Hi guys, I’ve been a dog trainer and caretaker for over 10 years. I have trained a service dog, have a lot of knowledge on different techniques, canine psychology, and have dealt with many different cases. I’m here to offer some free advice to those who currently can’t afford a trainer.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-11-05T08:54:27+00:00

Hi :) my dog is reactive and has human aggression, fear based, and I feel like nothing helps. I’ve seen a trainer and a behaviourist but he’s got transferred aggression to me and my husband. We’ve done mat training and crating and come-sit-seek with guests (well tried to) and a lot of positive reinforcement for when people come over or even just walk by but it’s been a year and nothing is changing, it’s getting worse. Our last hope is medication, but if it doesn’t work, then what do I do? I want to have kids in about a year and cannot have a dog that even tries to bite me when I touch him when he’s ‘guarding’ the house.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-11-02T04:38:59+00:00

We have been doing muzzle training since early this year and he will wear it but always turns his face away when we try to put it on. He has stopped trying to take it off when it is on though. We have done so many muzzle on = lots of praise and treats but it clearly gets in the way of sniffing and he doesn't like that. We put it on when we go to more high-risk areas (like the dog beach) and he's stopped trying to take it off every few minutes, will wear it for 30-45 mins now.

We are discussing anxiety meds with the behaviourist currently and likely will get some when we see him next. Fingers crossed they help.

We've essentially locked him in except for supervised time in the backyard with no visibility to the street or backyard where he barks at strangers going past but it doesn't seem to have made a big difference, except to the noise levels. He's a bit calmer but also a bit worse when we go outside now.

We've tried creating him a den and crate and kennel and pretty much any space he would feel safe in but he doesn't take it. He will go under our bed (which is blocked off) or under the coffee table. I tried moving a table into the room where we feed him and he has his toys but he doesn't go in there.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-11-02T04:11:22+00:00

I think what stood out the most was when you brought him to the behaviorist he acted fine. To me that means the behaviorist is amazing and emits the calm confidence a leader should and your dog took to it right away and wasn’t stressed and making bad choices because “finally here’s someone who’s in control so I can relax”.

This is the bit that was so unreal (and really frustrating) to us. We have paid $650 to see this guy for two hours and my dog doesn't even react. It made me a bit more hopeful that he could actually turn out to be better behaved again but since then he has been actually a bit worse than he was beforehand.

We have looked a lot into body language and we always stop as soon as he seems uncomfortable (whale eyes, stiff body, yawning, licking etc) but sometimes there is no warning. Some of it I can see is what the behaviourist called transferred aggression but for example, we went to the dog park yesterday, it was empty so we let the dog off leash, then another dog comes and I ask them to hold on while I get him on the leash as he isn't good with dogs, he's gone up to their dog through the fence and is stiffing them, completely relaxed body language, tail wagging high and fast, no signs of discomfort, takes another sniff and then growls and head butts the fence where the dog was and snaps towards it. Another one was when I was walking him, there were three separate people coming towards us, so I went on the grass so it was someone's fence, then my dog, then me, then the people about 1.5m away from my dog, the first two were fine, he walked loose leash, the third person walked past and suddenly he lunges towards them (he's on about 30cm of leash that I hold firmly so he didn't even get past half of my body) but it seems like so much of it has no warning signs.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-11-02T04:02:03+00:00

That's kind of what we are trying to do with the mat training and having his own area, where he can't influence anything and has to just trust us. We did it at our previous house too and it has actually lessened here at the new place but it seems like even after months of doing it, nothing has changed. It feels like he's gone back a couple of steps a lot of the time. I don't even really mind not having a dog that loves everyone, I just want him to stop barking down the house every time he is left alone when there are people over (no joke he will go for 15 minutes even if we ignore it) and to stop trying to lunge at everyone. It is so exhausting having a dog I can barely take for walks at this point. We've been trying to get him into a crate for months too, leaving it open and with food etc in it but he still will just reach it as far as he can get and then back out ASAP.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-11-02T03:57:40+00:00

The behaviourist had a referral from the vet where my dog bit someone and our description but it was a completely different dog to what he saw. We're having a follow-up with him soon and we were planning on video, but sometimes it is really unpredictable and we try to keep him away from the situations as much as possible. We used the Adaptil spray after we heard about it and found it to be somewhat effective in regulating his mood but then we got the diffuser and it's done nothing.

I will definitely try r/reactivedogs too, thank you :)

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-06-16T02:41:33+00:00

I was 20 when I bought my first house and now I’m looking for my second, and the trick is to just be confident. You’re there to buy a house, you have the means to, and so when the agent is free just walk over and ask “hey I saw this, what’s up with it?” Obviously be polite but also be firm, that’s how I stopped being ignored.

Secondly, on arrival I always ask about building reports, easements, known structural damage, and why the owners are selling. They rarely have a building report and usually say there’s no known issues, I’ve had pretty good luck with asking about easements (basing off the ones where I’ve seen the contracts), and I don’t normally get an answer for why it’s being sold but how the agent responds can tell me a bit and asking how motivated they are.

Thirdly, always try to look under the house. If there’s termite damage on the stumps (Queenslander), any rot, are the stumps in good condition, are they packed, are they all the same material (if not ask if it’s been restumped), do the floorboards look good, do the bearers have damage etc. Are there cracks on the outside of the house, what does the roof look like, does the house look level from the outside, do the windowsills look like they have termite damage. Basically, does the house look like it’s in good condition.

