Today we had to say goodbye to our 7 year old great dane x german shepherd. She had a malignant mass on her spleen that ruptured. Surgery was a low chance, plus chemo for the spread would be required, and I'm sure you're all aware why the thought of multiple vet visits and ongoing treatment was just too much for our girl.

She was people (particularly men) reactive, as well as dog selective, children nervous, and prey driven. People would shake heads at her door barking & lunging, and roll eyes when I told them to back off with their 'friendly' dog on a walk. Friends for years have been confused when I’ve told them no, they can't bring their dog/ baby over for a coffee, infact coffee might be an issue in general. We switched to nighttime walks, moved to a rural property, we've not had guests, you name it- we have adapted our life to suit what she has needed.

And do you know what? I'd do it all again. In a heartbeat. I'd do it for 7 more years, or even the rest of my life if I could have her back. She loved probably 6 people on this earth, but I was her person. And she loved you will her whole heart. She loved me unconditionally, trusted me unconditionally. Every day I'd wake up to her tail smacking against the bed that I was awake and I'd hold her head in my hands and tell her she was the love of my life. And her big amber eyes knew. My absolute soul dog.

I am already so lost without her. So despite all the difficulties, please squeeze your spicey, selective angels tonight for me. And share your stories of your soul dogs. My heart is breaking.

How do I explain this type of reactivity to someone who doesn’t know my dog (3 year old staffy/pittie mix).
It’s stiff body, hard stare, mouth closed, high or erect tail (no wagging), leaning/walking/pulling towards trigger - then the reaction which is barking and lunging.

I’ve seen some say it’s dominance or aggression. Others say it’s fear or anxiety. One person said it’s insecurity - like he wants to engage but doesn’t know how. Thoughts? What’s he feeling?
Some context, he rarely ever has a soft and wiggly body like I’ve seen in other videos…only with his favorite humans. No bite history. He never growls. The only time I’ve seen his hackles raise is when I use to let him meet dogs (I know I know…live and learn).

EDIT: So I learned a new word today…loading. Appreciate all input. For those who asked for more context of when and where this happens - almost always around a trigger. Sometimes he can disengage himself (I usually give him about 3 seconds), sometimes I need to call his name to help him disengage, and other times he lunges and barks. Then he’ll usually go back to this stance and we do the whole song and dance again.

I have a GSD/Poodle/Husky mix. Curious about others. I think there are a common handful of breeds I see on here and my dog has a good mix of them. I had a mellow King Charles spaniel Maltese mix before him and I long for those simple days again lol

I walk my dog at like 5am and 10pm just so he doesn’t have to encounter other dogs or people. Sometimes I’ll walk him when it’s raining because less people walk around when it’s bad weather, but then there will be somebody walking all 18 million of their dogs and I have to turn right around. Do yall do stuff like that? I feel like he’s my evil little prisoner guy that I have to hide from the public. He’s like my baby Frankenstein. I take him out in the yard during the day but for big walks I have to sneak him out when it’s dark.

I know Tom Davis isn’t necessarily popular on this sub, but I was curious to hear everyone's thoughts on him returning his dog, Burleigh, to the breeder.

From what was shared, it sounded like the dog was becoming increasingly reactive and his wife felt she could no longer safely manage him. The dog was also reportedly redirecting on anyone nearby when triggered on the leash. Considering Burleigh was a 170-pound Boerboel, it’s easy to see how that quickly became a dangerous situation with small children in the home, and I can understand why he made that choice.

Although I don’t always agree with his training strategies, I think it is eye-opening to see how even a professional trainer can wind up in an untenable situation with a dog. I was especially surprised given that he went through a reputable breeder. It just goes to show that genetics and individual temperament mean you can't always control the outcome with dogs.

I am not super familiar with Boerboels, so I cannot comment on whether Burleigh was acting out of character for the breed. I can confidently say they’re way too much dog for me personally.

We don’t have very many people in our corner and I just really needed to tell someone! I have a 5 year old reactive pit. After 3 years of hell living in an apartment I’ve finally found a house for us!! She was already reactive when we moved here due to being mauled by her litter mates for the first 7 months of her life (before I got her) and this environment had only made it worse.

