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How to stop him from playing around in the poop? He does it whenever I’m away for a few hours.

Out of absolutely nowhere, my 7.5-month old Eskie puppy has started showing signs of reactivity toward certain people (if they turn a corner quickly or are really loud and boisterous) and "scary" objects (a rattling ladder a contractor was setting up). He has also been reacting anxiously to random noises at home (shifting or rolling in an office chair). This began basically just this past week and seemed worse today.

He has gone through phases of being scared of random things like trash cans and got over that, so I’m hoping this is just a teenage fear period that will pass. We have taken him everywhere with us (stores, festivals, farmers’ markets, drive-thrus, dog parks, other people’s houses, and on road/weekend trips) to socialize him since day one. He has yet to experience anything truly scary (dogs and people have been nothing but nice to him), so this feels out of nowhere.

To those who have "baked a puppy from scratch" before: Is this likely just another temporary fear period? What should we do about it?

Our previous Eskie was VERY reactive and required a lifetime of counterconditioning and strict boundaries (we couldn’t take him anywhere really), but he had been abused in his former household and we had adopted him long after his prime socialization window had closed. We were really hoping a puppy we raised would turn out differently! (I know, Eskies are known for being a little neurospicy…but we got our current puppy when he was ~14 weeks old and basically a blank slate.)

I may just treat it like it's permanent even if it may not be and just start counterconditioning. But happy to hear any tips from those who have been there.

Okay, so the dog that is Resource Guarding. His name is Yogi. He is a roughly 4-5 year old Nuetered Male. We have no idea on breed. He genuinely looks like a Tan Pitty Mix. My parents adopted him about 2 years ago. They were told he was a farm dog, but he was definitely abused. I worked at a shelter and I realize how often that term gets thrown around, but when they first brought him home he would shake when he saw the broom. He is also not a confident dog in the slightest. He struggles walking by corners, gets uncomfortable around other dogs, and just how he walks around us shows stress. He also has a limp in his back right leg. He has been taken to the vet for it, but he did worse on the medication that he was given so they decided to not give him the medication.

Now, I feel the need to give backstory on a few things that has impacted our family grately. At the end of last May my parents were in a terrible car accident where they got rear-ended by a Semitruck. Both of my parents had to have back surgery. My mom's was fairly simple and she is doing so much better now, but my Dad almost died the first week after the accident. Thankfully he survived, but it did leave him paralyzed in an electric wheelchair. We had to add ramps inside and outside the house. For about 2 months Yogi stayed with my Husband's aunt and uncle who luckily had no pets. He came home for a few days when my mom came back home, but then went to boarding for a month while my mom went to go stay with my dad at rehab. Eventually my mom needed to go back to work where she came back home and brought Yogi and Cooper (their 8 year old intact male GSD who was staying with my cousin all this time) back home.

My husband and I moved in with them soon after this so I could take care of my Dad when he came home. My husband and I live in the basement with our 2 dogs (Leo who is a 7 year old beagle and Whiskey who is a 2 year old aussie mix. Both nuetered males) and a cat (Milo who is a 3 year old nuetered male). My parent's dogs live upstairs and my pets are always downstairs. The only time they interact is when they're outside. Yogi gets uncomfortable around other dogs, but the other dogs don't really bother him. Whiskey may sniff him every now and then but that's it.

So, before the accident Yogi had a history of resource guarding. My mom has a room upstairs where she has her couch/TV/Yogi's food and toys. He would guard his food bowl and even guard my mom when she was in her spot on the couch. My dad would walk in the room and Yogi would nip at him. Now, if my mom was in her spot and had food Yogi would escalate to growling and nipping harder. Even if Yogi did not have the food itself he would try to resource guard it. Even a salad. I tried to tell my parents that the best way to handle this is to not have food in that room or that whenever my dad enters the room he can give Yogi a treat. This will build his confidence and associate my Dad as something that gives good things and is not a threat to take away things. My parents tried that for a little bit but eventually got one of those high-pitched dog correctors. Anytime he would resource guard they would use that, which I was not a fan of. I easily avoid this issue by not going in my mom's room. Sometimes I may need to pass by but I can easily act happy and give him a treat and he's fine.

So, now, the big issue that we are facing. The kitchen is upstairs and of course every time we are in the kitchen Yogi is there. He is okay when I'm cooking, but when either my husband or I leave the kitchen with food he has nipped at our legs and ankles. He does it more to my husband than to me. Today Yogi bit my husband's ankle and tried to hold onto it. Luckily my husband was wearing boots so he didn't break skin.

I feel like this issue is escalating with him and I'm struggling to manage it. We can't use baby gates because my dad is in a wheelchair. The house isn't set up in a way where there is a good place to put a baby gate. We can't block off my mom's room because it leads to the front door. I have thought about throwing treats to Yogi when we walk by with the food to move him out of the way, but Cooper is usually there too and I don't want them fighting over the food (which will happen if they both go for it).

