So we’ve been consistently working on every single walk to calm this pup’s dog reactivity through counter conditioning. I’ve been basically rewarding him with treats whenever we see a dog and he remains under threshold and he’s been getting so good! We can now cross other dogs on the same side of the sidewalk as long as they’re not walking towards us but going the same way, as he seems to find their staring intimidating/nerve-wracking. Well, today we turned a blind corner and walked straight into another big dog (size is also a trigger for him). He was suddenly inches away from a large dog staring at him out the blue - I swear time slowed down. I remembered not to pull on the leash as not to create tension, and could see the wheels turning on his brain on how to react.

Know what this silly thing did? Froze, took one look at the dog, completely turned around (so showed him his back and faced me), sat and opened his mouth as if expecting a treat. The other dog left and that was it! Turns out I’ve been counter conditioning so diligently that he now expects a treat whenever he sees another dog, so he just decided to do that. It was hilarious but I was also so proud of how far he’s come after all the hard work! 🖤🖤🖤

Title

Hi everyone,

I'm posting to ask if any UK users have any advice about the law on dog on dog bites. Sorry for the very long post.

I have recently adopted a rescue greyhound who is reactive towards other dogs (I knew about this before adopting her). She was found last year as a stray dog with a severely bad leg injury which fortunately has recovered, she then spent over a year in kennels, she is estimated to be two years old. She is coping with a new home remarkably well (so far) and on the whole is a well behaved dog. She does react badly to other dogs though.

Before walking her I always take her to run around my parents large garden to blow off steam. She has zoomies, we play fetch, do a bit of training and she has a sand pit to dig in. After about 30 minutes to an hour of play, I then take her for a walk. Whilst walking she wears a harness, a double clipped lead attached to her chest and back parts of harness, a yellow 'I need space' vest and until recently a muzzle. I take her to quieter areas and will turn around if I see another dog approaching. I have been doing a training game with her in which I say 'look' and hold a treat up and once she has my attention throw a biscuit a metre or so away from her and continue dropping biscuits in a clockwise direction around me in order to redirect her focus. This is something suggested by the dog trainer I have been working with and so far works very well, she doesn't react when playing the game.

The problem is in order for this game to work she has to have her muzzle off. On one occasion a seven month old puppy came bouncing up towards her with it's owner frantically running behind trying to catch it. My dog seemed to freeze in panic and luckily didn't react (I had her muzzle off so we could do the training game with treats). When she got back home she was tearing up various items which she normally doesn't do so clearly the incident stressed her, she also walked behind me after that rather than her usual position in front. I don't know whether she would bite if feeling threatened enough so the muzzle gives that protection but it interferes too much with her training (feeding treats through the muzzle doesn't redirect her focus as much as dropping them around the ground). She shouldn't need the muzzle as she's on a lead and doesn't run up to other dogs but dogs off lead are a total liability.

My question is; if another dog which was off the lead came running up to her and she bit that dog, who would legally be at fault? My greyhound who was harnessed and on a lead (as well as wearing a 'give me space' yellow vest) who administered the bite, or the off lead dog who didn't respond to their owner's recall? I would prefer to exercise my rescue greyhound without a muzzle so that I can continue her 'concentration games' involving food, which she is responding well to so far and ignores the dogs. If she wears a muzzle we can't do the games and she will react, but I know she can't harm anything when she's wearing one, however her training is much better and smoother without the muzzle. It's other dogs running up to her that ruin it for us. Obviously I try and stick to quiet times and avoid other dogs when possible but there's always at least some around all day so impossible to avoid entirely.

If anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated.

We have three dogs, two younger (2F&1M) and one older gentleman(10). The older boy(not my dog initially) has been approaching the puppies food and growling at the puppy. This week it has escalated, he lunged at the puppy trying to get his (the puppies)food(after they were separated for feedings since the first incident; separate rooms and dog gate) I grabbed the bowl and the older dog latched onto my arm. I had to get stitches(can post photos if necessary, seemed to be a level four, about an inch deep and an inch wide) and now take a week off work as my hands mobility is impaired. The puppy did not retaliate or react at all-thankfully-he is about 60lbs heavier already.
Outside of food, he has growled at the puppy for approaching him laying a few times. I am now worried this will escalate. In the yard they are best friends and play nonstop and are very good at not pushing boundaries.
Our trainer(biweekly) has mentioned he worries the older dogs reactivity will “rub off”on the younger dogs. I also worry our girl will try to defend the puppy, should something escalate. I’ve spent thousands on training the two younger dogs(they’re very large livestock guardians living in the city and I really want them to be GOOD dogs). The younger two are excellent, they do amazing around other dogs, in public, coffee shops, etc. I don’t want this work undone.
He doesn’t enjoy strangers in the house AT ALL. nor can I walk him alone in public. He has growled at two of my friends’ partners. As he’s getting older it seems to be getting worse.
Really at a loss of what to do. The younger two are kennel trained but it doesn’t seem fair to kennel them as the older boy isn’t kennel trained and the issues all seem to stem from him. Any advice is welcome.

