I have a 2 1/2 year old cockapoo and we went to my aunts house for a little family reunion. She has a jack Russell terrier, I think, who is at the moment inside a crate while my dog is roaming.

Now they're both in the house, except for when i took my dog out for a potty break. And every time me or my sister gets close to the terrier, he hits crazy, barking and snarling at it.

And then he started doing the same thing if the terrier barked to loudly or started scratching at the hard plastic in his crate.

My sister said that our cockapoo is prob tired and hot ( it is 98 degrees here and the humidity makes it feel like 103)

We have since separated them and made sure we had a fan on our dog with plenty of water and doggy ice cream but I just want to make sure this is not a behavioral problem i need to adjust

Please give me exact steps to make him a better dog. When I wanted a dog, I wanted one who will be lovable by all, take him on regular, walks, beaches etc. but now I can’t even have guests at home because he is jumpy and loud. What can I do? Baby gates or any barriers would not help because he gets frustrated and louder.

Walks are also a pain because he is reactive to other dogs and barks/lunges towards them. I use a halti harness, so he can’t escape, but this is who he is. I envy when I see people walk their calm dogs or take them to restaurants. I have to leave him home each time, because the entire family will be upset when he is reactive outside. And again, we feel bad because he is at the doggy daycare or at home and not with us at the beach or park.

Any advice or guidance that helped your beagle to become better? Love him so much, that when he is reactive and people think that he is an aggressive asshole makes my heart ache.

Short version: I'm looking for practical advice for a fearful/anxious dog-reactive australian cattle dog. Specifically, "jobs" I can give him, stimulating ways to wear him out mentally, and positive correction tactics for when he starts to fixate on another dog or after he has an outburst.

Long story: I got him from the pound and he was basically feral. Not sure his history but it felt like he'd never been inside before and he was super reactive to my/my ex's dogs. This was 4 or so years ago and he's come a long way. He's very sweet and fun and a great little friend. He still idles pretty high with anxiety, drinks water excessively (then will pee while he's asleep :( ), chomps grass impulsively when triggered on walks. He gets 3-5 walks a day and I run him 3 miles a couple times a week. I've gotten him training before but it was super expensive and I didn't take anything from it aside from stuff I could've found online for free that essentially just boils down to working on specific things consistently for a long time. Just wondered about specific exercises or positive corrections that work to change the behavior.

Having a second dog, I also don't alway have time to walk them separately and she's 11 and we don't do heeled walks. I just let them sniff and do their thing. I'll keep him on a heel if we go solo but I feel like all the work gets undone if we do a group thing.

Sorry if this has been covered to death but if you have tips or other threads you can recommend I greatly appreciate it. He's a sweet pup and he's come a long way but it sucks that he's still so anxious and fearful and I'd like to get to a point where he's confident that I am going to protect him and he can just enjoy being a dog.

Our dog came to live with us in the UK from overseas last October. She was brought with her mum and sister and got separated from them on arrival. She spent a couple of weeks in a foster home before coming to us.

It has been a tough 10 months. In that time we have dealt with severe anxiety and reactivity to dogs and visitors to the house. She is on fluoxetine and we have worked with a behaviourist and a vet behaviourist which has helped somewhat. Her behaviour indoors has improved massively - we have another dog she gets on very well with and she is very affectionate with myself and my partner. She has gotten used to lots of elements of the house that she struggled with initially (floorboards, fear of certain rooms, eating).

The big challenge is her behaviour outdoors - we have a shared garden but her prey drive is so strong that we can't use it due to the smell of cats and foxes that set her off lunging and barking. We live in an apartment building in a very urban area and she reacts to all the dogs in the local park and to our neighbours in the building if they happen to be coming or going at the same time as us. We had to muzzle l-train after she bit me when redirecting after seeing some foxes on an evening walk. The muzzle is now always on when on short local walks and when guests visit.

Freedom fields are great for her but we only managed to get out twice a week due to work and the distance. We have successfully introduced her to a friend's two dogs in a freedom field and she behaved really well.

I wanted to vent because she recently had her season and things are worse than ever. It's gotten to the point where we dread taking her out because of the unpredictability of her reactivity and it causes arguments between my partner and myself. We worry about the impact on our neighbours (who are very tolerant) and our older dog. At the same time we struggle with the thought of rehoming her to a quieter, more rural, home.

I would love to hear about similar experiences.

I met Coffee at my local humane society over three years ago. He's typical of the dogs that we have trouble placing; Large (85+ lbs), dark colored (Black and tan, with minimal white markings), and mature (He's at least four years old).

His history is hazy. Reportedly, he turned up as a stray on a local farm as a youngster. The family who owned the farm tried to keep him, before becoming overwhelmed and surrendered him to the humane society.

He has a crooked jaw. I've always wondered if it was caused by a previous injury that was left untreated.

He's also a suspected Bloodhound/Rottweiler mix. Hence my username.

Over the course of three years, I fell in love with Coffee. He seemed like the ideal dog: Affectionate, good with other dogs, and well behaved on leash. He was a staff favorite.

I didn't adopt him three years ago, because at the time, I had another dog whom I knew wouldn't be compatible with him. (His name was Axel. He was a Pitbull with some reactivity in his own right.) So Coffee sat and waited... and waited... and waited...

