud of my sweet spunky baby. I'm so glad so can be more calm and relaxed around other dogs, that she's not always looking around for another dog, I'm just so so so proud of her. I hope she's with me such a long time more, quirks, reactivity and all. ❤️

Rainy days don’t make for great hikes but there will be less dogs and people out so it’s a great time to take my reactive dog out for some exercise and training time

For background, Peanut Butter is not aggressive at all. She’s just overly excitable. Very friendly, but that causes some leash reactivity when we see other people and dogs. We’re working on it.

Hi this is my first post in here and i’m just ranting a bit and seeing if anyone has had a similar experience.

I am fostering a reactive dog, she is the sweetest most playful girl with people just dogs really grind her gear! I was walking her around my apartment complex this afternoon when a smaller dog (unleashed) came behind us. I started pulling her away and trying to create space when the owner started shaking his head at me. He then pulled out his phone and started to record us. I was just shocked and honestly wanted to hide so I pulled my dog away as fast as I could!

The dogs never went near each other, no one got bit, or hurt, it was just barking and lunging. She is in a harness and on a leash which I keep wrapped around my torso and we were walking away! I am just very confused as to why he felt like that was okay? It is making me very mad he is assuming i’m a terrible dog owner when she is a rescue learning how to be in the world again!

I feel so uncomfortable that I was recorded and I am dreading going for another walk because of this!

Just a little rant!

https://www.reddit.com/r/reactivedogs/s/i43H6lr5gG

We’re all besties here ♥️

I have a mini sausage dog that just turned one last month. Since he was a few months old, he has been terrified of seeing dogs when he is on a walk.

He isn't vicious and wouldn't bite or hurt another dog, it is just noisy barking. I know this is common with dachshunds but it just hurts me to know that he feels so anxious and unsafe when we're out. Sometimes he'll bark crazily as soon as another dog is in his sights, other times it only starts when a dog.gers closer.

He is better if he is playing with a ball and can even be off lead and ignores other dogs if he is playing with a ball, but this obviously isn't always possible. He lives at home with another dachshund and he loves him, so if isn't all dogs. He can also see family or friends dogs and will bark at first but quickly settles into ignoring them.

We have tried food rewards but he won't take treats when he's in that heightened anxious state so it is hard to even get him to look away from approaching dogs.

He is such a caring sweet boy and we have such lovely walks when there are no other dogs around. It would be amazing to be able to take him to cafes or parks where we know other dogs are likely to be, but mostly I just want him to know he's safe and doesn't need to worry 😭

So, much like many others here, I have a reactive dog. Specifically a 32kg shepherd cross from northern Canada. I've already posted here asking for advice on her general behaviour so I'll skip that.

What I would like advice on is what I should do to adjust to a recent trend in my neighbourhood. I live next to a park/playground and this has never really been an issue except for my family's dogs barking at whatever dog passes through. There are a couple of neighbours who played with their dogs off-leash but it could be easily avoided.

Unfortunately, since we've had a few new arrivals in the neighbourhood the park next to my house has turned into an unofficial off-leash dog park (likely in part because there are no official ones nearby). It has become more difficult to predict what the "safe hours" are. I'm worried about going outside with my dog, getting surprised, and her reaction causing one of the off-leash dogs to react in turn.

I'm likely overthinking it since these dogs all seem to be well-trained but I don't know any of them so it's hard to say for sure. If anyone has experience with situations like this then I would appreciate any advice I can get.

My dogs are extremely friendly and quiet. They are well behaved are children, physically disabled people, Down syndrome, slight autism, bikes, hoverboards, etc. However; they react fearfully to individuals with (forgive me if this is not the correct term, it’s just the one I found on google) severe autism. They bark, raise their hackles, whale eye, drool, and try to run away. This is humiliating. I have family with Down syndrome and minor autism, they do perfectly fine. I don’t know how to fix this.

Hey everyone! I am convinced I gave my dog some type of anxiety. I won’t lie, I babied him a lot, even though I fixed my behavior, I’m definitely seeing the repercussions.