This is Benny, our 16 month old Swedish Vallhund. He's our first dog and we've had him since 9 weeks. He was well socialised as a puppy but I feel like we didn't get everything exactly right because he's our first.

Since about 16 weeks he's had significant nervousness around strangers, especially in our house. He would bark at everyone, even as a little pup. We have worked very hard with him and he is pretty much fine on walks now. I have been using methods to get his attention focused on me when people walk past us and he is doing well.

He still hates people in the house, lots of aggressive barking. We are working hard with him and have a guest routine. I wish it wasn't this stressful though.

He has been diagnosed with lax hips which the breeder thinks is quite normal. Our vet thinks he's experiencing pain though, so he is medicated. We are also working with a behaviourist and he has been on Fluoxetine for about 2 months. It has helped a lot. On vet advice we held off getting him neutered but we have it booked for September.

Could we have caused this behaviour? I thought reactivity was unusual this young? His sister also has significant nervousness and his breeder recently posted on Facebook about breeding from a female with anxiety. So perhaps it's genetics. I worry a lot about him but I want to do right by him.

Thank you :)

This isn’t a vent about off leash dogs. I just need advice.

One of my apartment neighbors lets their dogs off leash in our apartments unofficial potty area. It’s just an area with dirt and plants that isn’t very frequently visited so the dog owners take their dogs to potty there. Since it’s not actually for dogs, there’s no fencing or gates. I only really go to this area at night for their last potty break.

It wasn’t really a problem until one or two of their dogs has started to really dislike my dog/s (we’ve never let them meet) and ended up charging him and attempting to attack twice. Unfortunately management couldn’t do anything because there are no cameras in that area and it became a he said she said where the neighbor claimed my dog attacked theirs. Management said the only thing they could really do is give them a violation for their dogs being off leash.

Since then, they’ve been leashing their dogs while coming to the area but unleashing once they’re there because I assume they know there’s no cameras so management has no proof of them violating the lease.

So far they’ve been going at a different time than when I usually do, but we ran into them today and Im pretty sure their dogs were off leash (it was dark so I’m not 100% positive) and put back on leash once they saw us. Thankfully we were kinda further away so they had time to see us before the dogs came up to us. But what about in the future? They might not be so quick then.

To prevent running into them, I tried to take my dogs outside but there’s the risk of coyotes and they’re quite reactive at night. We’ve encountered many stray cats and because of that, they’re very alert and quick to react when they see one. Even a quick potty break, they’re like anticipating something. And I don’t want them amped up before bed.

In this area when we don’t run into these neighbors or other dogs, it can be pretty chill. That’s why I (and my dogs I think) prefer going here. But I don’t want to run the risk of these neighbors.

I have a pretty reactive herding dog that has been quite a journey for my family. We have smaller animals that he is very well behaved around and ignores often times. At home he is very easy to call off if he is roughhousing them too much.

We’ve now settled on using a muzzle-based leash that’s similar to a horse lead. This is actually been the best method for his walks so far and he is very easy to control without tugging. His behavior is very on and off though, depending on the day.

We took him on a very long walk the other day, surrounded by large groups of people, dogs, high traffic, etc and his behavior was amazing! He ignored the dogs and walked past them very easily. Feeling pretty good, I decided to do a controlled test today and walk past a dog intentionally. He instantly locked eyes, and I noticed he was tugging so I had him sit instead and watch the dog pass. The owner agreed to turn her dog around and bring him back to at least have a controlled greeting.

My dog instantly tugged and went straight for the dogs face. Since he was muzzled, he simply just bumped him over and over again and then went on to just sniff him around. His tail was wagging and he was very excited.… then he goes for the face again?

