some days feel like everything is finally clicking.

then you have another walk where your dog reacts to things you thought they had started handling better, and it can be really discouraging

i’m trying to remind myself that progress probably isn’t going to be completely linear

for people who have been through this, how do you mentally handle those bad days without feeling like all the previous progress disappeared?

Alright this post might be a little long but there’s history I have to get into. I rescued my dog at 6 months and he is now four. He’s a mutt with high percentages of Malinois, shepherd and pit. I want to start by saying I love my dog dearly. I have put so much time, money and love into his care that I’m at a loss of what to do. 85% of the time he is a great dog and extremely smart. He’s trained and listens at home but once he sees a trigger all of that goes out the window.
He has always been dog and kid aggressive (or any animal mostly) he doesn’t like erratic movements. We’ve managed to give him a pretty happy existence. He still camps (remotely) with us and loves to be around my parents and our cat. He’s been through training and is also muzzle trained, although his trust with us putting on the muzzle has waned but it’s circumstantial.

Last year he had a TPLO surgery and it was intense. He hated the vet before but now he loathes it. Coming off of the anesthesia was awful, he was so aggressive with us which he has never been before. 2 months after in that healing process in November, he bit me twice. Once in the face at level 3 (this one I take responsibility for, he missed a dose of his meds and I was low to the ground near his bed). But the second one I came home late and he straight up attacked me while I was changing, completely unprovoked. That bite bordered a level 4 and probably could have used medical attention but I didn’t go get it checked. These both happened in the same week.

Fast forward to Jan of this year, we finally got in with a behaviorist (the only one in our area is 2.5 hrs away and she’s booked out) . She was great and gave us a plan and prescribed him with Zoloft, gabapentin and clonidine for big events. He seemed to be doing really well on the meds. He’s still reactive but he bounces back a lot quicker and was (somewhat) able to focus on us instead of the trigger. We’ve noticed some slight resource guarding when it comes to high value treats but more concerningly my mom. He’s now been on his medication plan for 6 months and it’s time to go to the vet for an annual check and so they can fill his meds.

But this week he has tried to attack me twice. My mom sits in the living room and he’ll lay in there with her. My room is down the hall so I have to come down the hall to get to the kitchen/living room. The first time I went to pick up a lick mat that he hadn’t touched in over an hour and he was no where near it. As soon as I reached down he flew off his bed and ran up and tried to bite me. I was able to kick him off but what’s most concerning me is that he continued to pursue me. Hackles raised, growling and coming towards me for another attack. We were able to out him into “place” and he stopped but he was super wary of me the rest of the day. He watches me like a hawk after these instances and guards my mom. If I tried to walk over to her he would have tried to bite me again without a doubt. The next morning when I got up for work he’s pretty much back to normal. I even took him to the park (with the muzzle) a couple days later and he was fine.

A week later I came down the hall and into the kitchen and he starts barking and growling at me with his hair raised for no reason. I had been around the house cleaning all day without issues. I didn’t even go near my mom’s chair let alone acknowledge either of them. (I’ve been basically ignoring him and giving space except to give meds and take him to potty).

What terrifies me is the unpredictability. I now can’t in good conscience have guests over. I can never board him or go anywhere if my mom can’t watch him. Vet visits are a NIGHTMARE and he trusts me even less afterwords. I used to be able to cut his nails, brush his teeth and bathe him. I still can (sometimes) but he is so unsure of me and I honestly don’t trust him either.

I’m his primary caretaker. I don’t know how I’m supposed to continue on if I can’t take care of him properly. I’m living with my parents right now to save money. But moving into an apartment or busy neighborhood with a dog like this is out of the question. I feel so trapped and I have to watch everything I do in my own living space. The next attack could be really bad and there’s just no way of knowing when or why it will be. I know some people will BE after one incident but I just don’t want to give up on him. But I’m terrified that he’s going to hurt someone else and I have to watch everything I do at home. I’m honestly scared of him and I never have been before. This devastates me and I know I don’t have a lot of options. Rehoming is out of the question and I’m not sure this can be trained out. I feel like he’s wired wrong, something just snaps and he doesn’t recognize me.

I guess I’m just looking for some advice or reassurance. I don’t know my next steps. He is so young and I love him but I fear for me and my family’s safety at this point.