I would genuinely love to hire a trainer, but our family is struggling financially right now due to the loss of income from my Dad. They're currently working on him getting disability, but even when he does get that coming in it won't be nearly close to the amount he made before. We do have a lawsuit going with the semi-truck company, but it is really complicated and sketchy. There is a high chance my parent's don't get anything out of it.

I've worked with a lot of different dogs and I have counseled on a lot of different issues, but this is a hard one to manage. I am going to work with him and reward him for me leaving the kitchen with bowls/plates and then work that up to leaving with bowls/plates of good smelling food. He is a chunky dog so I really don't need to be giving him a lot of fatty treats.

Sorry this was so long. A lot of stuff has been happening that could 100% be adding to Yogi's stress levels. I am going to continue to work with him, but any advice or ideas would be appreciated as well. If you have questions or need clarifications I don't mind to answer that as well.

Our 1.5 year old husky mix that we rescued from a shelter is giving us a lot of difficulty. We tried potty training her after she had some initial incidents.

Basically, In the crate, then outside to potty then reward, then back in the crate if we’re working. We didn’t want to put her back in the crate initially after going potty but one time she went potty and we let her roam more and she immediately had an accident even though she just went. So we tried to enrich her crate. But now she will not come back inside for hours and gets destructive. Also we’ll miss appointments because she’ll refuse to come in for hours. She has to pee off leash and then roams for hours. She will NOT pee on a leash. She’s afraid of everything and has anxiety and when she’s on leash she just gets tangled and gets scared.

So now we’re trying to go back to square one of trying to get her to pee on a leash so she can get comfortable with going and coming in and then playing. So now we’ve added that she’s on leash to pee but all she does is sit on my feet or lay down. She refuses to pee she’s just holding it in.

To top it all now she is refusing to even leave the crate now. We’re at the point of talking about rehoming but we really don’t want to do that because she is sweet. We have high value treats and we try every we read here. What are we doing wrong?

i’ve read other posts about similar situations and have found that he’s probably going through a “frustrated greeting”. he is an extremely friendly dog without a bad bone in his body, and loves playing with other dogs. the other posts got a lot of good advice to help curb this behavior, but it all revolved around treats. my dog is not treat driven, he will completely ignore them outside of the house, no matter the flavor. is there anyone out there who has dealt with a frustrated greeter that also doesn’t accept treats? looking for anything here, he is a beagle mix so his barks aren’t barks, they’re bays, and very frustrating to hear at 7 in the morning and make me feel awful for the other person walking their dog who could also have a reactive dog.

Very brief background: I got him as a puppy and my 14 year old almost immediately started declining in health, so my puppy's first year of life was pretty rules/boundaries free due to my attention getting spent on my oldest before he passed away. So we didn't get good socialization in that critical period of time. I don't know if this is a Boston thing but he and his siblings played bitey face -alot-. To the point where we had to take him to the vet for a puncture wound on his eyelid the week he came home. I also naturally play rough with him.
So what he does now is when my dog goes to play with other dogs he doesn't seem to understand the other dog's correction. He did this with my older dog too. He reacts when they do the lunge and bark but then he goes right back to it. It almost revs him up and he starts doing these spins and flips. He does the play bow and he doesn't seem to be looming over like he's trying to dominate, but he just can't seem to understand he's all up in their business and it's pissing them off. Also, if the dog is smaller and particularly snarly he will try to inch closer and closer and then does this thing where he bonks them on the head with his paw. He's very careful about it to so it looks like he's pawing the air just in front of their face at first and then will eventually bonk them on the head and that will of course piss the other dog off and cause them to do the correction lunge and bark thing and then he does another parkour move.
Also, I don't know if this is a uniquely Boston terrier thing, I've only had Boston terriers, it seems like other dogs always hate my dogs. I thought it was maybe their confidence because my older dog was very confident and also did not care about other dogs, and I thought maybe that pissed other dogs off. But this dog is not as confident and other dogs still seem to just naturally not like him. I personally feel like he's being friendly, kind of aggressively friendly, but friendly. He's not snarling, showing teeth, warning, or anything. He's sensitive to sound and afraid of new objects so I treat him a bit more gently than my last dogs.
Anyway, that's the gist. He's like a weird home schooled dork on a sugar high on the playground and I'm not exactly sure what it means or what to do. Can anyone offer some insight? (Also please be kind, I know I didn't give him the best socialization but my soul dog was dying, my dad and grandpa had freshly passed, I'm already a home dweller to begin with, so I know where my flaws are already, I'm just trying to understand what he's saying, what other dog's are saying, what he needs, and what the other dogs need from him or me or what have you)

Need help: my 3-month-old puppy mouths me during harnessing and I have sensitive skin

Hi everyone, I have a 3-month-old Cockapoo and I’m struggling with putting his harness or jacket on before going out. I can just walk him with a collar but it feels cruel to let him go out like this during cold weather. Outside of harness time he’s honestly fine — when I let him out of the kitchen in the morning he greets me, rolls over for belly rubs, lets me cuddle him, and only does a tiny bit of gentle mouthing. I’ve sort of successfully redirected him to only chewing at toys instead of my skin by using a stern ‘No’ and give him another toy immediately. But the moment it becomes “harness time,” everything is stressful.

