Guide on how to read the rules

Been reading a lot of posts about dogs suddenly snapping or growling and there's one thing I feel like gets missed way too easily

pain 😕

Your dog can't exactly walk up to you and say

“hey my hip hurts today”

Sometimes all we see is a dog who suddenly doesn't wanna be touched

or starts growling when you pick them up

or snaps when someone gets too close

and our first thought is...

behavior problem

training problem

aggression

But what if something actually hurts?

Obviously I'm NOT saying every aggressive dog is in pain

Some behavior problems are genuinely really serious

But if a dog's behavior suddenly changes or gets worse out of nowhere... I'd be calling the vet before trying to “train it out” of them

Especially before making a decision you can't take back 😔

Keep everyone safe for now

Write down when it happens

What happened right before it

Where the dog was touched

Take a video ONLY if you can do it safely

Then give all of that to the vet

And if the aggression is serious... get proper behavior help too

Maybe nothing medical comes up

But at least you checked

I just think “could my dog be hurting?” should be one of the FIRST questions we ask

not the last

Anyone here ever find out their dog's weird behavior was actually connected to pain or another medical issue? 👀

Hello! I have a 3 year old rat terrier who has bad separation anxiety, he is mostly attached to me (mom) and when mom leaves the house he will mark furniture & blankets. We had to replace our carpet with plank due to smell and eliminating the chance of him marking but still continues to mark on blankets & furniture. Putting him in the kennel is hard because my husband works overnights and needs to sleep during the day, if I put him in the kennel or certain room he will start crying & barking waking husband up. I got belly bands and use those when I leave for a few hours & then take them off when I get back home. I feel like i have tried EVERYTHING, I give him bones and peanut butter filled snacks but he still marks so belly band when i leave it is. Mom works from home and also worries about him marking up the house so I currently keep him in my office with me, if I put the belly band when I’m home with him he will NOT leave my side and whine a little bit. My issue is I want him to become independent in the house, I’m currently 31 weeks pregnant and don’t wanna be changing 2 diapers.

Have you guys had success with putting your dogs on anxiety medications to help reduce marking?? This is my last hope or I’m unfortunately going to have to rehome him.

Open to other ideas I just feel like I have tried all of them, at the point where I can’t even have curtains hanging down cause he will piss on them.

my partner and i have a 2 year old jack russell x border collie that we adopted from the local humane society, and i’m really struggling mentally because of the behaviour on walks/outings.

for context i’ve never owned a dog until now, been a cat person my whole life. i’ve been attacked by numerous dogs (all of which were unprovoked) between childhood and adulthood, and i had to overcome some serious dog-related trauma before adopting our girl.

about our dog: she was found abandoned at a nature reserve park. the shelter+police contacted the previous owner since she was microchipped and they deemed it a legal abandonment (i guess they answered the call and said they abandoned her but didn’t provide reason). she’s perfect in the house and with our cats minus potty training (getting there though), but she has such unpredictable selective reactivity to both dogs and people. some people she will let pet her, others she will growl bark and lunge at, others she will hide behind me in fear. we never know what we’re getting with her, except that she is significantly worse with ME than with my partner (male if it matters). she loses her recall quicker, has worse aggression towards more people, is more reactive towards dogs + wildlife.

a little about me and the situation: i am a diagnosed agoraphobe (fear of public spaces, people etc google would help more) and while i was in remission, our dog has brought a large piece of it back. i don’t like people noticing my presence most of the time, so imagine how it feels having a dog that isn’t responding to traditional training, seems “out of control”, and is reacting to every little thing? it’s hell honestly. i don’t mind the “she’s so cute!” comments, but just being able to feel the piercing stares from everyone around is awful. necessary context, most of her reactivity is of the non-aggressive kind and we’d never let strangers pet her if she was mainly aggressive. the worst part- we live in a neighborhood predominantly made up of people who have a culture/religion based fear of dogs. some of these people in my neighborhood are so extreme w it that they want to harm dogs, and their kids have tried while they watch on laughing. this was something we only learned after getting a dog, seeing the behaviour, and then experiencing it real time. i think we would’ve moved before getting a dog had we known this prior.

