r/reactivedogs

My dog Otto is super sweet at home but is horrible to play with. Tug of war starts out fine but when he drops his end or you manage to pull it from him, he lunges for the toy and latches on. My family knows this so we've avoided getting fully bitten but there are times he has nicked us.

Another problem is fetch. I've watched videos on how to teach your dogs fetch and they all recommend using two balls. I've tried this because once he has the ball he refuses to drop it. Having one ball in my hand while he already has one doesn't do anything. I throw the 2nd one and he chases it with the other ball in his mouth. The real issue is he jumps and bites at you if you are holding a ball.

He's energetic and extremely reactive to vehicles by our property and dogs so we usually avoid long walks or dog parks. Playing with the ball is a good way to get his energy out but it's so frustrating to play with him because you're constantly avoiding getting bit.

I had a female Staffordshire pitbull terrier for 10 years who has recently passed away but I was fortunate to be able to bring her to my family's business for work as a "store dog" for her entire life. I rescued her at 6 months and did all the things to try to socialize her (dog parks, meetups with my friends that had dogs, allowed her to greet customers with their dogs in our store) Her temperament was much better when she was a puppy and young adult, but I slowly started recognizing that she was becoming increasingly reactive towards other dogs. The last few years with her, we had to restrict customers from bringing their own dogs in, I had to avoid walking by other people with dogs on our walks and just generally try to keep her away from other dogs all together.

I'm not sure what happened that made her change to be so reactive but now I am about to adopt another puppy (same breed) and plan to bring him to work as well and am super nervous about the whole situation and want to start off on the right foot with this one in hopes of avoiding this situation. Does anybody have any advice for me on what I can do (training-wise, environment-wise?) to make sure this new puppy is successful with dog interactions?

My dog is 1yr old, 80ish lbs, She's (in largest % order) A mix of Great pyr, Golden, newfoundland, lab, pit and maybe some small others. She has these episodes where she jumps to bite me and will not stop going at me unless I pin her to the ground and hope its overwith when i let go.

It's frightening. I'm not sure what it is that sets her off, maybe frustration?? And because I can't pinpoint it, I'm not sure how to stop it! She never growls at people or other dogs, she's wonderfully behaved at dog parks, she's generally OK around the cats and super excited about people (once settled she just wants belly rubs) She does OK for the most part on a leash for walks except for pulling the first half of the walk.

It's just these episodes, like tantrums, that have me contemplating of rehoming her for fear of mine and my child's safety. I'm not bragging at all but I've been able to grab hold of her collar and hold her down til she's calm, so idk if i'm strong or what but it's tough considering she's 80 lbs and rolling /wiggling while trying to bite my hand at the same time. She isn't growling, or trying to bite and grab,/clench. It's open mouth mostly with enough pressure to hurt.

We were at the beach today with my daughter and our dog went into the water for the first time. She was on a leash, but there were other dogs off leash, roaming free. She'd never been to the beach so she was trying to figure out how to walk in water. She ALMOST swam but not quite. She definitely barked towards other dogs and pulled the leash (but it's the same thing she does when we get near a dog park gate, just excited and wanting to play) I had to redirect her quite a few times when she was trying to get near the other dogs, mini walks in the other direct, in/out of the water. But when we were getting out of the water the last time she started biting the leash, then me, then i grabbed the handle on her harness and then her collar with my other hand, she rolled on her back, got up, jumped on me to be on two legs, and this just went on for a good 2 minutes until I pinned her, she stopped and we finally left. She's done similar on leash walks (but i step on her leash to stop her from jumping up and biting my arms) and if i play tug with her or fetch in our fenced in yard, she'll sometimes completely disregard the toy and come at me instead. But today was the worst it's been, and I'm so confused and upset and terrified.

Anyone know what this could be?? I'm thinking it's frustration combined with over stimulation? (Free roaming dogs like a dog park, only she's on a leash=a bit pissed off)?? Is there any way to stop this, correct it? Is this puppy behavior or am I right to be concerned?

My dog is leash reactive (mostly other dogs, sometimes people with hats). We have been doing the slow, boring work for months. Mostly it has been keeping distance, rewarding calm looks, turning away before he tips over, and practicing simple pattern games on walks.