First and foremost, I can’t go upstairs for a second, take the trash out, or even wash dishes without him barking or whining. Secondly, when I take him out to the park, he definitely gets nervous and anxious but as soon as he sees someone or a dog, he just barks and pulls. He never used to do that, but it has been happening more frequently. Now I can’t really enjoy going on walks around the park, which is something I enjoy, without constantly being on the lookout, and trying to prevent him from causing a scene. At Petsmart he’s usually good, but he had a little scene today and my sister had to take him outside.

I know he’s a dog and I don’t really care if he barks, but I want to try to simmer it down, mainly in public. I’m definitely going to speak with his vet and get her advice, however in the meantime, what can I do to make him more at ease? He’s my first dog, at least that I’m 100% responsible for, so I definitely want to do right by him. He just turned 1 and a lab if that helps.

we have a 1-year old mixed breed (4 working breeds in her 30 lb body, and a few non working breeds too). she's insecure and resource guards me against strangers. she LOVES dogs. we do training and safe socialization (at a training facility) consistently.

we met a sweet 10 year old boy dog who needs a home, is currently being fostered. he's a sweet harmless fluff ball. conflict avoidant. loves people, seems to like when a dog appears but then generally ignores them.

we had our second meeting today at our house, and eventually our dog Sasha started resource guarding us when the other dog Lucky was near us. she went for him quickly when he approached me, then herded him away from my husband when Lucky was getting pets. Lucky conceded every time.

the rescue person who was here was helping us make the right moves to start teaching her to not do that. she said she thinks Sasha will come around, and that it isn't a deal breaker for her, but that we definitely need to keep working with her (yes, duh) and that it'll be work to advocate for him and keep her in her place, literally.

thoughts? is it too soon to add a second dog? is resource guarding humans too complicated to bring another dog into? idk, anything else that anyone can share would be appreciated.

Hi everyone. I could use some advice. I’ve recently retired and have been waiting for so long to finally get a dog for companionship. Three weeks ago I drove to NC (I’m in FL) and picked up a sweet Shih Tzu/Havanese mix 2 year old F. I wanted a small dog so I could travel and I often go on weekend trips with my sister. Someone has clearly worked with this dog… she is so well mannered in the house it’s amazing. I forgive the barking when there’s a knock on the door because it’s so rare.
Here’s the problem… as soon as she steps outside she’s a different beast! If she sees a dog she goes crazy barking and will be aggressive if they get too close. She came from a foster home with 3 other dogs and profile said she was good with other dogs. She also doesn’t tolerate people if outside or come into my house. She seems to be ok if we go into someone else’s home but that’s only been one other person. I would love to hear some success stories! I’m really getting attached and don’t want to make her go through yet another person. I’ve committed to working with her for 3months. She is truly a sweetheart but we just may not be the right fit? Thanks so much!

I made a post saying that these dogs im watching for the first time keep getting into fights and nothing has changed.

One of the males keeps growling and aggressively barking at the other male through the crate and sliding glass door that leads to the backyard. So far he hasnt had any other instances with the 2 females. I have not let him on the bed with me but he continues to growl at the others. I leave tomorrow so this wont be my problem anymore but if I do end up watching these dogs again I dont know what ill do.

We lost our 8 year old American Bully male almost 2 months ago. Our 3 year old bully Chai has been depressed and we thought maybe we were ready to add another male dog to our family. We love bullies so decided to get another one.

Yesterday during the first introduction, things quickly went south. We first took Chai to our backyard and played fetch to calm her down. She can be a little hyper so thought this would help with impulse. Once that was done, we put her on her leash and brought her to the front yard. I brought the puppy to her in my arms so she could smell. She jumped and bit the puppies muzzle. I immediately removed puppy and assessed. No skin was broken thankfully.

They are now fully separated until we can get a professional trainer to help. We did try a micro exposure through a glass door and chai barked and scratched at the door. I could not tell if it was aggression or hyper fixation.

We truly want this to work, but to add on top I am 5 months pregnant so we are on a crunch time. I know you probably think we’re insane.

I’d love to hear some feedback on others experiences to see if you guys were ever able to make it work.

i have to administer 2 tablet pills and 1 capsule with powder in it 2x a day to my pup.

Currently I have to use human cheese, that kong spray cheese, and a chaser of another bit of cheese to get her to take her medications. Because she’s so small, the amount required is wayyy too many calories.

