Like the title says, my 7yo neutered pitbull (Captain) is aggressive. I have a German shepherd that’s 11(neutered), and they’ve been in many fights due to this. 99% of the fights were before we figured out his triggers, but most ACTUAL fights resulted in level 3 bites.

My husband and I paid $3,000 for him to get training (it was an in-home training with the trainer who’s also a behavioral specialist) and do as much correction as we could. He came back a completely different dog in a good way. They weren’t fighting, he wasn’t constantly triggered, etc. We always try to minimize any triggers, if not completely remove them. They eat separately because food is a trigger, and they don’t get toys other than stuffed toys in the house because anything else was a trigger too.
This training was about 3.5 years ago, and we’ve only had 1 or 2 issues in that time.
But the last few weeks since my MIL visited have been stressful - they’ve fought twice (one resulting in me taking a pretty bad bite to my hand), and twice my pitbull has tried to bark aggressively/get in the face of my GSD but he was ignored (this isn’t usually the case - my GSD usually gets back in his face and it starts a fight, but he’s getting old). There are no triggers (unless there’s new ones), but it seems to be happening when they do that weird sniff/check each other out thing. They’ve always done this though, so I’m not sure why it’s causing fights now.

My MIL is one of his triggers - he resource guards her because he’s obsessed with her. Small back story - she left him at our house to watch and never picked him up again. Unsure if that’s why, but adding in case it’s important.
She visits 1-2x a year and we typically will keep them separate or at least very minimal interaction (he’ll be boarded going forward with his trainer when she comes to visit again).
This time he was GLUED to her. This caused him to start resource guarding, and caused a fight between my dogs. This was fully my own stupidity by not correcting the issue that caused the dogs to fight, because I’m the adult and dog mom. I absolutely should have paid better attention and gone with my gut.

But I’m wondering if anyone has experienced this. What are my options? Can I help him? What is typically the best option for us/the household/dogs like this?
One trainer told us that he should be an only dog, but it feels like I’m doing wrong by him by rehoming him. His chances of survival are so slim, whereas with me, I KNOW I won’t take him to the shelter or to be euthanized.
He’s also my baby, and I don’t WANT to rehome him. If that’s genuinely the best option, I would consider it though. I’m hoping people have had success in managing this, because I want to be fair to both of my dogs.
They’re currently separated (the pitbull has his bed in our spare room), but that feels wrong to do 24/7 too.
Any and all advice is welcome.

I’m in the market for a new trainer for my 2 yr old reactive girl. Our previous trainer we got showed us a lot of great activities to do during training walks, like engaged-disengage, the 123 look at me game, and some others to help her pay more attention to me rather than triggers /distractions. She unfortunately has been hospitalized and can’t finish up our training sessions so I am in the market for our new trainer.

While I’ve been assessing trainers, I found a woman who is a behavioral trainer. She claims she’s similar to Cesar Milan, but rather than pack leader her approach is stern puppy mom. She only does one intense 2 to 3 hour session and follow up if needed. She and her reviews claim that she can take a dog from barking at every little thing to one Who can sit down at a coffee shop calmly and politely in one month. She doesn’t specify what her credentials are but claims she’s a dog whisperer who’s been working with dogs for 15 years.

I’m just curious if anyone has gone down this route of a behavioral trainer (different than a vet behavioral trainer)/dog whisperer. And if so how was your experience? Anything similar to what this trainer might claim?

TW BE AND ABUSE

I’ve never posted on here before but I’m in need of some insight. I said goodbye to my 3 year old American Staffordshire yesterday and have been absolutely beside myself. I feel like I made the wrong choice for him. I’m so scared he could’ve gotten better and I just didn’t try enough.