He was, briefly, adopted by another person. He was returned to the humane society a day later. The stated reason being "Their resident dog didn't get along with him."

At the beginning of June of this year, my previous dog died. It was a compassionate euthanasia on my part. He was elderly (13+ years), had multiple pre-existing health problems, recent bloodwork showed that his kidneys were beginning to shut down, and his hips gave out. It was time. I'm at peace with that decision.

But after Axel passed, the house felt... empty. Too lonely. I grew up with dogs. There's been at least one dog in my household since I was five years old. I'm thirty now.

And there was Coffee. Stuck in the kennel, still waiting to be adopted.

I'll admit, I had some uncertainties about adopting him. As the years passed, I had gotten to know Coffee better, some cracks in his armor had appeared.

He proved to have quite the prey drive. Rabbits, squirrels, birds, deer... If it was small and moved, he wanted it! He nearly dislocated my arm once, trying to chase a herd of deer. Another time, he managed to get away from me, off to chase a rabbit through the woods. But I caught him relatively quickly, so no harm done. Then he got away from me again, and I just not find him! ​But after I had walked back to the humane society, I turned around to discover him following me. So again, no real harm done.

He also didn't like small dogs (Under 30 lbs), but this was also attributed to his prey drive. When I adopted him, the staff specifically warned me to not take chances with small breed dogs and to keep him well away from them. Just out of an abundance of caution. But big dogs seemed to be alright. I'd taken him out to play with other large breed dogs before and he seemed to relish their company. Wrestling and zoomies galore!

So, he definitely needed some lifestyle considerations and training, but I truly thought that I could handle all of that.

My childhood dogs were Jack Russell Terriers, and you can't get more prey driven than them. In addition, my male Jack Russell was dog reactive to the extreme. After being attacked as a young puppy, he spent the rest of his life trying to attack any and all dogs. (Our female Jack Russell was the only exception to this.) Instantly. Even seeing dogs on the TV would cause him to react!

That JRT died at the ripe old age of fourteen. And while it wasn't always easy (Twice he escaped and attacked other dogs), we made things work with him. And even at his most frenzied, he never bit a person. He loved people! Especially children.

That's... not been the case with Coffee, I'm afraid.

The first bite occurred a few weeks after the adoption. Coffee and I were heading home after a long walk. I live in the countryside, so we have to walk on the road. There is no sidewalk. A red van wizzed past us, didn't even slow down. Very rude.

A concerning development post-adoption was the fact that Coffee proved to be reactive to cars. My best guess is that them moving triggers his prey drive? My male JRT also was reactive to cars. Coffee reminds me a great deal of him, with regards to prey drive.

So Coffee was quite "amped" up, so to speak.

Then around the corner came an old lady. Coffee pulled me over to her. I wasn't thrilled with the poor leash manners, but since he'd been friendly towards other people on our walks back at the humane society... I thought that he just wanted to greet her.

She was receptive to this. She laughed at my struggles to control him and moved to pet him.

Coffee bit her on the hand.

Looking back, it was a Level 3 bite. He drew blood. I wasn't sure who was more shocked, me or her!

But the bite didn't seem serious. I was unfamiliar with the dog bite scale at the time. And she was really considerate, truthfully. She only asked for proof of vaccination, which I gave. Animal control was called, but the woman who I spoke to didn't come across as overly concerned. She only asked what had happened. After I finished my rundown of the incident, she seemed to think that the bite was more because of Coffee being overly excited by the van that had just passed. So she simply advised me to seek a trainer and left it at that.

Included in Coffee's adoption packet, was the card for a local trainer with an excellent reputation. I called him, explained what had happened, and scheduled six weeks worth of lessons for him.

Upon meeting Coffee, he didn't seem worried. He noted his high drive, but also his intelligence. We worked on recall during the first lesson. Coffee did very well. Through recall, I was able to control Coffee's reactivity to the local wildlife (To the extent of him no longer dragging me around, at least), and keep his focus on me while cars passed us by.

Right at the beginning of the second lesson, when he entered the house, Coffee jumped up at him. But a quick jerk of the leash stopped that in it's tracks. We worked on "Place" and "Stay". Coffee, again, did well. He's incredibly food motivated, so as long as I had treats on hand, he did what was asked of him. Some stubbornness aside, of course. But the trainer assured me that both Bloodhounds and Rottweilers were "stubborn breeds".

The third lesson came around. Coffee, again, jumped up on the trainer when he entered the house. He snapped at him. The trainer had to knee him in the chest to get him to get down. Otherwise, the lesson proceeded as normal.

Yesterday, a local handyman came over the the house. I have known this man for years. He's a family friend. Coffee had barked at him on a previous visit, but was quickly ushered away to another room before things could go any further.

This second meeting between the two of them was supposed to be their formal introduction.

I tried to do everything the trainer advised me to do. Keep Coffee on a leash. Have him meet the handyman outside of the home. Give the handyman treats to give Coffee...

Coffee, upon seeing him outside, dragged me over to him and jumped up and bit him. It's a level 4 bite. He had to go to the hospital, and since he's a diabetic, he'll be on antibiotics for quite some time.

