r/AustralianShepherd

Heeling dog’s? Healing dog’s!

So there’s a bit of personal life context that applies to this, so I’ll try to sum it up as best I can.

I’m 22, just reached a year post grad. Had a job over the summer of 2025 where I was still able to live from home but the work environment became unsafe for me so I had to leave, leaving me unemployed for the months of winter. I was in Virginia at this time. Couldn’t find even a part time job until around October, which is also the same time my childhood dog of 13 years died.

My relationship with my dad is a bit complicated and he shows his care through financial means, in this scenario, he surprised me with an Australian Shepard puppy in November. He didn’t consult me before hand and this was right before my mom, brother and I moved to a new house so the timing was honestly awful. I was in no financial position to be ready for a dog, let alone a puppy of this breed. But regardless I was so happy and who can say no to a puppy. I’m also ambitious in the sense where I convinced myself that I’d be able to do it. Somehow find a job and raise a puppy all on my own. I’ve always been independent & responsible so I believed I could do it.

Fast forward to February, I packed everything and left home to go live w my boyfriend in Long Island as my relationship w my mom was crippling, I was making no money at my part time job due to the season, and needed better accessibility to interviews in the city as I was starting to land them. My mom moved somewhere extremely remote in Virginia so I was isolated from everything, and so was my dog.

I landed a job in the city, sold my car, and got myself an apartment and a new life in NYC. Cosmos went to board and train for two weeks in Greak Neck while I moved in for two weeks. After getting him back, I could see the improvements considering he hadn’t been socialized that well bc of all the snow we got and bc of my environment of isolation. While he’s shown improvements from his behavior initially, he’s starting to really regress.

He’s about 8 months old now, and right now the worst issues are his reactivity. He can be super chill w a stranger and then suddenly be defensive with another. I can’t distinguish what triggers him but it’s very random. Doesn’t matter if it’s female/male/etc. I really try my hardest to emphasize his walks/activity as I’m working a 9-5. We wake up early and go on a long walk in the morning. I pay for an afternoon walk, and then I take him on another long walk in the evening and stop at the park to socialize w other dogs. Like I said, he has good days and bad. I give him grace because he’s a puppy, but sometimes the stress/anxiety of not knowing who he will react too really overwhelms me, and it’s a liability for me.

I’m making your expected post grad salary so I can’t afford to send him to another board and train and my dad is no use either as he’s just completely left me with this with no offer to help for his financials. It’s hard, and I’m trying to get by, but I’m losing hope.

I know this breed isn’t meant to be in the city, and if it were up to me I wouldn’t have gotten a dog right before this transitionary phase, but I have him now and I can’t give up on him. Plus, I’ve seen so many other Aussies/bigger breeds in the city and they seem to socialize and behave just fine, and so that gives me a sliver of hope. Absolute last resort would be to send him back home with my mom temporarily in Virginia while I try to figure my life out here, but that would devastate me. He makes me so happy.

Please offer me words of advice. I’m scared and I don’t know what to do and I want to hope that there are other ppl out there who know how to fix his issues. I’m simply searching for how to calm his nerves and not make him so defensive over me to other ppl. I want him to be friendly.

PS: he’s not neutered yet, and I know he needs to be, but it’s like $800 to get them fixed and I don’t have that chilling around right now. And yes I know I can ask my dad but I’ve already attempted and he told me that’s on me…. So 😅

Please be nice. I’m trying my best here.

There's a cool little island from our dock that generally they would have to swim to but the lake is so low right now it's connected to our property.

A house favorite.

Decided he would jump on the coffee table for shits and giggles. Can’t even be mad at this 12 year old senior citizen

Ducky keeps an eye on everything during any road trip. She can’t let anybody step out of line… not even the horse. She does charge a steep fee for travel. Payable in bacon, of course.

We adopted our second Australian Shepherd, Holt, four weeks ago after having lost our first Aussie, Remington, in December. We raised Remington from a puppy and had him in training classes as soon as he had all his shots, so he was a relatively easy dog - only reactive when we would (rarely) see a skateboard. Holt is different and a brand new experience for us - approximately 5-years old and a stray from Knoxville, TN. It seems like he was a family dog at one point, but was never microchipped or neutered. He was brought in by a rescue organization in early February at which point he was neutered and lived with his first foster for 4-6 weeks. He was then brought to Massachusetts, where he stayed with his second foster for two weeks. Then we adopted him and brought him home to NYC (Hells Kitchen / Upper West Side on the river).

We were told he was good on leash, ran with his first foster, and was the easiest foster dog the second foster had. I don’t disbelieve those experiences, but ours is different.

Holt is extremely dog reactive on leash, to the point you would think we’re abusing him by the way he screams and flails. In the past four weeks he’s acclimated so well to the inside - he’s no longer scared of the typical apartment noises. He’s attentive to voices and dogs occasionally barking in the hallway, but he’s no longer getting upset. Outside it’s a completely different story and is constantly on alert. If he smells a dog or hears a leash we can’t get his attention, even with high value treats. If he sees a dog it’s game over.

It’s a bit confusing because he lived with two other dogs at the second fosters and was perfectly fine. He was excited but not this reactive when we saw another dog at a rest stop on our trip home. When we made an overnight stop, he would bound over to see the neighbors dog (fenced in yards).

We’ve hired a trainer that specializes in reactivity (no aversive methods), have been doing quick pee walks during the day and long walks at 11pm and 4am when we’re not likely to run into other dogs, and focusing on continued training inside (check in, touch, sit, down, 123, find it). We’re seeing some general improvement and comfortability with the outside environment, but he still has a hard time breaking focus and checking in. When he’s tired at the end of his walk we’ve started getting him to ‘down’ outside (which I take as a huge win).

We’ve only had Holt for four weeks, so we’re still moving through our 3-3-3 period. We’ve read a lot of threads here and picked up a lot of information, so I guess our main question right now is if anyone has had a similar adoption experience and seen their dog get better as they get closer to the 3-month period? We recognize that he needs continual training and time alone isn’t enough, but has the settling-in period changed how reactive anyone’s dog is? I’m sure he doesn’t fully trust us yet with how much he’s moved around and surely that must play a role. We have no idea how long he was a stray or what past trauma he might have faced. We love him to pieces already and are committed to working through this with him, but the odd schedule is quite exhausting.

TLDR - we adopted an Aussie that’s dog reactive on leash 4 weeks ago. We have a trainer we’re working with, and see some improvement, but he hits threshold so quickly. Has anyone seen their adopted dog get less reactive as they’ve built trust and a bond over the first three months of having them?

This is Sora! He is my first dog, I rescued him about a month ago; he’s 1. He is a tripod, and learning how to get all of his energy out with his new body. He’s doing well, but has the typical Aussie issues with being so young and untrained (I was told he was trained… but not so much). I have gotten so much help from this page already; but was wondering if anyone had any tips for getting him exercise without being able to run a lot or go on long walks or hikes, due to being a tripod. I take him on 4 to 5 30 minute walks a day, and hope to get him into a swimming class soon. TIA!

Insane how quickly she learns, we taught roll over and started stand from down in less than a hour this morning! Love this pup more than I thought possible.