Guide on how to read the rules

My millie is scheduled for BE tomorrow at 4:30. I am heartbroken. I keep thinking about what I would've done differently after bringing her home 2 years ago. I found her on the side of the road at 3 months old, she was starved, scared and confused.

The answer is, I would do it all over again. I would love her anyways. I have always loved her just the way she is, but I can't keep living like this. She was MY best friend. Everyone hated her, was afraid of her. But not me, I moved halfway across the country at 19 years old for her. To help her get away from all the things that scared her, just for her to be scared of all the new things.

I'll always remember the way she looks at me when I calm her down from an anxiety freak out. I'll always remember the way she frolicked like a deer whenever she ran. I'll remember her waking me up with morning kisses. And especially the way she would dance with me when I'm cooking dinner. She is my baby. And now all I can do is treat her like I do everyday. With so much love, until tomorrow at 4:30pm. Which will undoubtedly be the hardest day of my life.

I've almost backed out so many times, but I can't put my unborn baby through this. I can't refrain my son from running around the house in fear that he will trigger her to bite him. But still, I would do it all over again. I'm going to miss her so much, but I know her mind is her only enemy. And I so desperately wish all of my efforts over the years would pay off. But my heart is broken and I can't keep pouring time, money, hope and love into a dog who's not benefiting from any of it.

Anyways. She'll always be my girl, even in the afterlife, whatever that may be.

This is Riley. 6yo Rough Collie I adopted >1 year ago. She is a retired show line breeding dog from rural VA.

Riley was the greatest dog. Gentle beyond measure, friendly to everything, great on week-long road trips, could take anywhere with you. Truly what you picture as the “american dream family dog”. She started the phases of becoming a therapy dog & she was always the most complimented & calmest during group visits.

We live in Chicago & her first 4th of July here changed everything. The moment the fireworks started in clusters for long periods, a switch flipped. My Riley was gone & I haven’t seen her since.

Her threshold became paper thin. Any noise would send her into a panting, pacing, darty, frantic panic attack spiral, that she would take hours to settle from.

She would potty in the house as the moment we stepped outside she was over threshold.

Prozac for 2 months did nothing. CBD does nothing. Unsure if gabapentin helped at all.

Ive tried constant treats. I’ve tried fully stopping all outside outings.

Ive tried forcing her on hikes, beaches, walks, etc. with my pack of 4 other dogs, it’s so hit or miss if she‘ll start spiraling into panic attacks. She’s still quite anxious in the car and walking outdoors at baseline.

We are at a point she can handle pottying outside for 5ish mins, then she hits threshold & runs inside.

Inside she’s Riley though. She is not triggered by any noises indoors even if all windows are open & sounds are audibly heard. The one exception is continuous clusters of fireworks, which will make her spiral indoors. Thankfully she’s a very low energy dog, so she isn’t destroying my house & doesn’t seem upset living inside the condo for 23.9/10 hours a day. She has tons of bones & likes to play with my other collie.

Will I ever get my dog back? I’m angry at her suffering and I don’t understand how such a stable dog could collapse like this.

Please help me.

I’m on a waitlist for veterinary behaviorist, however I don’t think some anti-anxiety pills are going to cure how shot her nervous system is.

For 8 years, I have done the consistent training, other trainers, expensive behavioral dog trainer.

Sandwiches is a rescue Wheaten Terrier and essentially in the beginning I just wrote it off as him just being a pup and learning a new environment as he picked up pretty easily on learning basics to more advanced training/tricks.

Eventually, he was prescribed Trazadone for him, so that we could train outside with his triggers, long car rides etc.

I didnt think he needed a consistent medication though. I didn't mind the Cujo barking (I was a single woman) but now as he ages, the anxiety and stress he has (whining at night because he heard a car) that I just feel helpless even though I show him that there is nothing there.

He is getting his annual teeth cleaning done this week and I wanted to ask the vet about Prozac.