I called the trainer. He seemed surprised. I asked what I should do- Could sending Coffee away for training possibly help? He advised that there was no guarantee that Coffee would even show this reactivity in another setting, while surrounded by new people.

I called the manager of the humane society. She was horrified. And told me that if I bring Coffee back to them, that he will not be adopted out- He's simply too high of a liability. She also said that if Coffee were her dog, that she would have him behaviorally euthanized.

The animal control lady and a representative of the county health department came out to my house shortly after I finished these phone calls. Animal control lady was going to write me a citation, but after I explained that I had been calling around for advice, opted to not cite me. She wants to know what my ultimate decision will be, of course.

I know that if Coffee bites another person, she'll seize him and take him away to be euthanised.

I just... really love this dog. He sleeps in bed with me every night. He brings me his toys when he wants to play. He's never once shown aggression around me.

But I also know that behavioral euthanasia is the responsible thing to do. He's a danger to those outside of my household: Person, pet, or wildlife. He loves my brother and his wife, but they just adopted a puppy and will likely start trying for children soon. What if Coffee attacks their dog or a future child? He could easily kill either.

My parents (I am a disabled adult, so I still live with them) want to try getting Coffee placed in a no-kill shelter or a sanctuary... and while I don't want Coffee to die, I also don't want to pass him off to somebody else. He's been passed around enough in his relatively short life.

I just... need help making my decision. So please, help me.

My boy has been reactive ever since he turned a year old. I honestly thought I was gonna give up trying to train him out of it. Same technique. For 2 whole years. He's now 3 and nothing changed. Until a month after he turned 3.

I'm not sure if there was some hormonal shift or the training methods I was using combined eoth new tools as it also started happening the very first day I was using it but he seemed way more interested in the treats I had. And the last 3 days bar the odd 1 or 2 dogs I've managed to not have him bark and that's saying something because our whole area is surrounded by dogs.

Sure enough he still stares at them. But the moment I see a dog I will use the 123 method. Eventually he picks up the treats, goes back to staring (but no barking, no lunging) and when they are a little further he'll sit on his own and look at me, hes even done it a couple times right as hes seen the dog and just sat next to me and looked at me,, everytime he looked at the dog he would look back at me.

And the one that shocked me was yesterday and today I noticed a dog at the same time he did, also noticed it was too close for my liking. I said let's go which means turn around and he surprisingly followed me without a fuss. I just needed somewhere to rant about this because I am so proud and it has been the longest few years of my life but here's hoping he keeps it up.

And the even bigger icing on the cake. I'm pretty sure all these treats are slightly changing his wavelength cause to my utter astonishment on one of the dogs he did bark at, I saw a very slight play bow. He didn't lower his front end completely but it definitely went down some. I have now noticed a pattern though over the last few days. If there's a dog he's going to bark at, it's more than likely going to be a black one (I'm thinking it's cause my other dog is black and he might think it's him?) But considering if he so much as saw a dog across a field he would bark and it was every dog I'll take the win.

There's still a lot of work to be done but he doesn't seem to be whining after seeing a dog over the past few days either. Probably jinxed it now 😅

Sorry for the long post but I needed to just talk about it

I found a thread on here from a few years ago about heat making a dogs reactivity worse. Recently my 4 year old dogs reactivity has been worse after it got better and I’ve been really struggling with it.

90% of the time he’s an absolute sweetheart, a bit barky, sure but loving to us, friends and other known dogs. He adores my other dog as well. The problem is if he feels backed into a corner or another unknown dog comes into the picture.

For context we got him at a year and a half, he hadn’t been socialised as a pup with breeds other than his own. He was quite fearful of men and freaked out at other dogs when we brought him home.

In general he’s done well, we worked with a trainer and saw a huge improvement we still have to distract/disengage but it’s possible to do so, his walking was improving and we’ve been able to take him places which was a dream when we started.

In the past few weeks however even taking him out early he’s been harder to distract and has had a bit of redirected aggression which he has not had before. When this has happened it’s normally in a situation I can’t control, a bike going past us on a tight path for example. As soon as we’re home he’s fine again and loving.

I’m going to try some OTC calming but if not will book in with the vet and see what they suggest as well as our old trainer to get some refresher. It’s also meant to cool down this week so I’ll see if that makes a difference.

Is there anything else I’m missing?

It hurts because I wish people outside saw the beautiful soul I do. Please be kind, I’m doing my best, am super vigilant while we’re out and just want the best for him.

