Dog Owners Frustrated by Reactive Behaviors

“I rescued my golden retriever two years ago. I scheduled her next vet appt but until then I wanted to post and ask if anyone’s experienced this with their dog before. I rescued her from a bad home. At first every noise scared her like bags etc, and she had a hard time even walking down the stairs because of how terrified she was. It broke our hearts. The first night we took her home she wouldn’t even go to the bathroom. She got comfortable very fast and over the past year she’s come so far from”

“Okay, this is going to be a lot. I have two dogs, an 11 year old terrier mutt and a 4 year old pitbull lab mix. My terrier is very docile and cooperative, but the pitbull is overly reactive and not responsive. i’ve had her for about 3 years and i’ve been trying different types of training methods the whole time. i’m currently in college and i got the dog when i was still in high school so i haven’t been the sole owner and i haven’t been home often enough to fully take charge of her training and”

“Me and my partner recently rescued a staffy (2/3 years old) for the first 3 weeks she has been a playful and when we leave the house she’d howl and get stressed. But randomly since last night she’s been very tired all the time and refuses/takes a lot of encouragement to move when we try to play or get her to go upstairs to bed and when we left her in the crate this morning she hasn’t whined or howled she’s just layed asleep which is not normal at all for what we know. She still eats and gets exc”

“they are my family’s dogs and were kept isolated in a house from age 0-5. they were not abused besides being isolated. they did not see people outside of their family and they almost never saw dogs they now live with me and i cannot leave my apartment, if they are alone they bark and bark and bark. they get into fights with each other constantly. when they’re on walks, if they see a person, a dog, or a stick they don’t like the look of they go apeshit barking and attacking. they haven’t bitten a”

“so I have a Shiba German shepherd mix named Cersei who is roughly 1 year and a half. i have a daschund who is about 10 months. Cersei is a nightmare. I dread walking her daily. she has a lot of energy and the first 5-10 mins are her going wild. after about 10 mins she calms down. wan for the most part is the direct opposite. my main issue is he keeps getting tangled in the leash every 5 steps anyway the main issue is i would prefer to walk them separately. but I can’t. wan will bark and howl if”

“Ive had my rescue boy for 10 months now, and while he is doing amazing and making wonderful progress in his training. One of the few things he is still struggling with is barrier frustration and rarely barrier aggression (but hes getting way better with that one). He wants to fence fight and play with the dogs on the otherside. Just looking for some tips. Edit: he only displays this behavior on walks, and as soon as we are away from the dogs his focus is back on me submitted by /u/ol”

“I'm looking for advice from some of you who might have been in a similar situation. My dog is severely reactive and while we had a lot of progress in lowering the distance he reacts to triggers at with all the methods typically recommended, a huge blocker to getting to a 'normal' life is his inability to self-regulate. I feel like the progress we've made with triggers is mostly 'self-suppression' but his emotional state didn't really change. As soon as we're in th”

“I have had three reactive JRT/dachshunds for 16 years. They are much better when they are walked singly and such was the advice of my trainer but life being what it is and their energy level being what it is this wasn’t always possible. I have spent many years dodging people and dogs off trail, planning escape routes, walking them at 5 in the morning so we have the trail to ourselves. Can’t take them to a patio or anywhere there might be another dog. Recently the third one died and am contemplat”

“Hi there, I have an issue with my dog that I haven’t seen talked about anywhere online. I’ve gone through hundreds of google searches hoping to find something like my situation, but unfortunately I haven’t be able to. I’m trying to work through the problem my self, if needed I will find a trainer, but I thought I would come here first to see if anyone had any ideas. My dog who’s now 3 (poodle x cavalier) loves exploring. He’s usually on a 10 meter long line trotting around sniffing. This 10m rad”

“7 year old dog. She is so so so sweet with me and people she knows. But new people who come into the house, people walking in the apartment building, people walking outside, strangers, she is very reactive. And I have been chalking it up to protective. But tonight it has gone too far. My boyfriend was walking her and on his way in, the neighbor stopped to talk to him and she bit his leg. Not hard but she did it. And this isn’t the first time she has done this. When she was a puppy, she bit my ro”

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“My 4‑year‑old dog (he’s neutered) has suddenly started getting super reactive with other dogs and those little robot delivery carts. Vet says he’s totally fine, and I honestly can’t think of anything that would’ve set him off. Only thing that changed was boarding, but I have no clue if anything happened there. I’ve been reading up on dog reactivity so I kind of know where to start with the dog‑to‑dog stuff. But the robot deliveries? I’m clueless. I can’t find much online about how to train for s”