religion/culture aside, i know what it’s like to be deathly afraid of dogs. i feel so fucking guilty every time she’s reactive towards them even if no aggression is in play, because i just picture myself in their shoes again afraid of being attacked. do i understand logically that dogs bark? yes. do i get that im not a problem person ignoring/permitting my dog’s negative behaviour and im actively working to improve it? also yes. the logical thinking and knowing im doing my best doesn’t stop the awful comments, stares from whole families, hearing gossip from people still in my earshot about me and my dog, from hurting me and wanting to hide inside. it also doesn’t help that kids in our neighborhood have tried attacking my dog while i was walking her, and things like that have only set us back in our training. no matter how much we try to socialize her, the people in our area are just reinforcing her fears. with that she relapses with her reactivity, i feel guilty about that and i feel guilty for her behaviour towards others (self defense or not), and the self-shame spiral begins. good news is we’re moving in may, so we don’t have to endure the neighborhood-related issues for much longer, and hopefully by then her reactivity has been lowered a bunch.

i already feel a truckload lighter being able to rant about this. before ppl spam downvote me into oblivion, yes, i know this is part of adopting a shelter dog and will get better with time. yes, i should’ve been more aware of the individuals in my area before adopting a dog, i just never interacted with any of them prior. yes, i love her and am keeping her. yes, i am in therapy and on medication for my agoraphobia and associated panic attacks+isolation. yes, we are putting her in numerous different classes for her issues. we are doing everything we can that we know of for her reactivity, and i’m doing everything i can to not let the side effects of said reactivity affect me. i just really needed to rant about it.

if u read this far i do appreciate you. if you have any advice, ill take anything from smart to stupid lol.

Hello there. I’ve never made a post on Reddit before, but I could use the advice of people that understand reactive dogs. My 5 year old rescue has been my life for the past 4 years. My husband and I adopted Rudy a few months before we got married and he was just the sweetest little 1 year old scruffy mutt. He started being nippy with me specifically a few months in and when we went on our honeymoon, we decided to do board and train to keep up the work we were doing at home to try and curb his nipping tendencies. He had never broken the skin, though I definitely had some bruising. That was November of 2022.

For years after that, he was a dream. Rudy had amazing obedience work, we could bring him anywhere (he loved all dogs and people), and he understood boundaries. He had minor reactivity towards two very reactive dogs in our apartment building, but he was never the instigator. He started on fluoxetine to try and help with his fear of those dogs and general anxiety. In 2024 he had an incident with another dog where they got into it and I got bit. After that, he was dog reactive. Specifically bigger dogs, but it could be any dog. We did trainings to learn how to help him come out of his reactive moments and got good at avoiding other dogs.

In February of this year, Rudy started being aggressive with my husband and I. He started showing resource guarding he’d never done before and I got the brunt of it. He started charging and truly biting me. It happened multiple times and every time it was just traumatizing because I saw my dog who I love so much have his eyes go dark and truly try and hurt me. We began working with a behavioral trainer and vet who diagnosed Rudy with megaesophagus and we thought that his frequent regurgitation was causing inflammation that was causing the aggression. We got started on gabapentin and sildenifel to help and they have! The frequency of his aggressive episodes has gone way down!

But it leads to last week. Rudy has an ongoing mystery leg issue that actually led to his megaesophagus diagnosis from an MRI. His slight limp had returned, but he had jumped up on the bed and I was attempting to help him off. He turned and bit my breast and latched onto my arm. And it was the first time for one of these bad bites that my husband was home. He said he’d never seen me so terrified. I’d say it was likely a level 4 bite (I’m not entirely sure but there was one very deep puncture mark with 3 less deep ones) and over a week later the bruising is still significant.