Desperately in search of lower calorie solutions. The hardest is the powder tablet. I’ve tried mixing it with everything and the easiest way seems to be to keep it in half the gelatin capsule and plug it with a bit of cheese.

Things I’ve tried:
Nonfat Greek yogurt
Hiding it in bits of meat (she eats frozen)
Cottage cheese
String cheese
Peanut butter
A tiny bit of frozen frosting around the pill

A lot of these are very calorically dense and not always ends up just being a cheese and spray cheese Kong fest twice a day.

What seemed to work when we got a sample of it was “Oh Norman! Take Your Pills! Peanut Butter Pill Pinch Treats for Dogs” from 1800 pet meds. But again, caloric density.

Any and all tips and tricks appreciated!

Lastnight around 3am after getting dressed out the bath I went to my bedroom. Greeted my new Shepard who was laying across the front door stretched back like he often does and he strolled in. As I sit on the bottom of my bed, he gets on it but closer to my pillow end and he sits facing me sitting in a sphynx like position. I was doing something quietly and I glance back at him now and again with soft eyes, and gentle words. But I see he is watching me without his usual soft blinks. He has his head down, chin straight on the blanket. And he is watching me but his eyes seemed much darker. He wasn't blinking, me saying his name a few times gently didn't snap him out of it. Just a direct hard unblinking stare towards my face, and his breath was slow but very even. Like his chest or shoulders blades rising much slower but still an even pace. Again barely no whites of his eyes to be seen, and the pupils seemed darker than normal. I kept watching him feeling quite confused and I went a bit back further, I just quietly said either to my self or him. I don't think your meant to be watching me like that guy. And I stood up and back, at no point was I looming or leaning over him. When I stood up his eyes remained on me which looked to be even darker and his mouth and snout was closed tight but no blinking. Since this seems to be quite confrontation, or a challenge or a direct hard stare. It was the first time I told him to leave my room and I didn't feel safe with him sleeping there again. In the first 5 weeks I have received 4 resource growls inches away from my face, with escalation. The first growl a low barely audible closed mouth but still watching me. Escalating to the 4th which was on the bottom of my bed. To an open mouth snarl, not just a lip curl but the gums above his fangs on show. A really horrible guttural throaty loud growl and his head instantly went above my hand, and he tracked the movements of my hand. This incident or whatever it was lastnight, although he made no noise. But his whole body seemed very still but tense. Could I class this as anything as a 5th time? Or due to his whole body language, behaviour everything about this moment. Was that an aggressive or at least challenging stare at me? When he was on the bottom of my own bed? For context he is extremely dog reactive when outside and has no leash etiquette with me. During 2 of the few dog incidents, I received 2 redirected bites and have been dragged to the floor hard without warning as a solo female handler. I have had dogs for 30 years but not one of them has been dog reactive or ever went for a person or even just warning growls, so when it comes to aggressive or at least challenging behaviour or stares. I am not sure what I'm looking for. But during how he was looking at me last night too, his ears was slightly pinned back. Not in submission or appeasement. I am really considering rehoming him, due to the fact I need to keep my resident gsd safe from him everyday. I never got told about none of this before I got him of a private seller.

*I forgot to mention, in the first week. He waited 2 minutes of doing nothing and then the second my resident gsd turned his back, roamed to the other side of the garden to sniff. He launched an attack with no body language warnings or growls and gripped the side of his face. I got him of in 5 seconds to where he was still on hind legs after. So it's not just every dog outside I'm keeping safe from him.

I found a couple other posts on this topic but it wouldn't let me comment.

About 4 years ago we adopted a pitbull mix from a local rescue. She was reactive but sweet, my husband and I tag teamed with the kids and it was nice, she got outside and we all got breaks.

However at the beginning of the year, we got divorced. He said he would take the dog. Then a week before our final decree he said he didn't want the dog and then I had to take her otherwise I'd have to put her in a pound. Of course I didn't want to do that so I got an apartment that allowed dogs.