I track the bad days because they feel so loud, but I do not always write down the quiet wins. This morning we had one of those moments that used to wreck my day. We came around a corner and saw a dog about a block away, staring. My dog stiffened for half a second and my stomach dropped. Then he looked back at me on his own. Not a perfect sit, not ten seconds of eye contact, just a quick check-in that seemed to say, "What are we doing?" I marked it, fed him, we calmly turned and walked away, and he stayed below the point where he would react. No barking, no lunging, no frantic spinning. It was so uneventful that for a second I thought, "Wait, did I mess up?" because I am used to adrenaline.

Later I realized two things. One, he really is learning that seeing a trigger can predict good stuff and safety. Two, I am so conditioned to brace for failure that I do not always let myself notice progress.

If you are in the thick of it, what was your tiny win that only looks small on paper but felt meaningful in the moment? Also, any tips for keeping a simple log of improvements without obsessing over every single reaction? I want to stay realistic but not lose hope.

I have a small Maltese-Pomeranian, Charlie, (12yo) and my husband has an English Bulldog, Appa (6yo). They have known each other since the EB was a puppy. They played together as they grew up, never had any issues. We didn’t always live together but had lived together on and off due to the military. Within the last three years, any time they are together, Charlie absolutely despises being around Appa. He will literally leave the room, despite being in a dead sleep, when Appa comes in and lays down, ESPECIALLY at night. He is used to sleeping in the room with me in his own bed, both dogs are used to that. So when we have lived together, we put them in their own beds, on opposite sides of the room. Charlie will lay there for about 60 seconds, then get up and start pacing until I let him out of the room so he can sleep on the couch by himself. HOWEVER, I don’t love letting him just have that freedom because he likes to be spiteful sometimes and pee in things, so I like to know where he is. I can hear EVERYTHING. I can hear his little nails across the floor of him pacing when he’s stuck with Appa in a room when I try to just hope he will fall asleep. Last night, he literally did it ALL night. Despite me giving him a calming chew. I even tried to let him sleep in the bed. It is keeping me awake all night. His anxiety is giving ME anxiety! I slept all of 40 minutes last night 😭. I don’t want to force Appa to sleep in another room at night but I also don’t want to force Charlie to not sleep in the room either. I truly cannot comprehend his complete disdain for Appa. He’s not doing anything but breathing and sleeping. Has anyone ever experienced something like this?? He wasn’t always like this with him. I just don’t understand. Not sure if this applies to this group as he’s not necessarily aggressive-reactive, but more passive-aggressive.

TW: Behavioral Euthanasia and bite history

I am writing in a state of what I can only describe as anguish as I grapple with the concept of BE for my beloved little bulldog. He was anxious from the moment I picked him up from the breeder, to an extent that I have never seen dogs be anxious. As a puppy he would urinate out of fear, cower and shake at nothing. I didn't think much of it at first as he was the youngest puppy I had ever taken home and didn't realize that this was abnormal. I remember often saying if I hadn't had this dog his whole life and known how well loved and cared for he is, I would think he came out of a terrible rescue setting. Around 6 months old his litter mate was behaviorally euthanized for aggression. I was, at the time, completely horrified and a bit judgemental of this news.

He was a bright puppy. Easy to train, affectionate, loyal, and above all else loving and snuggly. He had severe separation anxiety which he was medicated for, to no avail, and we had a trainer come to the house to work with him on doordashing and continued the work on our own, again to no avail. He would be in a state of absolute hysterical panic and frenzy trying to follow us out of the house, often hurting himself or us in the process. We tolerated it and made the best of the situation.

Around his 2nd birthday, he began resource guarding. At first it was just high value chews and treats. So we took them out of the home. Then he began resource guarding furniture, biting us if we moved him off the bed or couch or even stood up off the couch to go to the bathroom. He started guarding his vomit (he frequently vomited after eating) and biting us when we tried to clean the floors. He even guarded my partner from me at times. Despite being well potty trained, he urinated on the beds and couch when left alone, again out of fear. He gets into a state which I can only liken to horror films about possession where something takes over him. His eyes change and we can’t get through to him. He is absolutely incensed and overtaken by rage.