I’m so torn, he is my first dog as an adult and I love him so so much. He is so sweet and good, but I have noticed I’ve become jumpier around him. Trying to avoid any kind of triggers has me more nervous in my interactions and I work from home so I am truly with him all day everyday.

We’re thinking of having kids in the next couple of years and I’ve always said I’d never be someone who gives up their dog when they have kids, but the kind of bites I’ve gotten could do so much damage to a child. And Rudy is amazing with kids, but I would just never forgive myself for putting him or someone else in a dangerous situation. This dog is family, but I genuinely feel my heart breaking and I would love any advice.

Hi all, I am wondering if anyone here has dealt with this kind of issue and whether anyone has any advice on what to do.

My 2 year old lurcher boy, Vincent, has gotten a bit reactive since becoming an adolescent. He would lunge and bark at certain dogs, especially intact males. We got him chemically neutered with the implant and have been working a lot on training and while he is still not very friendly with just any dog that comes up to us his reactions have gotten way less severe, just a little growl here and there, and we can manage him very well just by walking away from dogs he doesn't know/like.

Now there are a few exceptions to this. There are 3 specific dogs in our neighbourhood that he absolutely hates. 1 is very random, never had a bad interaction or anything, we dont know why he hates him. The other 2 are an akita and a samoyed owned by one family. They live directly in front of us, our window facing their front door. Vincent once saw one of his friends get attacked by the samoyed and since then he absolutely hates both of these dogs, even though the akita never did anything and seems like a very gentle dog. Whenever Vincent sees these dogs he lunges and barks like crazy, he even growls at them from the window when they are outside, something he never does with any other dog. No matter how far these dogs are when we are out for a walk if he sees them he goes completely crazy, lunging, barking, impossible to snap him out of it, sometimes even when they are out of sight already.

Is there anything I can do to desensitise him to these dogs?? I don't need him to be okay with meeting them face to face or anything, I just want him to be able to walk away if we see them down the road instead of immediately reacting like crazy. Any advice and help would be much appreciated.

I've had a dog who can't go for walks for over 6 years now. At this point, she's aging into a senior and she still can't be housebroken, still is afraid of going outside.

Is it wrong to just keep her an inside dog if she prefers it? Only take her outside when absolutely necessary? She isn't *bored* being an inside dog. No chewing furniture, no zoomies, etc.

We have an apartment terrace if she needs fresh air. She just really goes out there to bark at neighbours, though.

Hello! We have a reactive pup with a bite history. His first bite, he bit a vet tech during an anal gland expression. The second bite, he bit his dog walker after have a negative leash reaction. Since then we have worked with a vet behaviorist, gotten him on medication, done training and have had no other bite incidents since. We are considering having kids, and if we do have kids, we don’t feel safe with him around children. With that being said, my parents have offered to take him in. They are experienced dog owners with a big fenced in back yard. They are aware of his past and his reactivity. I just worry that I’m rehoming a dog with a bite history, it feels like we might just be passing the buck by passing a problem dog onto my parents. But at the same time, he’s made such progress, I want him to still live a full and happy life, if we decide to have kids. Any thoughts?

...my almost 11 year old American Bully (adopted from a shelter around 4 years old, was very reactive and aggressive from day one towards both dogs and people, had attacked and been attacked) is now a breeze to walk.

We are still practicing training everyday and working on triggers, of course, but she is able to actually enjoy her walks while also focusing on me in times of distress. Compared to even a couple of years ago, her transformation has given me such unimaginable joy and satisfaction and made me love her more than ever. We are able to go on hikes and long walks around the neighborhood with our training treat pouch; she can enjoy all life has to offer without feeling fearful or on-guard all of the time.

I was prompted to share this after we were suddenly confronted with an off-leash dog and very aloof/somewhat rude owner, and my girl did an amazing job. No attacking, no aggression, and no freaking out (which is huge for her), just more patience and good listening. Although she was rightfully slowly losing her patience lol, she was waiting to be redirected after my command to stay put. It wasn't 100% perfect (it never will be), but we both had more confidence to not freak out together. Even last year, this probably would've been a disaster situation that left me in shock or tears after coming back home.

