I rescued a dog with undisclosed leash reactivity towards both people and dogs.

I posted about it a few times in this sub. Folks generally said I should return him if he’s making me miserable, and that the dog won’t know if he was fostered for a few weeks or adopted and returned.

Long story short, we had him a little less than a month - I felt that keeping him was harming my mental health due to the stress of his reactivity, and my husband wanted to accept him as is or put him on antidepressants. Ultimately my husband told me he wants me to be happy and that he will go with what I decide.

I spoke with the rescue and she said she could find him a home with a bigger yard and other dogs so he could get his exercise off leash in the yard rather than on walks. I returned him this morning, and I cried so hard I almost threw up on the way home.

The dog started whining as soon as I left, and he watched me as I drove away.

My husband is sobbing all day saying he is heartbroken and feels like we tricked the dog.

I genuinely feel at the brink of crisis. I feel like I am a horrible, selfish person and I am having very dark thoughts.

Looking for reassurance, I guess.

I wanted to share a real-world win from this morning that perfectly illustrates why we need to think like risk-management engineers when handling large, reactive, or powerful dogs.

The Setup:
I have and adore an Armenian Gampr (an ancient, 120-pound apex livestock guardian breed with a 650 PSI bite force). Like many primitive working dogs, he has an intense prey-drive switch. I outweigh him by exactly 12 pounds.

The Philosophy:
I run an absolute "closed-loop, air-lock" security system. No tether is ever unclipped until another one is secured. There is zero room for human error.

The Tactical Details (Car Loading):

1. Inside the Vehicle: I have a heavy-duty, 6-foot steel-core tether anchored directly to the steel seat frame inside the rear of the car. He can't chew through a steel core tether while I'm busy driving, so no surprises when we stop.
2. The "Staging" Trick: When we leave the car for a hike, I pull that steel-core line out, leave the clip dangling outside the rear bumper, and slam the hatch door shut on the cable.
3. The Benefit: This completely eliminates the chaos window of returning to the car—no fumbling for keys, waiting for an liftgate to lift, or searching in the dark for your tether while your dog is standing there looking around on a loose leash.

What Happened This Morning:
We returned to the car from our trail walk. Because the clip was staged on the outside of the bumper, I walked up and secured the car-frame tether to his harness immediately before my keys even left my pocket.

The millisecond I hit the button and the hatch door began to lift... a cat exploded out from under the car next to us.

The Physics of the Save:
My dog launched. But because of my redundant setup, he hit a physical wall:

• Line 1 (The Car Frame): The steel-core cable anchored to the internal seat frame caught his forward momentum.
• Line 2 (Me): I was still wearing my Ferd belt, attached via a staggered 4ft bungee lead to his back clip, with a 6ft standard lead on his front clip in my hand. I described my fail-safe leash system here - https://www.reddit.com/r/muzzledogs/comments/1x3g4lz/comment/pgeq0sh/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

He was fighting against the dead weight of a parked car and my entire core. He went nowhere. My shoulders took zero impact. The cat escaped safely.

The MVP: The Marine Shackle Panic Release
Now, my dog is 120 lbs of pure muscle on the line trying to get to that cat. If you are clipped directly to a standard hands-free belt with a normal bolt snap or carabiner, you are physically trapped and cannot unhook a dog under that much load.

This is where I thanked Past Me for modifying my Ferd belt with a quick-release marine shackle.

Marine shackles are designed to release under thousands of pounds of pressure. I reached down, pulled the paracord and instantly blew the tension on my belt line. This allowed me to redirect him using his sternum lead and guide his momentum straight up into the cargo area.

The Takeaway:
If I had been fumbling for keys with him on a loose leash, or if I hadn't had a way to release the tension on my belt, this morning would have been a catastrophic disaster. The cat would be dead and they would still be picking the asphalt out of my torso.

Invest in the top-tier gear. Build redundancy into your transitions. Think about what can go wrong before it happens. Practice, practice, practice. Future You will be a total badass handler!

Hi Everyone,

I have a female Black Mouth Cur (55lbs) that is closing in on 6yrs old. I noticed the last few months she is unable to hold the potty while I am at work sometimes. She continuously uses it near the back door of the home when leaving her for working every few days. It is only pee, she has only dumped once in the last 3 yrs and that was when I left her a lot longer than I had wanted.

I was researching indoor potties and I am wondering if you have any suggestions for one? If I put pads, she uses it on pads but I'd be spending a lot of money on this. And I'd rather get a better long term solution. I have seen ads for turf driven units, which of course got me thinking.

