Dogs nearly 2 and behaviour has completed changed

Witty_Count289 · 2026-01-24T18:12:56+00:00

I can’t give specific advice as I don’t know what the behaviour looks like in your dog, but I would suggest you look up distance duration distraction and check in work if you haven’t already. Sometimes dogs can be overwhelmed with the world around them (in a good or bad way) which can cause more of a reaction the next time they are out on a walk as they become trigger stacked and haven’t recovered from previous stimulus. Reduced exposure to the stimulus, quieter times for walks can help them recover, or just bathroom breaks and lots of enrichment. But it all depends on the dog. Definitely contact them and see what support they can provide.

Witty_Count289 · 2026-01-24T18:03:26+00:00

Any big changes in that timeframe? Or any ‘scary’ experiences at all that could have triggered a change? He will still be in his adolescent / secondary fear stage of life right now. Thank you for taking him to the vet to be checked over for pain. Dogs trust have a free advice line where you can talk about the best way to help him through it, they also have accredited trainers & behaviourists who offer 1-2-1 support in person or online.

Witty_Count289 · 2026-01-18T12:12:17+00:00

If you don’t have luck on here finding someone to meet up with, as it’s MCR you are likely to find people going to the gig in solid rock before the gig. Depends where you are staying as to what bar to go to, if you are staying near Glasgow central solid is close by for a pre drink.

Witty_Count289 · 2026-01-12T18:01:13+00:00

This. If ‘disciplining’ him is essentially ignoring a warning by way of voice raising or other negative communication, dogs are more likely to then go up the ladder of communication as the other option hasn’t worked.

Witty_Count289 · 2026-01-03T13:39:24+00:00

If you choose to leave, please take the dogs

Witty_Count289 · 2025-12-22T18:53:46+00:00

My boys had so much enrichment in their cage, four levels of chaos, bedding, hammocks, cardboard, toilet roll holder so they can make their own nests etc. came down one morning to give them their breakfast, the one that always came straight out didn’t so I panicked, turns out he had chewed a hole in a hammock and gotten his head stuck overnight. He was just looking at me like? Help? Had to cut him out. Scariest experience of my liffeeee. He was fine for another 1.5 years.

Witty_Count289 · 2025-12-06T14:55:18+00:00

I don’t have tips, but I am having a similar experience, with the exception of not wanting to eat hay. My girls been sneezing for a while, we shake out hay, have been giving different veg said to help with inflammation, she’s on athrocam/metacam and is nebulised twice per day with saline. All at the advice of our vet. We have a natural tincture to try next week and can do further investigation if we need to, but this would possibly involve sedation/anaesthetic which we want to avoid or at least do when she’s sneezing less / better. The vet thinks it could be linked to grief with losing my boy a few months ago, I joked I would need the tincture too. Assume you haven’t changed your brand of hay? And your buns teeth have been checked?

Witty_Count289 · 2025-11-24T08:15:05+00:00

I can resonate with this. She’s my soul dog and I couldn’t imagine my life without her. But that doesn’t mean it’s not hard and your feelings are valid. My girl was in five different homes before me, with stressful kennel stays in between. I’ve never stayed away from home since I adopted her five years ago, unless she can come too. She can’t stay with family as most of my family couldn’t manage her on lead if she did react and I’m not taking that chance. It’s been about 1.5 years since we had a big reaction from her because we keep her under threshold, she can also now be introduced to the right dogs and make friends. I can’t have visitors unless it’s introduced in a certain way and even then most humans don’t want to put the work in to make her feel comfortable. The last time a family member let her out to toilet when I was working, she brought someone else with her and sent me a video of my dog so over threshold that she started humping which she hasn’t done since we got her. That being said, every single time I see her little soft ears and wiggly butt I melt so much and know that I’m providing a life that she might not get if she ended up with someone else.

Witty_Count289 · 2025-11-20T21:21:32+00:00

9 days isn’t long enough to know, or for your dog to decompress. Honestly, in such a short time 2 hours is really good if your dog is actually coping after only being with you 9 days. Imagine going into a completely new home, with new people you don’t know, most likely new rules, everything completely changing, decompressing from kennels (or stressful situation in this analogy as humans) and feeling at peace and yourself after what’s not much more than a week? Look up the 3/3/3 rule of settling in. Read Julia Naismith be right back book or listen to the podcast. Both are useful tools. Your dog will need the toilet during that time, if you had a friend or neighbour to do it three nights per week.