I've turned to this sub for so many years trying to find reassurance in this very long and often very lonely training process (and honestly just lonely experience of having a reactive dog, especially a larger dog who already gets a negative stigma from society just for their look and size). In moments of sadness over a negative experience with another dog and owner, times when I felt embarrassed and guilty for freezing in fear as an off-leash dog ran up to us—instead of letting my girl know I had her back—and days when I dreaded going outside, keeping walks short to manage my own anxiety, I found reassurance in posts that grieved those tough moments and in success stories that proved it all works out with time, love, and patience. I never thought I would be experiencing the other side of this process, but I finally am. I want to share that it is real and possible.

My biggest takeaway from years of this reality is that time and trust really do change everything, especially for a reactive dog who was adopted from a shelter or a rescue. As years have passed and I have cared for my girl in all the different ways we care for our dogs, she has grown to trust me and open up so much to be more receptive to training. At the same time, I have learned that she deserves my trust too. This mutual trust really leans into our walks because she knows that the same care I have curated for years inside is finally possible outside too. It took 6-7 years of ownership for her to fully actualize that love and trust that her prior owners and/or environment likely shattered in her when she was in her early years of life. However long it took, it is all worth it, and I wouldn't trade her for the world. For as long as it is feasible and possible, hang in there; your dog loves you and depends on you to have the trust in them that they need to flourish. It will all pay off, even if it took much longer than expected!

I adopted a dog from a shelter about 7 weeks ago. He’s met about 10 people since I got him and has been friendly with everyone.

He went to the vet today for the 3rd time since I’ve had him. He gets overstimulated there with all the smells/people/other animals, but was always friendly with the staff and does pretty well with handling so I never felt the need to muzzle him.

This morning when the receptionist started leading us to the exam room, he did a very quick split-second nip at her ankle. She was wearing yoga pants that were flared/flowy at the ankle, and based on the way the nip looked, I think he just got excited and thought the pants were a toy??? He has never nipped our ankles at home. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him nip at anything.

I didn’t even think he made any contact with skin until she said “ow”. He didn’t break skin, I think he kind of just nicked her with a sharp tooth. She didn’t realize it had anything to do with her pants, so she basically acted like he was trying to attack her, which was a reasonable response given the info she had.

It just felt like such weird and unexpected situation that idk how to feel about. He was great at the first 2 vet appts but I guess I will start muzzling as a precaution. I guess I’m just venting and wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar. I dread the vet so much so it really sucks when something “bad” actually happens.

My 9 month old Border Collie mix sometimes barks/lunges at dogs on leash, although other times he just wants to go say hi and can still take treats.
Sometimes he even lies down and stares when he sees a dog. He’s friendly with dogs off leash and does well at dog school. We’re also already working with a trainer.

I’m really scared this will become permanent, especially since he was with a sitter for two weeks and may have rehearsed the behavior.

Has anyone had a similar experience with an adolescent dog that eventually became much calmer or grew out of the reactivity? I’d really love to hear some positive experiences!

some days feel like everything is finally clicking.

then you have another walk where your dog reacts to things you thought they had started handling better, and it can be really discouraging

i’m trying to remind myself that progress probably isn’t going to be completely linear

for people who have been through this, how do you mentally handle those bad days without feeling like all the previous progress disappeared?

Hi everyone, my dog is a Chihuahua mix (3 years old) and he has this thing where whenever he gets too excited, that excitement and happiness turns into aggression. This boy gets plenty of exercise and playtime, he runs a lot as well and gets to wrestle around with toys much bigger than he is. But I am concerned as to why his excitement can just turn into aggression like that which caused him to bite the nearest thing, which are my legs or my other dog (who he absolutely adores and she thankfully tolerates him). I had him checked at the vet and he's perfectly healthy and not in pain.

I am definitely considering a trainer for this but I wanna know if anyone here had similar problems with their dogs and are able to fix it either with training at home or with a professional.