Aggressive dogs rushing her, getting barked at, having to get picked up to avoid attacks on multiple occasions, watching me get mauled, etc. Made it extremely difficult for her to leave the apartment. What used to be a 5 minute bathroom trip had turned into over 30 minutes of frantically searching for potential threats. It was extremely stressful for both of us and I couldn’t see her like that anymore.

She now has over an acre of fenced in land to run with no dogs or people for miles and her own room (it’s the guest room but I don’t have the heart to break it to her lol) Yesterday she had her first yard zoomies and I balled my eyes out. I’m so freaking happy that she feels safe and her mind is no longer going a million miles an hour. I can’t explain it, I just feel like I’m finally able to breathe

My boy's BigSnoof arrived, custom wire basket because he has a massive wedge head. Not only was the muzzle a perfect fit right out of the box, Eto was obviously muzzle trained in his former life! He shoved his face into the basket and off we went!

Hi everyone.

This post is purely positivity. Having a reactive dog can be so challenging, frustrating, exhausting and sometimes it’s hard to see the positives.

So tell me something good or positive about your reactive dog. Maybe they have a cute quirk, maybe they made it past their trigger without losing their shit.

My dog is 10 months old, I got him at 4-5 months old, he wasn’t socialised and he is now extremely dog reactive.

The good thing about my dog is he lives nicely in the home with my older 8 year old dog and has really brought the pup out of him recently. He has the cutest face and is so loving. He’s great with children and people (however nippy which we are working on but it’s also a common trait with his breed) and if he was not reactive, he would literally be the perfect dog. He’s really shown me patience and that I can do what I put my mind to and came to me when I was in a dark place and has helped me keep focused and I’m so thankful for the journey he’s created.

Thank you for listening! Now your turn!

Having a reactive dog is hard and sometimes heart-breaking, but we still love them. Understandably a lot of posts here are about how difficult it can be and seeking support from those who get it. When things are tough, it is easy to forget about our dogs' wonderful personalities and funny quirks. Let's give them their flowers!

My girl Mooch has the most ridiculous facial expressions, she's a walking meme. Her zoomies are hilarious and she is very loving. She's also really well behaved when left alone at home, no destruction or separation anxiety.

Tell us about your babies!

Edit: Forgot to mention, when she is really excited (usually when dad gets home or at dinner time) she runs into the living room to get her favourite toy (Scrumple bear), shakes it like she's just caught a live chicken, then brings it to her dad as a present. I don't often get such an honour.

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?

Not just for reactive dog owners, but for anyone who finds reactive dogs in the "wild", what do you generally find the breed of dog to be? Doesn't need to just be aggression, but reactivity in general.

I'm not saying this to hate on any particular breed, but I notice that there has been more disdain towards Pitbull type breeds in particular lately. To the point that there's a popular subreddit solely dedicated to hating on them. I'll admit that I may be slightly scared of the breed, but in my personal experience I haven't really seen them act in that way in my area. I've seen that GSDs and small terrier breeds make up the majority of them.

Is it just a bias because of where I live? What's your personal experience with dogs in your area? Are there certain breeds you avoid because you think it will cause your dog's reactivity to trigger?

So I had some comments removed because I mentioned my (favorable) experience with tools. I’m trying to operate and good faith and hope more of a discussion can occur around this here.

I have a few questions about the rules:
1) if discussion of personal experiences is encouraged, why is favorable discussion of experiences with tools not allowed? I understand not recommending it because in order to best recommend there need to be hands on actual dogs, but I would like clarification as to why those conversations are not allowed if they could potentially help dog owners
2) I really respect the aspect of the rule that wants to avoid recommending tools to dogs without having a full grasp of the situation and actually seeing the dog and working with the dog. However, I cannot help but notice that there is a lot of recommendation for medication (which can cause suppression) and speaking with online behaviorists (who in turn are wouldn’t be putting hands on dogs) that doesn’t get treated with the same vigor. Is there any research that has been done that demonstrates the efficacy and long term effects of things like medication and how they relate to dog behavior?

I am genuinely trying to gain a better understanding of these viewpoints and hope this can start a respectful discussion

I am not talking about the reactive behavior itself. But what hard things comes with owning a reactive dog? What sacrifices have you made?