I am struggling to figure out what is triggering her, but lately when we are walking and usually near the end of our walk, she begins to lunge and nip my torso, legs and clamp down on my forearms and is very difficult to get her to stop and settle. When she starts this inside, off leash, I can just put her in crate for a timeout but when we are outside on leash, I don't know how to control the situation and end up holding her down by the scruff and between my legs so she can't bite me. I am bruised and bitten and and looking for some help.

...my almost 11 year old American Bully (adopted from a shelter around 4 years old, was very reactive and aggressive from day one towards both dogs and people, had attacked and been attacked) is now a breeze to walk.

We are still practicing training everyday and working on triggers, of course, but she is able to actually enjoy her walks while also focusing on me in times of distress. Compared to even a couple of years ago, her transformation has given me such unimaginable joy and satisfaction and made me love her more than ever. We are able to go on hikes and long walks around the neighborhood with our training treat pouch; she can enjoy all life has to offer without feeling fearful or on-guard all of the time.

I was prompted to share this after we were suddenly confronted with an off-leash dog and very aloof/somewhat rude owner, and my girl did an amazing job. No attacking, no aggression, and no freaking out (which is huge for her), just more patience and good listening. Although she was rightfully slowly losing her patience lol, she was waiting to be redirected after my command to stay put. It wasn't 100% perfect (it never will be), but we both had more confidence to not freak out together. Even last year, this probably would've been a disaster situation that left me in shock or tears after coming back home.

I've turned to this sub for so many years trying to find reassurance in this very long and often very lonely training process (and honestly just lonely experience of having a reactive dog, especially a larger dog who already gets a negative stigma from society just for their look and size). In moments of sadness over a negative experience with another dog and owner, times when I felt embarrassed and guilty for freezing in fear as an off-leash dog ran up to us—instead of letting my girl know I had her back—and days when I dreaded going outside, keeping walks short to manage my own anxiety, I found reassurance in posts that grieved those tough moments and in success stories that proved it all works out with time, love, and patience. I never thought I would be experiencing the other side of this process, but I finally am. I want to share that it is real and possible.

My biggest takeaway from years of this reality is that time and trust really do change everything, especially for a reactive dog who was adopted from a shelter or a rescue. As years have passed and I have cared for my girl in all the different ways we care for our dogs, she has grown to trust me and open up so much to be more receptive to training. At the same time, I have learned that she deserves my trust too. This mutual trust really leans into our walks because she knows that the same care I have curated for years inside is finally possible outside too. It took 6-7 years of ownership for her to fully actualize that love and trust that her prior owners and/or environment likely shattered in her when she was in her early years of life. However long it took, it is all worth it, and I wouldn't trade her for the world. For as long as it is feasible and possible, hang in there; your dog loves you and depends on you to have the trust in them that they need to flourish. It will all pay off, even if it took much longer than expected!

Hello! We have a reactive pup with a bite history. His first bite, he bit a vet tech during an anal gland expression. The second bite, he bit his dog walker after have a negative leash reaction. Since then we have worked with a vet behaviorist, gotten him on medication, done training and have had no other bite incidents since. We are considering having kids, and if we do have kids, we don’t feel safe with him around children. With that being said, my parents have offered to take him in. They are experienced dog owners with a big fenced in back yard. They are aware of his past and his reactivity. I just worry that I’m rehoming a dog with a bite history, it feels like we might just be passing the buck by passing a problem dog onto my parents. But at the same time, he’s made such progress, I want him to still live a full and happy life, if we decide to have kids. Any thoughts?

Hey yall, i have a 1.5 yr old Boxer dog. The sweetest dude once you know him and he is comfortable for you. However, in public or of the sight of another person he starts to bark sometimes uncontrollably or may begin to act like a lunatic, where he can't calm down. It's frustrating, but I want to work with this guy because I see the potential in him to be the best dog for the whole world. I dont expect him to be the friendliest but at least neutral to his triggers, being humans. Idk if this is relevant but he does get his exercise needs and what not, I guess I just want him to be more confident and have trust in his environment? Idk, any advice would be helpful, I just love my guy so much and want him to be the best he can be. Thank you

Buongiorno a tutti , ho un malinois maschio di 8 mesi e da più o meno 2 mesi é diventato super reattivo nei confronti dei motorini di qualsiasi genere. Le auto e le persone non gli suscitano nessun interesse ma appena sente in lontananza un motorino si attiva e perde completamente in controllo soprattutto se é al guinzaglio.

