Newly reactive 2 y.o.

[nelxoxox]

I have a just turned 2 pit mix. I adopted him at 8 weeks from a rescue. He's a pit mix, looks like pit/boxer. we did play all day daycare when he was younger with no real issues. "He plays rough." but there were no real problems. As he got closer to 2, the rough play was progressing and he was being relegated to "time out". I'd heard of dogs "aging out" of play all day and assumed he just didn't like the chaos anymore and it was just overwhelming. We switched to a day care where the dogs are separated, each with their own kennel. I went to pick him up last week and was told that he had a hard time that day. She thought it was because there were 6 dogs in the same family in the kennel next to his and he was maybe feeling threatened by the "pack" element. She just moved him to a different kennel where he was more isolated. When I went to pick him up yesterday and asked how he did, she said he was trying to get to a dog that is super laid back. Now we're at the point where I can only take him there when she's not full because he has to be separated from the other kennels. I'm at a loss. My daughter was here over Christmas with her dog (also a pit mix). They were fine. Milo (my dog) was a pest bc he kept wanting Cleo to play with him but he backed off when she snarled at him or otherwise made it clear she wasn't interested.

Last year, we went to the park a few days a week just to try to get him more comfortable walking on leash, seeing other dogs, getting used to being around cars, etc. I used to take him to Tractor Supply just to walk around and get him socialized with strangers. He's afraid of cars and I literally can not walk him where we live. It's like the indianapolis 500 on a curvy country road with no place to get off the road, if necessary. He was doing really well. The weather is finally getting decent here but now I'm afraid to take him for fear he'll go after a dog. Last year, he'd just watch the other dogs. We kept our distance but were getting better about being around strange (to him) people/dogs/things. I'm 5'4" 130 lb and almost 67. I manage him well but if he decides he's going after something (dog), I'm not going to be able to stop him OR break it up. He's 65 lbs. When I tell people who know him what is going on, they're like "Milo???? Milo loves everyone!" The only person he's ever even growled at was a worker who was on our property. He was fine licking the guy's hand through the fence but when he reached over the fence, Milo growled at him and went for his hand. He loves everyone at the vet's (until they start trying to restrain him). He seems to prefer women but has no issues with the male visitors in our family. We have a large fenced in area for him. We have deer frequently and he just sits and watches them. He freaks out if someone pulls in our driveway. We had workers here cutting trees down and I thought that was going to be a nightmare. He threw a fit at the window for a while but settled and seemed more interested in what they were doing after awhile. He also went outside and watched them through the fence but wasn't trying to jump it or anything to get to anyone. He barked once is awhile but that's it. We did puppy classes when he was younger with no issues.

I've been looking at the SpiritDog reactive dog class. I need to do something.I'm afraid to take him anywhere. Going to the vet is a nightmare. He loves everyone but as soon as they try to restrain him he freaks out and then it's an ordeal to get a muzzle on him so they can actually examine him. Having his nails done at the vet requires sedation. I'm in an area where there aren't a lot of options as far as trainers. I've already spent over $400 between puppy classes and private sessions. Can anyone offer advice?

 

[alexrcraig]

@nelxoxox Dogs personality often change at sexual maturity. Their personally can change and their breed traits often present themselves

 

[tass]

@nelxoxox Hi! Okay it sounds like a lot is going on here. I'm not a vet or trainer, and would *highly* recommend Calm Canine Academy for professional advice (they work remotely and are amazing), but here are a few things we've learned along the way that could be worth considering:

1. Daycare sounds reallllllly overwhelming, especially if he's in a kennel - and could be doing more harm than good. I think plenty of dogs can love other dogs, but not do well at day care, especially if they're locked up but can still hear other dogs. That would drive my girl crazy.
2. Having someone reach over the fence feels like a definite trigger for even the most friendly of dogs, that wouldn't really be how I would have them meet a new person. They likely see the yard as 'their' place, and coming into that feels like a threat.
3. I think many dogs feel stressed with folks coming into the driveway, but I would consider thinking about how you can lower the amount of times your pup is triggered. For example, we have window film so our girl can't see outside. The more she's allowed to respond to triggers, the more it gets engrained in her brain that that's what she needs to do. Ex. delivery guy comes up to door, she barks insanely, he walks away. Therefore to her, she needs to bark in order to make the scary man go away.
4. Leash challenges - I definitely hear this, my girl is *strong*, and I can't let my parents, who are older, walk her because I know that she could hurt them if she lunges at a trigger. We have significantly scaled back our works in order to ensure we're not putting her over threshold. For us, this means staying close to home. When we're in the woods, I use a long lead (20 ft), to give us some leeway for her to explore. It takes practice to get used to managing such a long leash, but every trainer we've worked with has recommended it over other methods to reduce pulling.
5. Vet visits - this is traumatic for most dogs. Do you have a protocol in place for vet visits? We've worked with both our trainer and behaviorist to come up with a medication plan for the vet to help our girl stay calm. I also ask the vet if we can come either before opening or after the last visit to avoid other pups. I'd also recommend looking up videos on muzzle training - it takes a lot of time, but it's worth building a positive routine around wearing the muzzle, since it could be traumatic to just throw it on at the vet, when tensions are already high.

I hope this helps in some way! Again, I really really recommend Calm Canine - we did private training as well as the group class. It's definitely an investment, but they know what they're doing and will really work very closely with you to develop a plan for you and your pup to live happily and healthily together.

 

[nelxoxox]

@tass

1. The thing is that he was fine with this daycare up until maybe 3 weeks ago. We boarded him there in February for two weeks and he's been going once a week since.
2. I figured it was a boundary issue. I wouldn't introduce someone new that way. The guy was working in our yard and came over to talk to him. He probably figured since Milo seemed happy to see him...and was licking his hand through the fence.
3. Fed ex guy was here today. I swear he was rooting around in his truck for 10 minutes trying to find my package...I have a large bow window. He loves to just sit on the couch and look out the windows. The only time he barks is if someone pulls in. I'm not willing to cover it.
4. We were doing fairly well last year at the park. We would see other dogs, but he wasn't trying to go after them. Now I'm afraid to even take him. We have a large fenced in area for him. Unfortunately, I have neighbors who don't think it's necessary to contain their dogs since we're rural. Our fenced area is about half of our back yard and their dogs have actually been on the other side of the fence barking at my boy. My fence is probably 500 ft .inside my property line so they are well on my property barking at my dog through the fence. I used to walk him outside the fence on a leash just for leash training. But... since I never know where their dogs are...
   The rescue told me their guess on weight was probably around 40 lbs. Ha...surprise!
5. We give him trazadone and gabapentin. He's super chill and happy to see all the techs until they start trying to restrain him. I actually have a soft muzzle for him, but they wanted a regular one on him. That was a treat. Adrenaline overrules meds big time. They ended up sedating him to do his nails. We go in the back door at the vet.
6. What are we talking cost wise for the calm canine? I looked it up but didn't see any pricing. He loves everyone to the point that he's a pain when we have company. He's reactive I guess in a different way then. Jumping up, crawling on people....pet me, pet me...let me kiss you! He's such a good boy in other respects. We really need to get a handle on this. Thanks for the info.

 

[tass]

@nelxoxox Thank you for sharing! I know the window covering can feel really tough, it's just definitely worth considering if it's a big trigger. I hated the idea at first but I try to see it as temporary while we work with her. Our trainer helped us think of her reactivity as a cup, each thing adds a drop (or many many drops), of water, and our goal is to try and do everything we can to avoid the cup overflowing.

For the vet - are you able to ask about increasing meds for visits / different ones? I've heard from others on this sub, as well as my sister that trazodone can irritate some dogs, so there might be a better combination of meds to help him. Gab doesn't really do much for our girl to help her calm down.

Every pup is reactive in a different way. Our girl could be sitting next to a stranger on our couch letting them pet her within 2 minutes of them coming over, but then go absolutely ballistic when she's at my sister's house and sees someone dropping off deliveries (we live in an apt so at our place she doesn't have access to view the street.)

Loose neighbor dogs would be our absolute nightmare. We have tons of offleash dogs outside our apt building at all times, and I honestly think it's made our girl's reactivity 10x worse than it would have been.

I want to say the group class was around $400? This was like an 8 week course, we had a group to ask the trainer questions every day, and they would review videos of our pup and provide feedback. We did 1-1 with them as well, which was obviously more expensive, I want to say was like $200 ish a session. I do remember they did an awesome sale around the holidays though, so that was nice.

Hope this is helpful in some way, we've been on a journey so I know how overwhelming it can be.