Reactive Dogs

Have you been approached, charged, or attacked by an off-leash dog in the last month? Let’s hear about it! This is the place to let out that frustration and anger towards owners who feel above the local leash laws. r/reactivedogs no longer allows individual posts about off-leash dog encounters due to the high volume of repetitive posts but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to discuss the issue.

Share your stories here and vent about your frustrations. We’ll do our best to offer advice and support. We all hate hearing, “Don’t worry! He’s friendly!” and no one understands your frustration better than the community here at r/reactivedogs.

Hi r/reactivedogs community! It’s your totally human moderator Roboto here with an important update about how we’re going to handle Behavioral Euthanasia posts going forward.

We’ve heard your feedback about the influx of posts about behavioral euthanasia (BE). After a lot of evaluation and research, both on our subreddit and beyond, we have decided that we are no longer going to facilitate discussions around behavioral euthanasia as a posting topic within our community. We fully understand that behavioral euthanasia is sometimes part of owning reactive dogs but our community is not properly equipped to handle that discussion.

That said, we also understand that our community still overlaps with this painful reality. Going forward, all posts about BE will be automatically locked upon posting and will instead offer links to resources that are better suited for that type of support. We aren’t outright banning this content. Sometimes, this is still the most familiar place for a reactive dog owner reflecting on their journey with their dog and if this is the safest place to start processing their grief, we understand. You can still post as needed but there will not be space for additional discussion.

Similarly, posts asking for feedback about the possibility of BE will also be automatically locked with resource text added as a comment. After reflecting on the limitations of our abilities as an online platform, as well as the rise in malicious actors, we cannot continue to host these discussions. No one should be making suggestions about whether a dog should or should not be a candidate for BE without directly evaluating that dog and their owner in person.

An example of the new moderator comment can be found in the comments of this post.

Starting today, all posts about BE should be given the “Behavioral Euthanasia” flair before submission. If by chance the submission does not have that flair, we are also flagging posts that contain behavioral euthanasia in the text. Any posts not caught in that process can still subject to being locked by a moderator upon review.

Comments referencing BE are still allowed at this time as we understand there may be instances in the course of a discussion that might fall outside of the guidelines listed above. We are, however, instituting additional review tools for these comments to identify those that might still be making unqualified suggestions of BE. Comments about BE are still subject to the same review and locking/deletion rules noted above if deemed necessary by the moderators.

I see a lot of people say their dog is a menace to others but a different pet sub with them, so sweet. Well ours is fine… but not really cuddly. I find it hard to bond. I thought all dogs were cuddly. He’s a 7 year old Aussie rescue third home. His last owner said he was super cuddly. He barely even likes to be pet- never when on walks or when training. He’s been with us 4.5 months. I’m sure my screeching toddler doesn’t help.

Couple of times a year I get really angry when he gets aggressive to other dogs and I am so angry that the only thing that helps me to cool off is to give him a silent treatment for a couple of hours. I still make sure his needs are met during this time but I get so angry that I can’t pet him and talk to him. It didn’t start as to punish him but to cool off but today we had an incident and I realized that he doesn’t know I am cooling off and that he sees it probably as punishment. Should I stop doing this?

Getting your first dog and realizing that he is reactive can be overwhelming. Initially, I was unable to take him to training because he was too distracted. When I first got him, he was so anxious about going outside that it took a few months before he began to enjoy outings. Then came his reactive behavior towards humans: he would lunge, growl, and bark at any passerby. However, he was great with other dogs, which was a positive aspect.

About two months ago, after working tirelessly with him on his reactivity towards people—taking him out as much as possible and allowing him to observe and process his surroundings—he is now no longer reactive to humans. It may be a combination of hormones and my support that has led to this progress. He can now walk past people without any problems. Although he does not like to be touched by strangers, he no longer responds aggressively and simply avoids them. I can even have a conversation with someone; if he is uncomfortable or wants attention, he will bark once.

However, a new problem has arisen. Although he is great with dogs and matches his play style to theirs, he now starts reacting every time he sees another dog. He will bark, growl, lunge, and pull until he meets the dog, throwing full-on tantrums, which is extremely embarrassing.

