Edit: I want to thank everyone so much for their kindness and thoughtfulness. I’m sorry for not responding individually, but I have read everything and it was all tremendously helpful, regardless of one’s stance on BE. I probably should have included that my background is in animal welfare and I have had to decide to euthanize dogs before, but I have never had to make this decision for one of my own. He is my heart, and when his time comes he will be surrounded by love. I cannot control the circumstances of my own death but I can die knowing I have given this dog every chance possible. I also will not rehome him- I hold no illusions when it comes to how dangerous he is for strangers, especially in his home. We’re going to ride this out together and I can only hope he forgives me and that I get to see him again. Also, our other two dogs will be okay! They are relatively well-adjusted and well-trained, so I foresee them living hopefully long and happy lives.

Any thoughts on this situation would be appreciated, and sorry in advance for rambling.

I have metastatic breast cancer and was given an estimate of “a few years” by my oncologist- stats say 3-5 if I’m lucky.

My best boy is insanely reactive. Fast run down: he has two official bite strikes, three undocumented bites, four failed adoptions, and the shelter where he lived on and off for three years was going to euthanize him so I took him home. He resource guards, hates all loud noises, dislikes most strangers, and has been politely asked to not return to the boarding facility we use for our other two dogs. He’s so stressed and fearful there that he makes the staff sad, and only a few employees can physically handle him.

I planned on waiting for him to die before living my own life (mainly travel). He’s seven now. However it looks like that’s not possible as he will outlive me.

Do I euthanize him? Or do I keep putting him through the stress of boarding (if I can find a new place) so that on my off weeks from chemo I can go about crossing items off my bucket list?

I just don’t know what to do. His quality of life is great, although his world is very small. Unfortunately my quality of life is hampered by having to keep his world small, if that makes sense.

I love this dog so much, and I feel so callous laying this out, but I can’t stop thinking about what I should do. I guess the least selfish thing would be for me to not travel and just stay home with him until I die, but I don’t have it in me. I also have some non-fun trips I have to make soon (funerals) so regardless my buddy is going to have to get boarded again.

So basically me (22F) and my husband (24M) got a dog together a few months back from the pound. Hes a mastiff, He's a great dog. Gets along well with people and kids but he hates other dogs. He's a big boy and he's basically pure muscle so I can barely hold him back when he sees another dog. He's already gotten into a couple fights because I couldn't pull him back fast enough or the other dog ran towards him.

I'm really worried about taking him to the park but my husband says it will help him get used to other dogs. I just don't know if this is the safest way to do it. There will be other dogs there off leash and if my dog broly starts barking or acting like he might attack it could set off the other dogs as well.

I really just need some honest opinions on what I should do. If you have any tips on how to safely socialize him I'm willing to try it

TLDR: My husband wants to take our dog to the dog park but our dog has gotten into fights before and I just don't think it's a safe way to socialize him

I’ve been having a pretty hard time with my dog on walks and I wanted to ask people here who actually went through something similar.

She’s a great dog at home but outside when she sees another dog she can completely lose it. She starts barking like crazy, pulling toward them and getting so focused on the other dog that sometimes it feels like I’m not even there.

She also does this thing sometimes where if she wants to go somewhere and I want to keep walking the other way she just refuses and we end up fighting over where we’re going.

The thing that confuses me is I don’t even really know why she reacts like this. I don’t know if she’s scared of other dogs, if she actually wants to go meet them and gets frustrated because of the leash, or if it’s something else.

I’ve watched videos and read a bunch of stuff online but everyone seems to say something different and at this point I feel like I’m just trying random things and hoping something works.

So I wanted to ask people here who had a dog that was really bad with this and actually improved, what did you do?

What was your dog like before and how are they now? Did you figure out what was actually causing the reactions? Was there one thing that made a big difference or was it just months of doing the same thing over and over?

Also what do you actually do when your dog is already barking and going crazy at another dog? That’s probably the moment I struggle with the most because once she gets into that state it feels like nothing I do matters.

Did you end up getting a trainer or behaviorist or did you mostly work on it yourself? If you did get a trainer, was there anything they showed you that you wouldn’t have figured out from videos online?

And how did you know your dog was actually getting better? Did you just notice it over time or did you keep track of stuff like how close another dog could get, how often your dog reacted, how long it took them to calm down or anything like that?

I also want to know what people tried that didn’t work because I feel like there’s so much advice online and I don’t want to spend months doing something useless or making it worse.

Also has anyone here ever used one of those reactive dog tracking or training apps? I’ve seen a few of them but I can’t really tell if they’re actually useful or if it’s just easier to keep notes yourself. If you’ve tried one I’d be curious what you liked about it, what you didn’t like, and whether you actually kept using it.

I’m not expecting her to suddenly become perfect around every dog. I just want to get to a point where going for a normal walk doesn’t feel stressful every time we see another dog.

Would really like to hear from people who were in a similar situation and what the whole process was actually like for you.

Hi all. I never imagined I would be in this sub but here I am.

My partner and I (both law students) are at the end of our ropes - financially, emotionally, physically.

My partner adopted this dog last spring because their mental health was very bad living alone. I told them that adopting a pittie mix was possibly beyond their capacity and wasn’t quite the dog they were looking for; but Raven came home in a little dress and the deal was done. These two are the best of friends.

Raven has always been….suspicious….of strangers, especially men. She hates wheels (bikes, cars, strollers) and will lunge at them while screaming like she’s being violently abused.

Lately, we’ve had her on a head lead, but that has created a new problem. She’s scratching at her nose to take it off and it’s making her nose bleed. She’s self harming and it breaks my heart. You can see the injury on her nose in the pic. We’ve tried various different head leads, various muzzles, everything. she keeps hurting herself. we ordered doggie crocs to try and make it so at least her nails aren’t ABLE to scratch her nose, but the package was delivered somewhere in the building and we can’t find it. We can’t just ask the front desk either….and here’s why.