Has anyone had their dog on it? Can you share your experiences?

I don't want his funny, loving personality that I see everyday to go away.

After 5 months of consistent counter conditioning for his on leash dog reactivity, my dog can now pass most dogs when out and about and remain pretty chill. I still have to get him to disengage if I notice things might escalate, but he disengaged quickly when I do a clicking sound and offer him a treat. We can go often on long walks with zero reactions now, running into several dogs. Even in the occasional reaction, he is easy to disengage and will chill immediately after you redirect his attention.

However! Any dog that resembles a husky or chow chow will regress him to his very worst reactivity, he will react even if the dog is far away and will take a while to settle (continues barking even if the dog is out of sight). I am hoping this is not something that will be permanent, but rather choosing to see it as the final boss level: the monster you defeat at the very last level of the game.

Just curious, does your dog have a reactivity final boss?

Hi everyone! I recently found out I am pregnant with our first, and have been having pretty severe stress about my reactive Aussie around our child. She is 5 years old, great with people she knows, pretty bad with everyone else. She is very reactive to people entering our home, as well as other dogs while on walks. We have started training with a local trainer, but I feel like I haven’t seen any progress. I feel a bit hopeless and frustrated that this is something I am so stressed about while pregnant.

Any advice on getting her ready for the upcoming change? We have a nephew and she has done okay around him, but I am still incredibly nervous.

1.5 yr old male Australian Shepherd, around 17kg.
Had bad experience with a vet early in life (before I got him) and has always been very reactive at the vet (growling, lunging, barking).

We were told to take 350mg Gabapentin and 100mg trazodone night before the vet visit and also on the morning of the visit.

However the meds seemed to make him even more active and alert (he was pacing the house from 9PM-11PM, unable to fall asleep.

Same reaction in the morning. I always thought this would make him sleepy/dopey, but no he seems to be even more alert.

Any one else had the same issue?

I have a 6 year old medium sized mutt and he has a long history of fear based reactivity with 2 level 3 bite cases. It was more manageable last time but for this past 6 months, it's been hell. Even little things are setting him off and he's constantly stressed out and tense even at home.

Brought him to the vets last week and they recommended to feed him gabapentin 2 hours before his appointment so we did that but he freaked out so badly during the vet visit, wouldn't let me put his muzzle on him (he kept taking it off even in the car) and wouldn't calm down at all.

He was so scared, he even pooped himself. They had to physically hold him down so that he wouldn't attack anyone.

We talked to the vets about his behaviour and the vets said they can't prescribe any medications for him but to try pheromone diffusers and they also gave us a number to a behaviorist. We contacted the behaviorist the same day and had an appointment set up with her the next week but she never showed up and never texted us back. I live in a rural place so certified behaviorists are very hard to come by. I was actually a little disappointed that she ghosted us. We also discussed behavioral euthanasia but the vet said it's not ethical yet because physically he's very healthy.

I feel like I'm failing my dog, tried to desperately get him help but help is never provided. My next step is to try behavioral supplements. Does anyone have positive experiences using behavioral supplements? Or the pheromone diffusers?

We just adopted an 11 month old lab mix rescue 2 weeks ago. For almost her whole life before coming to us she was in a foster with other dogs and got along with all people and dogs per her foster mom. Since bringing her home she has shown some reactivity. We live in a busy apartment complex where she crosses paths with a lot of people and dogs daily even when we try to go out on off times. She occasionally barks and growls at dogs or people outside but that has already gotten so much better and that is less of a concern for me now. Overall she is a very anxious dog and does well after slow introductions. The big problem we are having is her barking and growling at the door. It is only at certain noises. One noise in particular is a dog collar she hears when a certain dog walks past our door. We have a sound machine and she is still able to hear it. We also cannot remove the door from her eye sight because where we spend our time is in the living room which faces the door. We have been attempting to give her treats before she starts barking to work as counter conditioning but she typically hears the noise and barks before we even notice the noise and I do not want to reward the behavior by giving her treats after she barks. Once she starts barking she also does not listen because she is so locked in on the noise. We have tried bringing her to another room but that seems to increase her frustration. I understand she is still adjusting to our apartment and all about the 3/3/3 rule but I do not want her practicing this behavior and it getting worse. Any advice would help!!