Today, we had a breakthrough, and I am incredibly proud of him. During our walk in the woods, we saw a dog in the distance. I moved him slightly to the side and did something different: I kept giving him commands like "wait" and "calm" repeatedly whenever I noticed his breathing getting heavier. It worked. He did not react. When another dog walker came by, the same happened—no reactions. In total, seven dogs walked by us without him reacting, all because I provided him with more structure and reassurance.

This progress might be due to his growth and maturity, but the past few months have been challenging, leading me to consider giving him up. However, his continuous improvement is now making me reconsider.

Hi all. Roxy is a 9 YO reactive pup

She’s a pitty so even at 9 she has a ton of energy. She was diagnosed with arthritis a couple years ago So I’m looking for ways to exude this energy as safely as possible. She still wants to play fetch and tug but running to the ball is obviously too strenuous for her and chew toys make her gum bleed (a recently dilemma since she’s always had great teeth). We tried puzzle toys for mental stimulation but she either figures it out too quickly or gets so frustrated that she tries to rip it apart.

One thing I have found that has worked was long walks however, we live in a heavily populated area (dogs included) so these walks can also be overstimulating for as well.

Just looking for safe exercise suggestions for her. For reference it’s ALL dogs and selective people. (If that even makes a difference)

Also. She’s on 30mg Prozac daily for anxiety

Hey all! I’m having trouble with my border collie/ Australian cattle dog’s reactivity. No matter the size of the dog she freaks out and starts barking and lunging at the other dog. She’s been like this since the beginning but at first it looked like she just wanted to say hi. There was an incident with three other dogs where those dogs were aggressive and approached my dog and I with barking and snapping. Since then her reactivity has looked more aggressive. I have looked up ways to help her out but they don’t seem to be working. If there’s any type of advice y’all can give it’ll be great! :)

Pretty much the title. My dog is sweet to me but pretty much osama bin Laden to the rest of the world. Can’t risk her getting off

I've been trying to train my rescue retriever mixed dog and mentally stimulate him. He is a bit anxious and always excited all the time. If we touch him while he's excited he snaps at us. Kong toys don't interest him, he kind of looks at me like "Why are you making it hard for me?" He just licks the part he can reach and gives up. We work 9-5 so we wanted him to do something while we're out and everyone suggested a kong.

Snuffle toys, he'll just destroy. Anything cloth he can destroy if I hide treats in there. I keep researching dog training videos and there's a lot I need to train him for. I don't even know where to start.

He dashes outside, doesn't like his collar touched, doesn't like his crate. Pulls us very hard during walks and like to mark everywhere. He hates kids but for some reason he is fine with small dogs. I had an older dog play with him and the older dog keeps scolding him and my dog wouldn't listen.

I've had 4 dogs before and they weren't this hard to train or handle. Even my border collie was eager to please all the time, walks were a breeze.

I get stressed after walks when I have to remove his leash, he shows signs of aggression whenever we try to remove it. I've tried a trainer before and I paid a lot of $$$ and they only helped me teach my dog how to sit and just gave me a slip lead, that's it. That's why I'm feeling doubtful...

My 11 yr old pom can be possessive of me to my partner. He isn't always possessive but it is problematic when he is.

How do I train him to relax? Or have other suggestions?

2 mos ago I rescued a 1 year old y/o Goldendoodle. He is sooo sweet and smart. We just finished a training program and the trainer said he is just being a puppy when I explained this situation BUT when we go to the dog park he likes to wrestle and mouth and a lot of times goes after the other dogs neck. He has never drawn blood and does backs off but some owners are horrified when my dog is playing. I raised 2 Weimaraners their whole life (which are far more protective and assertive) I also have a 9 y/o Maltipoo that is 20 pounds and he is the alpha in my house. IMO I don’t feel like these other dog people shouldn’t be at a DOG park. Today I had a man screaming at me that my dog is out of control. I told him a thing or 2 myself…I just don’t know where else he get this energy out…🙁

Sharing a huge win for us hoping it would help others cause I've felt like we've plateued on the path to neutrality! Typically we would cross the street anytime a dog would come toward us. Today I'd thought let's experiment and see what happens and hopefully get closer to closing the distance with other dogs. A dog was behind us and my pup started to fixate. I got his attention with treats and we walked toward the edge of the sidewalk to create some space. Fortunately our neighborhood has large sidewalks at 8-12 ft. I asked him to sit and held a treat inches from his nose while the dog walked by us and my pup kept his focus on the treat/me.