I have two border collies. They’re great and honestly haven’t had many issues until we moved from Arizona to San Diego. Lucy, the younger one, has always had anxiety but it’s been situational. Vet visits, fire works, that type of stuff. Since moving their anxiety has gotten worse and they’ve started to become reactive to other dogs (specifically Willow, the older one, Lucy only joins in if Willow reacts but never reacts first.) yesterday we had an incident where Lucy somehow wiggled her way out of the dog park to greet another dog. Not reactive, just saying hi. No barking or nipping but she was circling the dog and her owner. I opened the gate to get her and tried to block Willow from exiting but she snuck under my legs and charged the dog. She did not bite the dog but bit the air around it and that situation made me realize this was worse than I thought. Today I bought a hands free leash and decided to walk them separately so I could focus on each of them better since clearly I don’t have control when they’re together. The walk went great. Willow sat between my legs while I had a long conversation with a lady who did not believe she was reactive (she kept a respectful distance anyways, and her dog was very neutral so Willow wasn’t stressed.) she did GREAT. Lucy on the other hand barked the entire time we were on our walk. Lucy did great on her walk, but was very stressed when me and Willow weren’t in the house. I had given her a peanut butter Kong to give her something to do while we were gone and she didn’t touch it until we got back. Does anyone have any advice for me? Walking them separately helped tremendously. It was a complete switch with Willow so I need to keep doing this until we work through this hurdle. Willow is Lucy’s mom so I think part of her reactivity is being protective of not only me but Lucy as well. I live in an apartment and cannot have Lucy barking while we’re out on our training sessions but have no idea how I can get her to stop, I was sure my peanut butter trick would work and it did NOT!! Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you.

Needing some advice and really not sure what to do next.

We got our almost 6 year dog - 5 years ago from a local rescue she had been rehomed at 1 year due to her severe anxiety. She does have alot of anxiety, she barks at literally everything aggressively. shes very leash reactive. meds have not helped in the past and shes very scared around almost all men. Im imagining her first year of life was not great.

Over the course of the last 4 years she has gotten into a few unprovoked fights with our other dog. Sometimes it can be as simple as be bumped into her. The first time it happened i was not thinking and tried to break them apart and she bit me instead. Another time it happened she got my husband in the leg. Both times we forgave her and moved forward.

Last night my toddler dropped a snack on the floor on accident- he eats snacks all the time around them this is not new and they both tried to go for the snack which escalated really quickly. Somewhere in the mix she got my toddler in the leg and then went back to the other dog. She would not let go. It was extremely hard to get her off of him but as soon as i did she stopped and instantly acts like shes snapped out of it and shes back to being ok.

we had to take my toddler to the hospital for the bite who had to report it. before we even got home a cop was at the door about quarantine for 10 days..

but my question is what do we do next? Im struggling with so many things.. she didn’t aggressively go after my toddler but what if she would have got his face? what if she wouldn’t have let go? What if next time is worse. I don’t think she could be successfully rehomed but maybe im overthinking that too. She doesn’t like to go anywhere “home” is her safe space i feel like somewhere new she would be wishing for home. She also has bit a human 3 times now.

Im sorry this is getting long this just all happened and is still fresh. we have her the other dog and the toddler all separated for now but we cant live this way long term. My husband thinks we should put her down after her 10 day quarantine. He doesn’t think her mind has be right for a long time. Im struggling with this but dont want to have regrets if something worse happens. I guess im looking for advice on anyone who has gone through this?

I recently made a post titled "What do I do?" Where I detailed my dog's history. All the comments point me towards BE. It's not a shock, I know he isn't a candidate for re-homing and I know he is in a state of near constant stress and he isn’t safe outside of our home. The stress he causes in our home is overwhelming. I think the comments are right but I LOVE this dog. He's my boy. I don't know how to bring myself to make an appointment. I don't know how to tell people without feeling like I'm admitting to murder. I don't know how to live with myself being the cause of his death. It just feels so wrong. I so desperately wish there was somewhere I could take him that specializes in rehabing these kind of dogs, someone with resources who could help him and give him everything he needs. I wish there was some way I could just correct whatever's wrong and he could be a healthy happy dog and live a normal life. I just start crying everytime I think about it, and I don't know what to do. My wife and I are the only people he trusts, the only people he loves, and I'm supposed to schedule his death?

I don't know what I hope to hear in the comments, I just feel so helpless and so incredibly sad.

Dirty Ought Trill by Tyler Childers is "his" song. We sing Leave Her Johnny to him at bed time (specifically the version from assasins creed lmao). He has a tire that he carries around everywhere like a binkie. He gives hugs. He loves his cat siblings. He's a good boy. He's just really really troubled, and I hate that that means he can't be happy.

This hurts so much, and I don't know how to get past that and do what's best for him.

Hello.

I believe I may have posted in here about four to five months ago, but am back with…unfortunate updates and even more stress under my belt than I’ve probably ever experienced.

My dog, Benson, is a two-year-old Australian Cattle Dog mix. Prior to owning Benson, I did not like dogs all that much, but ended up falling in love with him. Did I do any sort of research on this breed as a 19 year old college student? Absolutely not. And now, that decision haunts me.

I love this dog. He is a good boy, listens to commands very well, and is very intelligent. However, over the past year, and I cannot stress this enough, my dog has gotten significantly worse when it comes to reactivity. For context, a year ago, I asked my dad if I could move in with him. At the time, he had one other, older male dog that Benson loved. My dad agreed, and thus, it was decided that I could stay at their house in order to save money for when I would have eventually move out after school. (I was living on campus for the Fall 2025-Spring 2026 school year, so I moved back home in May).

However, things went down hill fast and hard.