I got Pork Chop as a puppy, and immediately he was food aggressive towards my senior dog. I began working on that but nothing seemed to help. He got slightly better but never safe. I grew up with a reactive dog so I did so much research before getting Pork and spent the majority of my time working on making sure the world wouldn’t be a scary place for him. It didn’t matter. By the time he turned 1 he had already sent another dog to the ER and attacked my other dog multiple times. As he got a bit older he seemed to chill out a bit and was able to be around my other dog as long as there were no food/high value triggers. He could walk past another dog with no issues. Months later and we moved in with my ex and two other men. This ruined my dog. All the progress was gone. They were doing things behind my back and he became aggressive towards one of the guys in the house. He lunged up at his throat once and I never let them near each other again. This relationship became incredibly abusive and my dogs felt that too. When I finally got us out, Pork just wasn’t the same. He’d always had a bit of aggression in him but it had progressed to trying to murder my other dog with no trigger. He would just randomly attack and not stop. I got bit once in the process of breaking it up. He was reactive to dogs on the street and killed any squirrel/bunny he could get. He also became strange around all new people. He wouldn’t let anyone get close and would bark and lunge. He would go at them with the intent to bite. I’ve been keeping the two dogs separate for about a year now but the times I’ve slipped up he’s immediately attacked her. I’ve consulted with trainers and my vet on so many occasions and nothing worked. He did not respond to training. It turned into trying to avoid the triggers I knew existed. I tried medication but half the time I couldn’t even get him to take it and I didn’t want to push him by shoving it down his throat and make him hate me. He just did not get better with anything we did.

He was the sweetest boy with me and never once made me feel unsafe. He was my cuddle bug. But he was a threat to my other dog (plus any other animal) and was aggressive towards anyone but me. I just did not want to wait until he bit someone or killed something. I didn’t want him to be villainized. I feel so wrong though because technically I avoided him biting anyone so it feels like I just gave up on him. I really did try everything I could. He was the reason I felt safe enough to sleep some nights. I just am so afraid I failed him.

I apologize if this is all over the place. I have a lot of emotions right now. And I know I didn’t go into detail about everything but there’s far too much to cover.

My dog is reactive, separation anxiety, and general anxiety. Honestly I would say the general anxiety is mostly gone with lifestyle changes and changes to training. The separation anxiety also improved with training and giving him more space (the living room/kitchen) when I’m not home. The reactivity has also gotten a lot better with changing training techniques. About 6-8 months ago all of these issues were quite bad, one of the vets he was seeing (internal med specialist) kept pushing for me to see a vet behaviorist, so we started that process like 6 months ago.

It started with a mandatory virtual consult with a vet tech/trainer (~$350 for 1 hr) where they then direct you to what service they offer that you should see next. They told me I should see the dr/vet behaviorist next for an in person consult (~$600 for the 1 hr in person consult with them). During the consult it was mostly discussion about meds and they gave me a few scripts for a daily and as needed med. I didn’t get any kind of plan as far as training goes, it just seemed super expensive (basically $1,000) just for meds. If you want to work with them for training, it’s not really included in actually working with the dr but they offer virtual or in person sessions with a CPDT-KA at like $250 per 1 hour session. Or they tell you what to look for in finding a trainer yourself. Then follow ups started at monthly at either about $300 for 30 mins or the same about $600 for an hour. Follow ups were virtual. Again follow ups were just for med discussions and if I asked questioned about training/management, they’d refer me to ask my trainer or schedule an appointment with one of theirs.

I had a previous experience with my dog on SSRIs that was not good, so we started out trialing the situational med first. It doesn’t really do anything, so our follow ups have just been talking about dose adjustments for that med. The last almost 3 months, I started working with a different trainer and my dog is honestly doing really good. I cancelled my dogs most recent virtual follow up with the behaviorist because I really don’t have anything else to say about the meds and I don’t see the point in spending $300-$600 to basically go “yeah he’s doing well with this trainer, the increased dose of the situational med didn’t do anything”. I had a discussion with my primary care vet (who I trust a lot) as well and she said she’s in full support of not using the SSRI. I guess I’m just sort of conflicted here. I would’ve used their training services, but it would need to be virtual since their office is too far a drive for me to go consistently. Virtual training didn’t seem worth it at $250/session, so I found a trainer who I am super happy with. My dog is doing honestly better than I could’ve imagined, so I see no reason to start him on an SSRI. The only real remaining issue is his reactivity, but it’s about 50% better with the new trainer. I was under the impression that seeing a vet behaviorist meant they manage meds + behavioral modification, not the dr manages meds and the actual training/behavior work is an additional charge. Would you go back? Or should I just continue work with his trainer?