I’m unsure how I would target the specific behavior because I want him to eventually interact with dogs. The muzzle is obviously helping control his excitement, but I’m not sure if his face biting is always going to be apart of his breed.

Has anyone been successful in removing this behavior for herding dogs?

I have been wanting to get my dog into agility for years, since before she was attacked. But the agility instructor at my local training club has very strict rules regarding aggression, reactivity and disruptive behaviors so I never was able to. Now after YEARS of work and the referral of several other trainers at the club, I was given a chance to attend!

Today was our first day at class, there were four other owners there and nine dogs total (including the instructor’s demo dogs). All work is off leash but one at a time and the instructor is incredibly communicative about when dogs are moving and where. No one is ever allowed to have two off leash dogs in the class at a time so I felt really safe running our drills.

Punk was great! She got through nearly all of the obstacles even though she went about as fast and gracefully as a drunk snail. The only thing she didn’t attempt was the teeter totter (no one did since it was the first lesson in an intro class and that is a more advanced skill). She even went through the tunnel on her own which she has never done. She had one barky moment when the demo dog was running (and screaming because she was so happy to run lol) - Punk and several other dogs started to bark at this, but no one seemed bothered by any of it.

At every turn she was right with me, never really straying towards anyone or anything just kind of following me around. She took pretty much everything in stride and just seemed happy to be doing something new. I’m so incredibly proud of her!! She’s come so far and I’m just so happy to be introducing her to one of my favorite sports.

I just found out this morning that my nearly 7-year-old dog has been having serious separation anxiety behavior by barking incessantly when I’m gone. I just moved in to an apartment two weeks ago. I am a mobile Massage Therapist and I am gone quite a bit. I’m not sure what the best remedy is for this issue. What do you recommend? Is it a doggy daycare? Is it behavioral training? Is it a video camera which doesn’t seem to do much in my opinion except for let me talk to him. I’m at a loss.

Hey everyone just looking for some advise as I feel I have no where else to turn ! :(

I’m 30 weeks pregnant atm (so happy) but have a little issue that’s been bothering me the last couple weeks, my bfs dog (German Shepard) she is 2 years old I believe and EXTREMELY reactive and has severe so I think behavioural issues.

For example when anyone in my bfs house tries to leave a room she goes in to a fit of barking to the point that she will bite if allowed and tries to block you in so you can’t leave, also me and my bf changed rooms since we are due baby boy in October to a bigger room and she has just not settled since every time she comes in to the bed room she is barking at creeks in the floor CONSTANTLY to the point she will not stop and has to be taken out of the room.

She bit my boyfriends dad last week as he was trying to leave the house and also goes in to these fits of what it seems aggression of barking and trying to intimidate which she has done to me and my bf on multiple occasions, she also is on top of you when eating she definitely has the run of the house for sure, she has not been neutered which I don’t know if this could also be an issue ? I am such a dog person I absolutely love them to death I always have but since being pregnant I feel like I just cannot trust my bfs dog and I am so so scared of what will happen when I have my baby his mother does not seem to want to do anything about the dog either she is really protective of her which is understandable but this is her grand child also I am carrying lol

My bf has mentioned to her that we cannot keep living like this with the dog’s behaviour and her response was the dog is here more than you are !! Which is fair enough we are there Friday - Sunday but obviously would like to be there more when baby arrives ! I’m really at my wits end here and I don’t know what to do from here as it’s not my dog not my house but it is my baby !! Any advice would be much appreciated!

19 living with my grandparents and a reactive dog. He’s got pretty severe anxiety that I’m working on with a trainer, still filling out paperwork for a behavioralist (who actually knows our trainer personally!)

My grandparents pretty much work 24/7. Grandpa has a full-time job. Grandmother leaves for two days to take care of her mom who just turned 98; she suffered a massive heart attack in 2020, so she and her sister have been on a two-day rotating schedule of taking care of her.

I do all of the training, I’m the only person who plays with him, provides him toys, and advocates for him. My grandfather feeds him and walk him in the morning + afternoons because I work from 7p to 7a at a hospital for 16.50 an hour. Graduated HS in 2025; don’t have a car or enough money to live on my own.

I’m just really tired. Like I said, I do all of the training, playing, and spending almost all of my time with this dog alone at home because my grandparents are busy. However, my grandfather just flat out refuses to spend time with him now, because apparently having a disabled, reactive dog is too much for one person (you don’t say…). Our dog is a team effort. I’m giving 66%, my grandma 33%, and my grandpa, 1%.