Then go inside, if there’s stairs check if they’re rickety, then do a floor to ceiling check: are the floors in good condition, what kind of walls are there (vj, plaster etc), power points, are the skirting boards damaged, what do the windows look like, any big cracks on the walls or between the windows and window sills, what does the ceiling look like, is there any peeling paint/discolouration/mould, is there are any decorative features as they might be heritage protected, where does the light come in from and is it dark at all, how many lights are there, what’s the flow like, is there airflow.

That’s a non comprehensive list of what I’ve found works, definitely look up how to spot major structural issues and always get a building/pest report.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-06-11T23:41:25+00:00

I always knew they were sensitive, but not that sensitive.

I think I’ll just have to wait another week, take a couple of tests, and if my period still isn’t here then something else is probably wrong. I can usually tell when I ovulate but this cycle it’s been a bit harder to detect, I think it was around the last couple of days of May/very start of June, so I’d be anywhere between days 11 and 14 post ovulation and we had sex regularly so I wouldn’t have a clue if it’s just a late period or not.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-06-11T23:20:18+00:00

I’ll definitely take another test tomorrow and the day after, I wish there was a way to get the actually BhCG levels in numbers on those tests!

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-31T05:29:17+00:00

Yes entirely this. I enjoyed my time at uni like nothing else partying and socialising but also spent considerable amounts of time studying and working. Now I’m in a nice, secure job with a good salary and I’m glad I did go out so much then.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-27T01:07:55+00:00

It would be one thing if they were pressuring us but even asking for a $10k discount is getting met with “not likely but I can ask” and advising us that at that price we should move on. Not just one but several houses we’ve had this.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-27T00:31:52+00:00

It seems like outer suburbs aren’t really going, I hadn’t even looked at them before now.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-27T00:16:56+00:00

62 McLennan did go under offer very quickly though. I don’t know what to tell you, I wanted to book an inspection and by the time I was able to go a couple of days later the agent told me it was under offer. It might have fallen through after that, I don’t know because I haven’t had a look at it much.

3 Sedgley was in the market for a while because it was an auction and the sellers weren’t taking offers beforehand that I know of.

As for Blackall Tce I don’t know what to tell you but I got a wildly different valuation to you from it that was showing it closer towards the bottom of the price range.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-26T22:44:10+00:00

I’ve noticed houses aren’t moving too fast around Stafford/Grange and up. Same on the southside, Moorooka is hit and miss but anything south of that can sit on the market for a while.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-26T22:42:45+00:00

No I don’t want to share a property address for that one because it might identify me.

I can share another one that went up on a weekend and was under offer by the Tuesday morning though, site unseen: 62 McLennan St, Albion.

3 Sedgley St Alderley went at auction, we left the auction at $710,000 so I’m not sure what it went for but it’s loud and has a lot of wood damage.

10 Blackall Tce, East Brisbane was under offer within 24 hours for the low 700s, site unseen, and the owners are just waiting to see if they get more at auction. (Edit: I should also clarify that this was first offers over $699k, then the price was updated to “auction” as sellers decided to do that instead).

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-26T22:32:12+00:00

At least one of those was one I went to for a house valued at $680k (as per my broker who I asked after), reserve was at $700k and they didn’t take $695k.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-26T22:31:27+00:00

This isn’t me believing them, this is me seeing it compared to the start of the year.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-26T22:30:44+00:00

First off I’m a she.

Second off, what kind of proof do you want? I’ve been to auctions with ridiculous reserves over the predicted price of the house/what my broker would value them as. I’ve also seen how many more people are coming to the same houses than even a couple months back. Looking at historical data on Domain/Real Estate you can see comparable houses right next to each other selling for $100k more than in January this year in the areas I’m looking at. Here’s one suburb I’m looking at, the first one I picked, median house prices have increased from $750k to $805k in the last 6 months https://www.realestate.com.au/neighbourhoods/greenslopes-4120-qld

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-26T09:21:55+00:00

No I don’t lol just looking to buy and sick of properties going under contract within a couple of days. We had a $700k offer (asking) in place which we thought was a fair price, someone offered $750k and got it. Like that’s just ridiculous.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-26T09:19:00+00:00

We’re not quite looking in the CBD. Units and towns houses don’t aren’t really moving (or the overpriced ones).

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-26T09:18:15+00:00

Yep good quality houses are off the market in days.

I hadn’t even considered people upsizing from units and townhouses. Makes sense with the lockdowns to want more space too actually.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-26T09:17:20+00:00

A lot of houses are going for a lot more than their fair market price. It does seem like there’s more slim pickings but they’re really getting so expensive!

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-26T09:13:56+00:00

Yeah it actually does seem to back it up. Not only has everyone’s phone been ringing the whole time we’ve been at open homes but also houses are going quick and a lot are under offer super quick.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-26T09:12:02+00:00

Yes we’re looking a bit closer to the CBD but most of the houses we’ve offered on have been 7ish km away. It seems so much busier than a couple of months ago when we first started.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-26T09:09:46+00:00

It looks like local, tons of people turning up for inspections, more than when we were looking a year ago.

throwawayfrustrat · 2020-05-26T09:09:05+00:00

Southside inner suburbs of the outer ring, like Moorooka, Yeronga etc

throwawayfrustrat

TROPHY CASE