“Any advice of using the leash inside or other training tools/tips to help ease the indoor craziness! My dog has been doing great with the on leash work to help her reactivity but I’m out of ideas for helping her inside. We live in a courtyard building on the third floor so every creek in the stairs or the main door opening gets her going! I’ve put a film screen over the lower part of the living room window that looks onto the courtyard but when she hears the neighbors she launches at the door an”

“Hello everyone. I found this group and wanted to ask for some advice because yesterday my dog slipped out of her collar and ran to attack another dog. The other dog escaped and ran into the street, and no one could catch him. Everyone was shouting, and the other dog's owner tried to hit me and was yelling at me. I understand her, because it was a terrifying and extremely stressful situation. I adopted my dog three years ago. Before that, she had spent an entire year alone in a yard with no o”

“We hit about the eight month mark with our reactive dog, and the last couple of weeks have been rough. Things he had been handling pretty well are suddenly setting him off again. Bikes, joggers, even the neighbor's dog that he sees almost every day. We've been sticking with BAT, keeping plenty of distance, and rewarding him when he stays under threshold. I never expected it to be a straight line, but this still caught me off guard. The only thing that's really changed is our routine”

“My dog Booster is a frustrated greeter who has made a ton of progress, but he definitely still has his explosive moments. This was just the first time I had ever seen him struggle without having a big outward reaction. Just a few weeks ago, he had a full meltdown tantrum because he saw one of his best dog friends on a pack walk and was not allowed to play with him. So we are definitely not “past” reactivity. This week, one of his close dog friends showed up to his advanced training class for the”

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“Hoping for advice but also kind of venting. My 3yo girl is nervous with people and can be unpredictably reactive to dogs. I've had her for 2½ years and she has been a lot to manage. I'm autistic and wanted a dog to be a companion and to help me with agoraphobia/general anxiety, not as a service dog, but just by providing company routine, something beyond myself to focus on etc. I didn't want a project dog tbh, I wanted to do training but honestly yeah just wanted an 'easy' do”

“This has probably been asked a million times already but would appreciate some tips or advice on my specific situation. My partner and I adopted an approximately 1 year old girl dog from a rescue 11 days ago. The organization did not have any info on this dog besides that it was “surrendered” but her intake paperwork says “stray”. She is fixed and vaccinated. So far she has been very friendly with people, even strangers. No fear or aggression, no resource guarding and very playful. Took to potty”

“Hi! I’ve been reading on this sub for quite a while, as I have a 9 month old Aussie who has been reactive to strangers and dogs since we brought him home at 12 weeks. He has never previously had a problem with people or other dogs living with the breeder (we visited him and the other dogs several times. Mother and other relatives where loving dogs, although they always barked when greeting. Father is a champion show dog with a great temperament as well). In the begging his reactivity was only fe”

“I adopted a mutt 2 years ago. She's largely GSD and has 5 other breeds in her. We have no idea how old she is but she's active and healthy. The DNA test says 4/5, and two vets said maybe 6-8. So I don't know. She's extremely loving and tame at home, gets along beautifully with my 4 year old golden retriever, sleeps with us, demands belly rubs, eats well, walks well. But - she is very reactive to dogs on leash. When we newly had her, we used to take her to dog parks and dog beache”

“Hello, I have a 2 year old Aussie mix rescue named Sora, and she is reactive to new dogs/possessive of myself and my partner, which we have consistently worked on with training we started with a certified dog trainer. We have a new puppy now, and Sora does great with the puppy outside with play and interactions. They play well together and Sora does not mind having the puppy near us. We can pet the puppy and Sora doesn't care or watch us. (Which she previously would not let us do with other”

“Just to preface I'm booking him in at the vets for a checkup. One of my dogs has for the last few days been very hard to get on a walk, lying down, ears down etc, when I get him out he is dropping to the floor and just lays there, when he's finally moving he's fine after the first 50m or so . Today he ABSOLUTELY refused to come for a walk actually growing at me when I tried, and he isn't a dog that does that. I've checked him over, I can't feel any issues with him and he”

“I believe this is a 2 part issue: My almost 4 year old female Shepsky is having issues being reactive to new dogs. We have another husky who is 10, male and has been with her since she was a puppy. He is the calmest dog who makes friends everywhere he goes. The only bad habit she has learned from him is being sassy. Both dogs are well exercised. Issue #1: We have been part of a on leash husky dog walking (less social, and more walking)group since she was 3 months old and have recently been havin”