The other day in the elevator of our apartment building, a strange man provoked her on purpose. She lunged and nipped his female companion (barely broke the skin, level 2 on the Dunbar scale). The incident was reported to management as a serious dog bite from a Dogo Argentino….and they’re involving corporate.

This morning, she somehow pulled the leash from my partners wrist and rushed another dog. My partner got between them and grabbed the other dog’s retractable leash, leaving them with thin, garrote-like cuts on their fingers. Their knee is busted and bleeding and they tore their new lululemon pants. The dogs are fine, but my partner is emotionally and physically in bad shape.

Raven is 40 pounds, generally a happy silly girl, and very cuddly. She’s got enormous ears and a gorgeous smile. She looks adorable in pink and gives kisses liberally. She wants to be sweet! But doesn’t know how to. She is my partner’s certified emotional support animal, and I genuinely worry that my partner would become suicidal if Raven were to be taken from them. But it’s getting untenable. Raven has so much energy and requires these long walks, but the nearby trail is always full of bikers. I want to take her for runs but I can’t trust that she’ll be good. We can’t afford a special trainer. We can’t afford to move. We’ve spent hundreds - on vet visits for her skin infections/self harming injuries, on little outfits to make her LOOK less threatening at least, on muzzles and head leads and harnesses, on shampoos for her skin condition, on dog crocs, on toys/puzzles to try and exhaust her mentally….we can’t afford to KEEP spending what we have been on this dog. And my partner isn’t giving Raven up.

I’m in law school finals right now and this is taking up my energy instead of the 55 pages of writing I have due tomorrow. We took her to the emergency vet who gave us trazadone and scheduled us to meet with a behavior specialist in 10 days; but what if the apartment building throws a fit before then?? And how are we going to pay the specialist??? And what if she does this again in the meantime?! I don’t know how to focus when this is going on. Please someone offer advice or even just tell me it’s going to be ok. I need to hear it.

Sincerely,
A very tired lesbian law student pitbull owner.

We adopted Chip (9 months old and pictured) from a shelter about a week ago. He was apparently a stray and, from what we understand, had been living with a pack of other dogs.

He is an extremely sweet, gentle dog, but he is by far the most frightened dog we’ve ever had. He’s claimed one of our bathrooms as his safe space and spends most of his time hiding behind the toilet. He has come out on his own a couple of times to sniff around and explore, but only for a few minutes before retreating. He’s not aggressive.

He has never tried to bite or nip us, doesn’t growl, and hasn’t shown aggression toward our three cats. When we interact with him, he generally just seems scared and wants to retreat. He had a brief bout of vomiting and diarrhea yesterday morning, but that seems explicable by a change of food (just the brand) and his anxiety, and in any case he seems healthy otherwise.

So far we’ve mostly followed his lead and given him a quiet place where he can decompress without forcing interactions. My concern is that I’m not sure where the line is between: (1) giving a frightened rescue the time he needs, and; (2) inadvertently teaching him that hiding is the best way to deal with anything unfamiliar.

Should we continue letting him decide when to venture out, or is some controlled, low-pressure exposure to the rest of the house and normal family life appropriate? We’re considering bringing him out and making him just exist with us (probably with a covered bed he can use as a base camp). We’re willing to give him time, but we want to make sure that “give him time” doesn’t turn into leaving a scared dog behind a toilet for months because nobody ever helped him discover that his house is safe.

This is my little princes Naja, my two-year-old reactive dog. ( jack russel mix)

Her story is a little complicated.
One day, my bosses found a stray dog on the street and took her in. They later discovered that she was pregnant, and Naja was one of her puppies.
Her mom had lived on the streets and would constantly escape, so she barely nursed the puppies. She was also a reactive dog herself, which makes me wonder how much of Naja’s behavior could be genetic or related to her very early experiences.

Eventually, all the puppies were given away except for two: Naja and one of her brothers. They grew up together until they were about six months old.
Then Naja was separated from her brother.
That same day, she peed inside the workshop where I work. My boss got very angry and, trying to “teach” her not to do it again, grabbed her by the neck and pushed/choked her down toward her urine while saying, “Don’t do that.”
I walked in and saw what was happening. I was horrified. I immediately picked her up and took her home with me.

That first night was really difficult for her. She didn’t pee at all for the entire night, and I genuinely think the experience made her afraid of urinating. Thankfully, after a few days, she started peeing normally again.

My house is very small, so since then I’ve taken Naja to work with me every day.
Over time, she became extremely reactive.
She used to bark excessively at basically every dog and every person. At work, she was especially reactive. If I talked to one of my coworkers, she could literally bark at me for TWO HOURS. I never fully understood why. She also jumped on people constantly and seemed overstimulated by everything.

But she has actually improved a lot.
She no longer barks at me when I’m talking to people at work. She doesn’t react to other dogs nearly as much as she used to, and her reactivity toward people has decreased significantly too.
But now we have a new problem.
She has become obsessed with chasing motorcycles and bicycles, and occasionally cars.
I walk with Naja to and from work every single day. Shortly after we leave my house, she sometimes completely shuts down. She freezes and refuses to walk, to the point where I have to pick her up and carry her.

The exact same thing happens when we leave work.
The strange part is that after I carry her for about two blocks, I can put her down and suddenly she walks calmly and normally.
Then, around halfway through our walk, she sometimes freezes AGAIN and pulls hard on the leash as if she desperately wants to go in another direction or go back.