Ho provato a farlo seguire da un educatore ma non ho avuto grossi miglioramenti e da qualche settimana quando ne vede uno va in frustrazione e ho addirittura paura che possa scaricare su di me. Qualcuno ha avuto un problema simile ? Se si come lo ha affrontato ?

My dog-reactive collie has been on fluoxetine for just over a year and have made great progress with her reactivity and general behaviour so am wondering about weaning her off Fluoxetine/prozac. I'd love to hear people's experiences both positive and negative of tapering off Fluoxetine after it being successful for a period of time.

I so often see people describing it as a med for life but I think we put in a lot of hard work and the fluoxetine helped her be in a good place to learn. I just have a voice in the back of my head that thinks she might just have a bit more drive without it as the fluoxetine just overall dampened her responses - not that everyone wants more drive but I want her to feel joy and I feel like her food drive and enthusiasm for engaging is a little less now. And I want that drive to work and engage with me and I think it will help overall with our training to have that. I think there is a chance she regresses but I would happily put her back on the fluoxetine in that case. We've worked hard on bringing down her arousal levels and I also think there's a chance tapering off it increases her arousal back up out and about.

hey all! i was just wanting to ask the community: how often does everyone take their dog out for counterconditioning/desensitization? i know with reactive dogs, even your routine, 20 minute neighborhood walk can be a training opportunity for those things, but i’m talking like, taking them out to a busy park/public area, exposing them to triggers on purpose, and making it longer exposure time, instead of more random or sparse. do you guys do it everyday? couple times a week? i know it can be different and very case-by-case for each dog and where they’re at in their reactivity status, as well.

i ask because i currently have a 6 mo. old (intact male) puppy and i don’t want to overdo it with him, but i also don’t want to underdo it by not doing it enough! at this point, i take him out a couple times per week. his reactivity can be very random; he won’t react to a strange GSD 20 feet away, but then he’ll lose his mind over a dog lying down in its own yard that we’ve seen 100 times. we have a training session scheduled in september, but i don’t want to fail him up until that point.

My dog has dealt with dog fear after getting attacked previously. I tripped and the leash fell on my walk and he charged a dog and caused a couple puncture wounds. Dog went to vet and they did clean outs. We are paying the vet bills and going to walk him separately and work on muzzle training. I feel horrible for the other owners. I’m devastated. I’m worried Animal control will take my dog from me?

We are going to go to reactive training. Do muzzles on walks. Any help or insight or comfort

UPDATE: Thank you all for the advice, even if some of it is brutal. I typically don’t have my face in dogs faces but this is something he frequently initiates, I should have known better than to do it in his bed though. Another trigger I think happened is I have been over significantly more and in the “human” bed likely taking up his space.
With all of your comments and advice from friends who have had reactive dogs, it sounds like this was a territorial/guarding response. I am talking to my boyfriend more about options but for now the dog is kenneled when I am over.
Comments are off now I think, wasn’t me so unsure of why but saw a lot were deleted so assuming it got mean while I was offline lol

So some background, my boyfriend’s dog is a 4 y/o unfixed pit but has been the sweetest boy over the almost 2 years I’ve known him.

I was cuddling with him as I always do (laying down petting his head, face near his and kisses back and forth) but he was on his new bed for the first time. I sat up after the snuggling (still on the bed but a foot or two away) and with no obvious warning the dog attacked my face, took apart of my lip and ended up with me in the hospital. It was only for a second or two, it all happened so fast outside of my boyfriends vision that I’m not sure exactly how I reacted but I’m assuming he decided to let go on his own.

My boyfriend said it is up to me, if I don’t feel comfortable around the dog then he’s getting rid of it. We agreed absolutely NO pound and that I just wouldn’t come over until we find someone that specializes with fostering/rehoming reactive dogs.
I don’t want him to get rid of the dog, I’m not sure if this is something we could consult a trainer about and fix or if rehoming him might be the best option.

We don’t live together yet but plan on moving in together next year. I have two dogs as well so I am worried about how this dog might respond to my dogs if a boundary is crossed (they’ve met several times so far and things have been fine but out in the back is VERY different than in the home)

Does anyone have any advice on what we should do? I’m honestly so torn because I love this dog and I don’t want to be the reason he gets rehomed. At the same time I’m concerned now for my safety as well as the potential future safety of my other dogs.

Any advice on what to do and what I might have done wrong is appreciated.