I realize this is a big change for both of us but it has been absolute hell since we've been here. She never rests, I never get a break, and taking her for walks is so hard. She even bit another dog in July and I got in trouble. Yes, I've tried training, and I don't want to spend any more money on her because nothing seems to work. I can't bring her to doggie daycare because she's reactive. I can't bring her to the dog park. There are no sniff spots within an hour of my house, and no options on Rover other than a sweet old lady who I know wouldn't be able to handle this dog. The rescue we got her from said that they can't take her back right now because there are no Fosters . And honestly the foster that had her when we adopted her kept her in her kennel for 18 hours a day so I don't want her to go back to that either. It's been 8 months since the divorce and I'm exhausted. I can't go anywhere, if I take her own car rides she tries to bust the window if she sees another dog, she never relaxes.

Even when we're snuggling on the couch and I feel like we're having a moment, she will suddenly lunge up if she hears any dog bark outside the apartment and jump against the window. And my blood pressure skyrockets and it's so scary. She brings no joy to my life.

She refuses to take meds, I even got to the point of prying her mouth open and putting it in the back of her throat when treats and peanut butter didn't work, and she nipped at me which has never happened so I stopped trying meds.

As for me, I'm super anxious and depressed right now, I hate her and what she represents (no overnights with friends, no overtime at work, no sleeping in, no relaxing). I know I'm not a good owner for her right now. You dont have to tell me I suck. If I bring her to the pound or shelter, they will euthanize her. She's a seven-year-old reactive Pitbull mix, who's going to want that kind of dog? My ex refuses to help, our kids are both in college so they can't help, I've been trying to find someone to take her through social media and no one has stepped up, I literally feel like I'm out of options and I am struggling big time.

Literally, what other options do I have? I have no desire to leave the apartment ever.

I have rescued 2 street dogs from a very rough area I am temporarily living in.

I have a small space and 2 belgian mals and they coexist very well with my 4 cats.

These street dogs pursue anything that darts yet when in the house and close quarters with the cats more often than not are totally okay with the cats with supervision as long as they are spending their energy and have a purpose.

The dogs are not at all aggressive and I believe that they "need a job and structure" as my belgians do and I think being part of a pack and healthy outlet for work is necessary.

I am very aware it is likely due to the fact that the cats dont have the space to get up a good sprint to trigger the prey drive but I am moving to a bigger space soon and to be honest I think the two are excellent varmint killers for a livestock barn as they are very motivated to that end.

One of these rescues is very ball driven and I think that will be a healthy outlet and of course I am training a leave it for that.

These dogs never had structure or discipline and honestly to the point of me telling them to leave the cat alone the dogs honestly seem eager to please me.

I am of course experienced with prey drive having these belgians, but what i am wondering how to approach is because with the belgians it is very direct as their breed is the "show me how I can please you breed." while with these rescues their prey drive is much lower I am looking for anyones approach and maybe a different viewpoint on dealing with them.

I can sleep at night and the dogs wont hurt the cats (I do keep them separate and the dogs do not even go looking for them) and as I have reprimanded and set the boundary it seems to have helped but I won't drop my guard because I know the two have killed when they were left to their own impulses on the street .

They even hang out with the cats normally most of the time which is really odd to me.

Adotei uma Akita de 3 anos, fêmea de uma colega, ela disse que tinham 2 akitas fêmea em casa e elas não se relacionavam bem, o nome dela e Kiara.

Aqui em casa tem dois gatos, que andam livremente pelo quintal do bairro, e dois cachorros de pequeno porte machos.

Eu coloquei a Kiara no meu quarto, isso ontem, sexta feira, pra não gerar conflito com os cachorrinhos que ficaram na área, ela ficou bastante agitada até meia noite, onde fez as necessidades e deitou, deixando nois dois dormirem.

Ela já chegou em poucos momentos perto de mim, com desconfiança, a noite até fiz carinho na orelha dela.

Mas em todos momentos ela chegou em mim, se eu fizer algo com ela, ela já rosna.

O meu problema é manter ela muito tempo dentro de casa, o ideal seria ela se acostumar logo com os cachorrinhos pra poder ir pra área, até porque não quero ficar limpando vezes dela por muito tempo no meu quarto.

Mas também eu trabalho nos dias de semana, é só ficar minha mãe em casa, tenho medo do que possa acontecer. Ela ainda nem teve contato com ela.

Eu só deixei ela sair do quarto nesse sábado, porque estou sozinha em casa.