I’ve noticed that when she isn’t on a leash, she seems much calmer and doesn’t freeze as much. Unfortunately, letting her walk off-leash isn’t an option because she will chase motorcycles and bark at them, which is obviously dangerous.
So I’m stuck.

I’ve tried so many different things to help her regulate herself that sometimes I joke that at this point it must be a spirit possessing her 😭
I currently give her 12 mg of CBD per day.
I would really appreciate advice from people who have experience with reactive or fearful dogs, especially dogs that freeze during walks.
Why would a dog repeatedly freeze after leaving places she knows well, walk normally for a while, and then suddenly freeze again?
Could this be fear? Anxiety? Frustration from being on a leash? Trauma? Something environmental that I’m not noticing?
And what can I do in the moment when she freezes? Should I wait for her to move on her own, encourage her forward, change direction, or avoid that area entirely?
I love this little princess so much. I just want to understand what she’s trying to communicate and help her feel safer in the world

My bf and I have been together a year, he moved into my house with me and my 1.5 year old Belgian Mal dog. I will be honest by saying I didn’t train my dog very well when he was a puppy because I didn’t know somethings I do now. Like when they are a puppy you shouldn’t let them run up to every dog or person just because it’s cute or the person thinks they are cute. He has never been aggressive. He does bark at new people for a short time, and walks are extremely difficult and stressful for us. Luckily he is still very trainable and loves to learn, that I have since learned more about dog training and been actively working to correct my failures with him. My bf didn’t grow up with dogs and generally doesn’t like them. Sure he pets other dogs are parties but he has no desire to have a dog or to form any relationship with my dog. In the last few months it’s become a sore spot for us and we have had multiple heated conversations, twice he has ended our relationship. The most recent one he was going to move out that day. I’ve read a couple articles so far of people in the same situation and I get a lot of the “don’t trust people who don’t like dogs” but is that fair to say for a dog that requires a lot of training and attention? I don’t know what to do anymore.

Basically, what the title says. My big sister is 16 years older than me and has not owned a dog in 30 years. I am currently living with her, at her request. My dog is a cane corso/boxer mix, and he was very friendly and curious until last December. He was traveling with me for work, doing great with crowds of people, and my boss grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and basically used him as a speedbag at the gym. He then threw my dog into the side of a truck. My dog suffered fractured ribs and bruising. I left the company, and my dog, Bradley, has been very insecure around men he doesn't know ever since. He has lunged and snapped at approaching strangers and he is aggressive in new environments.

I have spent 7 months gradually working on his reactivity, he's muzzle trained and doesn't go outside of the property without it. He has a no pull harness and a training lead to keep him close. I harness and muzzle him any time he's introduced to new people and treat him for ignoring/not reacting.

I got off of work last night and my sister told me that she'd invited a friend and his two young autistic sons over. I went white. I immediately asked if everyone was okay. My sister prattled on about how my dog was lunging and barking and basically forcing the boys away from him. She said "If the younger boy would stop making injured bird motions with his hands, I think Brad would like him! Je did such a good job!"

I was in shock. My dog has never had one on one exposure to ANYONE under the age of 20, and my sister didn't muzzle him, or even put his harness and leash on. I tried to explain to her that Bradley's lunging and barking are not acceptable behavior around young children, and lunging at an autistic child who is stimming in fear is NOT acceptable. I told her that she should have removed my dog from the situation the moment he lunged. Her answer was "Well, he's too big for me. I can't drag him around. "

My response was "So what would you have done if he'd attacked one of those boys? Waited until he stopped? You cannot just put children in danger, he could have hurt someone. Please do not try to introduce him to people without his harness and muzzle. That's why he has them. Or just wait until I'm home."

I received a lecture about how Bradley is a good dog,and he did just fine. Even though he scared both boys and they had to retreat into the house to get away from him.

HOW do I get it through to her that this was the DUMBEST thing she could have done? She doesn't take his aggression seriously because he isn't aggressive towards women.

Edited to add: Thank you to everyone who has offered help, commiseration and empathy.

To the few who have told me that my dog is a danger and a liability? I have several choice items for you to put your lips against.

I sincerely hope you never have a traumatic event happen to you, that you need time to work through. Although, if you do? May you remember what you said about my Bradley, and I can only hope that if something horrific happens to you, that you are shown more patience and love than what you have expressed towards an abused puppy you've never met.

May you begin to heal with the same optimism my dog possesses.

JULY 16 UPDATE: We brought her to her regular vet and explained everything and showed him videos of her outbursts. He said at this point it looks like something that would require medicinal intervention. We decided to try putting her on prozac to see if that made a difference, and WOW it has been absolutely life changing. She has been so much more calm, loving, and spending more time around us instead of in her crate. Her reactivity towards other dogs has dramatically decreased and She has not had a single outburst towards me since starting the medication. She is so much less anxious and her overall quality of life has skyrocketed. We were planning to also bring her to a vet behaviorist, but at this point we no longer feel like we need to. Thank you so much again everyone, our lives and her life is forever changed because of all the advice you all recommended

MINI UPDATE: Thank you everyone so much for all your help and suggestions/advice. I have read every single comment but it's getting hard to respond to them all. my husband and I are currently working on finding a vet behaviorist and we will take that as our next course of action to see if there is something going on that our regular vet is missing. In the meantime, we are keeping high value treats on us when we can, and tossing them to her when we walk by if she is awake, and continuing to gently wake her up when she is asleep to avoid potential sleep startle. I will post further updates as I have them. Thank you all again

I desperately need help. I will keep this post as short as I can but make sure to include as much relevant detail as possible

Context:

My dog is a 7 year old heeler mix. We have spent in the ballpark of $10,000 on training for her, from basic obedience, to boarding programs for reactivity. We have read all the books, watched all the videos and read all the forms we could, but we still can't figure out how to fix this problem.