I discovered a new thing that makes my dog growl.

I was holding her when my dad came up to give me hug or a kiss on the cheek goodbye before he left. Stella, who loves him, growled at him while in my arms. I don’t remember if she made a jerking motion to get closer to him or not. I was just kind of caught off guard and wondered if anyone else has experienced this?

There is a woman that lives in my neighborhood who drives around and lets her dog hang halfway out the window and bark the ENTIRE. TIME. You can hear them coming as soon as they turn onto the street. To make matters worse, she will actively slow down as she passes me and my dog, even as my dog is barking, lunging, attempting to pull me into the street. I don’t know if she thinks it’s a fun activity for her dog or what, but it has made walks so much more stressful for us. My dog, who never used to pay attention to cars, is now hyper vigilant to any and all passing vehicles, sometimes barking and lunging when a car looks similar to the one that the barking dog is usually in.
I’m frustrated and I’m sad for my dog that another stressor has been added to his long list. I’m trying to do positive conditioning when we can (see a car, mark it, reward when he checks in with me), but I don’t think it will ever be a reasonable expectation for him to not be stressed by a barking dog.
This is mostly just a vent, but if anyone has any advice I’m all ears! TIA!

Please be kind with your advice. We are working hard on getting our reactivity boy to the dog we know he is. We stopped walking him anywhere but around the yard for the longest time. Now he has been to a training boarding and they worked with him on a slip leash. He seems to have done incredibly well with the trainer. He would go on long public walks with a pack of dogs, and from the reports it seems he did just fine. When the trainer does home visits, he does well there too.
When I walk him it is a whole different game. I feel like I am constantly pulling at him, he is freaking out on everything we see. He is choking when I “correct” him, which I know means the leash is improperly fitted but every time the trainer shows me I can’t tell what I’m doing wrong. I know the transition back to home is hard but I am about ready to give up. We are also training our puppy with a slip leash now and it’s the same story there- I am constantly pulling and they cough and I am so afraid of hurting them. The training also advised to choose times on the walk to allow the dog to sniff which I don’t like. I’ve always believed the walk belongs to the dog and I am just the guide to properly interact with the environment. With the slip leash though, this just turns into tug of war. I really don’t want to sully the training they have gotten, but it’s just miserable for me.

TLDR, does anyone have positive advice for slip leash training to translate and actually help lessen reaction and have a peaceful walk?

Here is my post from yesterday that explains what happened. https://www.reddit.com/r/reactivedogs/s/d4NK6DCIGm

My apartment complex reached out to me about an hour ago, told me that the other dog did have to go the vet, and I have to remove my dog from the property within 10 days or I will be in violation of my lease.

I have literally been sobbing ever since the call. It’s all my fault.

If anyone has ever experienced, please, any advice is welcome.

Our 16 month old shichon is great on a leash when encountering people, animals...but when he's watching out of the front window or in the fenced yard he goes into nitro mode. Constantly barking, running, on high alert. We tried the "Good quiet" with a treat strategy a trainer taught us. He will literally stop, get his treat and then go back at it. We've had days where we went thru so many treats training that he was sick. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Hi everyone, I'm new here and need some advice. My fiancé and I have a 2 year old F Shiloh Shepherd (German Shepherd/Alaskan Malamute mix) and a 2 year old F Golden Retriever. We've had the shepherd for almost 2 years, but adopted the golden from a family member earlier this year. When we adopted her, they were both un-spayed. They had gotten in 2-3 territorial fights within the first month we had both. There were times where the shepherd snapped first, and times where the golden snapped first (believe me, she has a fiesty side). My fiancé was always there and broke it up himself, the fights never lasted longer than a few seconds. In May 2026, we spayed both of them and there hasn't been a fight or even a close call since. We thought taking the hormones out of them worked and they had eventually established dominance in the house. They play, cuddle, and get along for the most part.