Maybe this could help finding other people struggling with the exact same thing and support each other! Personally I would love to hear that I’m not alone with my struggles (even though I’m of course sorry about what we’re all going through no matter what challenges you)

For me it is the hateful comments from strangers that makes me feel like I’m not doing good enough even though I’m doing everything I can and am doing the right things for my dog.

Anyone else been put off having another dog after this?

Something just made me realize this. My dog hates it when I talk to people on the street and he cannot greet another dog without it resulting in a snarling fit (I know, we gave up trying more than five years ago), and god forbid that anybody ever knocks on my door! But, honestly, overall he’s given me a lot less trouble than other dogs my family has had over the years.

We’ve had dogs that tore up bathroom trash cans, that escaped the yard and couldn’t be coaxed back, that chewed up clothing that had fallen on the floor, that peed indoors, and one that even ate my third birthday cake right off the counter.

This dog, my reactive dog, kennels beautifully, sits on the doorstep and waits to be let indoors when left outside, and never touches any of my daughter’s toys even though he loves to eviscerate any plush dog toy given to him. He has never had an accident in the house or stolen food off a discarded plate. He’s…amazing actually. Smartest dog I’ve ever owned.

Am I alone in this? Who else has had a bad dog who was overall better than their good dogs?

Usually I'm only reading on this sub. But I saw one of these posts again today and just have to say something. Will probably get downvoted, doesn't matter to me.

So often it goes like this: OP tells about what happened with their dog, bad reaction on a walk, sudden bite, something like this. There is a lot of helpful advice but every single time I see these comments. Like OP has no sense of responsibility, why did'nt OP do this and that because they should have known, OP has false view on the situation (how would some redditors even know?), so on and so on. Judgement is given so harsh and so fast in this sub.

Today in this particuliar post OP said something about their dog attacking another one after being surprised by it. Apparently the other dog was too near too fast. Guys this happens all the time. This is no one's fault but bad luck. But there went the mistake-hunting off again. I saw comments like "why does OP even walk the dog if it's that reactive" -- seriously?? I don't understand anymore. This is not what we're trying for here. I'd like to show you the post but apparently OP deleted it. Not great but I can't really critizise them for it tbh.

I'm SO tired of this. Hey, having a reactive dog is hard enough. This is not AITA. Please be kind. Please give advice. Please treat OPs like YOU had been in their situation and like YOU had posted your story. Thanks.

I’ve owned reactive dogs for 5 years now. My first dog passed away a couple months ago - he had frustration-based reactivity (he’d whine, sometimes escalating to a sort of scream, at any living thing). Before I had him, I didn’t even know what “reactive” meant, but got obsessed with researching how to train him and we actually made tons of (slow) progress in the 4ish years I had him. Never got professional training as I really didn’t want to spend the money on it.

I just adopted another dog 2 weeks ago who I love but he is leash-reactive. His manifests as barking and seems to be fear-based. So I thought ok, I know a lot about reactivity after my last dog, but I really want to start off right with this dog so I’ll hire a professional.

I spent $60 on a 30 minute consult with a positive-only trainer and basically my only takeaway is that my hundreds to thousands of hours of reading and watching YouTube videos has already taught me everything that this trainer suggested. Unfortunately the trainer also seemed quite dismissive because he basically thought it was too early to tell if my dog is actually reactive since he’s only been with me for 2 weeks (my dog is definitely reactive).

Anyway, I left feeling a weird mix of empowered that I’ve self-taught a lot, but also a little discouraged. My main fear in paying for a trainer was that they’d just tell me what I already know, and that’s exactly what happened.

Pic tax of the sweet guy. He actually loves everyone he’s met despite his scary barks on leash.

Anyone else have a similar experience?? Was this just a bad trainer? He came very highly recommended so I’m just very discouraged.

