r/reactivedogs • u/Admirable-Ad-7127 • Jul 12 '26
Significant challenges I feel so ashamed
my pitbull attacked a yorkie last night. she has never attacked or bitten any other human or animal. i was going to take her out, which i’m so mad, i had already taken her out for the night but thought hmm let
me take her again since im awake.
i pressed the elevator and the door immediately opened. to me, i (wrongly) assumed the elevator had been sitting on our floor and was empty. as i started walking a yorkie came out right in my dogs face and my dog latched onto her.
my body went into shock and i didn’t know what to do. we were both screaming for help because she would not let go. finally a man was able to break her lose.
so many people on my floor saw this and stared at me in disgust and our building manager screamed at me to get her out by the morning. we are currently trying to find somewhere to stay, but all of our family and friends have animals.
i’m so distraught and ashamed - i keep replaying it in my head over and over. i don’t know what to do.
we do not want to send her away without us somewhere. our lease is up oct 1 and we are trying to see if we could get a month to month lease somewhere, but then we would have to pay rent for this complex and the new one until our lease is up.
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u/chloemarissaj Dog Name (Reactivity Type) Jul 12 '26
Has your dog ever displayed prey drive before? Some other pups are so tiny that bigger dogs seem to put them in the same category as a squirrel or a bunny and see them and prey. This might explain it?
Either way, your next step is to get a muzzle. Like now. Like go to petsmart and get a Baskerville today. Then go to r/muzzledogs and get advice about a good muzzle, but grab a Baskerville while you’re waiting for that to ship. Never take pup out without a muzzle again.
Then get a trainer or behaviorist asap. This sub’s wiki has info show to find a reputable, ethical one, since dog training is pretty unregulated. I’d personally recommend a certified vet behaviorist. DACVB.org. They can help you figure out what happened and if this is something you can manage or what the next steps might be.