u/Glum_Celebration_941

Hi everyone, I’ve been doing a lot of research about training for my sweet girl Joey. She’s pretty reactive with strangers, and struggles with recall/check ins. The dog trainer I’ve been working with, and a few dog trainers I watch online, have suggested using an E collar to get her attention and help with her recall. I’ve had mixed emotions about this, I’m not a fan of shocking my dog, but it seems like a lot of people really praise using the e collar? I know most people only use the sound or vibration, though. I’d like to get people’s opinions on here, and your thoughts on the matter. Are e collars really helpful in training your dog, or is it just fear based?

I adopted Joey from a rescue, where they had told me the wrong breed of dog. After getting a test done for her, I now know the truth 😆 I had my suspicions, she was seriously nippy and loves ripping things to bits. Now that I know for sure I want to make sure I do this RIGHT. I love her so much and I want to give her the best chance possible. So far so good, she’s doing amazing at her commands (apart from some adolescence rebellion) and I’m working on her socialization and focus. Are there any books you would advise? Life experience to pass on? Anything and everything is appreciated. I feel a little in over my head and I want to be able to do this right for her and myself.

I’ve been working with a trainer for the past five weeks or so for my 10 month old girl Joey. I started training with her before I knew she was half Mal. My trainer owns a Belgian Malinois so I’ve trusted her judgement, and the training so far has been pretty good. I feel like it’s things I could have done myself, but I prefer to trust professionals for the most part. As I’ve tried to discuss how to help Joey with her nipping, she advised me to get a bite sleeve for myself to tire out her biting? That didn’t super make sense to me, but I mean, I trust her. She’s a dog trainer. But upon getting the bite sleeve in the mail it just feels weird to have my dog bite me more when my goal is to get her to stop biting me. I’d love some advice and opinions on this matter. Do bite sleeves actually help? Can you tire out a maligators insatiable need to nip?

Hi guys, I have an 8 month old puppy, she’s a mix of a bunch of stuff. Got her at a rescue, and their best guess was a German shepherd mix. I’m only sure that she is a black lab mix, that is the only thing I am sure of. I live in an apartment that has a group of stray cats that take care of rats or pests. I want my puppy to be kind to them, but since she has never seen a cat before, she gets way too excited and wants to chase them. She doesn’t growl or anything, she acts like she’s met another dog. Wanting to play, bouncing everywhere, and wining. I’ve been slowly introducing them. The boldest cat likes to approach slowly. Joey, my puppy, has slowly been calming down over time as the cat gets closer. But does eventually freak out, and I take her away to calm down out of sight of the cats. What can I do, realistically? I can’t trust to let her sniff them, I really don’t want her hurting the poor cats. But I want to have cats one day, and having her know what they are and respecting them now would be awesome. I plan to ask my trainer too, but I figured experienced dog owners could have some good advice for me.

Hi everyone. I (21f) have been dating my girlfriend (20f) for about two months now. Today on our road trip she admitted to me that she has had an addiction to porn since she was 13, and uses it as a way to cope with her depression. She sees nothing wrong with it, and doesn’t want to change anything about it. I have also struggled with porn addiction, but for very different reasons. I dealt with some pretty horrific stuff when I was younger, so a lot of the time when I relapse it’s because I was triggered and I dissociate. Re-traumatizing myself. I am currently 4 days clean. I want to quit, and I’m worried that if I have a partner who normalizes it, I won’t be able to. I just need some advice, I don’t have anyone in my real life who I can talk to about this. It’s made me feel so… disconnected from her, like I suddenly don’t want to be close to her or want her to touch me or anything. I don’t want to be a hypocrite, because I struggle with porn addiction too but… is this brake up worthy?

Hi guys, I have a 7 month old GSD mix named Joey. I’ve been working on socializing her to people, because when I first got her she would jump and bark and growl at anyone we passed on our walks. Shes made good improvements, she’ll just look as we pass by at this point. And when she’s in doggy daycare she is so excited to meet new people. Today I tried to introduce her to my girlfriend while we were on a walk. I had her approach and not make eye contact while we tried to walk past her at a safe distance. I don’t know what happened, but it was like Joey’s training went out the window. She started shaking, barking, growling, the whole scary package. So we walked away from my gf while she followed us. Occasionally we paused, and would wait until she would stop barking before continuing. I would reward her with treats when she was calm. But regardless, the whole time, she was terrified. Wanting to run away from my gf at all costs. Joey only calmed down when my gf went home. I don’t know what to do, we have a road trip coming up and I don’t want Joey freaking out that my gf is in the car with us, I want them both to be as comfortable as possible.

I recently adopted my GSD mix, she’s 7 months old and 25lbs. Shes pretty anxious around new people, especially men. I take her to doggy daycare every day, and she seems fine. But when I’m around, or we are in the apartment, she becomes anxious. When she meets new people she gets anxious, and nervous. I’ve followed the advice to have the person she’s meeting to sit quietly and ignore her. My puppy had plenty of space, and I have her on a loose leash. But she still barks and growls, and her hackles raise. Even to people she has already met, like my girlfriend who she has met before. How do I help her through this? As I said, I live in an apartment, so she’s going to be around people a lot. I need advice here, I really want to help her get comfortable.

Hi everyone! Yesterday I adopted my new bestie, Joey. I’m decently sure she’s a German shepherd mix, but I’ll know for sure once I get her DNA test back. I live in an apartment, but have the option to take her to doggy daycare every day or so, and she will be with me most of the time. I want to give her the best shot at life that I can. She’s pretty anxious, considering she’s gone through a lot in her 7 months of life. Shes especially anxious towards men and strangers, but she’s getting better at meeting new people. She already knows sit or lay down, and I’m working on helping her relax. Any advice or encouragement would be greatly appreciated, I really want to do what’s best for her! My biggest thing is I want her to be less nippy. Shes in the puppy phase where nipping is still pretty prevalent, but she is getting big enough that it’s not safe. I’m doing the ‘time out’ and divert attention methods, but I can’t really tell if they’re working? To be fair, I’ve only been working on that training for about a week. I’ve only officially had her home for one day. What would you advise I work on? How do I get through this overstimulated puppy phase?