I’m probably just having a bad day and an anxiety flare up, but at the end of the day I was trying to put my dog in the car and one of the neighbours spoke to my dog and he started barking at them and said that my dog has discipline problems and it just broke me. I started crying when I drove away.

My boy is a 2.5 year old rescue Staffy who I love and adore. He is a sweetheart, not aggressive but reactive and struggles to regulate himself. He had already reached threshold and gets “bark-ey” sometimes when strangers get close to him in the car.

My neighbour could see I was trying to get him in the car and not engage with them.

I know I’m overreacting but I work my guts out with and for this dog. He’s on behavioural meds, works with a force free trainer and I train him everyday whilst trying to meet all his mental and emotional needs. I have spent thousands on this boy to give him his best life. I also really try hard for my pup and I to just enjoy each other.

This isn’t the first time I’ve received negative comments about my dog. I just wish people could be a little more empathetic and think before they say things.

Any words of encouragement would be so appreciated 🥺

Thank you!

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99

Posted by16 hours ago

Saying goodbye

Support

I posted about our 2 year old APBT a few days ago. We have made the heartbreaking decision to go through with BE. Our hearts are broken, but we did everything we could. We don’t want her hurting a person or animal. We’re having the vet come to our home so she’s comfortable and surrounded by love.

I’m trying to prepare myself for it but it’s too hard to think about. I feel so guilty and I don’t think this guilt will ever go away.

99

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Posted by1 hour ago

Does anyone have a dog who is extremely reactive on-leash but friendly to other dogs and people off-leash?

My dog is 1 year 6 months and every walk is a complete nightmare. She jumps up and down/barks/lunges will try to tear her leash in two, and has even injured herself trying to get at other dogs. I've worked a lot with her to get her to not react, and heel... Sometimes. Some days are much worse then others.

But off leash, she has been to doggy daycare and gets along fine with the dogs there, has met my sister and mom's dogs, both large and small breed, and loves and plays with them. I have never seen her growl or even play aggressively with them.

Does anyone else have a dog like this, and know why the leash reaction is so severe? and do you feel comfortable taking them to off-leash dog parks, or meeting new dogs in safe spaces?

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235

Posted by1 day ago

neighbors giant bully breed dog lunged at me and fixated on my son when it got out...

Advice Needed

This dog is a biiiig dog, my son is 4'8 and it was head height for my son. At first, their big husky came around my truck, and I talked to it. I had my son move behind me because this one is still chest height for him, but overall, it was a sweety, and I was trying to remember which neighbor had a husky; there are two, one right next to us, and one at the end of the street. So I was going to try my next-door neighbor's house first, and when we got around the corner, the giant bully breed was right there. I did the same thing with this one, have my son move behind me. At the same time, I tested the water of temperament to decide what to do, and as soon as the dog saw my son move behind me, their hackles raised, and they started growling and fixating on him and then tried to lunge. I body blocked and went from a friendly, calming voice to deep authoritative and I told it to go and to look at me and not at my son, and as soon as I did get its focus on me, I told my son to hurry up and get in the house. It then lunged at my arm BUT didn't open its mouth. It just nose-butted and stepped back to assess my reaction. I yelled at it in Portuguese to go away and go home (since in the backyard, it seemed to listen more in Spanish/Portuguese when it tried to jump the fence a couple of times, it didn't seem aggressive then, more curious, but I would still tell it no and to go away because I have two smaller dogs that are not dog friendly.)

Now, it didn't show teeth, just hackles and growled and tested but never bit or opened its mouth to bite. But this is a BIG ass dog, and I did not like how it fixated on my son and hackled up and started aggressively growling at him. So my question to you all is how amenable would you be if you were the neighbor with this dog and I came to you and asked if it would be alright if we gave them treats of your choice each time we saw them in the back yard with praise to start to associate my voice, and my sons voice to something good so if they get out again, and well huskys are going to husky...I'm 99% sure it will happen again; then they might be more inclined not to be aggressive so my son and I can get inside and call them to pick them up. Otherwise, it is going to escalate, and if I cannot make it into the house to call them or animal control...I'm going to have to do what I need to do to make sure my son is okay... And I honestly don't want to do that if I can find any other type of solution.

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Posted by14 hours ago

Humble brag

Success

Had to take my reactive girl to the vet today to get her Bordetella vaccine and she did so good I cried and wanted to share with others who understand what a win this was 🥺

Without giving you the entire story - she started taking Fluoxetine about 6 months ago, but it seemed to really start helping about 4 months in. Before, she was so dog reactive, she couldn't see another dog an entire block away without absolutely losing it. Other things would trigger her on and off as well, including people, small children, cars, etc.

TODAY I arrived at the vet, called them when I got there like I always do so they can make sure there's no animals in the waiting room and get us straight back into a room. We went in, no problems. The tech came in, no problems. She has previously growled at the vet for poking around her ears, but today she let them do everything they needed to and said that she was no trouble at all! She even saw ANOTHER DOG while back there with them and they told me she just looked at it then looked back at them.

We then drove home with the windows down and she had the time of her life sticking her head out and didn't bark at anything.

I'm just so happy to see her doing so well ❤️❤️ this is the best feeling.

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4 comments

About Community

We are a community for people that own reactive dogs! We support the LIMA (Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive) approach to dog training. The tips and advice here cannot replace a qualified certified trainer or veterinary behaviorist - if you are struggling please consider these resources for your dog. Everyone is welcome. A reactive dog is not required to join, but please keep discussions and posts focused on dog reactivity.

Created Mar 1, 2017

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