A few weeks after turning two, he bit both myself and my partner within a week, drawing blood both times, but relatively minor with no need for stitches. We changed his prescription, worked with a different trainer, nothing worked. He now has 5 level 3 bites and 1 level 4. I grew up with an extremely aggressive rescue dog in the home so I was rather unphased by this all.

His aggression has continued to worsen despite doing everything we can think of. He is never left home alone for more than 2 hours, he has tried 3 different prescriptions,  CBD, we’ve tried enrichment, removing stressors etc. I am at a loss. For the last year, we have just been managing. I have started keeping a behavior log- on a good day it can be as low as 1-2 bite attempts but he averages 7-10 attempts to bite per day.

About a month ago, he bit my partner rather severely through both sides of the hand, drawing blood and leaving bruises. We love him deeply and have always let it go with the knowledge that he is scared and he doesn’t “mean to be aggressive.”
A few times recently after the aggression seems to have subsided, he has lunged at me,  trying to attack and I have been fortunate enough to have been in positions to close doors or block his attempts.

The breaking point for me happened a few weeks ago when our trusted dog walker, who he has always been gentle with, was bitten when trying to leave the house, again drawing blood. My partner and I were willing to tolerate a lot when it was directed at us, but I fear every time I walk him outside now that he will snap at someone else and god forbid hurt a neighbor’s child or dog.

The situation is affecting my career. I often am cornered and unable to get out of the house on time as he guards the door, we cannot have guests to the home, we cannot go out. We cannot go on vacation. I am a prisoner to a 20 lb. dog.

My partner and I had reluctantly started to wonder if we can’t give him what he needs and opened our minds to the idea of rehoming our pup to a retired couple or someone who works full time from home and seldom travels or leaves the house. I spoke with two behavioralists and a rescue who all said due to his bite history and profile, he is an unsuitable candidate for rehoming and all suggested him as a strong case for BE. I am beside myself. I love this dog so deeply. I have tried everything I can think of to help him and the situation continues to worsen.

I feel such immense guilt at the idea of ending his journey here when I know how capable of love he is. More so perhaps, I feel such immense guilt, bordering on self hatred at the relief I experience at the thought of my life without him in it. Being able to leave the home freely or pick something up off the floor without having to have an escape plan. On some level, I think I know that this would be a mercy for him and for us. That he is sick and suffering. A bigger part of me though feels that this is selfish of me- that I’m “taking the easy way out” so I can have my life back.

I have had many healthy loving dogs in my life and I know this is far from the experience it should be to have a pet. I have lost friendships, this has put considerable strain on my young marriage, and relationships with family members who no longer feel safe coming to our home.

I fear that I am in a situation with no potential positive outcome. My choices seem to be: 1. Continue to live in fear and sacrifice my own mental health, social life, and career, and put off starting a family until the dog passes naturally, or 2. BE and live with the guilt at the fact that I could’ve tried harder to save him.

In a way, I suppose I am looking for permission to let him go. I’m a bit desperate to hear others' experiences both during the decision making process and after the fact.

Do you live with crippling regret or do you now have the clarity to see this was the right choice?

So my 10 month dog is extremely reactive to other dogs and we arw have some interhouse hold agression with my other dogs (fighs that started with reaource guardin food and escalted to random times but now is a lot better as them aged, but still something we want to fix, no injurys but its a fight with a lot of nosie and showing teeth). So we decided to get a vet behavioralist for them seeing it was probably the best option instead of trying to find a trainer. But i am already about 1000 dollars deep into it and we have one training session with their trainer and the the appointment with the doctor and all we got was some medication for his anxiety and some tips on training skills. Now the doctor want him to get an xray with sedation for potential hip displasya at 11 months old and wants blood test and the cost are really adding up. Do u know how much xrays usually cost and is it worth holding off on the xrays to see if the meds and trainings work? I really need advice on those who have workes with a vet behavioralist. Thanks!