I believe the nicer ones are https://k9-kennelstore.com/2-x-4-ultimate-potty-station-pro-potty-attendant.html?search_click=1 but wondering if there are any alternatives that are cheaper I can use before spending more money you have used.

Thank-you for your help and I included a nice picture of her. :)

We have a one-year-old rescue dog, who was claimed to be a GSD mix but is clearly a mix of many breeds. He weighs just under fifty pounds.

Since we adopted him, he's been relatively nervous around new people. But this has intensified significantly, for no clear reasons that we can identify. He has not bitten anyone, but this is an increasingly serious concern, especially given some reactivity toward children when on walks. The increase in reactivity has coincided with more window guarding and general anxiety in the home.

We have mitigated where we can (closing blinds, refusing requests to pet in public especially from kids, going outside during quiet hours), and we have been working on training (including reinforcing very strong recall with the help of an e-collar). Still, we can't avoid every interaction and it feels like our world (including our dog's) is becoming smaller.

We have seriously considered fluoxetine. Currently, he has a script for gabapentin to take before very stressful situations, but that's of limited use day-to-day. We have been giving him Purina Pro Plan Calming Probiotics, on suggestion from our vet, but that doesn't seem to be doing much.

When I asked our vet about Prozac over the phone, I was told that we'd have to come in for bloodwork. However, our pet insurance will not cover anything related to anxiety (it counts as preexisting for our dog), so I'm wary of racking up some serious bills just to get a script.

Is there any harm in doing an online consultation through Dutch or another service? Experiences with or opinions on this service? Are we making a serious error in judgment by trying to skirt around blood tests for (I'm assuming) metabolic function when there are no signs of such otherwise?

Looking for advice and no judgement. Ive never really been one that believes in much afterlife but we recently lost our dog to BE and I can’t help but wonder if she knew we were there for her till the end.

I wish so badly that we could have extended her life more than we already did or even let her go on one of her good days. She really was the sweetest dog to us between the aggression which is what makes this that much more painful. She began to regress to level 4-5 biting toward us and it was becoming too often (weekly) that we no longer felt like she was going to be able to work back through her previous trauma or us keep our household safe

When my baby was put to sleep both my husband and I were afraid to touch her due to our own trauma from her behavior. It kills me that as she rested, she was facing our vet instead of seeing my face and she was next to me but not in my lap. I did start to hug her body as she laid but I wish so badly she had sat into my arms and saw my face. I was just too afraid to hug her when she walked into the room after the initial anesthesia like injection. It’s ripping me apart.

Anyways I’m just looking to see if anyone has good pet medium recommendations. I really want to know if she knew she was loved and that we wish we could have healed her like new ❤️‍🩹

This is a long one. I’m UK based and got my Romanian rescue with my partner in May 2025, when he was around 6 months old. He’s a beautiful black mix with a white chest patch, around 23kg. He kinda looks like a mix between a lab, and german shepherd. I suspect he may have been over-socialised in the Romanian kennels, as he absolutely LOVES other dogs and struggles with frustration when he can’t get to them.
For the past year and a half, we’ve worked on his training every single day, sharing the load of what has been a really heavy and exhausting journey. I’ve spent hundreds of pounds on 1-to-1 training sessions with a fantastic ‘balanced’ trainer who has taught us so much. We really have come a long way, and I’m proud of the progress he’s made.
He’s incredibly smart, loves agility and is very food-motivated (chicken is his absolute favourite high-value reward!). He now walks pretty well on the lead, 80% of the time, which is a huge improvement from where we started.
However, his lead reactivity is still incredibly difficult to manage. His threshold for reacting when he sees another dog is around 40 feet, and when he kicks off, it is physically difficult as well as emotionally. He’s desperate to play with other dogs, and off lead he’s generally very friendly, but he becomes so fixated on them that he’ll follow them rather than come back to me.
We also tried a chemical castration implant to see whether reducing his testosterone would help with his desperation before committing to surgical castration. I do think it made a difference, because the implant is now starting to wear off (it lasts up to around six months) and I’ve noticed his behaviour getting worse again.
He is genuinely the most alert dog I’ve ever met. He is pretty anxious and seems to be constantly scanning his surroundings, and if he smells cats in the back garden, he kicks off. He also struggles with impulsivity in everyday life. Counter-surfing and picking up tissue/random items to chew, is a constant battle. I have to be watching him all the time to prevent him from getting into things.
He has also always struggled to settle. This has improved with time and training, but he still relies heavily on his routine and exercise. If he doesn’t get his walk, things can get really difficult, and I feel the pressure of having to make sure his needs are met regardless of how tired, busy or overwhelmed I am.
Fast forward to now, and my relationship has ended for reasons completely unrelated to the dog. We got him together, and we spent the last year and a half sharing the responsibility of managing his behaviour, training him and navigating all the challenges together.
Now that I’m facing the reality of doing it alone, I’m realising just how much the full weight of it actually is.
I work full-time and earn around £29k a year. I’m not on a particularly great salary for a single person living independently in the UK, so I also have to consider the financial reality of paying for everything myself, alongside the time and energy required to care for him. I can’t realistically afford endless training, 5 days of a dog walker or other paid support to make life more manageable.
I love dogs, and I love having a dog. I enjoy the lifestyle, the companionship and the responsibility and I have dreamed about having a dog since my childhood best bud crossed the rainbow bridge in 2016. But I’m struggling with the reality of having *this particular dog*, with his particular needs. I feel like I can never fully relax. On walks, I’m constantly scanning for other dogs, assessing distances, planning our route and trying to manage his reactions while staying calm myself. At home, I’m often monitoring what he’s doing and trying to prevent him from getting into things.
I feel awful even writing this because we’ve put so much work into him, and he genuinely has made progress. He isn’t a bad dog, and I don’t resent him for struggling. But I’m exhausted by the constant management, and I’m beginning to wonder whether this particular dog is right for me. It feels so unfair to think of returning him and eventually getting a ‘better’ dog. There were many times my partner wanted to return him through exhaustion and frustration and I fought against that and remained determined to see out the serious commitment I made.
I’m trying to be honest with myself about whether I can realistically give him what he needs while also maintaining my own wellbeing, working full-time and managing financially on my own.
**Has anyone else been in this position with a reactive rescue?** Did things eventually become manageable, or did you have to make the difficult decision that the dog wasn’t the right fit for you? If you decided to rehome, how did you come to terms with that decision?
I’d really appreciate honest advice from people who have been through something similar. I’m not looking for judgement or to be told to just train him more. We’ve put a huge amount of work into him, and I’m trying to figure out what is realistic and fair for both of us going forward.

