Category: Top Dog

Hi dog owners, I’m looking for some advice and support.

My Great Dane became reactive a few years ago after we were attacked on the street by an out-of-control large breed dog. Since then, I’ve been working really hard on counter-conditioning him around other dogs, and he has made progress. The issue is, I am stunting his progress.

I don’t walk him as much as I should because I’m genuinely scared. There are a lot of dogs in my area that regularly get out of their yards, and there’s also a group of kids (around 10–14 years old) who walk a Rottweiler and a Shar Pei on flexi leashes. Every time I see them, the dogs are completely out of control; I’m talking about the dogs dragging the kids across four lanes of traffic levels of chaos.

I’m terrified of running into them and having the worst happen. If all I had to manage was my own dog’s reaction, I’d be okay. What scares me is irresponsible owners and dogs I can’t control.

I carry citronella deterrent spray, but it doesn’t feel like enough. Unfortunately, I can’t just drive to a quieter location since I don’t drive. I'm currently training him to be comfortable on the train so we can eventually walk in other areas, but we’re not there yet.

Has anyone dealt with this kind of fear? Any advice or coping strategies would be really appreciated. Thank you.

Hiya! Just looking for some advices concerning my 10yo chihuhaha. About a week ago, we got some budgies at my parents place. The first few days were perfect, but now, every time he sees them, he starts barking like crazy at them. He will purposefully go near their cage just to start barking at them. When they are being especially noisy he also starts going crazy, also when they fly in their cage just a little too loud. Does anyone have any tips or advices on what to do? Its easy to shoo him away but he just keeps coming back to bark, and its starting to make everyone a little mad. Thanks you all for the help 🙂

Hello I need advice! I have two beautiful sweet female golden retrievers , one of them which is spayed is dribbling pee around the house and has peed beside our bedroom where the baby sleeps and will pee beside the couch where the baby also sleeps, she doesn’t squat and somtimes it happens when she’s even laying down, Shes looks visually sad. We still give them attention and treats and love .

Hi, I need help on how to manage my dog we adopted her in October she’s about 6 months old I believe. I know she’s an anxious dog bc she would get scared and pee when she meets new people. She use to be okay with the cats that I have but recently she’s been trying to bite them when they get near her food, bed, or just close to her in general. We do have another dog who’s way older and he’s a grumpy man so idk if him being aggressive has made her aggressive. She also barks at everyone even me and family members. Idk what to do I really need help on dealing with this bc I don’t want her to end up hurting my cats.

For complete context, my dachshund Bubby is 4. We got him when I was 15 and really involved in school and sports so my mother took on the responsibility of training him. She gave up really early on and now Bubby is completely untrained besides super basic things like knowing to come, sit, and wait before feedings. Hes a pleasant dog, has some separation anxiety, doesnt tear things up or cause any great trouble but the pottying in the house is killing me. It's embarrassing and completely our fault. Ive tried over the years to train him but hes extremely stubborn and im not always home since I work almost every day. Most training guides advise that I be home at all times with him during training and I swear he wouldve been potty trained already if I had the ability to do so. I always feel so guilty that hes not trained and my house no matter how much I clean, always feels icky. I am constantly seeing people say that dachshunds are super hard to train even as pups so im going into this really discouraged. I know paying for a trainer is an option but its super expensive and still theres no guarantees.

I'm no longer in school or sports but I work mornings from 6-2 mon-fri. My mother also works mornings and shes been no help in trying to train him so its all up to me. I am still living in the same house hes familiar with but planning to hopefully move out soon taking him with me.

bubby will only pee and poop in the entry way of the house, just sometimes in our bathroom and rarely will mark the carpet. The entry way to our house is tiled floor and ive used enzyme cleaners before but not consistently. If we are outside he will hold his pee or poop until we get home. As for reinforcements I dont discipline him because ofc I know that does nothing. Any time he "pees" (hes usually just marking) on grass when we're out I give him tons of praise. Idk if it is because my mother only used puppy pads when we has little but hes just super set on peeing in that exact spot.

So my questions are: is there really much hope in what I can do by myself to potty train him considering my schedule? Will crate training need to be completed before I can even begin to think about potty training? Will it require constant supervison? Are there any other factors that might unknowingly be making it more difficult to train him that aren't commonly brought up in potty training tips? What worked best for you if you've trained a stubborn dog or a similar case? Will it be easier to train him once I move out? or will I just have to bite the bullet and pay hundreds or thousands for a trainer that may or may not even work?

I'd truly appreciate any help I can get. This is only the most bothersome problem I want to start with and i'll definitely have to make separate posts😔

Welcome to the fortnightly loose leash walking virtual workshop!

Join us as we compete with the squirrels, cats, other dogs, fresh urine scents and things that go zoooooooom!

Resources

Articles (All have videos embedded)

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• Train Your Dog For Perfect Loose Leash Walking by Casey Lomonaco. (With links and descriptions of several great videos, which we'll link to below.)
• Loose Leash Walking Tips by Casey Lomonaco
• Silky Leash by Grisha Stewart (blog post + videos.)

Youtube (Many of these are videos which are embedded in the above articles)

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• Silky Leash intro video with an excitable puppy
• Clicker Training Loose Leash Walking by Casey Lomonaco
• Loose Leash Walking II by Casey Lomonaco
• How to Train Your Dog Not to Pull – Loose Leash Walking by Emily "kikopup" Larlham
• Dog Training Tip- Leash Walking: Go Sniff and Marking by Emily "kikopup" Larlham
• Choose to Heel by Loridressage
• Loose Leash Walking by Stacy Hiebert Greer
• Clicker Training a Heel by Amy Norcal
• Shaping Loose Leash Walking With a High Rate of Reinforcement Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 by Helix Fairweather and Lynn Martin. (Read the text below the videos too!)
• Loose Leash Walking by Turid Rugaas

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See our page on leash reactivity for help managing and training dogs that bark and lunge while on leash.

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APDT webinar

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• Loose Leash Walking presented by Gail Fisher