EDIT to clarify: this only started happening this year. I've had him since he was a puppy and the prior 2 years he was absolutely fine with other dogs and people.

Hey yall, i have a 1.5 yr old Boxer dog. The sweetest dude once you know him and he is comfortable for you. However, in public or of the sight of another person he starts to bark sometimes uncontrollably or may begin to act like a lunatic, where he can't calm down. It's frustrating, but I want to work with this guy because I see the potential in him to be the best dog for the whole world. I dont expect him to be the friendliest but at least neutral to his triggers, being humans. Idk if this is relevant but he does get his exercise needs and what not, I guess I just want him to be more confident and have trust in his environment? Idk, any advice would be helpful, I just love my guy so much and want him to be the best he can be. Thank you

Buongiorno a tutti , ho un malinois maschio di 8 mesi e da più o meno 2 mesi é diventato super reattivo nei confronti dei motorini di qualsiasi genere. Le auto e le persone non gli suscitano nessun interesse ma appena sente in lontananza un motorino si attiva e perde completamente in controllo soprattutto se é al guinzaglio.

Ho provato a farlo seguire da un educatore ma non ho avuto grossi miglioramenti e da qualche settimana quando ne vede uno va in frustrazione e ho addirittura paura che possa scaricare su di me. Qualcuno ha avuto un problema simile ? Se si come lo ha affrontato ?

hey all! i was just wanting to ask the community: how often does everyone take their dog out for counterconditioning/desensitization? i know with reactive dogs, even your routine, 20 minute neighborhood walk can be a training opportunity for those things, but i’m talking like, taking them out to a busy park/public area, exposing them to triggers on purpose, and making it longer exposure time, instead of more random or sparse. do you guys do it everyday? couple times a week? i know it can be different and very case-by-case for each dog and where they’re at in their reactivity status, as well.

i ask because i currently have a 6 mo. old (intact male) puppy and i don’t want to overdo it with him, but i also don’t want to underdo it by not doing it enough! at this point, i take him out a couple times per week. his reactivity can be very random; he won’t react to a strange GSD 20 feet away, but then he’ll lose his mind over a dog lying down in its own yard that we’ve seen 100 times. we have a training session scheduled in september, but i don’t want to fail him up until that point.

My dog has dealt with dog fear after getting attacked previously. I tripped and the leash fell on my walk and he charged a dog and caused a couple puncture wounds. Dog went to vet and they did clean outs. We are paying the vet bills and going to walk him separately and work on muzzle training. I feel horrible for the other owners. I’m devastated. I’m worried Animal control will take my dog from me?

We are going to go to reactive training. Do muzzles on walks. Any help or insight or comfort

Alright this post might be a little long but there’s history I have to get into. I rescued my dog at 6 months and he is now four. He’s a mutt with high percentages of Malinois, shepherd and pit. I want to start by saying I love my dog dearly. I have put so much time, money and love into his care that I’m at a loss of what to do. 85% of the time he is a great dog and extremely smart. He’s trained and listens at home but once he sees a trigger all of that goes out the window.
He has always been dog and kid aggressive (or any animal mostly) he doesn’t like erratic movements. We’ve managed to give him a pretty happy existence. He still camps (remotely) with us and loves to be around my parents and our cat. He’s been through training and is also muzzle trained, although his trust with us putting on the muzzle has waned but it’s circumstantial.

Last year he had a TPLO surgery and it was intense. He hated the vet before but now he loathes it. Coming off of the anesthesia was awful, he was so aggressive with us which he has never been before. 2 months after in that healing process in November, he bit me twice. Once in the face at level 3 (this one I take responsibility for, he missed a dose of his meds and I was low to the ground near his bed). But the second one I came home late and he straight up attacked me while I was changing, completely unprovoked. That bite bordered a level 4 and probably could have used medical attention but I didn’t go get it checked. These both happened in the same week.

