Category: Top Dog

We got a 3-year old shelter dog a couple of months ago and have been working with a trainer diligently. We’re following protocol and staying committed, but walking the dog is still easily the worst part of my day. She’s knocked my wife down a few times, landed me on my ass, and generally goes into full-on meltdown at basically any stimulus. We can’t take her to the vet, groomer, or pet sitter because everyone is terrified of her. We can’t have people over to the house. It just generally feels like our life has come to a screeching halt and I’m starting to lose it. I’m sore after walks, and my hands feel like I’ve got arthritis. I also live in fear of her getting away from me, knocking over a child, and getting me sued.

She is a 65lb Boxer mix. We’re using a martingale collar and keep her leashed in the home. We’ve worked hard on keeping our own stress reactions in check, have eliminated most voice commands in favor of leash only, and have stayed on a very regular, predictable schedule with her. Our trainer has prescribed times for us to walk her, we have set routes, and do a fair amount of predictive stimulus avoidance. We make a lot of u-turns. We also have been working on watching her instead of the environment to anticipate her stress level and reactions. We feel like we’re seeing zero progress, and our trainer is feeling the same. We’re also working in the home on building trust with hand feeding, basic command training, high value treats, and plenty of play.

The positives are that she’s housebroken, is good in the crate (except right when we leave), is good with just chilling at home, and is not destructive.

Is this just my life now, though? We’ve got probably another ten years with this dog. Is there hope? For those of you who adopted reactive adult dogs, were there key turning points for you/essential changes you made in your approach? Are we looking at years of work? Is there at point at which training just isn’t possible? I’ve been reading a fair number of reactivity posts on here, and it seems like many of the steps people are taking were either doing or have tried. Any suggestions would be welcome.

hi! my husband + i have had our rehomed 3yr old miniature poodle mix for three weeks. he’s amazing + we love him so much, but we’re having trouble communicating with him re: outside bathroom trips. it’s not a daily issue, but occasionally comes up.

this morning, for example, we were awake for 90 minutes, he had been outside twice already—the wakeup trip + the after breakfast trip—+ i found a puddle on my yoga mat when i went back into the bedroom to get ready to go get groceries. this would be understandable if we were ignoring him for a long time or it had been a while, but we were just hanging out in the house + he didn’t communicate with us that he needed to go outside.

we’re not punishing him for it because that feels mean-spirited when it must be something we as the humans are missing. we’re working toward bell training him, but is there anything we can or should do to streamline or ease the process in the meantime?

my dog has always been incredibly anxious. she’s 4 years old (i got her when she was 40 days old – a little too soon, i’m aware. she was adopted) and she’s always been SUPER high energy. we have a reaaaaally big yard and she runs around all day with my other dog however something i noticed is that she ALWAYS has her ears pinned back, which i know is a sign of stress. her ears only go up when she’s trying to hear something or is very very focused.

when i pet her, her ears go back! and i’ve tried to stop petting her and give her space, but she will literally hit me and get me to keep going.

i also noticed she licks her lips A LOT!! and it doesn’t seem to be linked to stress? whenever i talk to her (it can be loudly or quietly like my tone doesn’t matter) she licks her lips. she’s been seen by her vet a million times and all they say is that she’s too anxious. she’s an incredibly loving and nice dog and all my friends love her

another thing she does is sometimes she’s a little mean to my other dog 😭 she tends to be incredibly jealous, doesn’t really let people pet him if they’re not petting her and she’s overly dominant with him (resource guards things from him only for example).

i’ve given her toys (that she destroys in ten minutes), more stimulation, and nothing really does seem to help. she’s her calmest when we’re in bed lying together, she’ll spend HOURS sleeping in my bed if i let her but i’m not always home. she’ll also literally pee and shit in my stepdad/moms bed just for funsies i think?

i was wondering if anyone has like any tips? is she just an incredibly anxious dog????? does she secretly hate me w the ear thing like what do i do ? is her anxiety perhaps linked with her being a lil jealous? 😭

Hi I'm looking for some general advice, I've been working with a trainer to help my 15mnth old husky learn recall, it's going relatively okay but I've hit a bit of a wall, apologies in advance if this is a silly question, Athena is a "family member didn't research the breed and now she's my responsibility" case which I have fully taken on and am happy to learn and grow as she does.

Anywho, shes got short distance recall on and off line almost totally figured out, bit more work and she'll be great, we have a basketball court in the middle of a big park/field that I allow her off lead time in as it's secure and big enough to throw balls and toys and do basic recall and other such training in so she can't decide to just bolt off access the field, shes great! But here's where I'm seeing the oncoming brick wall:

Where do I go once I'm comfortable with her recall in the secure court area? It's a high distraction area and I fully realise that inside the courts and outside are two different worlds to her despite it only being separated by a see through fence, she's doing great and while I have a 20m long line Ive been told to try using im a little scared a I guess? I believe she'd do really well but in the past if she gets a good enough run up she can and has completely broken her last owners fingers with the running speeds she gains, I fear I may be put in that situation should we move onto open field work. Again sorry if this sounds silly. Maybe I'm moving too quick, We've been in the enclosed courts for a good half a year now and Im not sure how to take the next step when i feel she's ready.

She's got an amazing temperment but a tendancy to approach other dogs without thinking, hence her previous owners accident and I really don't want to be "that owner" in the park, you know? She's not aggressive, just- "I must approach" which is where i fear that dreaded running speed of hers on a long line. I'm committed to learn and fully want to grow with her I think I just need a bit of guidance here.

Thanks