We (myself and my husband) have educated ourselves extensively on dog body language as well, and we can both read it relatively quickly and easily. We both know that a dog attack never comes without warning signs.

We take her to the vet regularly, she is up to date on all her shots and vet says she is extremely healthy, especially considering her age. She is on apoquel as needed for seasonal allergies. She gets plenty of exercise, both physical and mental every single day.

She is not allowed on the bed or couches, and we use counter conditioning methods for her regular dog reactivity training.

The Problem:

Within the last year or so, my dog has developed this behavior where she will come after me completely unprovoked. Even our trainers couldn't figure out what was causing this behavior. These outbursts have been becoming more frequent too.These instances always "seem" to be random and have little in common with the previous event.

For example, today she was laying in the middle of the floor (she had no toys, no food), I went to walk past her to get into the bathroom behind her and she got up quickly and came after me, trying to bite me. I had not acknowledged her in any way, no eye contact, no talking, no touching or petting. (this is the same for every time this has happened)

One instance from earlier this week, she was initiating that she wanted some pets, So I began scratching her back. (We were sitting in the doorway of our bedroom, this is the room her crate is in) Then I could tell she changed her mind because her body language changed, so I calmly stood up and was about to walk away to give her space, and she came after me again.

Another instance; a couple months ago, I was sitting on one of our couches, she was laying on the floor behind our other couch where she could not see me. All I did was stand up, and the sound of me standing up triggered her to come flying from around the couch she was laying behind and come after me again.

Most of the time, these attacks happen when I'm simply walking by her, it doesn't matter where she may be laying down. It's also not every time. It happens maybe a couple times per week.

To Note:

I can sense these attacks seconds before they happen, I can read it in her body language, so I've always been able to get my arm out to stop her from hurting me. She pins her ears in this unusual way, and she gets this look in her eye that I can't explain, but it is one I only ever see when she is about to come after me.

She has gone after my husband as well, but 95% of the time these attacks are directed at me. We both care for her equally in every sense, with the exception that I am home more often.

Does anyone know what could be triggering her to act this way? The biggest thing we're struggling to figure out is the "why", as once we figure that out, we can train and manage accordingly.

If anyone has any advice I would be forever greatful

Hi all! New here and needing quick advice and feedback before I go back to this dog in the AM.

I’m dog sitting for 2 dogs right now. One is a a nervous medium dog and one is very friendly, big dog. When I was there, the nervous medium dog tried to run away (while we were doing an activity unleashed recommended by owner). Until this point everything was going fine, I wanted to put the leash back on and she bolted. I yelled at her and chased after her, and she came back right away and was totally great after that.

Here’s THE PROBLEM (which I NEED ADVICE please), as soon as I raised my voice at the shy dog, the big and friendly dog became obviously scared. I said “okay let’s just go back in and eat and we can chill and have treats.” I felt pretty calm. I could tell the big dog though was still freaked out, not wagging his tail anymore, ears were down and he didn’t want to be near me at all.

When we get into apartment, dog becomes aggressive. He growls at me and is shaking while I try to remove leash. I gave him a few minutes and he seemed fine so I tried to take off leash again and this was when he bit me. It hurts but no skin is broken, so clearly he wasn’t really trying.

After he bit me, he went and laid down in front of the front door (the only exit) and growled extremely loudly everytime I approached. I sat down for 15 minutes hanging with the shy dog who was eating treated out of my hand. I didn’t hear anything so I try to go back with treats for the other dog. The treats did not work. The growling was EXTREME, and he was blocking the door completely preventing me from leaving.

Long story short… I was not able to calm him down, I tried treats, no talking, talking in a light calm voice and saying “food” and “walk”, I tried throwing treats in the owners room so he would go in there. NOTHING WORKED. After an hour, I used the fire escape to get out.

I have to go back in the morning, and I’m actually terrified. This is not ALL new to me, I grew up with an extremely reactive previously abused dog who severely bit me and my siblings (a few times) because we triggered him by walking by him in his sleep. Then, you leave him alone and he calms down and goes back to normal. (This also stopped as we learned to avoid triggers and he went to training for previously abused dogs)

THE DIFFERENCE between my dog and this dog, is this dog DID NOT CALM DOWN. After I left out the fire escape, he finally got up and watched me from the window. He clearly just wanted me out of his space.

BUT we have 5 more visits together. I’ve never been scared of a dog before and I’m not trying to start now. I LOVE dogs, and I feel TERRIBLE that I raised my voice at his sibling (which seems to have caused this whole mess). I can’t spend the next 5 visits afraid to get bit. I need control back, and I think I definitely lost it by jumping out the window.

ANY ADVICE???

EDIT: Owner was informed immediately after the bite and on the phone with me for the majority of the time, giving me advice. Owner is 100% aware of situation. Owner told me there’s no one that can come with me for the visits. The owner is suggesting doing video calls during visit to calm big dog down.