A few nights ago, I was alone in the backyard taking the dogs out (my fiancé works the night shift). The dogs were busy chewing on a large piece of firewood in the yard and I was trying to get their minds off the stick so they'd go potty. I stood on top of the stick and the dogs kept circling it to try to get on either side of it. Then they both just snapped, I watched the whole thing happen right next to me. It's like it was just dog language, they both decided "it's on, bitch." They fought for so long and so hard and I couldn't break it up. I sprayed the hose at them, I threw things at them, tried to stick the large log in between them, nothing was working. I screamed for help for over 10 minutes while running like a maniac trying to find my phone (I eventually found it lying in the yard after I flung it at some point). I called 911 because I thought one was eventually going to kill the other. The fight lasted for probably 10 straight minutes, it was agony. Eventually the golden laid on her side below the shepherd, I was screaming thinking she was dead. The cops came and the dogs flew up and acted like everything was ok, just barking at the cops. The shepherd had obviously won the fight, the golden was bloody and limping. Everyone is ok now, both got checked out at the vet and are on antibiotics. The golden bounced back pretty fast.

It's been 3 days and they've been separated the whole weekend, but my fiancé starts the night shift again this week and I'm terrified to be alone with them again. My friend had an air horn she had gotten for self defense and gave it to me to use in case of another need to break up a fight. I am beyond traumatized and so anxious for what to do next. Does anyone have any advice on how to break up a fight if another happens in the future? I do not want to have to rehome one of these dogs. TIA.

I’ve been lurking here for a while, and these stories have provided me with so much support over the years. Since my reactive dog story has come to an end, I’m ready to share mine. It’s a long read if you’re in the mood.

This is a difficult topic. Some people see reactivity as a training failure and view BE as inhumanely giving up. But these stories are so much more complex and nuanced. Thank you to everyone who has shared and made me feel less alone.

I adopted my dog 8 years ago with my now husband. He was about a year old at the time. We didn’t know what happened to him, other than that he was surrendered previously. When we first met, he was incredibly sweet. He didn’t bark and cuddled in our laps. We couldn’t wait for him to be our best friend. When he came home, he had a ton of energy, was incredibly vocal, and was leash reactive. We naively thought we could hire a trainer, do all the right things, and he would become a good dog. We had visions of long hikes together, taking him to the farmer’s market, enjoying him with friends, and mountain biking while he ran through the forest. Unfortunately, that wasn’t how his story unfolded.

As he spent more time with us, it became clear that he was more than just high energy; he was reactive and aggressive. He would snarl and bark at anyone near or approaching the house, bark and lunge at dogs and people while on walks, and nip at people who came inside. We tried training and medication, but nothing took his stress and fear away. In fact, it only got worse with time. We managed him for years, crating him when people came over, closing the blinds, and taking walks after dark when the streets were quiet.

When BE first crossed our minds, we couldn’t fathom choosing it. As difficult as he was, he was our child and we thought we could manage him. Plus, he never had a serious bite. When I read about other BE stories, the dogs always seemed so much more dangerous.

Finally, one night, our management slipped and he seriously bit a stranger walking past, without being provoked and without any warning. We were shocked and devastated, and suddenly realized that we had probably been downplaying his aggression for years. He never had a serious bite because he never had the opportunity. And all of the past incidents where he nipped at people’s clothing before we pulled him away could have been much worse. His management required perfection, and he was a serious accident waiting to happen. We reflected on his prior near-incidents with horror that it could have been so much worse.