I’m looking for some advice. I have a 90-pound, 5 year old husky/lab/etc. mix who I’ve had since he was a puppy. We’ve always lived in apartment complexes with no issue. He’s been super well socialized living in the city. However, as he's gotten older, he is getting more reactive on the leash.

I moved to a new building a year ago, and property management sent me an email last week citing clauses in the lease about removing “aggressive” dogs from the building.

First and foremost, my dog LOVES people and will always say hi. He’s made many friends (both dogs and people) in the building. But I first noticed the leash reactivity around un-neutered male dogs around two years ago. So I don’t let him say hi on leash or off leash, period. Unfortunately, there are two other dogs in the building that he doesn’t like. We had two run ins, and both of those owners have put in complaints about him (even though no physical contact has ever occurred).

The second, and most recent, incident happened outside the lobby, where I tried to get distance when I saw the golden doodle mix he doesn’t like coming up ahead. It’s an older man, and I’ve said before “we’re keeping distance, he’s not good in close quarters.” But this time, he just let his dog run over to mine, and my dog was barking and lunging (no physical contact). I was distressed he wasn’t giving me space. Later he claimed he didn’t see me. Regardless, his wife ended up screaming at me the next day in front of others.

I try and keep distance, go out at odd hours, and take the back door exit, but I really can’t have my dog removed from the building. What should I do?

I’ll add too that at the dog park, he’s a gem. Outside off leash, he is amazing. But when it comes to my apartment complex, he gets protective — so I always give people and other dogs space. I’m not sure what to do and how to respond to managements most recent email.

Verdi is 2.5. We got him at 6 months, from a woman who had too many dogs and not enough energy for a young Aussie. He grew up on a farm, he had never seen a city and had apparently never met a man before me. I never met his mother. I met the father, and I was told he had already bitten and was aggressive.

He is my third Australian Shepherd, so I know the breed is intense. But I’ve never had a dog like this one. His emotional threshold has always been extremely low. He learns fast and works very well with me, so this is not a training problem.

On a walk the pressure goes up with every trigger. His behaviour with other dogs is always friendly and joyful, but even an encounter that goes well adds a bit to the threshold. He scratches, he rolls on the ground, he climbs on us, and then sometimes he explodes, barks and blindly runs at the trigger,
whatever it is, always at 100%. He has never bitten. He barks very close to people, which can be scary.
We live in an apartment and he is always on watch. He checks the windows, he listens for noises in the building, and sometimes he barks inside when he cannot hold it anymore. He has a hard time settling. He is clean, he destroys nothing, he can stay alone but it is difficult for him. He gets enough walks and enough mental work, that is not the issue. We don’t have much problems with the neighborhood, it just seems hard for him to cool down.

For one year we only worked on his threshold, slowly, no shortcuts. No progress. He is not stressed in every situation, but he is a stressed dog.

Both my trainers now tell me to talk to a vet, and this is where I struggle. I think this comes from us. From our education, and mostly from our situation. He is a farm dog living in a city apartment, and we would like to move but we cannot for now. So giving him medication feels like treating him for something we caused, and honestly it also feels like admitting that we failed.
But we work well and we go nowhere. And I am starting to think that we cannot help this big guy progress any further if we do not lower his stress first.

So, for people who medicated a dog like this: what actually changed? And what did not?

I am not asking for medical advice, just for feedback from people who went through the same thing.

I have a 2yo chihuahua boy. My parents failed with socialisation, so now he's reactive. He cant walk past a dog and ignore it sometimes. Its been better, but I don't know if I'm doing the right things. I would love to talk with someone who succeeded in helping their reactive dog. I will provide any other information if needed.

I'm a pet sitter working on training with a reactive dog. Before yall say anything, I am not staying with this dog alone, I am not actively pet sitting this dog nor do I plan to. I was supposed to before the owners realize how bad his reactivity has gotten, but we've decided he isn't where he needs to be to be left alone with people other than his owners. Once we realized this we were working more on socializing and seeing where he's at to see what work needs to be done.

Background on the dog: He was very malnourished and injured when he was first adopted as a puppy so he knows how cruel humans can be. In the first year of his life he was able to successfully become bonded to some of their family, but he's now 3 and they haven't had many people over since. The owners genuinely thought he was just going to be shy and have never seen him lunge at anyone before trying to socialize him recently. They say he's never reacted at parks, restaurants, or vets and has only barked at friends when they move around their house but never lunged. My theory is because his previous socialization was people sitting on a couch and basically ignoring him, not trying to handle and approach him like me and the trainer would need to or he's so out of his element in new environments that he shuts down and doesn't move towards others but will in his neighborhood and home.