As soon as I try to slip his paws into the holes or lift his leg even slightly, he gets really overstimulated. He wiggles, pulls his legs out, mouths my hands harder than usual. Today he barked at me when I was struggling with the zipper. If I try to hold the jacket steady to zip it up, he twists around and tries to mouth me again. It’s like the second the harness comes near him his whole behavior changes.

What’s confusing to me is that he let the owner at the local pet shop put on the jacket/harness with minimal resistance — no mouthing, no barking, no wiggling. She did it in literally three seconds. With me, it takes forever and turns into wrestling.

I’m calm when I do it. I use a soft “puppy voice,” I try tuna pâté or lick mats, and I’ve tried putting the harness on the floor instead of the couch. Sometimes he’s calmer, sometimes he’s not, and I still end up with scratched hands and teeth marks.

I’m just getting overwhelmed because this happens every morning the past few days and I don’t want us to start the day stressed. Has anyone had a puppy who ONLY gets bitey during harnessing? Is there a way to make this easier for both of us? Any tips would help a lot

I have two, 11-year-old rescued greyhounds who are walked once a day and hang out indoors other than when they use their dog run (small, fenced enclosure) for potty business that isn't done on their daily walk. They know the command "go potty".

We just got a new fence for the whole yard and I would like to allow them access to the full yard for play, but still have them potty (poop, at least) in the dog run, which is connected to the rest of the yard with a gate that I can prop open.

Other than constantly walking them from the main yard into the dog run and saying, "go potty," (and praising/treating when they do, like when I first housetrained them) what are my other tactics for training them to potty in the dog run when they are playing in the main yard?

Thank you for any advice!

Hi All. I have a 3 year old rat terrier mix “Boudreaux” I rescued when he was around 1 year old. His previous home had 11 other dogs and so he grew up with a lot of dogs. He is neutered.

He is very defensive (barks a lot) when he’s in the backyard but I guess bec that is his territory and he thinks he is “protecting it”. When we go for walks he doesn’t react to other dogs at all.

My neighbors have a female Lab that I dog sit often and my dog is real good with her.

My sister has 3 dogs. 10yo GSD female “Tinkerbelle” (spayed) – our only princess who is never bothered and is pampered by everyone. Even my dog loves her, his big sister. A 2+ yo male Aussie Shep/Shih tzu rescue “Iggy” (not fixed) who is very mellow and timid. He was rejected by his birth mom so he was bottle fed as a puppy so he is very affectionate with humans. The 3rd dog is a 6 month old male Pomeranian puppy “Thanos” who is in his T-Rex and chaotic puppy phase. My dog plays w Thanos the most bec Thanos annoys everybody and wants to play with everybody so my dog humors him a lot.

All 3 of my sister’s dogs are not aggressive. My dog is ok with all 3 of them but sometimes he gets very VERY aggressive with Iggy. My dog resource guards humans in particular. We have been consistently trying to train his aggression & guarding out but sometimes he loses it when it comes to Iggy and ONLY Iggy. When the other dogs get love my dog doesn’t care but when Iggy is given a little bit of attention my dog starts to be aggressive.

My sister got Iggy as a puppy and my dog met Iggy when he was a puppy. They played a lot together. My dog only started being aggressive to Iggy when Iggy was out of his puppy phase.

My dog has only ever been aggressive and territorial to Iggy. No other dog, ever. Iggy is quiet, doesn’t bark, loves to cuddle and is very mellow. He doesn’t even fight back when my dog starts his craziness. It has gone to a point where Iggy just stays away and avoids my dog every time we are there. I feelvad cuz it’s Iggy’s territory and my dog is the one being very aggressive and we have to corral one of them…

I’m at my wit’s end, I cried during our drive home today…my dog suddenly lunged at Iggy when Iggy wanted to cuddle w me and it was a mess and I had to avoid Iggy and my bro in law corral’ed Iggy to protect him. All Iggy wanted was to get a hug from me. My dog and I were the visitors but the house-owner’s dog had to be corraled. I was so embarrassed.

Can anyone help me with some insight as to why my dog (who is so OK with all other humans & dogs) could be selectively aggressive to this ONE DOG only?

TL;DR: My 3 yo fixed male rescue is very good with all humans & other dogs. He has never been aggressive to any other dog except for my sister’s dog. He resource guards humans and gets very aggressive when sister’s dog even tries to get close to the human members of the pack. In need of insight.

6 year old Border Collie/Red Heeler mix. Installed a dog door and she won’t go out or come back in without permission, which really is the whole point of a dog door. How can we get her to use it on her own volition?