“Hi everyone! I’m looking for some advice on moving into an apartment complex for the first time with my 4 year old mini schnauzer who has some reactivity issues. Overall my dog Willow is a good dog, she’s very loving, knows basic and trick commands, is able to keep herself entertained, potty trained, leash and off leash trained. However she does have some issues with departure anxiety, territorial, and reactivity. I have noticed that she only has departure anxiety with me, I still live at home a”

“He is an 8 year old blue heeler. He is leash reactive due to barrier frustration. Typically, when he is loud and seems aggressive, but will just smell them and get bored if he gets close. He has never attacked another dog; in fact, he quite likes other dogs--just not on leash and not male german shepherds for some reason. However, last summer, he was attacked three times by an off leash dog at our other apartment despite me reporting it to them multiple times. I've worked very, very hard wit”

“My 2.5 year old APBT/german shepherd/coonhound (+) mix was displaying increasing reactivity. Big jump, barks, and lunges at dogs, and sometimes even people, when out on leash. It’s something she’s often exhibited, but it really ratcheted up when we were in the process of moving. I chalked it up to some stress and promised myself I would reevaluate with our trainer once settled into our new space. Jump to last week when we met with our trainer. I was shocked when she suggested we use a flexi leas”

“Trigger warning: dog on cat and dog and dog violence. I have a long story and need to vent, or get some encouragement or advice. considering all options and sad about it. I have a reactive but sweet female dog, ~8 years old, 50lb shepherd mix, that I got from a shelter 2 years ago. The shelter didn’t disclose she is not dog or cat friendly, and the dog was posted to Instagram that she was going to be put down as she had been in the shelter for 2 years and was breaking down with anxiety, but was”

“My rescue dog can be reactive when he gets over stimulated. I use a muzzle but because he's a pitbull have sometimes called Animal Control to complain about the "dangerous dog". I was thinking of getting a small camera to attach to his collar in order to counteract any false claims. Anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? submitted by /u/DifficultyDizzy [link] [comments]”

“My staffy x puppy is 13 weeks of age and I take her to puppy school once a week where she can interact with other dogs and learn basic commands. She has only had her first round of vaccines so I’m unable to take her to dog parks yet. Is once a week enough for now? Will this effect her socialisation skills in the future? submitted by /u/whatever_cornever [link] [comments]”

“Those are tears of joy! My 6 yo psycho sweet mix just had her first private training session to work on her leash reactivity. 1 hr and a prong collar later and I feel like it’s actually possible for my baby to one day have the full life she deserves! My trainer was so knowledgeable and really shifted the way I think about my dogs actions/reactions and MY actions/reactions. When she started off saying I don’t just train the dog, the hard part is training the human I knew I’d picked the right pers”

“New here, just hit a rock-bottom with my generally untrained, exceptionally dog-reactive 9 year-old male Maltese. My family had pulled into our driveway and we were unloading slowly (husband is currently on crutches and we have a toddler), and the dog was off-leash on the driveway. He’s very attached to us and this is never an issue as we transition into the house. But today he spotted a border collie being walked ACROSS THE STREET, took off, and essentially attacked. The other dog was just tryi”

“I’m just looking for some advice, I’m hoping others have navigated this as well. So, I got my Doberman Maggie (Now almost 3 years old) when she was 12 weeks. Reputable breeder, she has been AMAZING thus far, but recently there have been 3 times she has randomly went after my senior Lab. Maggie (Doberman) and Hera (7 year old Lab) have been living together since I got Maggie. They were always best of friends, would cuddle together, while Maggie slept in her kennel Hera would sleep beside it, they”

“So, I (23F) have a 1,5yo intact male GSD. He'll be neutered at 2yo, just want to facilitate healthy growth first. Backstory: So in 2021 I helped my parents get a White Swiss Shepherd and her first 2 years trained her until I moved out to live with my bf. She's healthy and doing well but very anxious. In 2022, I decided I'd get my own dog, decided on a GSD and started researching. After 2 years of careful research and speaking to different breeders, I found a breeder and litter that m”

“I really have no business complaining. I have my babies and my health and a soft life. But OMG, our dog has been driving me nuts since around the time we moved to our new house 3 years ago (with births and pregnancies during that time). I am open to suggestions or commiseration! Our dog is 14 but in great physical and mental health. I adopted her out of a bad spot at age 9 and for the first several years everything was fine. She is very timid and very attached to me. She is sweet and docile and”

“Hello!! So I’ve recently adopted my brothers dog, as he’s not in a situation to care for her. She’s about 3 years old and is a black mouth cur mix who has absolutely zero training. In the month that I’ve had her, I’ve got her to sit, lay down, and place. My only issue is she is extremely, and I mean EXTREMELY excited around me. It’s the complete opposite around other people. She’s mildly reactive towards other people and dogs but I know how to work on that. I just have no idea how to work on her”