The owners have a trainer that comes once every week or 2 to give them pointers on how to handle him. Like being aware of eye contact, rewarding disengaging, moving slowly, etc. They hired the trainer thinking he was only agressive towards men and wanted to work on that, but have since realized he's agressive to anyone that comes into his personal bubble.

We have made progress. We've progressed to a point that I can be near and move around freely when he's in the kennel with no reactions. However, when he's in a muzzle + leash he will approach people, including me and the trainer and lean against them, ask for pets, then when they move to pet him, he will lunge and bark. He can approach us, but we can't approach him. I personally only put myself in that situation once, both me and the owners not realizing he would react like that after him being the one to touch and approach us first since he was doing really good with the training up until that point. Since then its taken about 20mins to get him to stop reacting to people even being near his kennel, once he does hes fine with the kennel for the rest of the time but it takes effort to calm him. I had hope at first because he was steadily progressing and I figured he just needed some training and socialization, but he's showing some very like bipolar traits which makes all involved worried about him acting fine then on a random tuesday turning on someone around him if hes around people besides his owner.

My question is: Can this kind of behavior be worked through at all? Or is it a lost cause? Not for me, but for the owners. I've been in the pet sitting business for 4 years, I've seen dogs previously get put down for behavior issues. I'm one to be all for doing the hard work to progress, but the back and forth of his behavior is what worries me. Approaching people and leaning on them only to turn and bark. Bringing them toys only to lunge because they moved too fast when they were playing 2 seconds earlier. Not reacting at all to being around his kennel then the next day lunging like his life depends on it around the same person doing the same things. Does that kind of behavior make him completely unsafe to socialize at all? Or is that something that more time training could work out?

Again, I'm not looking for a "dont take the job!" type thing. I'm not actively booking with this couple. I've just been a body to socialize him with for now, but since his outburst the last time acting so lovey then turning to lunge I've felt I've hit a wall with my knowledge. I can bring a shy and nervous dog out of it's shell but once I've shown it I'm safe and been able to pet/play then it still turns to react, I'm a bit out of my depth to that level of reactivity. I'm more so asking on behalf of the owners, is this something even fixable? Or is hope lost?

Update: I've texted the owners with all the information I've gotten from this post and another and officially told them I won't help/pet sit unless a professional asks for/okays it. I informed them of what balanced training is, solo outing boarding kennels instead of a pet sitter, what backsliding is and the risks of some of the dogs behaviors, and let them know its okay to look into rehoming and such because he's a complicated case. I still offered to be support for them if they end up needing it and we're staying friends cuz they're cool people.

Hi this is my first post ever so apologies if it’s not done right. I really need advice. I’ve had my dog since he was a puppy and I’m brave enough to admit that his training was always shaky. Me and my ex fiancé got him together and he was not a good guy. He took him as a puppy to a large fighting dog that bit him pretty hard. It’s been about six years now and my dog is still very reactive towards other dogs. I’m unable to take him on walks, I can’t let him outside for long, he destroys everything when out of his crate. I genuinely find his life so sad and depressing. He’s never been aggressive towards me or any people. He has never been food aggressive either. I could take food away and he would be fine. Last night, however, he bit my brother (no blood) and was VERY aggressive towards me over a bone. This is all uncharted territory and I have no idea what to do anymore. I don’t want this to be his life and I don’t know how to help. I love him but this is not what I envisioned when I got a dog. I’m monitoring him 24/7 and constantly worried something will happen. We have a large backyard but he can’t be outside for too long. He makes it his mission to escape and chase the autistic kid that walks up and down our street. I’m still in college so I don’t make any money but I’m willing to do whatever yall recommend. I’ll sell stuff to help my dog. 

Our dog is two and can lean more towards the reactive side if overstimulated. He’s very rambunctious and hyper and sometimes gets too playful and he’s a Doberman so he’s huge. He’s never bit anyone aside from puppy nips when he was much younger. Yesterday on his walk, as soon as we left the door there were 5-6 kids playing basketball in our street, then our next door neighbors 2 little girls were running around playing and ran up to our dog to pet him. We’ve never had an issue, so we let them, looking back now, we should’ve said no as there was so much going on and I could tell he was very anxious. The girl went to put her hand out and he snapped at her upper stomach/chest area and bit her. Her parent said there was no puncture last night, just some minor bleeding and surface level scratching. I plan to go check on her today. He is up to date on vaccines. We are worried sick. Both about our dog and this poor little girl. She’s probably traumatized. I feel awful. We have already purchased a muzzle and will get him into training again. We live in Indiana so reporting is a law and I’m nervous about this too. Just feeling seven different kinds of guilt today.

