Dog owners worry about reactivity toward strangers
13 posts across 3 communities in the last 30 days; 85% from r/reactivedogs.
“I’m looking for experiences from people with genuinely fearful/anxious dogs, especially dogs whose main issue is being overwhelmed by their environment rather than like leash reactivity. I adopted my ~30 lb rescue hound mix about 10 months ago. She’s a little over 2 years old…”
“hi all! i was curious if anyone has any experience with the medication Sileo? my boy (7m, intact male, APBT x herding mix) doesn’t necessarily need meds regularly for anxiety, we just struggle with situational anxiety and reactivity. trazodone just sedates him, and once it wears…”
“We have a one-year-old rescue dog, who was claimed to be a GSD mix but is clearly a mix of many breeds. He weighs just under fifty pounds. Since we adopted him, he's been relatively nervous around new people. But this has intensified significantly, for no clear reasons that we…”
Multiple users are experiencing challenges with their dogs exhibiting aggressive or reactive behavior towards other people and dogs during walks. They seek advice on managing this behavior, particularly in rescue dogs adopted from abroad, and are exploring medication options.
SOURCES (19)
“We have a one-year-old rescue dog, who was claimed to be a GSD mix but is clearly a mix of many breeds. He weighs just under fifty pounds. Since we adopted him, he's been relatively nervous around new people. But this has intensified significantly, for…”
“We adopted a German shepherd mix dog two years ago; he’s now three. When we adopted him, he was on a very low dose of gabapentin for anxiety from being at the shelter and we have weaned him off these meds. For the first six months, we were able to walk him without too many issues and even take him to the park for a run but since then he has become incredibly reactive on walks and we now struggle to get him off our street without fixating on houses that have dogs. He lunges and pulls on the leash”
“We adopted a German shepherd mix dog two years ago; he’s now three. When we adopted him, he was on a very low dose of gabapentin for anxiety from being at the shelter and we have weaned him off these meds. For the first six months, we were able to walk him without too many issues and even take him to the park for a run but since then he has become incredibly reactive on walks and we now struggle to get him off our street without fixating on houses that have dogs. He lunges and pulls on the leash”
“1.5 yr old male Australian Shepherd, around 17kg. Had bad experience with a vet early in life (before I got him) and has always been very reactive at the vet (growling, lunging, barking). We were told to take 350mg Gabapentin and 100mg trazodone night before the vet visit and also on the morning of the visit. However the meds seemed to make him even more active and alert (he was pacing the house from 9PM-11PM, unable to fall asleep. Same reaction in the morning. I always thought this would make”
“My 60lb BMC is extremely anxious at the vet and will not allow anyone to come near her. This makes it very difficult when it comes to administering vaccines. She has her yearly check up tomorrow and requires 2 shots. The vet prescribed 600mg of Gabapentin and 200mg of Trazodone to be taken two hours before the appointment. She’s already on 40mg of Fluoxetine daily. This seems like a lot. Does this dosage sound right for situational anxiety? submitted by /u/jejeho22 [link] [comm”
“My 60lb BMC is extremely anxious at the vet and will not allow anyone to come near her. This makes it very difficult when it comes to administering vaccines. She has her yearly check up tomorrow and requires 2 shots. The vet prescribed 600mg of Gabapentin and 200mg of Trazodone to be taken two hours before the appointment. She’s already on 40mg of Fluoxetine daily. This seems like a lot. Does anyone have experience with meds for situational anxiety? Does this dosage sound right? submitted”
“I’m posting because I’m really struggling with my dog’s behaviour at the moment and I’d really like to hear from people who have been through something similar — especially people whose dogs had severe aggression towards their owners and were treated with medication. I have a female French Bulldog, nearly 3 years old. She has developed quite severe, unpredictable aggression towards me over the last few months. It has gradually become worse, and it has now progressed to her lunging towards my fac”
“Just a vent. My dog is on clonodine and reconcile. Before we give him his meds in the morning, he is bouncy, playful, and full of energy. He is also insane and very easily triggered and anxious and activated. I tried one day to just see how he’d be if I waited til later to give him his meds and got quickly schooled on why we medicate him in the first place. But on his meds, he is very tame and low energy and his personality doesn’t come out as much. He still likes to eat and train but isn’t as p”