I came to the U.S. alone for school a few years ago. I love hiking and being outdoors, and I always saw people hiking with their dogs. I really wanted that kind of companionship in my life.
One day I saw a woman on social media trying to rehome her German Shepherd, so I went to meet her. Eventually I adopted him. His name is Harbor.
At the time, this was my first dog. I honestly did not understand the difference between a working-line dog and a typical pet dog.
I did not understand concepts like drive, genetics, defensive behavior, environmental pressure, or how intense some working shepherds can become as they mature.
In the beginning I just thought that if I loved him enough and trained hard enough, everything would eventually be okay.
After bringing him home, I slowly realized he had a lot of behavioral issues. He was reactive toward dogs, barked aggressively at them, and got into fights. I also realized he had issues with people.
Instead of giving up, I spent years trying to learn everything I could. I taught myself working dog training, learned how to properly use an e-collar, muzzle trained him, and spent countless hours working on obedience and structure.
He now has solid commands:
heel
down
recall
place
no
out
obedience under distraction
Over time I slowly learned more about working dogs, dog behavior, drive levels, reactivity, and aggression. But by then, I was already deeply attached to him and committed to trying to make it work.
Despite all of that, serious incidents still happened.
One time I was in an apartment elevator and a man suddenly reached toward Harbor’s head without asking while complimenting him. Harbor bit his hand. I felt horrible and deeply ashamed.
Another time I was walking down the stairs in my apartment building and Harbor lunged at a woman and tore her jeans. I paid for the damage immediately, but I still felt terrible about it.
Today something happened that completely broke me emotionally.
I took Harbor hiking and had him fully muzzled. A father was walking toward us with two children. Even with the muzzle on, Harbor suddenly jumped toward one of the kids in what looked like an attempt to bite.
I physically stopped him just like I always do, but afterward I realized I am living in constant anxiety now.
Every elevator ride.
Every hallway.
Every stranger.
Every child.
I am always afraid something could happen.
I love this dog deeply. I genuinely tried. I changed my lifestyle for him, trained constantly, avoided risky situations, structured my life around management, and spent years trying to improve him.
But I am starting to wonder if my environment and lifestyle are simply not right for this dog.
I live in an apartment. I am constantly stressed. And honestly, I do not know if I can safely manage this for the next 10 years.
I feel devastated even writing this, but I think I may need to consider rehoming him to someone with far more experience and a more suitable environment for a dog like this.
Has anyone here gone through something similar with a working-line shepherd or a dog with serious aggression issues?
I am not looking for judgment. I just honestly do not know what the right thing is anymore.
I am currently in Athens, Georgia if that matters for local resources or rescue recommendations.

My sweet little baby goblin (Stormy Bear) is the absolute BEST boy, as long as no one - especially other dogs - comes near me. He’s come a long way in the past year, and has even made friends and can play with certain other dogs.

HOWEVER, he is still super reactive around me. He has a best friend at my work, another little Aussie/ Heeler type mix, but if his bestie comes to me for pets, he goes right back to his old ways. He is still reactive on leash because he’s too close to me.

I recently went for a hike in the national forest with my Bestie, and both of our kids. She brought her dog who he has always loved, and we had an amazing day. At the end of the day, what showed me the trigger was his reaction to my 6 yo niece. She randomly ran up and jumped on me just to play, and he came running from about 50 yards away, showing obvious reactivity. I grabbed him and nothing happened, but now I understand what his problem is.

All this time I thought he just didn’t really like anyone or anything except his own people, but it is not that. I recently learned from the groomer and the vet that when I drop him off, he plays happily with all the other dogs and has absolutely no issues. He reacts when anyone or anything gets close to me, on leash or off. That’s why the reaction is constant when he is on leash because he is next to me. Now that I know this, how do I teach him that he does not have to be my personal bodyguard all the time?

Just for reference, breed is mostly blue healer, Aussie and border collie. Shelter mutt, but I’ve had him since he was about 8 weeks old.

Hello fellow sufferers,

I need some dog sitting tips. My Chihuahua / Dachshund / Rat Terrier is highly reactive, and it’s such a production to go on vacation.

He is obsessed with my mom so she usually watches him, and he also has one dog sitter he has known for a few years (although he hadn‘t seen her for awhile and did snap at her when we reintroduced them recently). Even when we do have a sitter, it’s so stressful knowing that he is lunging at cars, birds, bikes, etc etc on their watch.

We haven’t had anyone that he isn’t familiar with over in 3 years because it’s not worth the battle, and we can’t just put him in his crate or another room because he will screech.

He obviously can’t be boarded. So yea, anyone else homebound?

ETA: His reactivity is primarily with people and he snaps at anyone he hasn’t known since he was very young. Hence why we only have one dog sitter, it’s horrible introducing him to people. Our dog sitter doesn’t walk him, she just runs him out to go to the bathroom.

I (22F) live with my partner (21F) of 2.5 years in a small two bedroom house. My dog has become my partner’s too.

My dog is 3 years old and has been my absolute priority since I rescued her at about 4.5 months old. She is reactive around strangers and protective of me and our home. She doesn't like guests at the house unless she knows them well. She has gone to numerous vets and sees a behaviorist regularly. I am doing everything in my power to make things safe and calm for her and everyone around her.

About a month and a half ago, my partner’s family told us they would be coming into town for a big high school contest. I would have preferred to go stay at my parents house while they came, but my mom is having a major neurosurgery on the same day. My mom has dogs that are dog-reactive, so it is too much to bring my dog at this time. There is nobody else I can bring my dog to stay with.

But I was assured it would only be their family staying and only for one night. Two weeks before, my partner told me that their mom was bringing two teenage girls to stay as well. I guess they are competing in the contest too. I explained how I have asked for them to please not bring strangers, that I have nowhere else to take my dog right now, and that we don’t have enough room here anyway. It would be one thing for the girls to come and slowly be introduced to her, but with my partner’s family coming too, my dog would be very overwhelmed.

Their mom said the girls have nowhere else to go and that they HAVE to stay at our house. I asked why they couldn’t get a hotel and I was told there weren't any (not true). My partner tried to talk to their mom but nothing changed. Apparently their dad yelled at them and called them a bitch about it.