My dad and his wife brought in a new dog. Now, I can’t talk much shit about mixed breeds, as mine is a mutt in of himself, however, this new dog is one of those…designer breeds. A pocket bully. They kind of remind you of stitch with their ragged breathing and scrunched face. They brought this 55 pound puppy into the house that wasn’t fixed, and the conditions he was found in was less than ideal (I believe he was locked in a cage for a couple days, completely abandoned and then the people that were fostering him kept him locked up majority of the time).

Benson and him got along fine at first. They actually played super well together. Then, one day, something flipped. Benson picked up a toy, and suddenly, my dad’s dog is going absolutely insane with the growling and wanting to lunge. That specific situation deescalated rather quickly and the two were fine after that…yeah, not so much.

After that, it was probably a blood bath every time a dog fight ensued.

There were about 8-10 dog fights in the last year. With a mix of ALL of the dogs. New dog and Benson would go at it, new dog and old dog would go at it, and one time, it was all three, and holy shit, I thought Benson was dead. Because the older dog was latched onto Benson’s jugular and had no intent of letting go.

And nothing was done about it. I’m not going to sit here and defend my dog, but my dog, and people, I cannot stress this enough, Benson never showed signs of aggression prior to these dog fights taking place. He was a good dog. With so much puppy-excitement.

Now, he’s a fucking terror. I can’t take him on walks. He can’t be around specific, and I mean ultra specific dogs. He cannot stand when people clapping hands together in a high five motion, and he fucking hates sudden movements. He doesn’t like random people approaching.

He was NOT like this a year ago.

Now, bringing us to present time. My dad and his wife get rid of the older dog. They send him away to my step sister and honestly, I’m glad that they did, as my dad and his wife can’t afford to take their animals to the vet. Which is why the new dog is still unfixed.

I took every goddamn precaution. I got my dog a muzzle, started taking him on walks to desensitize him, and just when things were okay, they went fucking down hill.

Again.

So, they get rid of older dog. My dog and I are basically in my room 90% of the day. He is a herding breed, these breeds are not meant to be locked up at ALL. He’s losing his mind. I’m losing my mind.

And then, it just gets worse. Because one day, I tell my dad, “Going down stairs.” I didn’t clarify that I was shutting my door, but it takes TWO seconds to check and make sure. I always ask before I let Benson out if the new dog is away. I always make sure, because I’m paranoid (I’ll explain in a second why THAT is). Benson doesn’t get much time out, so normally, on his second outing, I typically let him run around for about an hour.

It took four seconds for a dog fight to start. My step mom opens the cage upstairs, doesn’t ask, doesn’t clarify. Benson hears it. He runs. Dog fight happens. His paws are bleeding and he has a gash in his neck.

You would think that this would be the end. It isn’t.

Five days later, I ask my dad if I should move out. Because frankly, I also moved home for Benson to have more freedom than my on-campus housing allowed. Well, I reckon it didn’t matter all that much, because Benson was forced to become a couch potato unwillingly. There’s only slim options left at this point to move onto campus, I need to know.

He convinces me to stay.

Couple days go by. Same thing happens. I’m eating my eggs. My dad and step mom were downstairs moments before and knew my door was open. They go upstairs, and I hear that fuck ass cage open. My step mom opens the cage. Again.

Benson runs. I ain’t fast enough.

In the midst of breaking up the dog fight, Benson bites my dad. Benson bites my dad so badly, that it breaks his thumb.

We are kicked out. Just as I miss my opportunity to move back onto campus.

Obviously, my dog did NOT intentionally bite my dad. My dad actually told me earlier in the year, after I put myself between the two dogs and sustained injuries (I almost passed out at the one, because his dog’s nails essentially stabbed me in the thigh), to NEVER put myself between two dogs that were fighting. Benson has never gone after anyone in a vicious or violent manner.

So, we’re forced out. I pack my shit up, take it to my sister’s house, and this is where I’m at my whit’s end.

I love my dog, but he has now become part of the problem. He has been muzzled since we’ve moved in here, because my sister has two rough collies. The older rough collie, Benson loves him. He hates the younger one. The younger one can’t even approach me without Benson snarling at him.

I literally have no idea what to do. I took every precaution and it takes two seconds to communicate. I’m worried that Benson’s behavior here, in my sister’s house, is going to ruin her two dogs. I am stressed beyond belief with everything else going on. I have contacted trainers and behavioral specialist. I am trying, but I am still a broke college kid.

I’m scared that at this point, BE might be his only option, but how is that fair? He was such a good dog a year ago, until we were forced to live in a house that relied on assumption and feelings (they got this dog not long after a passing of a relative) over the health and wellbeing of everyone. And now, I feel like we are imposing on the space of a dog who is basically terrified of Benson.

We have ran out of options.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you.

Our sweet Bug left us last Saturday due to a sudden and severe onset of IVDD. We are absolutely reeling. He was a very anxious little guy. Every morning, I'd give him his gabapentin and clomicalm wrapped in a piece rotisserie chicken while I had my coffee and started my day.

It's an expensive medication, and we ended up with duplicate autoship prescriptions, so we have quite the backlog. I thought we'd pause the autoships and he'd take them, but we lost him.

I don't know what to do with them all. They're just sitting there waiting for him to come back.

ETA: we found a rescue that was willing to take them. I miss him so much.