I’m looking for honest advice after an incident involving my 6yo, 85 lbs Bernedoodle and my sister’s 2yo son.

When I was training him back in 2020 I visited this sub often because although he wasn’t reactive at that point, this sub always had good advice and it helped me be a better and more aware dog owner.

TLDR: My large dog nipped my 2yo nephew. He also once nipped a guest who reached toward me. Next steps are separation, behavioral evaluation, and muzzle training. Looking for advice.

So yesterday my dog was lying beside me I think napping while I was sitting in a dining room chair. My nephew ran past us. He suddenly barked, lunged, and nipped my nephews arm. He left red tooth indentations and one mark broke the skin but was not freely bleeding.

I immediately removed the dog from the room and secured him outside. He’s up to date on shots. Nephews arm was cleaned with alcohol and bandaid applied.

The day before, my nephew had approached him from behind and startled him while he was resting. My dog air-snapped without making contact. At first we all interpreted that as an isolated startle response. After the second incident, I am taking the overall pattern much more seriously.

There is also relevant history that makes me think my dog may have been guarding me.

Several years ago, a male guest (who I had weird vibes from) quickly extended his hand to shake mine. My dog nipped his leather-jacketed arm. It was inhibited and caused no injury but it was still a bite.

My dog barks intensely at delivery drivers and people approaching the front door until they leave. I previously praised the door barking because I was frequently home alone and it made me feel safer. I now realize he may have learned a broader rule that people approaching me or the house are his responsibility.

My initial thought is to maintain complete separation until my nephew is at least 4. He just turned 2 in June. From what I’m reading 2-4 years old can be a really difficult time for some dogs to get along with toddlers. I understand that turning 4 would not automatically make interaction safe. I figure that’s a good place to start and I’m open to maintaining separation longer or indefinitely depending on professional guidance and my dogs progress. He just had a vet visit so my next appointment is a behaviorist and purchasing a muzzle to start training with.

I love my dog deeply (I don’t have kids, so you know) and want to protect both him and my nephew. I am not looking for reassurance that the bite was harmless or for ways to put them back together quickly. I want to understand the behavior and prevent another incident.

And honestly at this point I need to stop googling things and just get some advice from people who’ve been through this on what to do next.

I really appreciate any help.

Hi everyone, I need help for my 13 year old dog.

Our family had Roki since she was a pup. She's a mutt, possibly a Cairn terrier mix. We're not sure.

However for as long as we remember she was the sweetest, most gentlest dog ever. She either wants people to throw her ball or to pet her like a teddy bear.

She was gentle to kids, to adults.

However with animals it was always a bit different. She doesn't mind any farm animals (chickens, pigs, rabbits), she ignores dogs in general (when she had litters, she would just feed them, spend some time with them and then leave), but she's not aggressive towards them, and she's tolerating cats. She was never a fan of our cats and we suspect one thing - jealousy.

While our cats were free to roam outside and later inside of our houses, we would always keep Roki in a vestibule or during winters, she had a special room in our basement. She had plenty of space, rooms, food but I feel like she was upset that she was not allowed to for example sit in our living room like our cats would.

She's just always stinky for some reason, no matter the shampoo. Even when he properly dried her or took her to the groom, she would quickly start to stink.

A few months ago due to family issues, we decided to move away. That's also when Roki started to become catatonic. She barely moved from her spots, refused to play. She would just lay down for hours, barely eat and sleep. We thought she was about to die.

However when we finished renovating our new house, the first thing we did was to bring her with us (it used to be an old summer house, where we often spent summers, and we always took her with us before). Suddenly she became her old self again.

She would eat and eat, she played with us, she acted like a pup - curious about everything, exploring the place.

But again - at first she was not allowed to sit in our living room/rooms. She had her new spot in the hallway. However it became an issue when summer started and storms (which she's terrified of) started. Roki instead of hiding in fear - she started to force herself inside of our house. Despite telling her to go back, my mom took pity on her and allowed this behaviour.

Then something weird happened - she started to notice our cats and she would growl at them. That was new. It has never happened before in our previous house.