I was ecstatic! We've come a long way. My pup used to react to dogs across the street. We worked on LAT to the point where he no longer reacts when dogs are across the street. He sees the dog and immediately looks at me for his cue. If he fixates, I just shout his cue and that breaks him out of his trance. Then I distract him with a game of "Find it" until the other dog is out of sight. Other notes: this dog that was behind us seemed very neutral. It was on leash and owner appeared to understand that we didn't want to say hello so I felt comfortable "testing" my pup. I would have crossed the street if it were a puppy or something other dog pulling on their leash. It was also my pup's after dinner walk where he's mostly tired from the day already. I wanted to give my pup the best chances for success and it worked! I'll definitely try again as this gave me a little bit of confidence. Every walk is a training moment for us so we're trying to take it to the next step!

When medication options fail, what do you do? My two dogs are really great at home with just me, but they have really severe anxiety when outside and around others. They were both like this the moment I brought them home. One trembles and flails around the leash, making it hard to walk her. No food motivation at all, so it is automatic shutdown the moment the door opens. The other is the opposite, very hyperactive, whining and very vocal on walks and around others. When I got him, his documents reported great behavior with dogs, but he’s actually been in several scuffles with other dogs at the park, so I no longer feel comfortable having him off-leash. He still gets to go, but on leash and he cries the entire time. I’ve tried the ignoring method or giving him treats when he stops, but he’s actually gone hours without stopping. He’s just way too overstimulated and his anxiety meds don’t even seem to help.

I have to take them out at late night so they can actually run around and release their energy. This isn’t ideal though because most parks close and sometimes I feel unsafe in dark parks. If I did this during the daytime, they’d for sure run to the streets and get hurt. I take them out 2-3 hours daily and give them mental stimulation but that only seems to help them on a bare minimum level.

I’ve worked with a couple of trainers who have helped with redirecting and some steady discipline, which seems to help the short-term, but I sometimes lose hope that my dogs won’t reach an place that I had in mind and that this is the best they can do. When you exhaust your options and just keep going, what more can you do for your dogs? Just pushing through it? It’s been about 1.5 years. All the experts seem to just encourage me to keep doing what I’m doing….but I don’t feel like anything is working.

Hi there I’m looking for some advice. We have a Jack Russell Terrier, who is five years old. We rescued him from the shelter four years ago. We now have a seven month old baby. Our baby tries to talk to the dog from distance and when he does that, our dog growls at him. We separate the dog immediately. We are really worried. What advice or resources or training we can give the dog so he does not growl at the baby or hurt him.

Thank you

I just want to preface in saying that anything I see happen with the dog that I think is not right, I do stand up and voice my opinion about. I will always sacrifice my own and others comfort for the sake of an animals well-being. I continue to do the most that I can to help my GMIL be a better pet owner, and most importantly to get her dog what it needs.

Also, this ended up being a bit long, apologies!

She has two dogs, one yorkie 6-8yrs who’s (surprisingly, without training) well behaved, and she adopted a puppy in summer ‘23 who is a mix including at least boxer, lab, and chihuahua, but I’m not sure or what else. She’s now a year old and approx 12lbs.