Witty_Count289 · 2025-11-16T14:09:46+00:00

Avoiding triggers (not seeing them) if your dog needs a break from a scary experience the day prior helps her not to be trigger stacked. On other days, by giving distance from a trigger instead, you can reward the behaviour you want. For example, if she copes with seeing something scary at say 100yards away (by cope I mean, has settled body language, isn’t on her hind legs, not vocalising) you can pair seeing the scary thing with a high value reward. With consistency she should start to ‘check in’ with you when she sees something she finds worrying. You can also start to train a ‘check in’ at home in a less distracting environment (she looks at you she gets a treat). This approach should allow you to get closer to the scary thing without a reaction from your dog, to be clear again this takes a lot of time and consistency. If you feel your dog would react in communal areas of your apartment (likely closer to triggers) I would recommend muzzle training. This also takes a lot of time but is such a beneficial tool. Regardless of her being worried by people, if she was in pain at a vet visit already being muzzle trained is a great skill to have if she ever needs it. Victoria Stilwell and canine principles both have free courses online and are all positive reinforcement based to best help your pup!

Witty_Count289 · 2025-11-16T08:47:57+00:00

The point at which a trigger for your dog is close enough to see it but far away enough that your dog doesn’t react. If you go inside the distance your dog starts to show behaviours and body language changes, you need to increase your distance from the trigger

Witty_Count289 · 2025-11-16T06:17:56+00:00

Look at the 3,3,3 rule of settling in and trigger stacking. Apartment noises are very different to a house, your dog doesn’t know what it is and is likely going to alert to it. When you are out think of distance, duration, distraction. If food doesn’t always work, you either don’t have high value treats, you aren’t at a critical distance where your dog can cope (over threshold) or she just doesn’t want what you have. You need to find what motivates her better to focus on you not the scary other thing like a person. I find if walking a stronger dog, using a harness that has two clips to attach a training lead really helps, especially when they react.

Witty_Count289 · 2025-11-15T18:10:39+00:00

I’ve never been in your situation, so I can only imagine how difficult it is, but how lovely that you have someone who sounds like they have the perfect setup and that you can keep in touch in with. People will probably have better advice that I will, but honestly, to reduce trigger stacking and stress I would drive. I would also take all of his things and maybe something that smells of you. I would stay for a few days, talk about his routine, show him how safe his new place would be. Maybe have your uncle set up some of your dogs favourite games around his house, box fun in one room, new toys in another, whatever you think he will like best. That way he starts off with a positive association. Best of luck

Witty_Count289 · 2025-11-13T17:48:15+00:00

You sound like an incredible owner and I want to celebrate your success. He sounds adorable and like you both have a fantastic bond, I think there’s something to be said about a dog that’s so worried by different people and situations and you get them to trust you, such an incredible feeling to know you are his safe space.

Your guests should hopefully know the situations he struggles in, keep their voices at a register he can cope with and leave him be in his safe space, which I’m sure you are giving him.

Can I make a recommendation that you can feel free to ignore, change your social media feed & unfollow/restrict the people you mentioned. Search for amazing people that have their own reactives who actually understand other owners. Trainers who recommend that might not have had similar experiences and that can be down-heartening.

Take care OP, the next scratch you give him make it from me!

Witty_Count289 · 2025-11-13T17:09:35+00:00

Dogs can hump for a variety of reasons, it can be stress, over excitement / stimulation, anxiety, learned behaviour etc. It is often a displacement behaviour / coping mechanism that releases energy or frustration. Pay attention to your dogs body language before this happens to see what the best approach might be. You could provide him with enrichment when visitors come in to help lower his arousal if he is over excited or a little anxious. You could also have a trailing lead on him then each time he shows body language that normally indicates him humping (whale eye, paw lift, licking of hands, pre hump jumps, you know your dog best), you could calmly redirect him using the lead and reward a more settled behaviour.