“Resource guarding me from my husband New dog, knew this was a behavior from the foster who said they were able to correct it. We have had him for two days so this is not unexpected but I want to ensure we are training this correctly. Husbands wakes up early, like 4am for work. He comes back from the shower and the dog barks and snarled at him when he came close to me in the bed, instant removal off bed to ground Bed privileges are gone (and probably should have been earned I know) and he will be”

“I have a 4 month old puppy that I rescued a month ago. She’s a mutt and the sweetest, smartest girl. The problem I’m having is she is just terrified of people and other dogs. I worked on socializing her before her shots. People came to the house and she was timid at first but eventually warmed up and gave kisses and relaxed. My husband and I would take her to the park and sit in the trunk with her (before she was fully vaccinated) so she could learn to settle. Gave her lots of high value treats.”

“Hi! I've been lurking the subreddit for a while but wanted to post to get some advice on how to move forward. We've had our 13 month old mini American shepherd mix for about 9 weeks now. He's shown some resource guarding tendencies toward my wife before (he doesn't like when she gets hugs) but this morning, he did something that gave me pause. I left for work and she was sleeping still. I told her goodbye while she was still in bed. He kind of came up and gave me a growl. Didn&#3”

“Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice and honestly need to vent. My girlfriend and I adopted a 5-year-old Jack Russell Terrier from a shelter about 8 months ago. He is incredibly reactive, but we have been working tirelessly with the best positive-reinforcement trainer in our region to help him. We’ve made great progress, but he still has some "mortal enemies" and high arousal triggers. Because of his extreme reactivity, he can exhibit redirection aggression when he is over his thre”

“My fourth and my wife's third dog has without a doubt been the hardest, most stubborn and crazy critter either of us have ever owned. He is a labrador cross and while there is no doubt he has improved dramatically from where he was when he first arrived, man he has been like a whirlwind, a bitey, chewy, scratchy one. All our previous dogs, most labs or kelpies, had their issues but were much easier to train, much less stubborn and wilful and our trainer suggested that sometimes these really”

“Hi all, looking for advice. What is the best course of action in preventing my dog from barking, nipping and jumping at my roommates as they walk in? I’ve given him a “place” for when people come in which is the couch, and he’s pretty good at staying there but he will still bark and growl his head off and every now and then will run off the couch to see them but if I yell couch he goes back lol Please give me some tips! submitted by /u/yogurlkt111 [link] [comments]”

“Hi there, I’m (23F) trying to train my dog (6M Catahoula leopard mix) to be comfortable and okay with his gentle leader. I put his/my background at the bottom of the post for reference. He’s gotten better with his gentle leader and is learning the command to know what it is, and he only wears it when we go on walks (which he loves) but I don’t want to push him into wearing it. It’s the only thing I’ve found that works, he’s quite strong and I’m also working on not letting him pull to get where h”

“Hi there! Our family (myself, my husband and our three year old daughter) brought home a new rescue dog yesterday after losing our senior family dog six months ago. She's some type of German Shepherd mix based on her appearance, and she's one year and nine months old. She's a really lovely dog, she's incredibly relaxed and has been so gentle and tolerant of our preschooler. She seems incredibly trainable, has already improved her leash manners, and is really low key and sweet so”

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“Hi! Today I decided to finally reach out to a dog behaviorist, as I have been trying to help my 10-month dog (Australia Shepherd) with her reactivity on my own, but it just seems to keep getting worse. She is reactive to hallway noise and our cat. I have been doing mental stimulation and giving her enough exercise, and she was doing better last week, and I had noticed improvements in her since starting dog school months ago. She listens to me more outside with dogs around. But today, she was bar”

“Just want to vent about the uniquely shitty (ha, in more ways that one) challenge we have with our reactive, fearful, anxious 10-month old rescue pup. I believe we could make such quick progress with her if she had a more sturdy tummy. But treats of any kind give her diarrhea. Our vet doesn’t want her to have anything other than her prescription kibble but she’s barely interested in it enough to eat it period, so forget about her feeling “rewarded” by it out in the big bad scary overwhelming wor”

“Hi all, New to this sub, and I’m seeing a lot of terms getting thrown around and I want to know where you guys recommend online resources for learning about handling and training reactive dogs. I have a reactive 6 year old dog, lunging, progressing to trying to bite, luckily she is small (20lbs) so easy to control and pick up in hallways/elevators/confined spaces, but I can’t have people over and the reactivity is ... a lot. I don’t need to go into too much detail I think because reading other p”