I have a 7 months old male spitzpom mix puppy. I had him since he was 6-7 weeks old and him growing up i guess since it was our first time having a dog we didnt really do and teach him everything right. And currently he has lot of problems especially fear agression.. he barks nonstop and tries to attack if any strangers dog any living thing get close to him and when he is over aroused sometimes he just snaps at us and with this he has bitten my mom a lot of times drawing blood like when he is overthreshold he doesnt listen to anyone and if we try to go towards him or try to comfort him during this he bites us. I guess we cant all blame him its cause of us he became like this but it has got to a point that we are scared of him cause we dont know when and how he will snap. He is sweet most of the times but randomly idk what he finds wrong he becomes a devil and because of this we have come to a decision to rehome him since we cant afford training for him but its not just that its also cause im just a high school student i dont have money to give him training and even if we keep him i dont think i can take care of him long term since i still have a lot to do and figure and idk what the future holds. My parents said they cant keep caring for him forever and they have there life to live and things to explore. And because of this i feel lots of guilt because it was me who forced them to get the puppy and now i feel i did wrong and cause of me my lil dog has to suffer and idk what to do.. will he be able to adjust? I thought rather than keeping him and after years due to problems having to rehome him things will get much harder for me and him aswell. The person im rehoming him to is the breeder neighbor and idk what should i do.

Hi all, my 1.5 year Great Pyr mix has started to get into some altercations with dogs. She’s been scared of people since she was a puppy but adores playing with dogs. Up until last week, she had only not gotten along with two dogs in her life. We live in an apartment complex with a dog park so she plays with other dogs frequently.

Last Tuesday, we went into the dog park when a dog was in there. There was a toy she really liked and he wanted to take it away. I noticed her hackles went up so I had a feeling she didn’t like being chased. The other dog’s owner was about to leave until her dog came trotting back. My dog then got up and all of a sudden they were fighting. Neither of them got hurt. She had never resource guarded a toy before, so I thought it was a freak accident because she really liked that toy.

A couple days later, she was playing with two other dogs. One of which is her good dog friend. The other dog then starts wrestling and growling with her dog friend. I hold my dog back because I was worried she would react since she had a couple days prior. After he stopped wrestling, I let her loose. Well he then growled again, and my dog did not like it. She then started snapping at him so I pulled her away.

Her allergies were really bad during this time & I ended up finding some lesions she caused herself from biting & scratching. I figured her short temper was because of her not feeling great.

I didn’t let her play with other dogs until we got her allergies under control. She’s doing a lot better physically and had been playing well with dogs, mostly only played with dogs she really gets along with. However, I took her today and there was dog siblings. Within a few minutes of walking in, I notice her and the dog with the ball stiffen up and then both start showing teeth. That’s when both I and the owner go over, but then my dog starts snapping at the dog. The other dog stopped but my dog seemed to keep snapping at her.