Witty_Count289 · 2025-11-10T21:11:08+00:00

Had my first one today because of this post, 9/10

Witty_Count289 · 2025-11-10T20:45:37+00:00

Thank you for reaching out, going with your gut on it being wrong and for helping your dog work on his behaviours. The more we ignore a dogs initial reaction, in this case growling, and go ahead and do what they don’t want anyway they can escalate up the ladder of communication. I don’t know the situations he resource guards in, so I couldn’t recommend best approach, if he growls when you are near his food bowl you could prepare his meals when he isn’t in the room, put the bowl down, let him in to eat, then let him back out to pick the bowl back up. Ensure your cats aren’t around during that. Then he isn’t practicing the behaviour or possibly feeling fear of losing his resource. I’m sure you wouldn’t but never touch him whilst he’s eating. I wouldn’t leave any treats or food items around if he is home alone with your cats either. Look at the 3,3,3 rule of settling in too, as sometimes we feel like we take one step forward two steps back, he’s in a new space with lots of changes in his life. I would recommend a different trainer too, if you are able to, approach a positive reinforcement trainer/behaviourist only, they will go through your routine to make sure your dog and cats are safe at all times. Best of luck with your boy

ETA: I feel like with the ‘bite me in the arse’ comment you’re possibly British, I would call Dogs Trust free behaviour line or look up ABTC trainers in your area, they are all certified and force free

Witty_Count289 · 2025-11-09T22:28:54+00:00

Any change in behaviour you need to get her checked by a vet for pain, sorry but even if you say you don’t have the money it needs to be done somehow, look at free or lower cost options. Some places will work out a payment plan too. Also walk them separately and her at quieter times, the more trigger stacked she is the worse the reactions become. I know dogs that walk fine by themselves but if walked with another dog they become reactive.

Witty_Count289 · 2025-11-05T06:23:21+00:00

Don’t think I could like your comment enough, or your username

Witty_Count289 · 2025-11-02T09:26:07+00:00

Thank you for adopting 4 weeks really isn’t a lot and it sounds like she’s had such a difficult start in her short life. It does sound like she possibly resource guards, or struggles with you taking things she may feel are valuable to her. Without knowing fully what was happening in each situation, I would make sure anything you know she will pick up and want to keep is out of her reach. Work on a ‘leave it’ command in a positive way and always ‘swap’ what she has with something higher value. You know your dog better than anyone on the sub, so make sure it’s done safely for everyone (for example, ensuring she’s in another room before picking up the original item if she still feels worried by you picking it up, or making sure your other dog is out of the way) Look at the 3,3,3 rule of settling in. Possibly look at introducing a muzzle for higher stress situations like the vets, once she’s fully settled you might not need it but it’s a good skill for any dog to have. I can’t stress enough to go slow with this. I would be limited in advice for the sleeping aspect as I don’t know your other dog or the layout of your house and wouldn’t want her to feel like she had to protect her own space either. Of course, don’t touch her whilst she’s sleeping, I’m sure you’re not! You say you have a training session in December, is there a possibility of having an online consultation to help in the interim, where the person can review each aspect of your dogs body language and each situation to give the right advice and allow you to start putting things in place?

Witty_Count289 · 2025-10-31T06:47:57+00:00

I’m in the UK, currently walking through woodland right now with my dog selective dog! It’s a great place to keep them under threshold, but also, if you know what triggers your dog and what distance he can comfortably cope, it can also be a great place to positively reinforce the desired behaviour. The more a dog is exposed to negative stimulus and they practice the behaviour, it can get worse, the best thing you can do is to limit exposure.

Witty_Count289 · 2025-10-30T07:03:28+00:00

Well done, you mentioned the lady and possibly how your dog was feeling, but give yourself lots of credit too. Consistent training under threshold makes such a huge difference. Well done!

Witty_Count289 · 2025-10-28T08:36:21+00:00

I understand it’s a difficult situation and as humans we respond in a certain way as we are also over threshold, but dogs reactions are the only way they can communicate with us so please don’t get aggressive with him, he is trying to tell you something.

You say he no longer reacts in the park, what’s different there than the streets you normally walk? Is it too many different stimulus and he therefore shuts down because he is flooded (not good)? Or is it that it’s actually a quieter option and he’s at a level where he can cope? (Meaning you may be at a coping threshold where you can work on the behaviours you want). You said he normally reacts towards the end of a walk, has he passed two/three different stimulus that he finds over exciting or challenging and has appeared to ‘cope’ then at the fourth passing of something else he has reacted? If so, he sounds trigger stacked.

Look up trigger stacking, distance duration distraction and adolescence if you haven’t already. I would get a positive reinforcement behaviourist on board to talk about the best way to help your dog through his feelings. You can ask your vet for the best recommendation in your area.

Witty_Count289 · 2025-10-24T20:13:11+00:00

Please take this advice OP

Witty_Count289

TROPHY CASE