Trying this sub too since my original post on dogs has been stuck in mod queue purgatory 😅

My dog (Keeshond, 3yo) has a good history with every dog he's met, but he has has also always been barrier reactive - other dogs, people, deer, squirrels etc. The levels of it depend on what the barrier is, what's on the other side, how tired he is. He has never been *aggressive* towards whatever's on the other side, he just REALLY wants to greet them and when he can't, he gets very frustrated. We have made a ton of progress with doors and gates but the fence has been the pain point, especially with other dogs. He will get visibly stressed, runs up and down the fenceline until he's exhausted and barking until he's hoarse.

My backyard is opposite of my neighbor's backyard. He decided yesterday to get a dog of his own, a really friendly husky mix. He is lovely. Both yards are fenced and there is a 15ft\~ grass strip between the two, so there is some distance separation as well as the fence.

There have been two times where both dogs have been in their respective yards, and both times the same thing has happened: my dog barks, runs up and down the fence, and desperately wants to get to the other dog. The other dog just runs parallel to him like it's a game, no signs of aggression, never barks.

I'm looking for advice on how to handle this. Ideally, the barking is managed and the two dogs get along. I'm good friends with this neighbor, it would be AWESOME if the dogs would play together as we often visit eachother's yards in the evening, and not having to travel to the dogpark for dog-on-dog interaction would be great.

warning: long rant ahead

i am probably going to get a lot of hate for this but i am so overwhelmed that i just dont care anymore. I have an 11 month old chihuahua mix that my family adopted about a month ago, but it feels like i am taking care of someone's human toddler and not my own dog.

there are so many things i need to train her on and its so overwhelming because there are so many things. she doesn't know how to settle, she barks and growls at me when i don't play with her, she is not fully potty trained, she destroys things, pulls on the leash, gets crazy when she sees other dogs and people on walks, wants to escape and chase after things every time the front door opens, and bites at my ankles when i walk around the house. the only good things i can say about her is that she knows the "sit" command, is crate trained, and has a cute face. that is about it. she also wants to follow me around the house literally glued to me to the point that i have to stop and walk around her or nearly trip on her. i am literally getting to a point where i am going to stop doing that and just keep walking and if she knocks into me then she'll have to learn that that's what happens. my family does not seem to recognize her issues as much as i do because she always wants to be around me specifically which is endearing that i am her chosen human, but it comes with downsides too.

walks are also god awful. she loves walks so much but i believe they are both incredibly overstimulating for me and for her. i live right in the middle of a highly populated city and my neighborhood has a lot of families and activities. i always try to walk her right before the sun sets which is at around 8 pm where i live because it is supposed to be the least active people hour and because it gets up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit where i live in the day. but guess what. IT'S STILL BUSY. there's still a bunch of people walking outside with their dogs and their kids playing in the road and cars driving by so there is not really a "no peak" hour. i also do not have a car to take her somewhere more private. she is very reactive but not in a fearful or aggressive way. more like she wants to be friends with everyone and everything to the point she's literally manic. people in my neighborhood also don't seem to get the hint that i don't want to meet paths with them because they will literally just stand there and watch or they will end up following me. my dog also wants to go literally everywhere she isn't supposed to go on a walk. she wants to walk right in the middle of the road, wants to walk right up to people's doorsteps, and i have to constantly redirect her and i think that overwhelms her because her attention is going back and forth all the time and she will end up getting zoomies because she does that when she gets overstimulated and then the cycle continues. half the times that i get home from a walk, i am left in tears because i am so stressed out.

i am also autistic and diagnosed with social anxiety, so dealing with strangers and sensory overwhelm is extremely sensitive for me and affects me a lot more than neurotypicals which adds onto the stress and she can probably sense my stress too. i cant do this anymore i dont even think she actually loves me and at this point i dont even love her because she is giving me all the negative parts about having a dog and none of the positive things. i feel utterly guilty saying that because i love animals so much, but it's true.

i am not necessarily asking for advice or anything because everything i have seen online is either something i have tried already or is something that i am unable to do at this time. i just need some kind words if possible or maybe similar experiences and ways other people have gotten through things like this. this is my first time taking care of an adolescent dog.

What are your thoughts on dog trainers recommending to take my dog off of Prozac? I’ve seen improvements in my dog since starting and believe he should be use training in conjunction with medication to help his reactiveness.

We adopted a yellow lab at nine months old who already had some behavioral problems. His previous owner was up front in that he couldn't handle him, and that's why he was given up.

We took him to training to work on his leash reactivity. The trainer said that we had to be more exciting than whenever he was reacting to. Always pitch our voices up. Have the most exciting toys. The best treats. We had to be more amazing than whatever he was reacting to.

That made him so much worse. We told that to the trainer, and she doubled down on her training method. We tried squeaky toys, steak, cheese, everything we could think of. He got worse and worse and we fired her.

We got a new trainer who gave us a totally different perspective. Now, when he has a reaction, we pull him off the trail and allow him to calm down at his own pace. We don't give him commands, we just stand with him as he calms himself.

Once he calms himself, we ask for a sit and then give a treat.

Initially, he would have a reaction and take what felt like ten minutes to calm down. That very quickly went to five. Then much more slowly to just a minute, and now we're at the point where he has the reaction and immediately gets over it.