We made the gut-wrenching decision that BE was the only responsible way forward. He was dangerous and unpredictable, and we couldn’t risk hurting anyone else. It felt inhumane to do this to the sweet dog who had just been sunbathing in the backyard, but we couldn’t forget the aggressive dog he turned into when triggered.

His BE appointment was the hardest thing we’ve ever done. I’m totally heartbroken for the way his story unfolded, and that we couldn’t help him. I keep wondering if we had stayed consistent with crating, if we did even more work to desensitize him from triggers, or tried medication sooner, would his story have been different? I don’t know, but I’m just so sad that whatever we did wasn’t enough. It wasn’t his fault, and he didn’t deserve a life of fear or this tragic ending.

We truly loved him. He was incredibly sweet and loving to the few in his pack. He loved to play fetch, lay in the sun, and go for a ride with his dad. He always let us know what was on his mind, and sometimes we swore he understood English. He was surprisingly gentle with our cat and with our son.

The house now has a crushing emptiness. There are no taps of his paws, no dramatic sighs, and no tail thumps on his bed. There is also no anxious pacing, snarling at the window, or incessant barking to go outside, then inside, and then outside again. But somehow I miss those things too. How could I miss the things that irritated me the most? Reminders of him are everywhere: a toy in a dusty corner, the hole he dug in the yard, and his leash in the mudroom.

I can’t wait for this all to be a distant memory, and for the peace and quiet to feel normal. I can’t wait to feel happy when someone tells me they’re stopping by the house, rather than feeling a wave of anxiety about having to manage my dog. I can’t wait to no longer be surprised by grief as I experience each part of the day, and each corner of the house, without him. I can’t wait to realize how much the hyper vigilance was impacting my own mental health and well-being.

Even through all of the grief, I don’t have any doubt about whether this was the right decision. We didn’t have to wait for another mistake or a worse outcome to make the call.

I’m sure that one day it will get easier, his absence will feel lighter, and the guilt of not being able to help him won’t feel so overwhelming.

But while I wait, I’m going to miss my dog and hope that he can forgive me.

Last November I got a 2nd dog. He's a full breed Yorkie and he is very sweet and gets along with my other 8 year old dog. The issue is he is very reactive and it's causing problems between me and my neighbors. Every time I take him out potty, he barks bloody murder. Every time. God forbid another dog is walking by all hell breaks loose, which is often where we live. I've tried treats, exposure therapy, etc. and nothing works. I walk him everyday. My brother wouldn't forgive me or let me live it down if I gave him up. Not to mention how much I would miss him and how awful I'd feel. But when I think about having just one dog again it's like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I don't know what to do.