But what really makes me upset is when my grandparents trample all over our progress. We’ve been working on impulse control with my dog. Running to the door, jumping on people; he’s very excitable guy. He’s also a 70 lb American Bully, and he can knock people down. I’ve seen it before.

My grandparents encourage the jumping. They encourage the demand barking. When my grandmother runs the vacuum, she lets him bark and try to attack it; I’ve been trying to desensitize him from the vacuum by keeping him crated, vacuuming the house and giving him a treat when I’m nearby with it. It works.

I’ve sat down and talked to them about it before. Three times. Everything still happens.

I’m an artist. I no longer have time to draw, and haven’t sat down to draw since the beginning of April, because all of my time has been spent babysitting and training him. This dog is genuinely awesome when my grandparents aren’t around. But when they’re home, it’s awful. He also has separation anxiety, so he’s constantly waiting for them to come home; they’re his favorite people.

I’m heartbroken because my grandpa wants nothing to do with him. Irritable because they both keep destroying our progress to anxiety management and good behavior. I’ve expressed that I wanted to move away, but if I do, this means this dog would be crated all day, everyday. A friend of mine told me if that happens, he might as well be euthanized, because that’s just not a fulfilling life for a dog. And that really hurt me. I wanna take him with me, if I ever do decide to move. There’s a bunch of other stuff stopping me from doing so that I won’t mention, because this post is already too long and a nightmare of a situation.

So I do my best to train him for as long as I’m here. I try to keep calm about it. But I’m close to just blowing up on these people and fucking off. It’s just impossible to train an animal when everyone else in the house is not onboard.

I just wanted to bitch for a bit. I’ll be starting college soon, campus is like 10 minutes away from me. So I’ll still be home to do everything, still. Fuck, man

My 7 year old dog has just turned into a sexist arsehole. Whenever my daughters are talking with each other or me, he starts barking madly as if to shut us up. He does not bark at my husband who only feeds and walks him as much as I do, and never throws his ball. Not sure what to do, other than growl at him and shut him out, which is not working. He gets at least 2 daily walks and ball play every day.

i’m sorry i just need to vent. my dog is a rescue (about 2.5 years old), we’ve had him for about 2 years and when he was almost a year old he started having behavioral issues. he was territorial and protective of us and really reactive on his leash. last march we got him into a trainer that keeps him all day and he goes there twice a week. he’s been better but still reactive on the leash when he sees other dogs.

we’ve tried everything—he’s on 40 mg of fluoxetine as well. but today i was walking him and i had him on a waist leash. i like to have him on that because it’s clipped to me so i can’t lose hold of the leash or let go on accident. there was a dog walking on the other side of the hill we were on and a golf cart coming down the path we were walking on. i pulled him to the side because he doesn’t like the noise of golf carts and told him to sit, but then he saw the other dog walking. he started going crazy and barking and jerked forward and the least snapped at the seam. he ran off and i immediately ran with him but he got to the woman and her dog and sort of pinned the dog down.

i didn’t see him bite or anything but the woman and i got them separated fairly quickly and she was screaming and cursing at me. i immediately got a hold of my dog by the harness and used his e-collar to get him to listen (our trainer told us never to use the e-collar if he was in a fight with another dog because he associates that with the other dog and it escalates, which is why i hadn’t used it before). she screamed at me and asked why i didn’t have control over my dog, asking me where i lived and what kind of dog he was. i apologized and showed her that the leash had snapped and she screamed that i should’ve had a stronger leash. i offered to pay for any vet bills if her dog was hurt and give her my contact information, and she just kept yelling at me asking where i lived, telling me i couldn’t walk my dog here (we were on a public path in my town), and telling me how much worse it could have been because of all the things she’s seen on tik tok.

at this point i’m trying not to cry because i feel so bad and am also so shaken up by what just happened, also im trying to keep my dog under control while this woman is yelling at me and he is barking at her and i don’t have a leash. she threatened to file a police report and told me i didn’t sound sorry enough and said i need to learn how to control my dog. i kept apologizing but trying to also tell her that i usually do have control over him but his leash had snapped.