GMIL does well with the yorkie as she’s quite low maintenance, but the other dog she struggles with. IMO, the biggest issue is that the dog never gets outside, has never had training, is never played with, and is thus completely lacking any physical or mental stimulation. Because of these things, the dog is very energetic (also because she’s young), barks a lot (which I don’t really mind having grown up with dogs, but GMIL minds/is embarrassed of it), and gets so excited when people visit (because if she’s lacking even leaving the house, she’s not socialized, she’s very sweet and not aggressive I want to add) that GMIL feels the need to hold onto her the entire time while she squirms or put her in a separate room completely. Additionally, yes, the dogs don’t even go outside to pee/poo. It’s all inside. GMIL puts down training mats, but since both dogs lack any training, they will go anywhere.

I have babysat the dog on a few occasions for a few hours, and I always take her outside for a nice while, play lots, and attempt to teach her basic things like sitting, successfully using treats to reward positive behaviours. Countless times I’ve shown GMIL the progress of simply getting the dog to sit for a treat, and she does not continue training when I leave. I’ve purchased several kinds of items like harnesses, leashes, toys, but none of them have been used by GMIL more than a few times. She says she doesn’t walk the dog because the dog is “bad”, that she “bites the leash and won’t walk with her”, to which I explain why, and that it’s due to the dog having any training or structure, and that you need to train a dog to walk using good behaviours by rewarding with treats.

Over the past few weeks, GMIL has mentioned looking into purchasing a shock collar for the dog. She says there is one that triggers for barking, and additionally has a remote to use whenever you feel the need to. Each time she’s brought this up, I immediately turn the idea down and explain to her why she shouldn’t, including that it’s not as effective as rewarding good behaviours and how it harms the dog physically and this mentally. She continues to bring it up because other family members are convincing her that it’s her best or only option to get her dog under control. I hate this idea. I even told her how my parents considered it years ago, but my mother made my father try it on first to see what it would feel like for the dog, and after that they decided against it. I suggested if she ever actually buys one, she do the same before it ever touches the dog (I say this assuming she’d not do that to herself, thus wouldn’t to the dog).

I just don’t know what else to do. I’ve suggested to my husband that maybe this dog simply doesn’t fit her lifestyle and she should look into rehoming to someone else (who of course we would look into on her behalf). If anyone has any suggestions on how to help the dog and how to persuade my GMIL to take the necessary steps to treating this dog properly, please leave a comment below. She loves the dog, the dog is otherwise perfectly healthy, non aggressive and well loved by friends and family. But, I know that what’s best for the pup comes first before all of that.

so as for the reactivity, i have read most comments and will start incorporating the advice. this is about my girls with each other. my one girl stella, is very high energy and loves playing, she plays rough as bully's do, but with lucy my other dog she is a little too rough. lucy is a little more mellow and when they play stella is not recognizing her cues that she isnt interested. they end up not having a good play session since stella is too rough. i want to clarify, no bleeding or hurtful biting involved, but you can tell lucy does not like it. so i always end up having to cut time at the park short. i do not let them play with other dogs, though lucy can because she is good with communication. i just want to know if anyone has dealt with this, if there is a way to make them play "easier" or help stella read social cues better. please let me know thank you, its hard by myself.

Hi everyone, i'm a bit desperate looking for advice about this issue i'm having, i'm a first time dog owner, adopted both my dogs when they were 6 week puppies, oldest is 2,5yo, youngest is 1,5yo, both are mix breed, male and unneutered, they always got along well until they started fighting around a month ago, when i tried breaking the fight my oldest one bit me in the hand and ended up with stitches, i immediately called a dog trainer and we had a session where explained the importance of dominance while training them with a muzzle, choking them if they responded badly and advising me to get a stun gun as a last resort, the session went well and they responded appropriately, problem is i feel my oldest dog's behaviour isn't evolving they way i thought it would, he has always been fearful and prone to biting, if there's a loud noise he hides, isn't affectionate, growls at minor stuff, etc similar to what i've seen from dogs that have suffered abuse, my youngest one is the opposite, very confident, affectionate, playful, etc but the thing is both were raised equally with lots of love, care and 0 violence. So far i've been able to keep them in separate areas of the house but daily life is become difficult and telling the trainer to come is difficult since he lives 3h away, what do you guys recommend? any advice would be much appreciated.