My girlfriend and I adopted a 7-year-old male French Bulldog from a shelter yesterday, and I’m looking for some advice on how to proceed with some of his behavioral issues.
First off, I’m fully aware of the 3-3-3 rule and understand that he hasn’t even been with us for 24 hours yet. I know he needs time to decompress and adjust, and we’re not expecting him to be a perfect dog overnight. I’m mainly trying to figure out the best way to manage his behavior safely without making things worse.
The shelter was upfront with us about his behavioral issues. They mentioned that he was extremely defensive in his kennel and would growl, lunge, and snap at staff when they tried to get him out. They eventually found that leaving the kennel door open and letting him come out on his own worked better.
When we met him, he was initially cautious but quickly warmed up and became very friendly and affectionate. We decided to adopt him, and honestly, the entire trip home went great. He was fine being handled, friendly with everyone at Petco when we stopped for supplies, and spent the couple-hour drive home trying to get attention and pets from us.
We also have a 10-year-old female bully mix. They briefly met in our yard, sniffed each other, and he attempted to mount her. She gave him a quick correction, and afterward she mostly ignored him. We’ve been keeping them separated while he adjusts.
Once home, we let him explore and fed him. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of leaving our older dog’s food bowl out since she’s always been a free feeder. He found it and immediately began aggressively resource guarding it, growling, snapping, and attempting to bite when approached. I was able to remove the bowl, and we realized we’d need to change our feeding routine.
We had set up our guest bedroom with a bed and water to give him his own quiet space. He initially explored it without issues, but after a few minutes became extremely defensive of the room. He would growl, show his teeth, lunge, and snap when I approached, even from outside the doorway. We left him alone for the night to decompress.
This morning was interesting. When I opened his door to feed him, he was somewhat defensive but much calmer. I was able to put his food down and leave the door open. He finished eating and came out on his own, completely friendly again.
I took him for a walk, played with him, and he was affectionate and social the entire time. At one point, I had closed the guest bedroom door while he was outside, and I was able to go in and out of the room to set up a camera without any issues. He even followed me in to see what I was doing and showed absolutely no defensive behavior.
Later, after having him in the guest bedroom for about 30–40 minutes while our older dog ate, I let him back out and left the door open.
He was hanging out near the front door, probably 20 feet away, when I started walking toward the hallway to close the guest bedroom door. He immediately sprinted ahead of me and positioned himself between me and the bedroom. He wasn’t initially growling or snapping, just standing in front of me and watching what I was going to do. If I moved, he’d reposition himself to stay in front of me. When I continued toward the room, he became defensive again, growling, showing his teeth, and lunging.
What’s confusing is that outside these specific situations, he’s been an incredibly sweet dog. He actively seeks affection, enjoys walks, plays with toys, and seems genuinely happy to interact with us. But when it comes to food or what seems to be his personal space, his behavior changes dramatically.
He’s also currently intact and has a neutering appointment scheduled for October 21, although I understand neutering isn’t necessarily going to fix resource guarding or fear-based behavior.
My biggest concern right now is figuring out how to safely manage him while he adjusts.
I was fortunate enough to be off work today, but tomorrow we’re both back to our normal schedules. I work 6 AM–2 PM, and my girlfriend works 8 AM–4 PM. We have a camera set up in his room, but I’m unsure whether continuing to use the guest bedroom as his designated space is the right approach, considering how defensive he becomes around it. We also have a good sized fully fenced yard. I don’t want to repeatedly put him in situations where he feels threatened or feels the need to defend himself, but we also need a safe way to keep him separated from our older dog while we’re at work.

Any advice or personal experiences would be appreciated!

Hello!! I have a female dog that is turning 2 in November and our challenge is very strong anxiety towards environment. We adopted her with my partner when she was 12 weeks old so one could say it's ideal - but she was saved with her sisters and mother from bad conditions with small contact with human and then was totally quarantined for two weeks until we got her. Back then I was sure she's a puppy, she will learn everything no issue etc. We live in mid-large city, not in the very center but she came from a village. Anyway we started to socialise her, first from the bag, then out of it but she was always a bit shy. I think she was always anxious but I didn't understand it and then a noise startled her so much on a walk, she started running in panic and I ran with her instead of stopping her and comforting. From now on it went downhill, she was maybe 14 weeks when it happened; was scared of people, noises, cars, outside world generally. We went to a trainer and she suggested we socialised her too intensively which might be true but well, it was too late. She told us to use three areas and wanted us to use this method of coming back to the "safe" area everytime our puppy was scared. Now I know what method did she mean but she just didn't take into consideration the fact, that there's NO area outside where our dog felt safe. So the trainer shortcuted it all to "run with her where she wants to gain trust" and I feel like it was our biggest mistake as we taught her to run everytime she's scared of anything.

It was getting worse and worse to the point we changed to another behaviorist that recommended us meds because our dog would stop everywhere, startled, shaking, she would shake before going out of our apartament, ran away from collar or harness, either completely stop on walks or rush like there's no tomorrow in panic, she was 9 months old when we started the meds. She never wanted food when stressed, didn't want to eat outside and we have to use her wet food outside cause she doesn't take aby treats. The training though was "only" counter conditioning but it was so hard even on meds because it was still so hard even with the most delicious food. And it's not like walks were extremely hard, we carried her outside and at first even carried her to the forest near and maybe 2-3 people would walk past us during the whole hour but it was still so stressing for her. We continued but this training didn't do much.