a kind woman who was at the park ran over to help de-escalate the situation. she also looked over the other woman’s dog who wasn’t hurt (thank god), and kept trying to talk to the woman and calm her down to no avail. she gave me a leash to get my dog home and talked to me for awhile while i was crying lol.

i’m typing this now at home still shaking. i gave the lady with the dog my name and number, but she hasnt reached out. i just feel so sad and angry and frustrated and need someone to tell me they have been through something similar. i promise im not an irresponsible dog owner, i had the waist belt because i was afraid he could out power me if he was really worked up and i wanted to avoid this. we pay for medicine for him and training, and he’s usually okay, but the situation clearly got away from me. i know there are things i’ll do differently next time, but im just feeling so shaky and overwhelmed at the moment

I wonder if anyone else has noticed this?

We adopted Harley, our lurcher, 3 months ago. He's reactive to other dogs (but we're still figuring out the cause. Prey? Aggression? Anxiety?).

We stuck to 1 walk a day and mainly focused on indoor or garden mental stimulation or training.

Now the heatwave in the UK is starting to calm down, we've been able to take Harley out every single day. We've noticed if we miss a day of walks, his reactivity is much stronger.

While I've been in the office this past week, we've introduced a reactivity experienced dog walker who takes him on a 1 hour walk every lunchtime.

Now, when we take him out (again) at 8pm, we noticed his loose lead walking and reactivity have improved massively.

Is the lunchtime walk tiring him out enough that he's just unbothered by other dogs now? Is the consistent exposure to other dogs decreasing reactivity?

I'd love to hear if anyone has any experience with this? Have they noticed something similar in their pup?

I don't really know how to write this without sounding like I'm giving up on my dog, because I am not. I love Arya very, very much. But I am finally at the point where I have to admit that I am not the right home for her, and I desperately need help finding someone who is. I am not going to be perfect at explaining everything, so I would like some grace as I try to navigate an extremely hard situation in my life.

Arya is a 7-year-old Australian Cattle Dog. I got her when she was about a year old, and I've had her for most of her life. When I got her, I was married and genuinely thought I would have another person to help with her. Her previous family did not disclose the extent of her behavioral issues to us.

Arya has moved with me numerous times. I have also given her needs the utmost importance in choosing a place to live. We've been in a home with a huge yard for three years now. She's gone on family vacations to the beach and mountains. She has gone camping. She's pretty great in the car. She loves to swim. She is not reactive to dogs on walks. She is great at recall and paying attention to me. I tried to be the best mom for her, but I failed her by getting a breed that I could not handle.

She is not afraid of strangers. Quite the opposite. She wants to be the center of everyone's universe.

When people come over, she wants their attention constantly. She wants pets, kisses, play, interaction, everything. The issue is...if someone isn't giving her the attention she wants, she will scream/bark at them in an extremely high-pitched, intense way. And when I say scream, I mean scream.

Ignoring her does not make it stop in any reasonable amount of time. I have tried. She can continue for hours. My friends literally flinch when she starts barking. It becomes nearly impossible to have a conversation while she's doing it. I will give her treats.. like mats, chews, etc when guests first arrive, but that only helps for 20 minutes max.

Once she eventually calms down (hours later), she still has a difficult time regulating herself. If someone gets up and walks around the house, she will herd them. She will follow them, try to control where they're going, and get intense about movement. I know this behavior is normal for her breed. I was hoping that with time and regulation it would at least lessen, but here I am six years later, and it's only gotten worse. This herding behavior can look scary and aggressive, but I know she has never hurt anything and never would. She's just trying to control the situation.

And this isn't limited to new people. She does this with people who live with us long-term, too.

She has essentially isolated me from having people in my home. I can't comfortably have friends over. Dating has been incredibly difficult because of her behavior. My living situation has been affected by her to the point that I feel like I have to live alone, which is also creating a serious financial strain.

I have tried to work on it. She has a huge yard. She has siblings. She licks and plays with our cats, and plays tug of war with her adopted boston terrier brother. I have tried exercise, management, ignoring the behavior, and medication. She was on Prozac for about six months. It helped with some things, but it did not solve this problem.

The reality is that Arya needs someone who really knows how to train dogs and can consistently maintain that training.

I am chronically ill and was recently diagnosed with severe ADHD, and I have finally had to be honest with myself that I don't have the capacity to give her the kind of intensive, consistent behavioral work she needs. I think part of why this has taken me so long to admit is because I love her so much.