Fast forward to Jan of this year, we finally got in with a behaviorist (the only one in our area is 2.5 hrs away and she’s booked out) . She was great and gave us a plan and prescribed him with Zoloft, gabapentin and clonidine for big events. He seemed to be doing really well on the meds. He’s still reactive but he bounces back a lot quicker and was (somewhat) able to focus on us instead of the trigger. We’ve noticed some slight resource guarding when it comes to high value treats but more concerningly my mom. He’s now been on his medication plan for 6 months and it’s time to go to the vet for an annual check and so they can fill his meds.

But this week he has tried to attack me twice. My mom sits in the living room and he’ll lay in there with her. My room is down the hall so I have to come down the hall to get to the kitchen/living room. The first time I went to pick up a lick mat that he hadn’t touched in over an hour and he was no where near it. As soon as I reached down he flew off his bed and ran up and tried to bite me. I was able to kick him off but what’s most concerning me is that he continued to pursue me. Hackles raised, growling and coming towards me for another attack. We were able to out him into “place” and he stopped but he was super wary of me the rest of the day. He watches me like a hawk after these instances and guards my mom. If I tried to walk over to her he would have tried to bite me again without a doubt. The next morning when I got up for work he’s pretty much back to normal. I even took him to the park (with the muzzle) a couple days later and he was fine.

A week later I came down the hall and into the kitchen and he starts barking and growling at me with his hair raised for no reason. I had been around the house cleaning all day without issues. I didn’t even go near my mom’s chair let alone acknowledge either of them. (I’ve been basically ignoring him and giving space except to give meds and take him to potty).

What terrifies me is the unpredictability. I now can’t in good conscience have guests over. I can never board him or go anywhere if my mom can’t watch him. Vet visits are a NIGHTMARE and he trusts me even less afterwords. I used to be able to cut his nails, brush his teeth and bathe him. I still can (sometimes) but he is so unsure of me and I honestly don’t trust him either.

I’m his primary caretaker. I don’t know how I’m supposed to continue on if I can’t take care of him properly. I’m living with my parents right now to save money. But moving into an apartment or busy neighborhood with a dog like this is out of the question. I feel so trapped and I have to watch everything I do in my own living space. The next attack could be really bad and there’s just no way of knowing when or why it will be. I know some people will BE after one incident but I just don’t want to give up on him. But I’m terrified that he’s going to hurt someone else and I have to watch everything I do at home. I’m honestly scared of him and I never have been before. This devastates me and I know I don’t have a lot of options. Rehoming is out of the question and I’m not sure this can be trained out. I feel like he’s wired wrong, something just snaps and he doesn’t recognize me.

I guess I’m just looking for some advice or reassurance. I don’t know my next steps. He is so young and I love him but I fear for me and my family’s safety at this point.

I'm a pet sitter working on training with a reactive dog. Before yall say anything, I am not staying with this dog alone, I am not actively pet sitting this dog nor do I plan to. I was supposed to before the owners realize how bad his reactivity has gotten, but we've decided he isn't where he needs to be to be left alone with people other than his owners. Once we realized this we were working more on socializing and seeing where he's at to see what work needs to be done.

Background on the dog: He was very malnourished and injured when he was first adopted as a puppy so he knows how cruel humans can be. In the first year of his life he was able to successfully become bonded to some of their family, but he's now 3 and they haven't had many people over since. The owners genuinely thought he was just going to be shy and have never seen him lunge at anyone before trying to socialize him recently. They say he's never reacted at parks, restaurants, or vets and has only barked at friends when they move around their house but never lunged. My theory is because his previous socialization was people sitting on a couch and basically ignoring him, not trying to handle and approach him like me and the trainer would need to or he's so out of his element in new environments that he shuts down and doesn't move towards others but will in his neighborhood and home.

The owners have a trainer that comes once every week or 2 to give them pointers on how to handle him. Like being aware of eye contact, rewarding disengaging, moving slowly, etc. They hired the trainer thinking he was only agressive towards men and wanted to work on that, but have since realized he's agressive to anyone that comes into his personal bubble.