At home she was startled of falling objects, noises of washing mashine or taking the dishes outside but it actually got better in this part! She started on fluoxetine and it made her rest and sleep so much more which we've seen as something good, we really care about her rest. She's such a nice dog at home right now, can rest but can also train with me, do nosework or exercises/fitness since she has first stages of luxating patellas. But once we are outside, even at peaceful place, this all just dissapears and is replaced with fears.

Back to my story, we went to veterinarian-behaviorist (we still do go to the same one) and trazodone has been added to the mix in February. Fluoxetine helped her after 6 weeks first as well - she wasn't like TOTALLY out of her mind like before, would do "sit" on the walk at some occasions, some of touching our hands, stopped rushing that much, we still continued counter conditioning, gave her food for every better behavior. And then, when she stopped progressing, trazodone helped as well, it seemed. She was exploring and sniffing more in the forest (before she would just go for the sake of walking). We started to train with another trainer to get more exercises on top of the counter conditioning and it worked, tried to keep her near us im difficult environment, to gain her trust in us (that it is safe with us) etc. She even started taking treats other than her food sometimes, could do few tricks in the woods... And it turned out she got her first heat at 1,5 years. During the heat she was braver, if you'd ask me if I want to keep it like this I'd say yes cause she was the best she every was, even if still scared a lot. Had contact with us. Sometimes she would even keep being close and nice to get food outside which before never happened. It was tiny bit annoying atm even cause I wanted her to explore but oh boy how I miss this.

After the heat it slowly became worse and worse. We tried to up the doses of both fluoxetine and trazodone (separately) but one made her even more anxious and the other caused that she was completely detached from us. Stopped taking the food outside again. Would startle at more things again, panic more and stop more, shake more. A month later she actually got stomach inflammation and we were treating that, so she acted very panicky and scared but we didn't want to change a lot at such hard time for her. At this point she was 1 year, 7 months. We slowly cured it, went on diet, did tests and ultrasound again and she got better but her anxiety stayed. We couldn't train again at all and went to our vet again to ask if we could change the meds as it got great results only around her heat so I wasn't even sure if it's meds at all.

And we're here today at very small dose of trazodone and week on our first destined dose of clomipramine (instead of fluoxetine) and I know I have to wait for it to kick in, I read this reddit like a maniac, not only this but like the whole internet. To get hope from anywhere. She's lovely and so smart at home! She actually loves her dog friends, she has some longterm pals, we go with them at least once a week and when she's in the fields with them it's the only time outside that her tail is up. She loves dogs btw, she would repeat so many things after them, we actually want another one one day but I'm too responsible to do it in the middle of this mess with her. Because other than on walks with friends, she's still shaking before going out, we now have to carry her out of the closed area our apartament is because she's frozen. She can go to our forest because with been there hundreds of times, everyday and she still has moments od huge panic even inside it, not even talking outside. She would freeze when someone is walking behind us, she would freeze when the car is turned on and just stays on her way, unmoving. She never actually wants to go outside, she's taking food only in specific areas and moments when she feels safe in the forest. I'm just so sad and it's not like I want her to completely fit my fantasy of dog but I poured so much energy, worry, money in her, I do many things with her at home and try try try but I feel so miserable seeing her progress... (Minimal) She's approaching second heat I think and I'm scared of it getting worse or better and then worse anyway. I'm waiting very patiently for the meds to kick in but I don't know if I actually believe I'll help. I want to, I don't want to give up, I know she was able to be better but I don't know how to come back to it. Training is almost impossible now, we're using the same routs she knows, she has routine and it's at least helping to do the same walk over and over and over. She's back to be very detached from us on walks too.