I should preface that she knows all of these dogs that she’s had altercations with. They don’t play very often together, but they’ve met and gotten along before. I’m not sure what’s causing this behavior since her allergies are better. She loves to go into the dog park and play, but I’m not comfortable letting her in if she’s becoming more reactive. Has anyone gone through something similar or have any advice as to how I should approach this going forward?

Hi everyone! I adopted my 5-year-old Chihuahua a little while ago, and I’m working on his reactivity and separation anxiety. I’m already seeing progress in some areas, but there’s one thing I’m really struggling with and would love some advice on.

First, the positives! His reactivity towards other dogs on walks has improved quite a bit. I’m increasingly able to call his name and get him to look at me when he notices another dog, and he’s becoming less likely to bark. He still struggles quite a lot with bigger dogs, but I don’t expect him to be fully trained in just a few months. I’m genuinely proud of the progress he’s making.

I’m also working on his separation anxiety and gradually teaching him to feel comfortable being home alone. Today, we managed a 30-minute session, which I’m incredibly proud of! I know we still have a long way to go, but I’m happy to see progress there too.

The main thing I’m struggling with at the moment is his reaction to unfamiliar people, especially certain men.

When I invite people over to my home, he can bark at them for quite a while. Eventually, he often settles down, but even if he’s been quiet for 10 minutes, the moment someone gets up, moves around or starts talking again, he may start barking all over again.
I’ve experienced the same thing when meeting potential dog sitters. He sometimes barks so much at them in their own homes that it becomes difficult to have a conversation. Yesterday, a sitter and her partner ended up going outside to sit on a bench and have a coffee because it was so difficult to talk with him barking indoors.

This is starting to worry me because I’m afraid I won’t be able to find people willing to look after him if this continues.

I’ve been trying to create positive associations with unfamiliar people by having them give him treats, so he learns that new people can be a good thing. I’ve also bought a crate for my home, hoping that he can retreat to his safe space when visitors arrive and have some time to settle without being overwhelmed.

However, I’m beginning to worry that I might be doing something wrong. Sometimes it feels as though his reactions are getting worse, and I’m scared that my approach might accidentally be making things worse rather than helping him.
What confuses me is that he can seem to settle down, only to start barking again as soon as someone moves. I’m not sure how to help him become genuinely comfortable around new people rather than just temporarily quiet.

For those of you who have worked with reactive dogs, especially dogs who bark at unfamiliar people in the home:
-What helped your dog become more comfortable around visitors?
-Is having people offer treats a good approach, or can it sometimes create more pressure for the dog?
-How do you gradually get your dog comfortable with people moving around without triggering another barking episode?
-How did you handle introductions with potential dog sitters when your dog struggled to settle around them?
-How can I tell whether I’m making progress or accidentally reinforcing the behaviour?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences, what worked for your dogs, and any advice you might have. Thank you!

So my brother (21) got a bull terrier about 2 months ago. Her name is Molly she's crate trained, intact, my brother walks her daily, and is 2 yrs old (turns 3 on Oct 31). She was mostly fine and even affectionate since we got her but recently she's bitten me 2 times in a week. HARD.

The first time two days ago, I was napping with her, but when my brother walked in, she shuddered growled then bit my face (but didn't break the skin), the second time was unprovoked, I didn't touch her she came to my leg, growled, and bit me again on my leg, (broke the skin, but I quickly disinfected the wound). She's in her cage, but whenever she sees me she gets angry and start growling and barking at me, not my brother.

My brother called the local shelter to get her fixed and vaccinated, but it probably it won't be for another week. I (23F) am kind of scared of her and I don't know what to do.

Hello, I live in a place where the winter is very cold and snowy, so a lot of people salt their sidewalks. I'm just gonna say right now that there is NO WAY my dog will let me put booties on him. How do I keep his paws safe from the salt without booties? Surely I am not the only person who has this problem. TIA

Tonight has been quite bad. My dog began to suddenly bark/growl in the direction of outside, to which I decided it would be a good idea to check out what she was interested in. I go to the window, don’t see anything, and tell her it’s ok and let her sit with for a bit (honestly she kind of freaked me out with the sudden behaviour change). I decide it’s about time to go to sleep, so I get her ready and head upstairs (she doesn’t sleep in a crate, but I have the upstairs blocked off). For about 30 minutes now she has been whining in a high pitch, and I’m trying to figure out right now if she is alerting me so something that needs my attention, if she’s telling me somethings outside, or if she is just having another burst of anxiety.
She is a very anxious dog, and I’m a very anxious person, so when I feel uneasy about something I try to separate myself from the situation (such as go to sleep) before my anxiety makes hers worse.
Obviously, I’m not going to go outside at night and check to see if something or someone is out there, I wouldn’t have the ability to defend myself against another human or aggressive animal if there were one outside, but I wonder if my lack of checking on her “concerns” might be making her anxiety worse?
Any advice about this situation is appreciated, because this has happened a few times this month now and I would like to make sure her anxiety is not going ignored.