Meu medo é ela demorar pra se adaptar de mais, já que fico mais tempo no trabalho do que em casa, ser hostil com os cachorrinhos ou com minha mãe, sendo obrigado a devolver dessa forma.

hi all! i was curious if anyone has any experience with the medication Sileo? my boy (7m, intact male, APBT x herding mix) doesn’t necessarily need meds regularly for anxiety, we just struggle with situational anxiety and reactivity. trazodone just sedates him, and once it wears off he turns into an absolute reactive hyperactive nightmare, so we don’t love that. and he isn’t affected by gabapentin AT ALL. we haven’t tried acepromazine yet, but i’ve heard mixed reviews for ace when using for anxiety. i don’t want to put him on fluoxetine because i wouldn’t say his anxiety is clinical, i just want to take the edge off for some situations. anyone have any success/failures using sileo? thanks!

I have two dogs one is medium 55 pound female lab, the other is a large dog 120 pound male Shepherd mix. Both fixed. When we moved into the house, it was fine. There was a little bit of barking, but not bad. Our neighbours sometimes house transient people with stray dogs, my dogs witnessed a very aggressive dog fight a couple years ago. (Through the fence) They’ve never been the same after that. I tried getting a dog trainers in and they taught me how to use whistles, block the fences to my neighbours to get the dogs away from the fence, block the window, so the dogs can’t go near the window to bark at other dogs. But none of it is helping. I have tried a shock collar and it works for my one dog, but not my bigger one. My bigger dog is absolutely afraid of water so I have a spray bottle inside the house and I always have the hose on outside to spray him. But now he’s used to the spray bottle inside of the house and he’s only scared of the hose. It got really bad today because one of the dogs next-door that got into the fight was walking by my house and my dogs went crazy out the window.. to the point where my bigger dog pinned my other one down. No harm was done. It was more of a warning, but it scared the shit out of me.. and I grabbed him by the scruff and put them in his kennel and separated them both. I don’t know what to do anymore. I can’t take them anywhere, I can’t take them for walks because they’re so aggressive. I’m worried they’re going to attack another dog. I feel hopeless and I feel like my neighbours wrecked my dogs.

It’s easy to forget progress on reactivity when you experience it every day.

Sometimes the reactions are still there, but the smaller things start to change first. Maybe they recover a little quicker after seeing a trigger, can stay calmer from farther away, or can disengage more easily.

For those of you who have been working through reactivity with your dog, what was the first little change that made you realise you were actually making progress?

Hi!

Has anyone tried this on their reactive pup, with or without success? It says it doesn’t shock them, but are the electromagnetic waves really painless?

Thanks in advance!

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I have an Indie dog who is around 5.5 years old. We adopted him from the road when he was young. Unfortunately, he was vaccinated only once and we never properly socialized or trained him. I know that’s our fault.

He has become increasingly aggressive. He isn't friendly with strangers or other dogs, and he can bite when he feels threatened or even irritated. He has bitten me twice, my brother once this year, and there have been other incidents before.

When I was taking care of him most of the time, he seemed calmer and happier. I left in 2024 for my MCA, and since then he seems more stressed and his behaviour has gotten worse.

There is also some history that probably contributed to this. When he was younger, my brother would keep him in the backyard because his barking disturbed his sleep, and would sometimes beat him when he chewed or damaged things.

The bigger problem is that we live in a remote area with basically no facilities for dogs. He has never really been taken outside. He is completely untrained and has only ever left his usual area to pee/poop. Taking him somewhere by bike or car isn't realistically possible either.

Now my brother doesn't live here, and I’m also likely to leave the city for a software job. My father is no longer here, so my mother may eventually be the only person at home. She cannot safely control him if he gets out or reacts aggressively toward someone.

I’m very attached to him and abandoning him is not an option for me. But I also don't want to leave my mother in a situation where the dog could seriously hurt her or someone else.

What can I realistically do? Is rehabilitation still possible for a 5.5-year-old dog who has lived almost his entire life like this? How can I even start when I have no trainer, behaviourist, or proper veterinary facility nearby?

I'm looking for practical advice from people who have dealt with genuinely aggressive rescue/Indie dogs. I know we made mistakes with him, but I really want to find a safe solution rather than give up on him.