Two days before they’re supposed to come, I’m told they’re actually staying for two nights instead of one. My mom said she wanted to pay for us to stay in a dog-friendly hotel so everyone is safe and she doesn’t have to worry about us during her big surgery. I have been to this hotel before and we would kind of have our own area. We felt it would be safer than the situation at the house.

My partner and I finally decided I would try the hotel for the night and if it didn’t work we would figure something else out. They told me they’d give me an update on their family’s schedule in the morning. Since everyone was supposed to be gone from the house all day, I figured I would be able to bring my dog back for a bit to decompress.

She was doing amazing at first. But during the night, (heavy) doors kept opening and closing. Noises outside front doors are a big trigger for her. She was growling and barking throughout the night. We both didn’t get any sleep. In the morning, my dog was again growling and barking at every little thing. She doesn’t usually do this. I was terrified she was going to lunge for someone. I had never seen her this upset. It wasn’t safe for her to be there anymore.

My partner hadn’t been answering my texts or calls and never told me their plan. I tracked their phone and knew they were at the contest, away from the house. I texted that I was bringing my dog back to calm down. I said their family would probably need to go home after the contest tonight or stay in the empty room but that my dog absolutely needed her space back, at least for a bit.

My partner called while I was driving back. They said their family was going to come back right then (they thought the contest was over but it wasn’t I guess). They wanted to come back to change into swimsuits to go swimming. I said if any of them go into my dog’s space right now, I would hurt them before she could. Which I feel awful about.

I let my dog decompress at the house. My partner apologized for not realizing my dog was that triggered. I also apologized for the situation and for what I said. When the contest was actually over, I drove my dog around while the family came and got their stuff. They left to stay at the prepaid hotel. My dog is very happy to be back.

AITA for asking their mom to not bring the girls and later making them leave?

TL;DR: My partner’s mom brought strangers to stay at our house, despite being asked multiple times not to due to my people-reactive dog. My dog and I stayed in a hotel for one night to try to mitigate the situation, but after her not being able to handle it, I told my partner that my dog needed to be home and that they would need to leave our house.

Hi , I’m new here with a pit and lab mix fur baby . I’ve had my dog for 4 years now , since he was 6 months old . He is crate trained and has been for since he was a puppy. I just moved into a new place due to unfortunate events and lately he has been acting out . Everyday for the past 3 days he has been breaking out of his crate . This is the 2nd crate this week . I don’t know what to do , this behavior is not normal .

I adopted a dog 3 days ago. He was a stray and was in the shelter for about 40 days before I adopted him. He was neutered on the day of adoption. His vet intake notes say he was not dog-reactive upon intake. I’m a volunteer at the shelter and I walked him 5-6 times, and saw others walking him, and he wasn’t reactive at all at the shelter, even when passing other reactive dogs. He also did not appear overly shut down at the shelter but I do understand behavior in the stressful shelter environment can be different than “real world” behavior.

He has been very reactive on walks at my home, both to people and dogs. It is definitely insecurity/anxiety/fear. He doesn’t aggressively lunge or growl, just barks until the trigger is gone. He can observe people and dogs from the 4th floor balcony, and he is easy to disengage with a treat. But when the triggers are closer on walks, he gets over threshold and mostly can’t be redirected with a treat.

I live in a city downtown, so I’ve been trying to keep our walks as short and boring as I can, but it’s impossible to avoid seeing people and dogs.

Could this just be because he is stressed about being in a new environment? Or did I adopt a reactive dog? My last dog was reactive so I just want to cry. I will say his reactive seems less severe and more trainable than my previous dog’s. I don’t think I could return him at this point, he’s incredibly sweet inside and seems highly trainable. He was getting fixated at the window, but is already learning to auto-disengage and check in with me. He is highly food-motivated and handler-focused, and really enjoys and responds well to training.

ETA: ALSO I wanted to ask if it’s too soon to get a trainer involved? Should I let him decompress and get used to his new home for a bit longer?

My sweet rescue chi mix is reactive but most of the time he only starts to react when the dog/person is directly face to face with him. This makes people think I am lying (I guess?) when I tell them “he is not friendly” while they’re approaching to greet dogs/pet him. They say “really?? He seems sweet” and then keep walking towards him and then he freaks out when they’re too close. How could I get people to believe me?? I don’t wanna cause a scene but it seems like ppl just do not respect his space since he’s so cute and seems chill at first.

Howdy, this is my rescue archer, he’s sweet loveing and a very good boy! But he’s become very reactive, we’ve had him for 2 years.

He barks, lunges, and stands on his hind legs at other dogs! He’s never bitten or shown teeth tho, I’m not certain if he’s scared, overly excited, or if he’s resource guarding me and my wife 😭

I’ve tried treats, learning to get him to focus, carrying toys, distracting him, I’ve worked on his tugging on the leash and nothing seems to work, when I use treats he’s just to “locked on” to care ☹️ some people have still let him meet their dogs, he acts nervous, sniffs them, then doesn’t even care, but will bark when they walk away?? Any ideas, thoughts, new approaches, anything? I love him I’m just so lost on how to work on this, I live in a apartment complex and he’s staring to get us into some trouble 😔

Thank you so much for your time! Thank you for any advice left and feel free to ask questions! Have a wonderful day ❤️

We rescued our pit mix when he was around 5 months old and about 50 lbs. For the first 4–5 months, he was an incredibly happy, social dog who wanted to meet every person and dog he came across. He has always craved physical affection and is still extremely cuddly, loves pets, and generally wants to be right next to us.

At the time, both my girlfriend and I worked from home, although she primarily took care of him during the day because I have a very demanding, meeting-heavy job. As a result, they developed a really strong bond. We both trained him, although I tended to take more of the firm/authoritative approach with training and would hold my ground and raise my voice when necessary.