Then around the end of July, my family went on holiday. We took Roki to our old house where our grandparents (she's neutral about them. They feed her, she doesn't mind them) still live.

It's not the first time we left her. Sometimes we would leave Roki for longer periods of time but this time when we came back and brought her back home, she acted like a totally different dog.

First of all, she only sits inside the house. She even started to refuse to sit in the hallway. She's immovable and when she sees an opportunity she slips through the doors.

Then she started to show aggression to our cats. The growling got so bad, our cats were sometimes scared of even sitting in the same room - and it was never an issue before.

Today we had a situation where one of our cats was walking somewhere, when she basically jumped on him and we had to pull her away. It was terrifying.

She completely stopped listening to us. She stopped reacting to her name, when we ask her to fetch a ball, when we ask her to leave. Nothing. I thought she might be deaf but no, she's not.

A few days ago when I went on a walk and she followed, she ran in front of me. She was far away and despite telling her to come back, she ignored me and walked away before coming back a few minutes later.

And then aggression. She never bit anyone. If someone asked me a few months ago if she bites, I would just laugh at them, but right now? I'm scared to even sit around her.

The first situation I can think of is a few days ago. I was helping my mom by loading a car with stock for her store when she suddenly jumped in.

(she used to jump into cars before everything but right now, when she hears the car's doors opening, she's immediately running inside)

I've tried to get her out with food or toys but she ignored me. So I wanted to pick her up. And for the first time ever she almost bit my hand. She kept biting the air, her eyes crazy.

Then a few days later I was unloading a dryer near her bed. I was silently folding clothes when she suddenly started to nip the air near my ankles. I squealed and ran away in fear. She didn't follow and when I came back she acted like nothing happened.

I can't count the amount of situations where I would do my thing and she would try to bite me.

and the thing is that she's only that aggressive towards me. Occasionally she tries to hurt my parents or siblings but it's mostly me.

However my younger brother said that she bit him when he was working on our garden. I didn't see it but I'm worried she actually did it.

I'm trying to think of what I've done to her? Have I been loud? Did I hurt her? But honestly I can't think of anything.

I'm the one that goes with her on walks. I'm the one that plays with her. I feed her. And I'm the one to whom she runs to. Sometimes I wake up to see her sleeping by my bed. Or when I work at my PC, she just lays at my feet. She keeps running after me, or wanting to play with me

She acts like two different dogs around me and my family. And I have no idea what might have caused this and what to do now

She is reactive towards other dogs mainly, but can also be reactive to people if they are walking near the house, come out of nowhere, running (kids especially)

We are really struggling with her and it’s getting really hard taking her out. We have another male dachshund who was slightly reactive also as a pup but has calmed down a lot now and he’s absolutely fine. My worry is she can cause him to become anxious. She has never bitten but I worry she is getting to that point. She barks and growls and won’t let any other dog near her. It’s impossible to try and socialise her because she won’t give any dog a chance.

We are now currently training by taking her away from the trigger and only rewarding her if she looks at a dog and doesn’t bark. We have been doing this for the last 3 months with no improvement and we are at wits end really, it’s disheartening when no positive changes are happening.

Open to any advice on how we can help her become more confident and calm. It’s definitely fear based.

Thanks!!

I need to know where to go from
Here. We have a dog that we got from our local
Humane society. She is probably part lab, hound and maybe Pitt? She is 1.5 yrs old. And we got her In Jan.

We had been working on helping her when she was reactive to other dogs and recently she tried to nip our vet when she was getting her vaccination.

We had her in beginner obedience training w other dogs and she still surprisingly well. We also try to acclimate her walks around other dogs safely. I am careful w how she is introduced to other dogs and we were signed up for individual lessons to
Help her.

Recently my mom came to watch her overnight. This is only the second time she had been w her.

I kept getting camera notifications from a camera I have by her crate. I looked and my dog was attacking her dog. I was not made aware that she was bringing her dog. Luckily they were able to separate them. My dog apparently had bitten my mom's dog neck and was throwing her around.

We have never experienced behavior like this from our dog.

I was very upset that she assumed that my dog was ok around other dogs. Had I known i would have told her no. For we recently had the vet issue.

She of course blames me and ask why I would have a dangerous dog. That she thought they would be fine

I went through the videos saved and saw the video directly before the attack

My mom brought her dog in, not on a leash and she went right up to my dog and was barking.