ETA: the main thing I wanted from a trainer is to learn about what my dog’s motivations are for his reactivity, because reading body language is where the theory that I’ve self-taught breaks down. I want a professional who has worked hands-on with tons of dogs to watch my dog react and tell me why he is reacting. But I spent $60 to just sit in a room and have this guy hand me printouts to read about thresholds and LAT and engage-disengage…

continuing on the Internet trend “things that would send Europeans into a coma “and it’s showing insane American foods… what are the lifestyle changes/management things that you do for your dog that would send a normal dog owner into a coma?

ex. from us:

- I immediately close our front door quickly for fear of my dog outside and rushing out at them

- when we used to live in the city, if both of us could take our girl out for a walk at the same time, one person would act as the spotter like a sharp shooter “off leash golden approaching - 40 feet”

- our old family dog for some reason took issue to my parents passing each other things while watching TV, so they got into the nightly habit of tossing each other ice cream sandwiches 😂

what do you do for your pup?

Ok I need to know I’m not alone in this.

My dog is honestly great at home, sweet, calm, no issues.
But the second we go on walks… it’s like a switch flips.

He explodes at other dogs, sometimes people too. Barking, lunging, full on meltdown.
And every time it happens I feel my heart drop.

I’m not even just worried about him anymore, I’m worried about me.
Like… what if he hurts someone?
What if someone yells at me?
What if people think I’m a bad owner?

I’ve started avoiding walks, crossing the street early, or turning around completely.
Sometimes I just don’t go out at all because the anxiety is too much.

I’ve tried “training”, treats, distractions, watching videos, reading advice…
Some days it feels better, then boom, back to square one.

Does anyone else deal with this?
How does it actually feel for you day to day?

Just looking to hear real experiences, not judgment.

Tools, techniques, timing. Anything? My girl is 5.5 and tons of fun. Glad the world can see it too. Train on

So I went to weigh my 10 month old puppy at petco ( he looks like me a cross between a malanois or German shepherd mixed with a bully breed )and I was about to pay when this lady appeared out of nowhere. The lady walked towards the pup and I, and told me that he was such a beautiful puppy. I told this lady that the dog is reactive and that I have been working on his reactivity. I also told this lady that the dog is this way because he was found in a crate underfed and with faces on on him, and that he weight 15 lbs when my girlfriend found him( he now weighs 50 lbs) .

This puppy was scared of the world and two months in he would lunge at people, dogs and anything with wheels including cars. I have been doing a ton of training and he stopped lunging altogether( he doesn't lunge at dogs , but there is more work to be done about that.) He likes people now and loves when people pet him , he stopped lunging at cars. I have put a ton of work, and he is doing a ton better( he still needs work)

Well this women proceeded to get on one knee and rubbed her face to my puppies face, this women then proceeded to pet him all over and grab his paws( he doesn't like his paws touched, we are working on that.) Im happy the puppy did not have a bad reaction, but in my mind 1. This women was just told the dog is reactive, 2. Why would you rub your face on a random dogs face and touch his paws while your his is rubbing on his face. I wanted to tell the women to back off, but I did not want to show that I was made because that anger might show and the dog might have been confused and it could have possibly ended in a bite.

Some of you may have read my post earlier this year from when I lost my reactive dog, Scout (from old age and cancer, not BE). My life feels so empty without a dog, so I’ve started the process of looking for a new one. And I’ve decided that since I don’t have kids, I’m a registered vet tech, and have experience with an extremely reactive dog, I’m going to specifically open myself up to another dog with behavioral issues.

I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I could give a dog a chance who otherwise might be put to sleep because of their reactivity. On the other hand, it’s a challenging commitment. It can be isolating and frustrating. But when Scout was with just us, he was a sweet and cuddly and a wonderful dog. It was strangers who were the problem. I don’t feel like I need a dog that I can take to dog parks and brunch on the weekends. I’m perfectly happy with a dog who only likes his or her people. But it’s exhausting at times. I’m not sure if I’m making a mistake by potentially taking on another one.

So I want to hear from all of you. Would you adopt another dog with reactivity? Why or why not.

I’ve only ever known reactive dogs. My childhood terrier was reactive (but little me had no clue about it until I started researching before he passed!)

My current dogs are completely different to him - reactive and aggressive to most things. His was excitement and barrier frustration, these two are nervous and one has bite history.

I’d probably get another reactive dog, but I’d like a break first 😅

I also temporarily housed a Belgian Malinois for a few weeks (4 weeks too much, he was just bonkers!) It wouldn’t be a breed of dog I’d consider owning forever.

They’re nice to look at, but from a distance 😆