“Hi everyone! I’m looking for experiences from people who have put their puppies/dogs on Prozac primarily for fear/anxiety, especially fear of loud or sudden noises and anxiety outside. A little background: Two months ago, I rescued a 5-month-old Basset Hound puppy. She came to me with no potty or kennel training, but we were making really good progress with both during her first few weeks. She was rescued from an elderly couple who had to rehome her due to their declining health, so there’s no k”
“So my dog is basically frustration reactive but that frustration builds to the point he starts fights. No blood drawn. Just a lot of teeth clanging so it's not really aggression. He started getting reacting at 1 years of age despite being heavily socialised when younger. He was a very nervous and anxious pup when he first came home and it took a lot for him to let anyone in besides me but he eventually adapted well to all people and dogs until 1 years old and ever since then I've been no”
“I’m looking for experiences from people with genuinely fearful/anxious dogs, especially dogs whose main issue is being overwhelmed by their environment rather than like leash reactivity. I adopted my ~30 lb rescue hound mix about 10 months ago. She’s a little over 2 years old now. She has always been very sensitive and easily startled, and I suspect she had a rough life before rescue. We originally lived in a somewhat quieter area, but after moving to a much busier/dense city neighborhood her ou”
“Hiya Our GSD is currently on 40mg of Prozac for his reactivity outside, honestly I don’t think it’s done a whole lot outside however inside, he is definitely more sleepy and less prone to spinning but he has definitely lost weight on it I have made some great progress with him as before even the sight of a dog he would go nuts and try to throw me onto the road, we could never actually walk past another dog and I would outright refuse to walk him because it was so bad. However, today he is able t”
“Hi there! Thank you for taking time for reading this, I'll try to be brief. We rescued a 4-5 year old aussie shepherd earlier this year, she had been at the rescue for 3 years. She is super sweet, but is reactive towards men. We have a trainer and her behavior is improving. Our trainer suggested we speak to our vet about possible cognitive issues. She stares off into space and seems forgetful. Her doctor said it is anxiety and prescribed 20g fluoxetine. Shes only had three doses and I am unc”
“My dog’s (11 years, 80lbs) vet prescribed him gabapentin and trazodone because he had a severe stress reaction to a nail trim durning his last check up. I had to take him to the vet earlier today for a vaccination booster shot, and instructed to give him two pills of each, two hours before the appointment. His butt started leaking this clear colored substance with a sour odor. He had his anal glands expressed 3 weeks ago (exactly) so there’s no way he has an infection or full glands. Does gabape”
“Was recommended to try pet cbd and was wondering how results have been with your reactive pup and is it short term or for the rest of their lives? TYIA submitted by /u/laceyriver [link] [comments]”
“hi all! i was curious if anyone has any experience with the medication Sileo? my boy (7m, intact male, APBT x herding mix) doesn’t necessarily need meds regularly for anxiety, we just struggle with situational anxiety and reactivity. trazodone just sedates him, and once it wears off he turns into an absolute reactive hyperactive nightmare, so we don’t love that. and he isn’t affected by gabapentin AT ALL. we haven’t tried acepromazine yet, but i’ve heard mixed reviews for ace when using for anxi”
“We already tried Prozac (made him stop eating) and clomicalm (caused him to have appetite problems and throw up) the vet wants to try sertraline (Zoloft). Has anyone whose dog had stomach problems on the first two been okay on the last one? I am scared to try him on anything because of how sick he was for months. He had vomiting that would not stop until the internal medicine doctor put him on atopica. He has been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel, but he was not responsive to steroids so he had”
“In my short time on this sub, I have seen many people say that their pets are on medication (typically SSRIs) and are still very reactive. I’m curious what the upsides are in those situations and the reasoning behind keeping the pet on medication if the reactivity is continuing (provided that the pet was put on the medication due to their behavioral issues) submitted by /u/Haunting-Love-9333 [link] [comments]”
“So 7 weeks ago me and my partner adopted a 7 months old dog that had come to the UK from Bosnia. On the adoption profile she sounded perfect. "Dog friendly, people friendly, tolerates cats". Her forster mum said she loved meeting other dogs & people on walks however so far we have experienced the total opposite. She barks and lunges at other dogs and people whilst we are out for a walk. I've never let her get close enough to another dog to see what she would do. But the confusi”