r/ReactiveDogHelp

Hey Reddit, I'm new to everything with this so please be kind and I apologize for the length of this explanation. I know I tend to ramble

I have a female rescue who is very food insecure despite me having her for about 3 years now. Vets estimated that she was about a 1 year old when I adopted her, so she is 4 now. When I brought her home, she had an incident with my mom's older female rescue where she latched onto the other dog's ear and ended up biting me by accident when I tried to open her jaws to release the other dog. At the time, I was not living with my mom at that time, so we just monitored the two dogs interactions and made sure to have my dog on a lead leash that I could turn her head away to redirect when needed during the remainder of that visit. I also worked on training my dog with basic commands like sit, wait, stay, look, and to go to one of "her spots" (crate, chair, bed). She listens well when alone, but she needs more redirection when there are unfamiliar dogs present.

Unfortunately, my job situation changed where I needed to end up moving back in with my parents. In addition to the older rescue, there is another female dog who is 7 years old. So in total for this house now, there is a 10 year old basset bulldog mix, a 7 year old English Retriever, and a 4 year hound/bully breed mix. I thought that with the frequent visits to my mom's and no repeat biting incidents that my mom's dogs were now no longer unfamiliar. However my dog was now had two additional incidents where she was bitten the 10 year (always her ear but I'm grateful for the loose basset skin means that none of those bites were too serious). In both of these times, my mom has been bitten as well because she tries to separate the two dogs (I have tried to teach them the wheelbarrow method but they struggle because my dog latches and tries to "rat-shake" the other dog which causes my parents to freak out and try to pry open my dog's jaws with their hands leading to them getting bitten). During the most recent bite, my mom needed to get stitches for two punctures on her forearm (all other previous injuries have only been fingers).

I'm at a bit of a loss for what to do to help everyone stay safe. Does anyone have any tips, suggestions, or resources for how to navigate something like this? I really love my dog and I don't want to give up on her

My dog is 6 and she has Addison’s disease. She’s constantly nervous, especially when she’s not getting my full attention. The first time my boyfriend came over, all we did was sit on the couch and talk. She ripped up her toy right in front of us. Most of the time, I do prepare and hide all my shoes and make sure she only has her toys. But this weekend she chewed up one of my boyfriend’s shoes and started on his belt.

Does anyone else have this problem? Is there anything I can do?

Locking her out of the room isn’t an option because I’ve tried that and she almost destroyed my door and dug up the carpet trying to get to me.

Also we’ve tried CBD products in the past, they just seem to make her very thirsty.

We have two dogs, they are 9 and 10. The 9 year old has been reactive most of his life, it’s completely fear based and we’ve worked with trainers over the years and have been able to manage him pretty well. He does fine with a slow and calm introduction to new people but having people in our home has always been a stressor (for us and him) and we mostly avoid it if possible. Our 10 year old is fine with people but she is a sassy heeler and very barky which gets him wound up and on edge. We’d really like to figure out a way to have people over more often and I’m wondering if anyone has suggestions on how to do this. They are not crate trained and the reactive one is very afraid of small spaces so I don’t think it’s an option for him, he won’t even come in the bathroom. In the past we’ve locked them in the backyard or house if we’re outside but they get super wound up and just bark the whole time. We have bedrooms we can put them in but I’m afraid they’ll scratch at the doors or continue barking. We aren’t comfortable having them out with new people as it’s just very stressful so they need to be contained. We do lick mats regularly but they don’t last very long and he will resource guard things like bully sticks so we don’t allow those. What is the best way to keep them as calm and comfortable as possible? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Hello,

I just joined this reddit and I would appreciate a definition of what the group considers "balanced training" so I have a better context of what this group promotes and to avoid getting into trouble when interacting with the group.

I just adopted a 1 year old Mal x GSD a few months ago and I have learned that she is reactive to a few things. I am looking to learn what has worked for other people so that I can help her through her reactivity.

Thank you