I feel awful even saying this because I do love my dog, but sometimes I wish I had a different kind of dog. A calmer dog. The kind of dog that seems to naturally fit into family life without everything having to be so complicated. Like the dogs I had growing up.

I have a five-month-old baby, and one of the things I’ve found surprisingly hard about becoming a parent is realizing that the relationship I hoped my baby would have with our dog is most likely not going to look the way I imagined.

I see so many pictures and videos of families with their babies lying next to their dogs, toddlers cuddling with the family dog on the couch, or dogs calmly hanging around while their little humans play. I know social media only shows a snapshot of reality, and I know even the calmest dog needs supervision around a baby. I’m not expecting a living stuffed animal that tolerates absolutely anything a child does. But I still get sad when I see those pictures.

My dog is a roughly 30-pound Manchester terrier mix. A rescue that we’ve had for about four years. He’s not necessarily a bad dog. He can be happy and curious around the baby, and he can be redirected. He can also get very excited and jumps on people. He has caught and killed rats and rabbits. He’s the kind of dog whose behavior and environment I have to think about carefully, rather than just assuming everything will be fine.

What hurts is that I wish I didn’t have to be so vigilant all the time. I wish I could have my child grow up with a dog who is naturally laid-back and easygoing at the start of the day, instead of taking hours to get there when he sees an exciting thing like a baby or a new person. I wish I had a dog who could hang out in the same room without me constantly thinking through every possible scenario.

I wish I could take those sweet family pictures without feeling a pang of sadness about what our reality looks like. And then I feel guilty, because our dog didn’t ask to be in this situation, and he isn’t a bad dog for being who he is. We chose him, and he has his own needs and temperament. It’s not his fault that the kind of dog he is and the kind of family life I imagined don’t fit together as effortlessly as I hoped.

I also feel guilty because I know plenty of parents have dogs with much more challenging behavioral issues, and I know some people would love to have a dog who is as manageable as our own dog can be. But we haven’t even really had the dog around the baby for more than a few minutes because of my own irrational fears. And getting a trainer involved isn’t possible because we can’t afford it. I realize this could sound ungrateful or like I’m blaming him for normal dog behavior.
But I can love my dog and still wish things were easier, right?

Has anyone else experienced this after having a baby? Did you ever find yourself grieving the kind of relationship you imagined your child would have with your dog, even though you still loved your dog?

We had a few hours, when we brought our baby home for the first time, where we thought we would have to rehome him because of how excited and energetic he got around the baby. We both were sick with grief and panic.

Our doodle is 8 years old. He was a happy and friendly boy but as a puppy. Our Shih Tzu jumped on him and that’s when the reactivity began. The Shih Tzu passed away 6 years ago.
He has been bonded with our Havanese who is little yet the alpha. She is close to passing away. We know he senses her being sick and will sniff her and then lay down.
We know that he will be anxious without her yet with his reactivity, we don’t know whether to get another dog as his companion. Have any of you experienced introducing a new dog with your reactive dog?

After nearly three years of trying to get professional help for our reactive/anxious boy, we FINALLY have a prescription for fluoxetine!

We recently switched veterinary clinics after a disappointing experience with our previous vet. We understand that our boy can be challenging to work with, especially in an environment that causes him so much stress, but we left our most recent appointment at our former vet feeling that his anxiety wasn't fully understood or addressed, despite us constantly bringing up our concerns at previous visits.

Thankfully, our new vet and their team have been absolutely wonderful! They are caring, understanding, and willing to work with us to figure out how best to help our boy. They took the time to give him a thorough check-up (sedated of course 😅), run some blood work, and discuss his anxiety and behaviour with us. We now have a treatment plan that includes medication alongside behavioural training, and it feels like we're finally making progress.

Our next step is finalizing our booking with a Certified Dog Behaviour Consultant/Fear Free Certified trainer to work with us (and oh boy, is that ever expensive! 🫠 But it'll be worth it!).

We know medication isn't a magic fix, and there's still plenty of work ahead of us, but I'm so relieved that we're finally moving in the right direction. At the end of the day, we just want to help our boy feel safer and more comfortable in the world ❤️