My husband has a 7 year old border collie with a bite history. I’ve known my husband for 4 years now, and got married last year, so I have only been living with the dog for a year. I’ve had no say or responsibility in the dog’s training, mainly because I’ve been afraid of him since day one, and my husband is extremely stubborn and won’t take any advice. He was only 20 when he adopted the border collie as a puppy without doing any research on what it takes to care for the breed.

The dog stays with my in-laws during the day while we are at work, then comes home to us. Last week, the dog attacked a visitor to my in-laws house. He bit multiple times, and broke the man’s hand (Level 4 bites I think). This is the dog’s 4th bite, and (at least) the second Level 4 bites. The previous 3 bites were to my husband, who chose to just go to the doctor, then carry on like nothing happened.

I am no longer comfortable being around the dog, and told my husband that if the dog is at our house, I’m moving in with my parents. So the dog has stayed at my in-laws since the incident.

My mother-in-law, a tiny elderly woman, literally had to fight this 60 lb dog off the man to get him to stop biting and attacking. Yet she sees absolutely no issue keeping the dog in her house without additional training or supervision. The dog is triggered by food and resource guarding, yet they’re allowing him to be in the room while they’re eating (which is what provoked last week’s bite).

We have a behavioral consultation scheduled for end of August. Unfortunately that’s the soonest available. My husband refuses to take any help or advice surrounding the dog and its care. His parents are the same. I feel absolutely helpless here - the red flags are glaring, so many mistakes have been made, and everyone around the dog is in danger. My biggest fear is that he bites someone else and I’m held liable (we are in a strict liability for dog bites state and I share finances with my husband).

Besides refusing to be around the dog, is there anything I can do to keep me and my family safe? This might be more of a psychological question, but why is everyone acting so willfully blind to the danger here? And is there ANYTHING I can do to get through to them?? Resources I can direct them to?

And has anyone had any luck training an older dog with a Level 4 bite history? Or is BE really our only option at this point (not that I have a say).

TL;DR - need advice on getting stubborn people to understand the danger involved with a dog who has a Level 4 bite history. My marriage is on the line here, it literally is “me or the dog” like the old tv show

I’m so upset, and not because of the attack, but because of how they handled the situation. Today I was walking my 6.5 month old husky puppy, when I encountered my neighbors (who happen to be friends with my parents) and their 2 poodle mix dogs (idk what kinda doodle but definitely doodles) who she has interacted with before. Everything was fine at first & my girl laid down on her back exposing her belly, submitting to them, when one of them decided to attack my dog in the face. Thankfully she has sustained no injuries & is ok, but they didn’t apologize or say anything. They didn’t recall their dog, they didn’t apologize or check to see if she or I were okay, they just stood there. I ended up just walking off after saying shes overwhelmed and we’re going to go, and again nothing. They just continued their conversation with whatever neighbor they were talking to. I’m just so annoyed because I wish I could have stood up for my dog, said something, or just experienced a little more grace from there end. I know they don’t have to say anything, but should you not? If my dog attacked another dog I would be doing whatever I could to help the aftermath of the situation, meanwhile they kinda stood there. They also did not correct their dog, call him back, or anything. I’m just so angry. That’s all. Thank God Peach is ok tho!

I need help. I have a two y/o male pitbull that doesn’t know the difference between normal body language (pointing, hugging, standing close by) and actual threatening behavior because my family thinks it’s funny to tease him.

Numerous members of my family think it’s funny to tease our dogs. This has resulted in behavioral issues that manifest as physical aggression, and after the last incident I think they finally understand they need to stop the teasing. They pretend to punch or slap each other while screaming to get the dogs riled up, or they’ll hug each other and say “mine, mine, mine.”

Today, my sister bent over my mother to check her stomach to see how it was healing after surgery, and my pitbull immediately went into defense mode and had her hand in his mouth. He did not bite her, but he was growling and essentially issuing her a warning. Before this, he was just chewing on his toy and behaving normally. She didn’t do anything to rile him up; he simply saw her do this and immediately went at her. This is now the second time he’s done this to a member of my family. How do I unfuck his behavior? Can it even be done?