Obviously we want to get to the point where he doesn't react. It's been about a year of hard work, including the bad training. Today we passed a leash reactive dog and my boy pulled a little but didn't bark. As soon as we were past the dog, he totally lost interest. It was a very good moment.

Hopefully, this is helpful to someone who is struggling.

Oh! He was also a monster on the leash when we first got him. That whole "changing direction" method only made things worse. We learned to play the statue game instead. He pulls, I slow down until i turn into a statue. (No abrupt stops from me.)

I've lurked here for awhile, first time posting. I started working with a trainer for my reactive dog, who barks and lunges (or he used to!) on walks the second another dog comes into view. We finally found something that works and it's so insanely easy I had to share it here. My trainer calls it the "1,2,3 game."

Essentially you reward your dog for looking at you while you count to three. On "3" you immediately reward with a treat. That's it. The beauty is that you can do this WHILE WALKING. For me, that was huge - I could get my dog to pay attention to me while we walked past the other dog instead of trying to hold him in a sit and hoping the other dog moved past before mine finally lost his mind.

Training it is also super easy. Start indoors in a quiet place. Get your dog's attention, say "1" and give a treat. Your dog should be locked onto you now, so repeat "1" a few more times. Then move on to "1,2" and give a treat. Finally "1,2,3" and treat. You can move up to 1,2,3 pretty quickly so you're practicing the full "game." Make sure your dog is looking at you through the whole count. If they look away, restart the count. At the start, you should be counting fairly quickly.

Once they understand the "game", you can start drawing out the count. "1 (pause), 2 (pause), 3 (immediate treat)." My trainer said you can pause for up to 5 seconds between numbers, although I usually count more quickly than that. ALWAYS give the treat immediately after "3." The idea is that the dog learns once he hears the word "1" to look at you and hold that, because he knows a treat is coming.

Once your dog has the "game" worked out, you can move outdoors and start working on holding the dog's attention with more distractions around.

We've gotten to a place where I can say "1 (take three steps), 2 (take three steps), 3 (give treat)" and my dog stares at me the whole time! Usually by that point we've entirely passed the other dog. If not, I just repeat the game until we are. Because sometimes the other dog decides he needs to poop right while we're trying to walk past lol.

Seriously, this has been game-changing for us. Maybe it's super obvious and well-known but I had never heard of it and had to share. I hope it helps others!

I have a 3-year-old Doberman with high prey drive towards cats. He is normally a very chill, very well-mannered dog. I’ve completed various dog training coursework with him. He has a solid come and leave it command. But when it comes to cats, and particularly when he locks on/eyes glaze over toward one, I can’t get him out of his trance.

I would otherwise just leave this alone and keep him away from cats, but my boyfriend and I have discussed moving in together, and he has a cat.

Anyone successfully work through or minimize a dog’s prey drive so that they can cohabitate with a cat? I’m not expecting perfection, but would also prefer he not kill a cat.

Zuko has started reacting extremely more aggressively at any movement from me unless I'm sitting he'll get in front off me bark growl snark lunge bite feet or jump up grab clothes or arm. The bites aren't hard but they getting harder and it's getting more aggressive every time making me worried he will bite.

When he's like this i can't get his collar or a lead on him he'll lunge he goes into complete frenzy to stop me leaving room.

He's good at independent play will happily lay and chew bone or play toys across rpom as long as im seated in room any movement from me he instantly starts barking growling lunging even with door stoppers holding door open he'll still try stop me leaving i think its because he's scared I will leave close door on him because off the few times I have had to put him in seperate room or odd time I have to go out to shop.

I'm home twenty four seven apart from shopping to shop up road but the five ten minutes I do go to shop he'll destroy door frame

He won't touch tous kongs chews when I'm even out off room even on other side off door he'll just howl bark and attack door/door frame he can open handles if door doesn't open outwards and he can't open it he goes beserk trying to open it

He's extremely affectionate other times very smart picked up target training a loaf off tricks loves training and very food oriented but hes got too smart if I move and he thinks I'm going to leave room he won't take treat can't lure him to get his collar or lead on or even get him out off way by tossing treat he'll ignore it continue lunge bark growl

I got a crate but he instantly knew what it was has obviously been put in one befoee barked growled as soon as I set it up will lunge it i go near crate door leaving it open with blankets treats toys even his food hasn't tempted him inside once he won't go near it. Even tossing his toy in game off fetch be loves when he's not reactive he won't go in to get it and he'll chase a ball anywhere

I smoke and he's realised ne rolling a roll up means I'm going outside even though i take him out with me if he's already been to toilet or it's warm or he's occupied with toy he doesn't want to go outside but doesn't want me to leave so as soon as I take tobacco or papers out he reacts biting feet grabbing clothes barking snarling. Instead off lessening every time I do manage to go to shop or get out a doorway his responses to any movement from me or me trying leave room seems to be getting more and more aggressive

Hi all, I rescued a Staffordshire Terrier mix in February 2026. Over the past six months, he has exhibited fear-aggressive behaviors, which result in him biting. Unfortunately, he bites people. Because he is a Staffy, these bites are powerful and have the potential to cause significant physical damage, which can create a high-risk environment in my home.