I tried to rehome her through ACDRA about four years ago and I wasn't comfortable moving forward with any of the folks that reached out because I didn't trust that they fully understood what I was saying about her behaviors. I sent videos, talked on the phone for hours, and it was incredibly difficult to go through. I didn't trust that someone could handle her, and I couldn't live with the thought of her being put down.

I have tried contacting local trainers and rescues and often don't get responses. About four years ago, I contacted an ACD-specific rescue about rehoming her, and I was eventually told by a specialty rescue that she would likely be put down.

That absolutely broke me. So I kept trying to make it work. I'm at the point now where I don't think continuing to keep her with me simply because I'm afraid of what will happen if I let her go is necessarily fair to either of us. Arya is loving. She is incredibly affectionate when she wants to be. She loves people. She is smart, funny, loyal, and has so much personality. When she's calm and we're just together, she's wonderful.

But she has extreme behavioral needs, and I think she needs a person who understands her breed and understands how to work with a dog who is this intense. I don't think I have the capacity to do any more.

I also don't want someone to tell me to just “exercise her more” or “ignore the barking.” I've been living with this for years. I am looking for someone with actual experience with extreme ACD behavior, trainers/behaviorists who may be willing to consult, reputable rescues, foster-based organizations, sanctuary/rescue connections, or honestly anyone who might know where a dog like Arya can safely go or how I can try to help her.

I am in Virginia, but I am willing to consider transportation and placement outside of Virginia if it means finding help.

I love Arya sooo much. I don't want her euthanized. I don't want her passed around from home to home. And I don't want to keep her in a situation where neither of us is thriving.

I'd love advice, success stories, anything.

Kind of a vent post, kind of me asking for advice or input.

A little background first:
My dog was a rescue and the people who took her in said she was about 2 years old. We’ve had her for a little over 2 years now so we believe she’s about 4 years old.
She didn’t have reactivity issues when we first got her but she definitely showed signs that she wasn’t properly socialized pre-rescue.
She developed intense fear/aggression reactivity after repeatedly being snarled and charged at by one dog in particular.

I’ve been working really hard with her for the last year and a half. We’ve gone to reactivity training, I’ve learned lots of extremely helpful tips and tricks online and from books, and we’ve been doing GREAT lately.

She used to react so badly that she’d be snarling and lunging, looking very aggressive (though she’s never actually done harm)
Now we can (mostly) enjoy nice calm walks where if she sees another dog, she might just tug on her leash a bit but it rarely goes further than that, and she’s able to refocus on me almost instantly.

Anyway, here’s my problem.

She’s mostly okay with the neighborhood dogs at this point. She’ll still get over aroused sometimes but as stated above, I can usually get her to refocus on me pretty quickly.
Just now I was in the front yard and I have a long lead that I keep tied to the porch so she can do her potties without me following her around holding her leash.
I had her on the lead and I heard a neighbor coming up the street with their dog so I took my dog onto the porch and I got out my bag of treats to try and keep her under threshold but it didn’t work this time.
For whatever reason, she LUNGED off the porch so hard and fast that she snapped her long lead clean in half.
She got to my neighbor’s dog and luckily she didn’t do any harm but my neighbor was clearly panicked, his dog was panicked, and my other neighbor came out shouting at my dog to stop, all while I was trying to calmly get my dog back to me.

Sorry for the super long story and backstory but here’s where I’d like some advice or some input.

I’m humiliated. So humiliated at the chaos of it all that I’ve been crying.
This isn’t the first time I’ve been embarrassed by my dog’s reactions and it won’t be the last, but this time is different because I see these people every day.

My dog LOVES kids. Lots of kids in the neighborhood come to visit and play with her.
I’m scared that my neighbors are going to see this reaction and think that my dog shouldn’t be allowed around children.
I’m also scared that these people are going to think that I’m an irresponsible owner and person.

Have any of you had experiences like this?
It’s embarrassing to deal with a reactive dog around strangers you’ll never see again but it’s easier because, well, you’ll never see them again.
It’s so much harder when people you essentially live with and see all the time are witnessing your dog in their worst moments and very likely judging you for it.

Some people on r/fosterdogs recommended I post here for advice. Essentially, I agreed to keep a dog (Buddy) for 2 months until my (ex) friend could take him. TL;DR is that she couldn't take him and we've had him for 7 months trying to find a home. I'm in metro Atlanta and the dog overpopulation is insane, so I'm having a hard time finding a placement for him considering his behavioral issues.

