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@johndoe590 It’s hard not to judge sometimes but sometimes it really is for the best. My puppy is stranger and fear reactive and so far he’s only bonded and is willing to be left alone with me (a bit with my housemate, but only just, like he has to keep him busy or give him treats or he’ll start...

@mango Yeah, I’m typically very pro neuter but was advised by my dog’s veterinary behaviourist and the vets at his clinic this could make his fear-based reactivity worse and aggressive. So they won’t recommend neutering unless he has other issues develop. I asked about vasectomy and they said...

@childman Yep, guilty as charged till my third dog. The first two dogs had puppy classes and were mostly fine with literally no other effort made to make sure they developed well (second dog was a bit nervous with separation anxiety, but mild compared to my current dog.)

@jnnp Fear and stress level. https://familypethealth.com/understanding-fas-fear-anxiety-and-stress-in-the-vet-clinic/ Basically, snapping/lunging/charging are already FAS Level 5, they’re just not fully escalated to bite/attack. Too many people ignore earlier signs of fear/stress. So the dog...

@anthoknee Yeah I’m shocked at the amount of reactivity I see here compared to where I grew up and people just do nothing or make excuses or even worse, just see FAS level 4-5 as just “how dogs communicate.” They literally do not think any escalated behaviour other than biting is something to be...

@scott1482 I wouldn’t even if home checkers were in my area now because following them, I see a lot of the dogs get revolving-door rehomed for behavioural issues like resource guarding. Plus, as said, it can be seen as just more of the good ole saviour-complex and inserting yourself into...

@ivyt85 I’m so sorry. I’m not in your situation but it resonates with me because like your dog, my dog is basically perfect like 95-99% of the time. I know if things changed and I felt he were a danger to others I’d make the call I needed to but the devastation would be overwhelming, not just...

@scott1482 Oh yeah, I totally understand why. It’s a good way to try to get shelter and stray populations down, a “greater good” thing and I believe in places where populations are overflowing it’s the lesser evil. I still encourage people with no history of behavioural issues to spay/castrate...

@christiantonyb I think it’s because most users are from the USA. I grew up there and all my pets growing up were paediatric neuters. I’d probably have been a downvoter myself until about 1.5 years ago lol. I’d have understood delaying spay/castrate for joint and bone health having studied...

@dingo99 Since my dog was from a litter intended to be professionally working dogs, I spent many hours blaming myself thinking maybe I wasn’t doing enough enrichment even with the nosework and puzzles and beach trips, trick training, etc. He hadn’t made the cut but maybe he should have, etc. VB...

@dingo99 It’s sad seeing so many dogs in the local rescues with major behavioural issues at the 2-5 year range or older knowing half or more likely showed signs as pups but it was written off because they were puppies. Till the home couldn’t cope with an adult dog with escalating behaviours...

@priyarawat Puppies can absolutely be reactive and 6mo is one of the more common ages it appears due to puberty. My dog was referred to a veterinary behaviourist at 13 weeks and couldn’t cope with very basic things due to fear like puppy group classes. We made lots of improvement and 8mos he...

@viveri Comments like this make me deeply appreciate how science-based my clinic is.

@jcphan47 Unfortunately it seems like we can’t go about two months or more without incident. When I have a car I’m going to take him further out, rent fields, dog sports. We haven’t had anything requiring vet trips yet but two occasions that was sheer luck. An unsupervised GSD kept coming back...

@paraskeve I’m not rich but there’s been a ladder of escalation each time we have had an incident… My treat bag always has tons of extra high value treats in it to throw at a charging dog, so to be fair, my ideal situation is divert and run. That doesn’t work, umbrella. That doesn’t work, pet...

@jaxosk26 The funny thing is in theory I’m not actually against dogs off-lead if they’re under control with recall and courteous to other dogs/guardians. But part of that is recalling/leashing your dog if you see a dog you don’t know. I’d have probably said “an on-lead dog” in the past but no...

@urbanp SO many dog aggressive dogs being let off-lead around where I live. We’ve had 6-8 charge incidents and some snapping/scratching but fortunately it hasn’t ever escalated from there (I did get injured once but it was being pulled/dragged down trying to keep the attacking dog separated.) I...