my dog, cooper, is so sweet to me and my family. every last membed of my family he is nice to, including relatives. however, anyone who isnt family he hates, theres people who've known him since he was a puppy that he barks, growls at, and attempts to bite. he's never shown any agression to me or my family.

he's nipped two people out of anxiety?? stress?? im not sure. but theres people who arent family and who havent known him as a puppy that he loves? its men, its women, its kids (especially kids.) its cats that dont live with us, its dogs that dont live with us (minus our family members dogs.)

he literally cannot be without leash in our neighborhood because he'll chase after everything and bark at everything. we've tried a lot of things like an Ecollar, some training and socialization, etc. it feels lile i am going NOWHERE with him. im terrified that ill have to put him down if he gets too scared and bites someone.

anyway, i need serious help. my parents are thinking about putting him in actual training, but i dont want to waste money if theres home remedies i can do. my vet recommended to wait and try desocialization, which we've been doing. she said if that doesnt work to come back and get anxiety medication, but again, i dont want to do that if theres home remedies i can do.

thank you for your time. please help.

Do you think or know if dogs ever get sick or have withdrawals the same ways that humans do when we miss a dose or stop taking a medication?

I’m ill from missing a dose of my mental health med (a SNRI) and am curious if my dogs feels ill if we forget to give it to them. Our dog is also on an SNRI for her reactivity.

I know that some days are better than others and this isn’t a linear journey. But sometimes I just get so sad.

For context I’ve had my dog since 8 weeks old, I had them booked into socialisation classes everything was “perfect”… until we went into national lockdown 2 weeks after I got them. Queue no socialising for 3 years.

At 6 months old they were attacked by an off-lead dog. So now I have a huge 4 year old reactive dog.

We’ve done professional training and I train on every walk, so we’re on the right path. But on days like today when it’s tough just to take them out to the toilet, I get so jealous watching everyone having a lovely peaceful walk while I get pulled about.

We’ve got all the halti, harness, pull leads etc. It’s just the absolute fight they put up, it’s hard.

My sympathies out there to everyone else in the same situation, I’ll try again tomorrow.

does this happen to anyone else? the trazadone does wonders for his anxiety, but around an hour after he takes it when it starts to hit, he gets really freaked out (heavy panting, pacing around, wants to stand on me) for about 20-30 min. after that he is able to calm down and settle, but i feel so bad/guilty when i see him get scared like that. i’ve tried giving him a smaller dose as well and he has the same response. is this just a part of it? :/

UPDATE #1: Just bought my parents a couple of baby gates, and a new crate until they can see their vet next week to discuss training and behavior courses. If it does not get better and reintegration is not an option, I can see Gina getting rehomed for the best quality of life possible.

We set them up within their spaces, and instantly the vibe in the house is different. The dogs aren’t fighting or trying to get through the gates. It feels peaceful here for the first time in a while. Thank you all for the guidance- it was much, much needed. Feeling hopeful for them, and glad I could ease the tension, at least a little, with all your help.

Either way, things are going to be changing for the better. ———————

Where do I even start?

For context:

My parents got a female corgi, Sonya, shortly before her dog Jane passed away.

Because my mom said that Sonya was lonely, she then got another female corgi, Gina, 6 months later. Things were okay for a little bit, but it was clear Sonya did not accept Gina into her pack.

It’s been a year since they got Gina now, and these dogs despise each other.

Constant resource guarding over truly everything. Gina cannot enjoy anything without Sonya simply doing everything in her power to ruin it.

Even if Gina is enjoying something, she’s keeping one eye on Sonya and panicking. She’s never able to fully just enjoy something. She’s extremely paranoid.

Everything became Sonya’s, to the point where she is jumping and crawling over everyone to get attention when they called Gina’s name. It just progressed, and everything is a competition. It’s hard to even visit them because of how often these dogs fight.

Today, they drew blood for the first time in a fight over a toy.

Sonya got bit on her muzzle, and Gina was covered in her blood.

These dogs stop acting this way as soon as my Dad gets home, and so he sees no need for intervention. He works 75 hours a week and my mother is disabled- she cannot take this stress, and he’s simply not around to experience it.