I have advocated for him and will continue to do so, so please don’t think I just let this happen and didn’t try to stop it. I have tried and still am, but I live in an abusive household so getting my abusers to listen to me has not been easy. They’re finally getting it through their heads that they have to stop the teasing, but only because his behavior is escalating. I don’t want him to hurt anyone. Please help

my partner and i adopted our dog (2 yr old rescue cattle/pittie/collie mix) about nine months ago and it’s been a tough year with lots of ups and downs. the first two months she was an angel (dog friendly, human friendly, cuddly) and then when she got settled she became dog-reactive. we live in nyc in a neighborhood with lots of dogs so this made it extremely stressful every time we left the house with her. we started working on training in december and it got incrementally better but we only saw real progress after sending her to a 3week board and train.

we’re now a month out from the b&t and we’ve seen huge improvement. she can now pass other dogs calmly on the street, walk on a loose-ish leash, and settle outside for an hour or two without being frantic/hyper-vigilant/whimpering. this has been amazing and has opened up her world. we take her to more places now, hike with her, and just took her on her first camping trip. all of this is great news and yet i still can’t shake the feeling that she has “problems” i need to “fix.”

she has little to no interest in playing (she’ll tug a bit in the house but won’t engage in tug/fetch/anything when outside). she spends a lot of her indoor time under our bed. she doesn’t run to the door when we get home. and she pants often. she’ll often come up to us for pets but then when we start petting her she’ll pant quite a bit and then after a minute or two abruptly leave.

all these signs make me feel like she’s still stressed/anxious and i just don’t know how to help her. and on the worst days, it makes me feel like she doesn’t like us :( i see other dogs at the park so engaged with their owners and playing fetch and being so happy-go-lucky and it makes me sad that i’ve never experienced that with my dog.

we try so hard to make sure we’re doing her training things and keeping her fulfilled and exercised but also well slept and with boundaries but also with lots of love. sometimes i just feel like nothing will work or that it’s never enough.

I adopted my now 3.5yo border-aussie when he was 1.5yo. at that time he had never been on leash and knew nothing outside of his home, empty crate, and back yard. He had been in the car to go to the vet and get fixed and that was all. He has now been on Prozac for about a year and a half, and his dosage has redently been increased about 40 days ago.

We have come a long way on leash but he is still incredibly reactive to people, bikes, and especially other dogs. He has learned to check in, heel (when actively enforced) and the pulling has reduced a lot. He no longer barks at things like parked motorcycles and people across the street. He can respond to command cues while on walks and rebounds from triggers pretty quickly.

All that being said-- he is still insanely alert at all times. I have lately been trying to implement sniff walks and I am realizing that he has pretty much no interest in sniffing. He will sniff to follow a squirrel trail, which is quick and leads him to jump up a tree trunk and bite at the tree, a behavior I have been disallowing for obvious safety reasons. He has a couple sewers he likes to check in with. Other than that he has no interest in sniffing the ground unless he's about to poop.

Otherwise he is locked in on the distance/scanning and watching for something to bark at. He doesn't seem to understand the idea of relaxed walking/sniffing around.

I am trying to teach the command "go sniff" to let him know it's okay to just explore but I am struggling.

He knows "find it" in response to finding a toy or a treat, so lately I will scatter kibble in the grass and tell him to find it to encourage sniffing the ground, but once he's found the kibble he's back focused on me waiting for more.

I've also been doing what I call "the porch game" where after a walk I will sit on the stoop with him and reward him for calm behavior. (Basically just anytime he sits, lays down, isn't scanning, or when he sees a trigger and focuses on me). I think it's going well, because after the first 5-6 sessions he started to lay down and act more calm more quickly. I've started scattering kibble in the grass during this time too to encourage him to sniff around. It's tough though because we live in a town house so sometimes a neighbor will open their door and he starts barking and I have to just bring him inside, so I don't know how to deal with that gap in threshold/unpredictable too-big-to-train-on trigger appearance when I'm trying to teach that it's chill to be outside... But that's a different problem (open to suggestions for that too tho).

Anyway-

What can I do differently/what can I add to walks/porch game to help encourage calm behavior?

Three months ago, we adopted a 10-month-old male GSD with some working-line genetics from a shelter. We knew going in that he was reactive toward dogs, bicycles, and motorbikes, but we were happy to take on the challenge and help him.