“I have a 6-year-old male neutered Sheltie Aussie cross with a significant barking problem and anxiety barking around some very strange triggers. He takes anxiety meds which have helped somewhat but he barks uncontrollably for little things like ripping paper towel, us getting on hands and knees, my mom coming upstairs (she lives downstairs and he sees her daily), etc. He also has a rivalry with neighbour dogs on both sides who also bark. He takes it to the next level though and charges at the fe”

“This guy is 5 years old, intact, BC mix of some kind at 62lbs. He was rehomed with us and we’re working on getting him neutered. He cannot be within 30-50 yards of a dog without this behavior. He stops hearing me entirely, will pull until he chokes himself. The other day we were at a park and I was trying some “do nothing” practice with him, but saw a duo of puppies playing and started barking and whining. As if he is upset he doesn’t get to interact. We moved another maybe 20 yards away and he”

“Our 1-year old rescue dog (terrier/poodle mix) is extremely dog reactive and he is neutral to people 90% of the time but will aggressively bark sometimes at random strangers—and only when we are outside walking. He tried to snap at a stranger in the building hallway who leaned down to tie their shoes when we were walking by so now he is muzzled on all walks just in case. It’s a bit strange because we’ve had many friends over before and he is completely fine with strangers inside our home. He lov”

“We’ve had our reactive boy for over three years now and despite training with behaviorists and lots of time and money thrown at the problem he is not improving. He’s most reactive to cars but is also reactive to dogs people and basically anything that moves. Lots of work desensitizing him to his triggers and using a variety of training methods has made it to where he understands what we want and tries his best, but he goes over threshold quickly and quickly becomes a danger to himself and others”

“Hello, my one year old puppy has recently starting reacting towards other dogs. I would like to know if this is a normal puppy stage / if nuttering would help or any other advice. A bit of context he is a 1 year old staffy and has always been incredibly friendly to humans and dogs. He is always happy to share sticks / balls / toys with dogs and is more than happy being around other dogs when being fed or if he has a treat. Everyone from trainers to the dog walker to vets have always commented on”

“I honestly just need to vent because I feel so overwhelmed. I have a large reactive dog that I love more than anything. I’ve put a lot of time into training, as well as investing in 2 different training programs. He wears a muzzle every time we leave the house, along with an e-collar and a prong collar. I genuinely try my hardest to keep everyone safe. The problem is that he’s escaped my control twice in the last week, and this has never happened in the past 3 years. The first time, he pulled me”

“I'm looking for some guidance, mostly just to understand what may be going on as I don't understand this dog's behavior. 4 year old Corgi that loves to play ball but I've felt doesn't generally enjoy being around people (unless they want to bring a ball and kick it around with the dog). Not sure if relevant but I've seen this is just not a dog that comes up for pets or wants to snuggle next to anyone on the couch except for one adult male. We visit this household once or”

“TLDR; looking for ideas and tips to help my high drive 12mo rescue hound mix slow down and move with more intention around the home and during trainings. We got him at 6mo old. Aside from a leash training class and some basic manners training at his doggy daycare, I’ve done all the training myself. He does everything quickly - eating, running, moving from task to task. He also doesn’t have great proprioception (sense of where his limbs are) and is a Velcro dog with little regard for personal spa”

“My husband and I have a 3 year old mixed breed that we’ve had since he was a puppy. He’s about 30 pounds, on the smaller side, and honestly a great dog. He’s well trained, knows his cues, listens well, has never shown aggression during the day, and is generally very sweet. The only issue happens at night while we’re all asleep. We sleep in a king bed. My husband is 6’3”, I’m 5’1” and currently 34 weeks pregnant. Our dog sleeps in bed with us. Every once in a while (maybe once every couple of wee”

“hi! just looking for a lil advice/suggestions if anybody has worked with a pup that sounds similar or has some ideas. i have a 3yr old gsd mix who is extremely sweet but has a lack of impulse control that makes it really hard to train with her. she LOVES food, but instead of it being a positive training motivation, it seems like she just gets frustrated that she’s not automatically getting a treat for everything she does, rather than actually thinking about what i’ve asked of her/what has succes”

“Hi, I’ve had my rescue dog Tommy for 5 years. She’s historically been a high energy athletic girl (pit and bulldog mix) she has become a lower energy dog with age, but still has got plenty of life to give! For extra background she does have some anxiety tendencies. Shes not trusting of strangers, she’s pretty attached to me, gets sad being left etc. she’s on Prozac and it’s helped. We’ve done a lot of work on reactivity and leash walking. Ok now the problem: there’s been a behavior change where”