This cannot continue. How do I help her?

My mom does not want to rehome the dogs. She is considering just muzzling them during the day and crate swapping, but would behavioral classes help? Is this any way for them to live? Should they reconsider removing one of them from the home?

Sonya is recently spayed, Gina got too recent of a period to be spayed, apparently.

This happens 24/7 besides when my dad is around. It’s not just when one is hormonal or one is triggered. It’s constantly something, fighting for any resource. Attention, couches, toys, food, anything. I saw them brawl over a piece of ice once.

My mom says this will stop when they are both spayed, but I seriously doubt it.

Any advice? I’ll take any and all, please. This situation has gotten too intense to continue, for everyone involved. I don’t want my mom to constantly be stressed, be harassed by these dogs for love competitions, or ever let them hurt eachother again.

Thank you all in advance.

This is part rant and part asking for advice...

I adopted an 11 year old mix breed from the shelter near me 4 weeks ago and I am just overwhelmed. When I went in, I had mentioned looking for an easy going older dog who was good with other dogs as I live in a very dog friendly area and am around them constantly.

The dog they recommended to me was super shut down when I got him. He has really started to come out of his shell and gotten more comfortable, but he has turned out to be extremely reactive to other dogs. He can't even see another dog far in the distance without going crazy(will start barking, lunging, and trying to get out of his harness and collar to chase the dog) and honestly I'm not sure I can handle it.

The only times I can walk him in my neighborhood are before 5:30 am and after 9:30 at night. During the day I've tried giving him activities(frozen kings, lick mats, puzzle treat toys) to mentally stimulate him but he has zero interest in toys and gives up on the treat toys quickly. I started with a behaviorist after just the first week but there's been minimal progress.

I'm struggling because after 4 weeks I've gotten very attached to him but I'm constantly stressed and don't know if I can keep this up. I am spending 2+ hours a day going to remote areas to walk him because I can't walk in my neighborhood. I can't leave the house without him howling. My boss was okay with me being remote in the short term but is pressuring me to return to office.

Ive grown to love this guy in the short time I've had him. He absolutely loves people and kids, loves when guests come over, and is very well trained on walks when there's no one around. He's added a lot of stress to my life and it would break my heart to return him to the shelter at his age. Ive cried more days than not since getting him because I just don't know what to do. I feel like I'd be a terrible person for returning a senior dog to the shelter. He has no health issues beside some fatty lumps.

Has anyone here had success with a senior dog being reactive? I'm in over my head and could use anything from advice to success stories...

Thank you

I have a Russian Spaniel named Bolt. I have known that he is reactive since we brought him home. Hovewer, I did not know how to train him with the way we are living. We cannot go for walks in our small town streets because there are dogs EVERYWHERE. In dog houses on a leash, dogs running around free in the streets. It's a struggle. I also can't take him to the city park because I can't drive yet and it's far from where we live. I have walked Bolt in the fields for a long long time, but stopped after an incident which left me scared to walk him there. I'm genuinely considering just bolting past the barking dogs and just running full speed through the streets until there's no dogs in sight. Is that a good idea or if that will just make him more worked up? I have ran out of options. Anyone else have better ideas?

He is a mutt, but has a lot of JRT in him, and walks are EXTREMELY stimulating for him, to the point that sometimes he whines because he can't decide what to do - moving, sniffing or marking. However in the past 2 weeks or so I noticed that high value treats are no longer working as before. He won't check on me anymore even knowing I have them, and his work in progress recall became more unreliable. It's almost as being outside is an addictive drug.

I honestly try all sorts of attention games and they work indoors, outside on the patio and even with the apartment gate wide open (the high value treats also at their full force there), but when we step on the sidewalk, is as if we crossed to another dimension, there's no 'transition'. It's actually hilarious that the moment we walk 1 step back through the gate, his attention instantly returns to me.

I'm not sure what is causing this. Maybe it's the 9 mo adolescency hormones making everything outside more attractive than even liver, the stinkiest, most desired prize?