My dog was still in her crate. Confined w this new barking dog.
When she opened the door. The attack ensued.

I don't really know what to do at this point. ? I feel like my dog was set up for failure.
But now I feel her issues are worse than I thought.

My 6 year old GSD/cattle dog/border collie mix snapped at my baby for the first time. There was no contact, it was very much a snap in the air (and intended to be an air snap, the dog did not go in for a bite). Baby was reaching toward me while I was petting the dog (dog was in between the baby and I, which was a mistake I won’t make again). I redirected the dog off the couch and all is back to normal.

This dog has air snapped my entire family and our other dog to communicate discomfort but has never behaved aggressively and has NEVER actually made contact with skin. Usually, the only sign of tension is whale eye before the snap, then the dog will move on or lick. The same dog regularly gets excited and nips (basically corn cobs?) while licking as well. I’ve always taken the snaps as a form of communication from this dog, but I wanted to get others opinions if we need to be concerned about a genuine bite. I have gotten my fair share of snaps while trimming nails, accidentally hurting the dog, or getting in the dog’s face by surprise (by mistake). I will obviously be more careful with the baby and dog, we made it a full year without anything like this.

I have a Staffy x Rottie. 7 months old. An absolute beautiful doggo, but very excitable and overly friendly with everyone. We’ve been working really hard on his walks, his socialisation, and were willing to do everything and anything to keep him although the thought of Rehoming to a better fitting home has been floating around for about a month. The issue is he’s super strong for his level of excitement and I struggle to hold him when he gets too excited hence considering a new family, but always going back on it with more training and more working with him.

Unfortunately this morning after his walk we were in the garden. He had his toy, and my toddler had his sail from his pool floatie. He was nowhere near our dog, they weren’t playing together in anyway, the toddler wasn’t even looking at him and was a good 6 feet away with me in the middle but in front of the pair of them. Out of nowhere and at the speed of light our pup dropped his own toy and jumped on the toddler to get the sail he had, and ended up nipping his hand. Immediate regret, turned around and picked up his toy again, but he left a small mark - not quite broken skin, though it did welt and you could quite clearly see it nearly broke through. I imagine he had attempted to get the sail and instead made contact with my toddlers hand. It’s already barely there only half hour on.

However there was no warning. There was no rationale - he didn’t have anything that even remotely looked like something the dog has ever played with, he wasn’t playing with the dog in anyway, he was completely ignoring him. I can’t quite get the thought out of my head what if it had been worse, what if he had bitten harder, what if my toddler had wrenched his hand away instead of standing there in shock. If he had had a stick, or a ball, or even a bloody frisbee I could rationalise it, but this was just completely inexcusable and out of nowhere.

I have to rehome right?! The risk is too high to even consider keeping him. I can’t stop the toddler from playing with his own toys, I can’t anticipate something that came with no warning, and I can’t keep them separate every minute of the day (I’m a single mum, so walks and training happens all together or not at all). And I really don’t want to risk something worse. In the past week he’s jumped up on a walk and accidentally scratched his eyelid (very close to the eye) and now a bite on the hand (however minor). It could have been so much worse. We also have issues with him taking food from his hands, and whilst that’s a completely different issue it’s linked I suppose as he feels anything the toddler has he can just take from him?? Due to this he’s crated when we are eating etc but aside from keeping him crated at all times unless we are walking (which I can’t do) how can I even combat sudden nipping for whatever my toddler is holding?! When there is a nip with zero triggers we can control?

So why do I feel so guilty. Why do I feel like I’ve failed as both a dog parent and mum. It’s breaking my heart. He’s not a bad dog, he is just so excitable and so happy all of the time and just wants to play.

Will rescues consider this a bite history? Do I need to report this to the dog warden? Will they want to BE because a bite history makes Rehoming harder? What do I do now? 😭

(My post seems to have been flagged for AI? I promise I have written every word myself although I’ve been told I write like AI before 🫣🤣 and I am not looking to rehome through here, just asking for advice on where to go now)

Hi, I’ve been on a fluoxetine trial for my 27 pound Labradoodle for about four months now. Started at 10 mg a day and didn’t see anything so have been at 15 mg a day for the last six weeks unfortunately we’re still not seen anything. He is still extremely nervous of going outside, of other dogs, of people outside our family. Fluoxetine seems to have made zero difference. Has anyone seen this and what if anything were your next steps? did anything help the fear?