Do you think there's a chance something will click in her with either meds or maturing? I don't want to give up with the search for right meds but its taking so much time and energy, I'm just a bit discouraged. She will be 2 y o at the end of November. And I'm panicking I'll never get her out of this but I want it do much. :( I got interest in training, doing many things with my dog, I have time for it... But her brain declines and it makes me so sad.

If you have some good word for me, I'd appreciate it ❤️

After one year of pure hell, I finally found a "solution" for my dog (White one) basically, it's conditioning.

Conditioning was the first thing I thought about when it became a real problem, but because I couldn't predict what would make him bark, I was simply unable to do it at all. I even tried to provoke the barking and failed every time, so we couldn't work on it.

Now that I know him better, I can spot when he hears something that is going to make him bark, and we have started working on it. Basically, when he hears a sound, I give him a treat before he barks, so now he knows that if he hears something that triggers him, the solution is to look at me. From there, I started to add a command to it, both verbal and physical. The ultimate goal was to have a command that helps him release the pressure he feels about a noise, and I hoped he would learn to calm himself down in the years to come

BUT , the problem is that it doesn't work if we can't see each other. The moment we lose sight of each other, the barking comes back worse than ever. He doesn't have to be very far from me , him just being behind my back is all it takes. I guess I can't see him giving signs, so he chooses to bark instead.

All of this hasn't even made our lives better despite finding another way to navigate his reactivity, we are still at the same point. It has been 3 months since we started working like this every day, which drives me crazy because ultimately I can't just watch him every second of the day.

Can y'all help us ?, because I have no idea what should come next

Details about his life : We go out every day to the forest, to swim, or for bikejoring ,sometimes all three at once. He sees a lot of things, and I regularly go on vacation with them to the beach, the mountains, snow. We do training, work on commands, and play with toys or other dogs.

At home, he has enrichment toys and wooden chew sticks. He doesn't have separation anxiety or destructive behavior, basically, he is just perfect except for the barking. I don't really know if I need to change some things in our routine that could help with the barking.

My first dog doesn't make a sound, so he isn't triggered by her

My 7mo Aussie girl is reactive towards people and especially dogs. Because of her fear of people, I always joke that I don’t have to worry about strangers or creeps sneaking up on me during walks because she will no doubt try her best to ward them off. She is constantly on alert, scanning ahead and behind her, and knows when something is out of place—like a traffic cone that wasn’t there before.

We went on a late evening walk today which I never do as I’m a woman and there are some creeps wandering the trail nearby. I hadn’t seen anyone on this enclosed baseball field when I passed by earlier so I let her off leash to run around. She’s a fair distance away from me when I see her stare off ahead toward the trees. She runs back and forth—to me then ahead again—and again stares at something toward the trees. I don’t know what she’s looking at as it’s too dark, but I am 100% certain that she sees something. I call her back, quickly start making my way off the field, and stare at the trees to find whatever it is she saw, and finally I see movement of a person in black all the way at the edge of the field maybe a little over half a football field away.

I could go on and on about my suspicions of this particular figure (this field is ENCLOSED, no lights, one side is lined with bushes and trees, the rest open but surrounded by fencing,) but I digress. I never would have caught this person with my own eyes had my dog not alerted me, and her cautious and observant self very well could have saved me from an unpleasant situation.

Thank you, Astra 😊

for context i have a two year old male german shepherd who’s severely reactive, even from a distance all he can focus on is the other dog, and if we’re close he’s lunging and growling a and trying to get to the other dog. i simply don’t know how to help him, ive taught him different focusing commands but all of that goes out the window as soon as he sees another dog, i want to give him an exciting life but instead we’re stuck doing neighborhood walks and playing in the yard because he’s so reactive. he’s also still intact which i dont know if that plays a role and if he’ll get better once he’s neutered but i don’t know how to fix this. i was walking him today and i thought i gave us enough space from this other dog but he lunged suddenly and dragged me across the payment,i just want to help make him better