This post is in this sub because my puppy is a frustrated greeter and this is impacting negatively on his LAT training with leashed dog triggers, because the high value treats are becoming unreliable even without any dog in sight for stuff like look at me or heel. I also do try to rotate the high value treats every other day: liver, hot dogs, sweet potato and toys are out of the question - he doesn't care for them outside.

I was even suggested to cut walks only to just potty breaks, but I'm not sure if this is working because he takes at least 20 minutes to do his business. Now I'm thinking that maybe I should try a different opposite approach: do way more walks, but short 10-15min ones, so this whole excitement of being outdoors in my neighborhood dies a bit. A bit of a struggle since we live in a 3rd floor and need to go through stairs, but at this rate I'm willing to try anything to have a more chill pup ouside for his reactivity training.

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Hello, I have a 2 years old dog from shelter, she's mix of German Shepherd and Border Colie.
When we want to make her friend with some other dog (other family's dog, friend's dog etc..).. it takes us 10-15 minutes and she's super friendly after this time. But at the start, she's aggressively barking, growling and she just doesn't listen to us.
We are fine with this, to take 10-15min to make her comfy, but the problem is with walks. It's impossible to wait with every dog 10-15 minutes, to make her ok..
Any suggestion how to train her, to ignore other dogs? Also we tried this with treats.. but issue is that she won't eat any treat on walk. Even those she love. She only eats them at home, nothing on walk :(

Hi there! I live in Boston with my 5.5 year old male German Shepherd. I lived in Costa Rica when I got my baby, I had 2 other smaller dogs with my ex at the time. He kept the other two after our separation and I moved back to the states during Covid. My dogs were never on leash in CR, so moving here was a major life adjustment for him, he never had an issue with other dogs before. Because he was 1.5 years when I moved he was never socialized on leash, it was during Covid and a lot of people are afraid of GSDs so his bark scares people so he really never socialized. He has been attacked 4 times now (never attacked back until the most recent attack where I was seriously injured) and he is definitely anxious around dogs now, does a loud bark and heavily breathes when he sees other dogs, so we try to stay at a safe distance. He does has dog friends (dutch and German shepherds) that are neighbors at my parents house in Maine, he plays with off leash when we visit. I’ve tried so many different types of training (basically everything) and my baby is so stubborn and is probably never going to get over being afraid on leash, I use an e collar on low setttings and find that gets him out of the red zone when he can’t control his big feelings. He is the sweetest, most lovable angel, but he has some big feelings about other dogs.

So here is my dilemma.

1. In November - I was walking him at night around my block, there is a playground (not dog park) directly next to my house, which does not have dog proof gates because shocker it’s a playground and not a dog park. A woman had a pit bull off leash who came chasing after me and my dog on the street and I took 9 bites to my hands and fingers and my dog took a few bites to the face. My healing took about 5-6 months and I’m finally back to normal but the stress and trauma is still there. The owner also slowly strolled over to get her dog who was attacking me and my dog as I’m screaming and crying. So now I don’t know how he would react to an off leash dog approaching him. I also now walk him with a leather working dog harness with handle in case I need to pick him up in a dangerous situation.

2. I don’t know what is wrong with people but I’m seeing more and more dogs off leash, like as in an everyday occurrence - in places where leashes are required… My partner and I took him on a walk to a public walkway/park the other evening and a woman had her husky off leash, I ran ahead and tried informing her I have a reactive dog we are trying to walk through the path and to leash her dog. She basically ignored me then her dog started chasing after me when I turned away!!!! So then I laid into her that I have a reactive dog and she needs to have control over her animal. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to do this and it’s exhausting. I have a right to walk my dog in peace. I don’t want to muzzle him, I believe that would cause more stress, “avoiding these situations” is not an option - I went to take him on a walk and some neighbor had a tiny dog off leash in their driveway.

I’m trying to protect my dog, myself and unfortunatly the dog of any idiot who has them off leash in leash required places. Any suggestions? My friends don’t have dogs here, so I don’t have anyone to practice with. I’m always on edge :/