I have a 4 year old chihuahua mix who is very reactive in our apartment. He’s triggered by the apartment building door, footsteps, dogs barking outside, the sound of us buzzing in delivery people, and he’s aggressive towards guests he doesn’t know well. We have tried positive crate reinforcement and he responds well, but when he’s over his threshold there’s no getting him to go in there to regulate.

Soon we’ll be moving to a new apartment and we’re wondering if this is the perfect time to fully crate train him the right way. Does anyone have experience doing this late in the game?

My ex husband got us a beautiful silver lab, then we divorced and he didn’t want the dog, so the dog went with me and my kids to my parents house. He’s will be 6years old next month but he has been showing some aggression and I’m actually scared of what could happen. My dad has always taken care of him. My 8 year old grew up with him. My kids and I have now moved out into a small condo but our 90lb lab is not allowed so he’s been at my parents with our other 2 year old bernadoodle. In the past, my lab has snapped at and bit my niece but now he tried to bite my dad. I’m worried. I took him to the dog park and everyone stayed away because they said he was too dominant.
I have paid $3k to a boot camp and they told me he couldn’t be trained. My dad wants the dog gone now and I just don’t know what to do. I posted him on lab rescue websites and the one lady who wanted to meet him ended up telling me no after seeing him at the dog park. Please help, what are my options?

From a CDBC, FDM, CPDT-KA certified dog trainer

The holidays are just around the corner. Family coming into town, lots of great food, time to catch up with people we haven't seen in a while, and lots of opportunities for our dogs to make a grand escape, get into something that is toxic or would cause an obstruction, and have unwanted interactions that may lead to a bite. None of us want those things to happen, but holidays are when they happen the most!

Management ideas

1. Get a free-standing gate to go around your front door on the inside. That way, if Uncle Greg forgets to latch the front door behind him, you have more time to catch it and close it before your dog dashes out into the street.

2. Create a zen den. A place where your dog can go and get comfy when things get loud, overwhelming or during meal times. Use a back room, hallway with a baby gate or mudroom to keep your dog more relaxed. Start getting them acclimated to spending small amounts of time in there now! Feed meals in there, let them enjoy a frozen Kong or Toppl in there, spend some time sitting in there with them when they're tired to help them learn to relax in there.

3. If you're working on teaching your dog not to jump, keep them on leash (yes inside the home), for the first 10-15 minutes that guests are arriving. Hands-free leashes allow you to carry things, greet people and keep your dog from rehearsing any unwanted behaviors. Make sure to have a treat pouch on you to reward any A+ Behaviors!

4. Have guests ask before touching your dog. Many of the dogs I work with have been over handled. Kids grabbing tails, unfamiliar people picking up the dog, people reaching hands over the head to pet a dog who came up to sniff (gathering information, not an invitation for petting), and that's how bites happen. We can check for consent before petting by getting low, putting our hands down in our own personal space (by our legs) and inviting them into our space instead of invading theirs. When I ask the dog if they want to be touched, a majority turn and walk away. And that's okay! Some eagerly trot over and present their booty for scritches. Give the dog a choice.

5. Situational medication. Some dogs have a really difficult time when their routine is disrupted and there is chaos in the home. For those dogs, talking with your vet about medication to help during high stress times may be super beneficial. A seriously stressed out or fearful dog is more likely to resort to an air snap or even bite those who approach them. Help your guests and your dog by using medication paired with a zen den to keep everyone stress-free.

I'll post soon about day-of things you can do to help your dog out!

I never thought I would be making a post like this, but I’m facing one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make.
I have a 3-year-old Australian Shepherd who has struggled with extreme reactivity and aggression. Over time, his behavior has gotten progressively worse, to the point where he has started turning on me and close family members who he used to love and trust.
It’s heartbreaking because I know the sweet, loving dog he can be. He’s still so young, and the thought of putting him down at only 3 years old absolutely destroys me.
I’ve been struggling with the guilt of even considering behavioral euthanasia. Part of me feels like I’m giving up on him, but another part of me realizes that his behavior has become dangerous and unpredictable. I also question what his quality of life is like if he’s constantly living in a state of fear, anxiety, or aggression.
I love this dog more than anything, and I never imagined our time together would end like this. I wanted him to grow old with me.
Has anyone else had to make the decision to euthanize a young dog because of severe aggression or reactivity? How did you come to terms with it?