Around 10–11 months old, we started noticing some leash reactivity/aggression. He became reactive toward people wearing darker colors, small children, and particularly German Shepherds. He'll give a very hard stare, and if we don't catch it early enough, he'll lunge and bark. With German Shepherds, it's especially intense he'll immediately start barking like crazy, pulling, etc.

Outside of that, he has never really had issues in the home. He's been incredibly loving, energetic, playful, and honestly just an awesome dog for us.

The one red flag we had was over the holidays when we stayed at my parents' house. He got into the trash, and when my mom tried to get him away from it, he snapped at her. We assumed it was resource guarding and have been mindful of that since.

Fast forward to now. We've had him for about a year, and he's now around 70 lbs of pure muscle. He still has many of the same reactivity issues on walks, but at home he's been a total love bug.

However, over the past week, something completely new has happened.

Whenever my girlfriend and I sit down on our living room couch to relax, he'll walk directly over to her and intensely stare at her. At first, it honestly looked innocent. His body wasn't obviously stiff, he could wag his tail, etc. But he would just lock onto her and would not break eye contact.

We initially brushed it off, but then he started trying to get extremely close to her face. She would pet him, and he'd wag his tail, but as she continued petting him, we'd notice his body becoming more rigid.

The first time it happened, it was around 9:30pm so we decided to put him to bed because the whole interaction felt really strange. He's never shown aggression toward either of us, so we weren't sure what to make of it.

Then yesterday it happened again.

My girlfriend started feeling genuinely threatened by the interaction, so I stood up to move him away from her. He immediately snapped, gave a very aggressive bark, and nipped toward her face. Thankfully, he missed her.

We're honestly completely shocked.

At this point, my girlfriend doesn't feel comfortable relaxing in the same room with him, which obviously isn't sustainable. The only major change in our lives that we can think of is that about two months ago, my girlfriend started a new job that requires her to be in the office five days a week. Before that, she was working from home and spent significantly more time with him during the day. Otherwise, our routines have been pretty much the same.

I'm also leaving town this weekend and again in about two weeks, which has me very concerned about leaving my girlfriend alone with him. For now, we're planning to have him boarded this weekend while we figure out what to do next.

I have a vet appointment tonight to discuss everything and hopefully figure out next steps, including whether there could be a medical issue, behavioral therapy, medication, etc.

We're obviously taking this very seriously. We absolutely love this dog and he's been an incredible part of our family, but we also recognize that a snap/nip toward someone's face is a very serious line to cross.

For those who have experienced something similar:

Is this something that can realistically be trained out of a dog? Has anyone had success with a veterinary behaviorist, behavioral modification, or medication? Could a sudden change like this potentially be related to something medical?

We're looking for constructive advice and personal experiences as we try to figure out what is going on and, most importantly, keep everyone safe.

And please refrain from the usual pitbull slander. Our family dog is also a pit mix and we've never experienced anything like this with him. We're specifically looking for advice about this individual dog's behavior.

For anyone wondering if his daily routine, we take him our 4-5 times a day. He has one fetch session (10-20 mins) and walks at minimum 2 miles (60 minutes) worth of walks filled with sniffs. So he is exercised plenty.

My 2 year old dog viciously attacked my father and I don't know what to do from this point.

A lot of mistakes and blame to me for letting it come to this. I received a puppy as a birthday gift from my family 2 and half years ago through a website called puppyspot. (already a disgusting start.) I tried my best with him. He did well with being potty trained, crate trained and basic obedience training. The only thing I could never fully get no matter what I did was his bite inhibition I tried a lot of different ways but it always failed so he's always been a biter when he gets overly excited (not hard enough to leave any mark on skin but he'd try to do it every now and then) I tried to socialize him as much as I could during covid time but there was no really crowded places to take him so I would carry him around on walks (before he was vacc) and sit with him where people would pass by and dogs with their owner and then after he got his vaccines I would take him walking on trails but he was and is really reactive. He would constantly bark at people and other dogs so I'd let him watch them from a distance to try and get used to them and i would treat him whenever he saw someone and didn't bark but it never really worked. During this time I also started taking him to doggy daycare and he seemed to do okay for the most part in the beginning only ever heard one complaint at the time was that he pushed a dogs boundaries once and later on he became more anxious. Things took a turn for the worse though as my physical health has severely deteriorated as well as mental health, not being able to work and physically move around like I used to and because of that I feel his anxiety got worse and I could no longer take him for walks which didn't help I think this is the point I should've rehomed him but I selfishly and foolishly thought I could at the bare minimum still go out in the backyard and play fetch and stay outside with him for hours (give him brain stimulation games,treat kong toys, freezing his food, etc.) which I did for a few months until another health problem came up and I could no longer go out with him for long hours. My family took over for me at this point by playing with him and spending more time with him this year but during this time he bit my father for the first time on his arm enough to break skin and draw a little blood. I wasn't told until weeks later this happened(i was gone from the house for 3 days when it occurred) and nothing had happened after so we let it go and months passed by with nothing happening until recently my father was fixing a door and my dog attacked him unprompted. He grabbed my father by his pant leg and dragged him down the stairs and again I wasn't told this happened until he attacked him again the same day unprompted but this time tearing into his arm in multiple places on both arms drawing blood and creating deep enough gashes to the point that I think he should've gone to the ER but he refused. He had to lock himself in a room to get away from my dog. He's never attacked me or my mother in any way like this. He's never done anything like this before. I don't know what to do at this point. I cannot keep him any longer for his sake and my family's but I've never been through this and I don't know what the next step for us is or if this situation is even salvageable. I've loved this dog since I got him and the thought of giving him up is so painful to think about but the truth is I am in no state to give this dog what he needs and my family cannot care for him in the way he would need either. I feel so sorry to this dog. This really is the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life. I've really ruined this dogs life because of my selfishness. I've recently learned what BE is and I'm scared that this is what might happen to him. He's also AKC registered if that information would help anything. Is there anything I can do at this point?