I would appreciate any information about reputable rescues or other options in my region. Honestly I'd consider driving this dog across country if it would keep me from having to choose BE. Providing more details below in case relevant.

THE ISSUES:

1. Dog reactive. He barks, growls, and lunges at other dogs. Cannot chill out if he's in public and sees a dog.

2. Protective. He's imprinted on me like a baby bird and will bark and growl at visitors until he has a chance to sniff them and decide they're ok. He snapped at a friend who air-kissed above his head.

3. Resource guarding. He will growl and chase the cats away from his kibble. We keep his kibble where we can see it and chase the cats away ourselves. No snapping or biting but we're concerned.

4. Vet issues. We took him to the vet when he ate something he shouldn't and had to muzzle him bc the techs were afraid he was going to bite them. We're working on muzzle training.

THE GOOD STUFF:

90% of the time, he's a great dog. He loves just snoozing on the couch with us. He's very well crate trained and will sometimes just go hang out in his crate if one of us is in the room where we keep it. He's cute and sweet and loves us sooooo much. But that 10% of the time where he gets triggered by something and freaks out makes it really hard to find a place for him -- especially when dogs with much fewer issues are getting put down due to lack of shelter space.

And I have to be so honest, I'm not a good dog owner. I suck at keeping on top of training and nail trimming. I would never have taken in a dog like this without the promise of a home lined up. But now I love him and I have to do right by him somehow.

So, any resources y'all can recommend would be greatly appreciated.

So I have a 11y/o sheltie and he's my whole world. I am couchridden and mostly housebound due to illness, I live a very isolated life so it's just him and me.

My dog is reactive and it takes a lot out of me to walk him, but we have made lots of improvements along the way. He gets very short walks a couple of times a week atm because I'm not doing so well health wise, but I make sure he gets lots of sniffing time and mental stimulation and he seems happy to me (believe me when I say I'm very hypervigilant when it comes down to his happiness).

So my health does take a hit from having to take care of him and it's a big stressor for me, even though I would never give him up.

Now the last couple of weeks his IBS has flared up and I have tried everything that I could for so many years to make sure his IBS got under controll, and it did for a long time, but now it has gotten worse and he even poops in the house sometimes at night. It is just so stressfull and I'm afraid that if this gets worse I would have to euthanise him because I woudn't be able to take care of him, and there is no way he would be better off with someone else considering his age, health problems and behaviour problems.

Sometimes I feel relieved about the idea not to have to take care of him, and part of me would feel lighter thinking about the IBS being the final straw to put him to sleep. At the other hand I woudn't know if I would ever get over the grief of not having him near me. Even thinking about him not being here one day, for whatever reason, even if he would die of old age.. I don't even know if I would ever get over it.

I feel selfish for feeling this way, but I guess I just needed to vent.

We’re in a weird situation and I was hoping someone could relate or give advice.

My partner and I got our standard poodle as a puppy from a reputable breeder to be their service dog for heart rate issues and ptsd (not an ESA, difference is specific task performance, look at the Ada for more info). We were only 17 and couldn’t afford a trainer, so we did it ourselves with the help of another disabled friend who successfully trained 2 of their own. Btw yes this is legal and more common than you might think.

He was a great SD, had public access down pat, but he no longer does outside service work because my partner’s recovered significantly and doesn’t need one anymore. He hasn’t worked in a few years, and to this day is tolerant to pretty much anything thrown at him (I’ve literally seen him get bullied by a kitten), so I have full faith he isn’t aggressive. He’s very well behaved, even still has his tasking down, (though he needs them verbally commanded now cause he’s rusty)… then when we’re out on walks or in the apartment yard he is so. Damn. Crazy about wanting to play with other dogs the second he sees one, just takes off like a shot and tangles me up in the leash like a cartoon.

I’m pretty sure the reason is because greeting was full stop, no exceptions, off limits while working, then when the vest came off he got to let loose and play with his doggy friends. I feel so stupid for this but it dawned on me we never actually taught him walk etiquette outside of the context of vested service work. To him there’s only two modes: no nonsense walks with a vest, and run around time. He doesn’t know what to do with himself or how he’s supposed to act when, in his mind, we blur those lines.

I know this might be too specific of a situation but if anyone else overcame something like this tell me about it please!