I'm not sure what the next steps are (if any) for my 5yo, 60lb pit mix.

My husband and I adopted him when he was 3 months old, and when he was around 9 months old he started showing signs of fear-based reactivity. I remember the first time was when I was walking him and a stranger asked if she could pet him. After petting him for a little bit, he jumped up and started barking at her. It wasn't crazy scary or anything at the time, but looking back I recognize that as the first time of concern (I also know now that his body language was showing discomfort before he barked, but at the time I was naive to all there is to know about dog behavior). When he was 2 years old, he nipped at a stranger who put his hand out to him. He used to be very friendly with other dogs, but when he was 3 years old, an off leash dog cornered and bit him, and ever since his reactivity to dogs has increases.

Flash forward to now, we've spent thousands and thousands of dollars on (fear free) training, vet behaviorists, medicine, etc. He's currently on Reconcile (and Clonidine for events like the vet). While we manage him on the day to day, it's not without stress. He loves the familiar people he's known from when he was a puppy, but he also has shown body language and behaviors that would suggest sometimes he's slightly uncomfortable. This rarely happens, and people who aren't familiar with dog body language always think I'm overreacting, but I also know that my dog has a quick/short escalation build to aggressive behaviors, and I am always scared that he will snap with what seems like is coming from nowhere. When it comes to strangers, he is very reactive/aggressive (barking and lunging). If people are in an open area where he doesn't need to "defend himself," he is unbothered by strangers, but if someone is walking towards us and looking at him, that's enough to get him going. When it comes to other dogs, he loves my family's dog (whom he's known since he was a puppy), but it takes a while for him to deescalate enough to play with other dogs. I also would never trust him to play for a long time and/or live with another dog, because he sometimes gets overstimulated when playing and I fear that would turn to aggression. He will lunge and bark aggressively towards people and dogs he does not know.

While this is generally manageable, I am always stressed about the what ifs? What if he one day snaps and attacks someone he knows? What if a maintenance man comes to our house without notifying us beforehand (this has happened to me before, and luckily my dog and I were out of our apartment when the maintenance people came)? Last year, our neighbors whose yard touches ours was redoing the fence; I let my dog out in our yard, only to then see one side of the fence completely down with someone working behind the trees. My dog immediately was aggressively barking at him in a defensive stance. I quickly ran over and got him back inside. We have to walk him every day for exercise, and I always worry if there's someone hanging right around the corner that will catch my dog by surprise and set him off. Whenever we want to travel, we have to travel back to our hometown (10 hours away) and spend thousands of dollars for his trainer to watch him because we don't feel comfortable letting anyone else watch him.

I feel stressed and embarrassed that I have a dog with these behaviors, and it hurts because when he is at home with just my husband and me, he's the sweetest, funniest, most loving, loyal, cuddly dog in the world. He is truly my best friend and I couldn't imagine a world without him. There are most days when we go for a walk and he does so well (like when he immediately looks at me when he sees a trigger) and I feel so proud of him. And then there's other days where we step outside and he is already tense and on edge. I might have to move to a city next year for work, and I can't even imagine how stressful that will be for both of us.

I never thought I would be writing something like this, especially about a dog who’s only 3 years old.
I have a 3-year-old Australian Shepherd who I love more than anything. Unfortunately, his reactivity has gotten progressively worse over time. What started as being reactive toward strangers and certain situations eventually turned into aggression toward me and close family members who he previously loved and trusted.
It’s heartbreaking watching a dog you love slowly become a dog you can no longer safely trust. He’s still my boy, and there are moments when he’s the same loving, goofy dog I’ve always known. But those moments have become overshadowed by the unpredictability of his behavior and the fear that someone could seriously get hurt.
We’re now facing the possibility of behavioral euthanasia, and it’s absolutely destroying me. He’s only 3. He should have so much life ahead of him, and I feel an overwhelming amount of guilt knowing that his life might end this way.
I know some people will judge this decision, but it’s not something we’re taking lightly. I wish more than anything that love alone could fix what’s happening.
I’m posting because I genuinely don’t know how to process this. Has anyone else had to make this decision with such a young dog, especially a breed like an Aussie? How did you cope with the guilt and grief afterward?