Increase in aggression.

Dog is adopted Jan. 2026 from a rescue. 66 lbs. In Jan., currently 91 lbs.. Eating well. About 2 years old. Neutered male. Alone 8 hrs. M- F. Big fenced backyard. We play ball and take a good walk every day. His aggression seems to be increasing. He snapped at my wife a few weeks ago. She may have accidentally hurt him trying to redirect his behavior. Wasn't looking, can't say. I reprimanded and removed him from the room for a time out. Last weekend, he snapped at my grown daughter. I think he was guarding her infant babies. Not sure. We were on a camping trip. They do not live with us. He will lunge at random people on walks. It seems very selective. That being said, my last dog didn't like my daughter either. Doesn't care for anyone on bikes, skateboard, etc.. We are in the second phase of obedience training and he does well. But he gets in a mood and makes me concerned. Over stimulation will key it. He's a beautiful and sweet boy, but I am at a loss on how to effectively eliminate this aggressive behavior. Any advice?

Need to know if I'm overreacting here. Like the title says, my girlfriend's 5yo dogo pit bit my son's 12yo friend.

The dog is friendly for the most part but is wary with kids. It took a year of working with him to be comfortable with my son, because you could tell the dog was very unsure at first. Now the dog and my son are best friends and no worries there.

But here is what happened. And I know this was our mistake and it was avoidable, but here we are. The boys were playing all day with the dog and everything seemed fine. But when they came in the house. The friend sat on the dog bed while my son was playing tug of war with the dog. The dog dropped the toy and latched on the boys hand. Extensive damage, open fracture, needed surgery, had pins inserted to repair a couple of broken bones. Very traumatic.

I have made the decision to never allow the dog in my house again. Not the yard not the driveway, not anywhere. I just can't handle the stress and worry that something could happen again. Yes, we could be more careful but I feel like that ship has sailed. I don't feel like this is fixable at this point. The worry will always be there, and in my mind it's only a matter of time before it happens again.

In addition we have talked about having a baby, and I said if we do, the dog could not even be in the same county as the baby. The dog would have to be gone.

Anyway just venting for the most part. This dog is her child and family member, I know she is devastated about what happened. And she is the most responsible dog owner I know. The dog has also been in training for the past month as well. The trainer and my gf are hopeful that this is fixable, but I am not in agreement. I just want the problem away from my house for good.

We obviously know letting a friend sit on the dog bed is a no go. But it happend in about 3 seconds. I just don't want to be on edge all the time when people are over, and have to rush to put him away when people stop by.

I chose to post this here to get some honest feedback. I know the feedback I would get if I posted to r/banpitbulls.

Our 1 1/2 year old golden was rehomed to us on 6/20. His previous family gave him to a rescue because he was snapping at the young children in the house. We just have speculation from the rescue that the toddlers would bother him, but no other concrete details. We have 12/15 year old kids. For 99.9% of his week, he is awesome and laid back, loves to play. But he has continued to snap at us when we cross various thresholds that we can’t quite identify. It’s always, always related to touching him, but could be any part of the body. At his first vet visit, he was perfectly behaved on 7/12. We took him for his second flu shot this week and I had her look him over to rule out pain for the snapping. She gave him his flu shot and he looked perturbed (last time, 4 shots with no reaction). She tried looking at his paws and he started snarling and lunging for her. It was so disappointing to see regression after we have trained 2x/week with a trainer (not behaviorist) and modified our own behavior to limit his snappiness.

My question is…
Would you go straight to medication? Or a combined medication/training with a behaviorist? I hate what I’m reading about meds potentially making him worse than before :( He loves other dogs, He lets strangers pet him when we are out, lets us pet him most of the time, we just don’t know what triggers him and the vet thinks it’s behavior (aka “I don’t like that, stop it now” instead of a little bit of patience). I’d appreciate any advice or what worked for you for touchy teenagers!

We have a vocal and leash reactive 1.5 yr old dog. Have had him for under 5 months. We met with a behaviouralist twice, and he instructed us to be stern with our dog and tell him “No” when he goes to bark at other dogs. I was skeptical, and then it seemed to be working but only when my husband would do it... But then after month, he does not care, and it only makes him want to bark more, especially inside.

I don’t know what kind of trainer this was tbh, he was recommended by a family member. He also said not to let the dog on any soft surfaces but I gave in after a month because he was not settling !!! We would try place work, but whenever he gets rewards he’s mentally ON. Also since letting him on surfaces again he is much better at chilling and even going to his crate for naps so idk..

I do suspect sometimes his reactivity could be a form of resource guarding me, since he seems much more upset if dogs come near me in particular. (Doesn’t care if they go towards others).

We do a lot of positive reinforcement with the clicker, and more than half of his kibble is fed to him on walks, but as soon as there’s a dog or even SMELLS a dog that walked by minutes before, he loses it. I don’t know what to do, im so embarrassed and ashamed of myself..

We are on the wait list for a force free trainer. To be honest, I’ve never considered this before but I’m wondering if I should do balanced training. I use to think he was fear reactive, but he literally just barks anytime he is slightly excited. I don’t want to hurt him or scare him but to be honest I am jealous of the people who walk their dogs without problem and have e-collars. I likely won’t opt to do these things but anyways… idk what to do in the meantime. We are on the waitlist for a personal trainer but we weren’t given a date.

Edit: in my country there are only 3 fully qualified behaviourists. But I just found out I can get virtual sessions!