Advice for reactive small dog?

[lookingforgod99]

Hi everyone,

I have a Yorkie who is about 7 years old. I got him 2 years ago from relatives who had him for the first 5 or so years of his life. They never trained him (including potty training), socialized him, or walked him. I’m pretty sure he was never exposed to other dogs or the outside world/people other than those in the immediate household. He became poorly adjusted during that time and was barking at every little sound/noise, shaking frequently, and more. I was moving to a new place on my own about 2 years ago and decided to take him in because he deserved better and I wanted the companionship. It became clear to me that he had developed pretty severe anxiety (including separation anxiety — he barked a lot whenever I left).

To be clear, I’ve never had a dog on my own so I really had no idea what I was doing, but I knew I had to take him with me and figure it out. In those two years, I’ve been able to get him on a regular feeding/sleeping schedule, potty train him, and somewhat lessen his anxiety. He loves going on his potty breaks outside and hold me accountable to staying on schedule. I have a doggy cam (whenever I leave and he barks, I can tell him to stop via the cam and he eventually does) and I don’t leave him alone for more than 4-5 hours (flexible work schedule).

The main issue is that, when it comes to people he doesn’t know, other dogs, or sounds/jingling/etc. outside my apartment (I live in a shared apartment building) he starts barking, lunging, and/or growling uncontrollably until I remove him from the environment in some way. The thing is, I have been able to introduce him to new people and eventually he warms to them, but I get anxious whenever I take him outside for a walk because of how he reacts to passersby and other dogs. I tried enrolling him in a doggy daycare program once and he couldn’t even make it through the initial trial period because of how aggressive he got with people and the other dogs there.

I am, however, hopeful that it can be resolved. He’s become pretty used to my partner, for example, and I’ve had others watch him overnight/for extended periods without any major issues. It’s also generally fine if I walk him and dont run into anyone/other dogs. I’m just not sure where to even begin with training/socializing him in a structured way to curb his reactiveness because I generally have to avoid bringing him around those stimuli. I would love any tips because professional trainers are expensive. Thank you in advance!

P.S., I’ve tried anxiety meds (trazodone) and they work somewhat (e.g., calms him a bit before I take him to the groomer) but I don’t like how they dull his otherwise vibrant personality. I’m planning to talk to his vet again about other meds to look into.

 

[dh788]

@lookingforgod99 I also have a small reactive dog (mini doxie mix, around 10 lbs) who I describe as being anxious and neurotic. She’s very noise reactive and until we started working with her, was very reactive on walks all the time.

We first talked to our vet and got her on trazodone. It didn’t solve the problem (medication is only part of the solution), but it got her to a point where we could work on training. You don’t have to do it forever, just while you’re working on training. I don’t know what kind of training you’ve done already, but we would give her treats whenever she saw a person or dog (both triggered her), and with time, she learned to look to us for treats instead of react. She can still be reactive in certain situations, but she’s so much better now. I’ll also add that we have a second doxie that is reactive as well, and the same sort of training worked for him. Now walks are much less stressful (we still continue rewarding with triggers around but not as frequently). If you’ve ever watched It’s Me or the Dog, she does this with a lot of dogs. Of course they make progress look a lot faster than it actually is, but it’s still helpful.

For inside, we used a noise machine to drown out the sounds of outside the apartment. It helped with most noises (not all of course). Ultimately we found that a lot of our dog’s anxiety calmed when we moved to a house. That’s not often something you can change of course. A trainer we worked with tried to tell us to work on deconditioning our dog to the front door opening, but it’s hard to do that when you live in an apartment with dogs next door that bark whenever a door opens or closes…

 

[rave3]

@lookingforgod99 I'm having luck with prozac and allergy meds (switching foods as well). Things aren't perfect, and her trainer and I noticed that she is reactive to who/what I'm reactive too.

I'm a cat person and an introvert. I don't like to be around people. This isn't good.