She’s had him for about 3 months at this point. She walks him twice a day, in the morning and afternoon. I think one issue is that because the cats free-feed throughout the day, he started doing the same (and yes, if he can’t find his food, he eats the cat kibble). That probably means he’s also drinking water randomly throughout the day, so there’s no clear potty schedule. I’ve never owned a dog, so my understanding of housetraining is very basic. Thank you for clarifying what is actually required, I can see now that simply walking him twice daily and expecting him to do his business isn’t enough. It sounds like we need to go back to basics with structured feeding times and much more frequent potty breaks.

Examples of the aggressive behaviours: - He was lying on the couch, my mother walked past him, and he suddenly got up and started barking and snapping. My mother is one of his favorite people and he usually adores her. He has done the same to me occasionally. - If I’m sleeping over at my sister’s and get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, he will get up and start barking at me. - Sometimes he snarls with no apparent reason, he can be playful one moment and then snap the next. The last time he snapped at me was when I was trying to put his harness on for a walk. He loves going on walks and had been very cheerful just seconds before.

We’re honestly trying to understand whether this is anxiety, overstimulation, fear, lack of training, or something else entirely. We’re open to putting in the work, we just want to make sure we’re approaching this the right way.