From the start, we've been working with a trainer who is not force-free. I know that may not be everyone's preference, but we've also learned a lot of force-free concepts into our training. For context, I've had some bad experiences with force-free trainers in my area while working with a previous dog that had aggression issues, so we decided to take a different approach this time.

Overall, we've made great progress. We can now go on enjoyable walks without relying on aversive methods, and he's able to participate in group classes with only minor reactions. We've also discovered that he has virtually no off switch at home. If we don't enforce structured rest and separation, he simply won't settle or sleep.

To help with that, we're working through Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocol in the hope that lowering his overall arousal will also help with his reactivity.

At the same time, I'm trying to incorporate more force-free techniques for his dog reactivity. I've mostly been working with LAT (Look At That), but I'm struggling with one particular issue. If we're at a distance where he notices another dog, he immediately fixates and starts whining in a very high pitch. He'll sometimes still take food, but he's clearly over threshold. If I increase the distance enough for him not to react, we're so far away that he doesn't notice the other dog at all.

Has anyone dealt with this specific stage of training? How did you bridge the gap between "reacts immediately" and "doesn't even see the trigger"? Some courses, books, or papers that we can work through in the future are always welcome.

For additional context, his reactions seem to be frustration-based rather than fear-based. We tested him with our trainer's dog, and he clearly enjoys interacting and playing with other dogs once he's able to do so appropriately.

I'd appreciate it if we could keep the discussion focused on the training question rather than debating the use of aversive tools. I only mentioned our training background to be fully transparent.

Hey everyone! I just found this community and, after reading through a lot of the posts, I’m realizing my situation might be a little more complicated than I originally thought.

A few months ago I adopted my dog, Mega, from my local shelter he is a 6 year old pitbull, presumably a street dog all his life. At home, he’s honestly the biggest teddy bear. My kids absolutely adore him, and he’s incredibly gentle with them. They climb all over him during playtime, and he just plays back softly. He’s never barked at or shown any aggression toward them.

The other day though, we were at my youngest son’s birthday party and I tried introducing him to my dad’s 2 year old German Shepherd. The dogs were separated by a glass door, but Mega immediately started growling, baring his teeth, and clearly wanted nothing to do with her.
I know some of his history before I adopted him. As an adult, he contracted distemper, and at some point he was attacked by another dog. From what I was told, he defended himself, seriously injured the other dog, and also bit the people who were trying to separate the fight.

What confuses me is how completely different he is at home. He’s calm, affectionate, and amazing with my kids, so seeing that level of aggression toward another dog really caught me off guard.
I feel bad because I’d love to take him to dog-friendly events, parks, and other activities, but I don’t feel like I can safely do that right now. Has anyone dealt with a dog that is wonderful with people and children but reactive or aggressive toward other dogs because of past trauma? Is this something that can realistically be improved with training and careful desensitization, or is management usually the better long-term approach?

I’d really appreciate any advice or experiences you can share.

I’m so tired of people (especially older white folks) disregarding me when I’m asking them to ignore my reactive dogs when I’m out training. I ask, always very politely, to please ignore them, don’t look at them, don’t call them over, don’t try to give them commands… and they just never listen. They talk over me at my dogs to try and give them commands, or they keep approaching when I am crearly trying to create space. One older man was barking orders at my dog and of course my dog was barking back as I was trying to get him to settle down; I had to tell him twice to stop, that I would manage it, and he has the audacity to look me straight in the eyes and say « are you sure, it doesn’t look like it! » I was fuming.
Another older lady wouldn’t stop talking to my dog after I’d asked more than once to ignore him, and than she condescendingly tells me that maybe if I took him where there’s lots of people he’d get used to it and react less. Lady, I really don’t have the time or the desire to explain to you why that’s a terrible idea. How about you just respect what I’m asking and shut up with your outdated unsolicited advice?

With all the younger folks in my building, like 60 and under, they never do that! They’re always super respectful, they tell me I’m doing a good job and that my dogs seem well looked after.

I work really hard with my dogs and I’m SO tired of dealing with people’s entitlement. Anyone else have this type of experiences? I just want to feel less alone in my frustration.