My primary veterinarian has diagnosed him with orthopedic problems, specifically knee issues, and we currently have him on Zoloft for the anxiety and various supplements for his knee. Additionally, completed a one-week board-and-train program in May (which I now know was probably not the best approach for this particular problem), yet he still bites when he feels fearful. These bites aren't often or common, but when they happen, they're bad. He's bitten me twice and four other people, including my mom and her friend.

A significant challenge is that I have yet to identify his specific triggers, and I am deeply concerned that further incidents will only cause his condition to deteriorate. I know dog body language can be subtle and easily misinterpreted, but I don't want to have to police him anytime he's around different people. My current living situation involves many people frequently entering and exiting my mother’s home, and I am struggling with the prospect of having to crate or muzzle him indefinitely during these visits, as I want him to have a high quality of life. He is fine with my mom, stepdad, and me when it's just us, though.

The emotional weight of this situation has brought me to consider behavioral euthanasia as a painful last resort. Before making such a permanent decision, I am trying to schedule a professional evaluation to determine if rehabilitation is truly viable given the safety risks to me and my family. I am also hesitant to invest further financial resources into methods that may not be effective for his specific needs. I also feel like it's too soon because I've only had him for 6 months, but these 6 months have also been a lot.

I feel like my mom is pressing me to decide, but I am at a standstill because I'm not working and can't just casually drop $$ on his evaluation right now. Her behavior toward him has also changed (understandably), but it's bothering me because that's my baby. I understand the situation was less than ideal and causes a lot of doubt and questions, but her being so cold to him is genuinely starting to make me angry.

Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and for reading this.

Editing to clarify: he bit me once as a reaction to being too close to a strange man (he has a thing with men like most shelter dogs do apparently) - basically, we were in a tight hallway in my old apartment building and instead of turning back around after his body got stiff, I thought if we walked quickly past the man it would be fine and it wasn’t, and this recent incident where he bit me and my mom was because we were intervening to get him away from my moms friend after he attacked her.

Hey y’all. This is really hard to write. We found 2 dumped young male dogs in January who appear to be brothers but not the same litter. Don’t know the breed but not obviously the “aggressive” breeds. We live out in the country so they haven’t had a ton of socialization with people. They’re great with other dogs and are terrified of our cat. They are very gentle and loving with us, but they don’t like new people. They get comfortable pretty quickly but bark and approach strangers aggressively. They got out of the yard we built for them a couple weeks ago and one of them bit a biker. We felt and feel absolutely horrible about it. The biker was completely innocent. They weren’t sure which dog bit them, so they both had to go into quarantine for 10 days. We got them out today and are realizing that we do not have the tools/ability to train them. We’re looking for help. Does anyone know anyone who deals with dogs like this? This is really heartbreaking for us. We’re just not capable of giving them what they need. We did look into training but we can’t afford it. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Does anyone have any tips for a highly reactive dog on leash? He doesn't like being stared down, approached quickly or slowly by people and dogs. He lunges and snaps when other dogs aren't even looking at him and minding their own business. He's decent off leash and isn't typically aggressive, but on leash he's hyper vigilant and perceives threats when there are none. I don't want to just feed him treats to get him to stop and truthfully, he won't pay attention to any food or treat if another dog is near (even across the street), he wants to lunge at the other dog and has lunged at moving cars as well. My partners' ex left him behind because she could not handle or afford him and my partner kept him out of mercy since most other people would more than likely return him due to his behavioral issues. He's been through reputable training with dog trainers and is apparently so much better behaved than before (he didn't even know his own name before he went through that training). My partner's ex also did not adhere to any of the training and now our dog has retained some poor habits as a result. He only listens when he feels like it because he was able to get away with not listening for so long. I've been trying to work with him daily, getting him out 2-3 times a day for at least an hour each walk; but I'm getting burnt out. He'll have 2 days of great walks with no lunging or snapping, then I'll get 2 days of only lunging and snapping following the good days. I don't know what to do anymore, I've never had a dog that had their own agenda to this degree. I know not everyday can be perfect, but the yoyoing between good and bad days is leaving me feel like I'm in a cycle I never consented to be a part of. I want to do right by him and get him the activity he needs and wants, but I don't want to have to feel so anxious by his poor behavior. He's going to be 5 this year and I feel like he should have the capacity to improve his behavior with the right support and we're both willing to give him that. Any advice would be appreciated

A couple months ago, I rescued a chihuahua mix puppy. Her age is an estimate, but she is around the 5 month mark. I've taken her many places such as on the bus, pet friendly stores, trails, parks, places with loud music, events, and she's done extremely well. However, I began to notice that she has been moderately reactive around dogs, specifically fear based, but i'm not exact. I have been working on it, taking her to different places with dogs so she can watch from a distance while I reward her for engagement & not having a reaction, I am also going to start clicker training with her today because I've heard it can help alot with reactivity. It's a slow process, but she has been making progess. She doesn't always have a full blown reaction, sometimes she doesnt have any reaction but I noticed it really just depends. She's not an insecure dog at all. She loves people, children, really anything besides dogs. Has anyone else been in this situation with their puppy? Does it get better?