I walk Dre, my DIY Rhodie, at around 4 or 4:30 am because there are (most of the time) no other dogs around.

He can be very lunging and reactive towards trash pandas though.

But I live in a very dog friendly area in Seattle, so even when I was walking Dre at around 2:30 am on Saturday early morning, I still ran into 3 separate people also walking their dog!

Grieving your reactive dog is such a paradox.

Spent six years managing my reactive girl and building my whole life around her. I couldn't go on vacation at all; I could run errands but not without checking every box to make sure our other dog and kid at home were safe. I could never just live in the moment because I was always checking those safety boxes.

All my habits centered on removing triggers and/or monitoring her every single second. The vet recommended behavioral euthanasia three years ago, but Prozac and a behaviorist helped us manage things for three more years.

Yesterday was the day. It's still too raw to get into details about why, and fortunately I got her through her life without hurting a human and without seriously injuring our other dog. But I knew it was the day, and I was able to get her to the vet for euthanasia without her being anxious or aggressive. It was a peaceful passing, and I am thankful for that. I always feared my last memory of her might be her doing something awful.

But... fuck. She was also the best companion I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. She was so snuggly. She gave amazing hugs to me and my husband, her only two safe people who she wasn't reactive toward.

I've had the TV on nonstop because not hearing her bark or her paws click breaks my fucking heart. We walked every day, and it used to annoy me that I had to bring her along on every single walk I took, but now all I want is to hear her excited barks when I pull out her harness.

The vet, vet tech, and our second dog's vet all affirmed that I made the right choice. But it still hurts. This has broken me. I adopted her during my transition to adulthood, and I feel like my identity has been wrapped up in her. Our bond was so strong. Today I woke up in a world where I didn't have to strategize when and where other people in the house and I would eat. I petted my other dog out in the open without worrying about making her jealous.

Life is so much easier, but I'm in so much pain and miss my baby despite how hard she was. I know things will get better eventually, but explaining my grief to people is so complicated because euthanasia in her case sounds like a no-brainer to most people.

I'll love you forever; my complicated, awful, wonderful, beautiful, terrifying, loving paradox of a girl. Loving you was so hard but so wonderful.

One of my three dogs has been resource guarding the bed and couch, especially when he's sitting or lying next to me. This typically happens at night, while mornings and afternoons are usually fine. He growls, and sometimes attacks my other dogs when they try to get close to me while we're on the couch or bed together. He's also attacked two other dogs that approached a couch we were sitting on. He's bitten me twice when I've put my hand between him and another dog to stop an attack, although I'm pretty sure the bites were unintentional.

I've started removing him from the bed at bedtime while allowing my other two dogs to stay. However, I let him back on after he started whining because he could see us through the open bedroom door. I'm planning to give him his own bed and start teaching him the "off" command.

We just rescued a mid-size terrier mix who was likely abused in his prior life. He came into the shelter as a stray who was extremely cautious and timid, and it took him several days for us to earn his trust. After about three days in our home, he started warming up to us and is now the sweetest dog, great with all people, including kids (although he’s still cautious and timid around new people).

I have zero concerns about how he will react with any person, but we are concerned with how he reacts when he gets up close with other dogs. He is fine being walked on a leash, doesn’t pull, and has literally never barked in the three weeks we’ve had him. We’ve taken him to the brewery a few times when other dogs were around, and he basically ignores them.

The issue is when other dogs get really close to him. He will let them sniff him for a bit, but eventually he emits a low growl. We thought this might be due to being on a leash, but last weekend we took him to a neighbor’s backyard to meet their dog (similar size and very friendly female, while our dog is a male). Even being off-leash, he let the other dog sniff him and run around him, he sniffed her, they followed each other around a bit, but he eventually started growling at her and lunged at her once, although he didn’t bite her.

How can we get him to learn to trust other dogs, like he eventually learned to trust us?

Hard to believe he is reactive af, after taking this pic he ran away and i injured my hands while following him.. still love him more than anything.