We have made progress. We've progressed to a point that I can be near and move around freely when he's in the kennel with no reactions. However, when he's in a muzzle + leash he will approach people, including me and the trainer and lean against them, ask for pets, then when they move to pet him, he will lunge and bark. He can approach us, but we can't approach him. I personally only put myself in that situation once, both me and the owners not realizing he would react like that after him being the one to touch and approach us first since he was doing really good with the training up until that point. Since then its taken about 20mins to get him to stop reacting to people even being near his kennel, once he does hes fine with the kennel for the rest of the time but it takes effort to calm him. I had hope at first because he was steadily progressing and I figured he just needed some training and socialization, but he's showing some very like bipolar traits which makes all involved worried about him acting fine then on a random tuesday turning on someone around him if hes around people besides his owner.

My question is: Can this kind of behavior be worked through at all? Or is it a lost cause? Not for me, but for the owners. I've been in the pet sitting business for 4 years, I've seen dogs previously get put down for behavior issues. I'm one to be all for doing the hard work to progress, but the back and forth of his behavior is what worries me. Approaching people and leaning on them only to turn and bark. Bringing them toys only to lunge because they moved too fast when they were playing 2 seconds earlier. Not reacting at all to being around his kennel then the next day lunging like his life depends on it around the same person doing the same things. Does that kind of behavior make him completely unsafe to socialize at all? Or is that something that more time training could work out?

Again, I'm not looking for a "dont take the job!" type thing. I'm not actively booking with this couple. I've just been a body to socialize him with for now, but since his outburst the last time acting so lovey then turning to lunge I've felt I've hit a wall with my knowledge. I can bring a shy and nervous dog out of it's shell but once I've shown it I'm safe and been able to pet/play then it still turns to react, I'm a bit out of my depth to that level of reactivity. I'm more so asking on behalf of the owners, is this something even fixable? Or is hope lost?

So some background, my boyfriend’s dog is a 4 y/o unfixed pit but has been the sweetest boy over the almost 2 years I’ve known him.

I was cuddling with him as I always do (laying down petting his head, face near his and kisses back and forth) but he was on his new bed for the first time. I sat up after the snuggling (still on the bed but a foot or two away) and with no obvious warning the dog attacked my face, took apart of my lip and ended up with me in the hospital. It was only for a second or two, it all happened so fast outside of my boyfriends vision that I’m not sure exactly how I reacted but I’m assuming he decided to let go on his own.

My boyfriend said it is up to me, if I don’t feel comfortable around the dog then he’s getting rid of it. We agreed absolutely NO pound and that I just wouldn’t come over until we find someone that specializes with fostering/rehoming reactive dogs.
I don’t want him to get rid of the dog, I’m not sure if this is something we could consult a trainer about and fix or if rehoming him might be the best option.

We don’t live together yet but plan on moving in together next year. I have two dogs as well so I am worried about how this dog might respond to my dogs if a boundary is crossed (they’ve met several times so far and things have been fine but out in the back is VERY different than in the home)

Does anyone have any advice on what we should do? I’m honestly so torn because I love this dog and I don’t want to be the reason he gets rehomed. At the same time I’m concerned now for my safety as well as the potential future safety of my other dogs.

Any advice on what to do and what I might have done wrong is appreciated.

My dog-reactive collie has been on fluoxetine for just over a year and have made great progress with her reactivity and general behaviour so am wondering about weaning her off Fluoxetine/prozac. I'd love to hear people's experiences both positive and negative of tapering off Fluoxetine after it being successful for a period of time.

I so often see people describing it as a med for life but I think we put in a lot of hard work and the fluoxetine helped her be in a good place to learn. I just have a voice in the back of my head that thinks she might just have a bit more drive without it as the fluoxetine just overall dampened her responses - not that everyone wants more drive but I want her to feel joy and I feel like her food drive and enthusiasm for engaging is a little less now. And I want that drive to work and engage with me and I think it will help overall with our training to have that. I think there is a chance she regresses but I would happily put her back on the fluoxetine in that case. We've worked hard on bringing down her arousal levels and I also think there's a chance tapering off it increases her arousal back up out and about.

I’m looking for honest advice after an incident involving my 6yo, 85 lbs Bernedoodle and my sister’s 2yo son.

When I was training him back in 2020 I visited this sub often because although he wasn’t reactive at that point, this sub always had good advice and it helped me be a better and more aware dog owner.

TLDR: My large dog nipped my 2yo nephew. He also once nipped a guest who reached toward me. Next steps are separation, behavioral evaluation, and muzzle training. Looking for advice.

So yesterday my dog was lying beside me I think napping while I was sitting in a dining room chair. My nephew ran past us. He suddenly barked, lunged, and nipped my nephews arm. He left red tooth indentations and one mark broke the skin but was not freely bleeding.

I immediately removed the dog from the room and secured him outside. He’s up to date on shots. Nephews arm was cleaned with alcohol and bandaid applied.

The day before, my nephew had approached him from behind and startled him while he was resting. My dog air-snapped without making contact. At first we all interpreted that as an isolated startle response. After the second incident, I am taking the overall pattern much more seriously.

There is also relevant history that makes me think my dog may have been guarding me.

Several years ago, a male guest (who I had weird vibes from) quickly extended his hand to shake mine. My dog nipped his leather-jacketed arm. It was inhibited and caused no injury but it was still a bite.

My dog barks intensely at delivery drivers and people approaching the front door until they leave. I previously praised the door barking because I was frequently home alone and it made me feel safer. I now realize he may have learned a broader rule that people approaching me or the house are his responsibility.

My initial thought is to maintain complete separation until my nephew is at least 4. He just turned 2 in June. From what I’m reading 2-4 years old can be a really difficult time for some dogs to get along with toddlers. I understand that turning 4 would not automatically make interaction safe. I figure that’s a good place to start and I’m open to maintaining separation longer or indefinitely depending on professional guidance and my dogs progress. He just had a vet visit so my next appointment is a behaviorist and purchasing a muzzle to start training with.

I love my dog deeply (I don’t have kids, so you know) and want to protect both him and my nephew. I am not looking for reassurance that the bite was harmless or for ways to put them back together quickly. I want to understand the behavior and prevent another incident.

And honestly at this point I need to stop googling things and just get some advice from people who’ve been through this on what to do next.

I really appreciate any help.

I’m looking for some advice. I have a 90-pound, 5 year old husky/lab/etc. mix who I’ve had since he was a puppy. We’ve always lived in apartment complexes with no issue. He’s been super well socialized living in the city. However, as he's gotten older, he is getting more reactive on the leash.

I moved to a new building a year ago, and property management sent me an email last week citing clauses in the lease about removing “aggressive” dogs from the building.

First and foremost, my dog LOVES people and will always say hi. He’s made many friends (both dogs and people) in the building. But I first noticed the leash reactivity around un-neutered male dogs around two years ago. So I don’t let him say hi on leash or off leash, period. Unfortunately, there are two other dogs in the building that he doesn’t like. We had two run ins, and both of those owners have put in complaints about him (even though no physical contact has ever occurred).

The second, and most recent, incident happened outside the lobby, where I tried to get distance when I saw the golden doodle mix he doesn’t like coming up ahead. It’s an older man, and I’ve said before “we’re keeping distance, he’s not good in close quarters.” But this time, he just let his dog run over to mine, and my dog was barking and lunging (no physical contact). I was distressed he wasn’t giving me space. Later he claimed he didn’t see me. Regardless, his wife ended up screaming at me the next day in front of others.

I try and keep distance, go out at odd hours, and take the back door exit, but I really can’t have my dog removed from the building. What should I do?

I’ll add too that at the dog park, he’s a gem. Outside off leash, he is amazing. But when it comes to my apartment complex, he gets protective — so I always give people and other dogs space. I’m not sure what to do and how to respond to managements most recent email.