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Hello! My 18 month old Belgian Mal has been extremely reactive since day one over anyone in the swimming pool. She barks aggressively the minute we get in and will do laps around the pool. If we come close to the edge she bites. (Not the playful type..) It doesn’t matter if we are calmly laying on a raft or playing around/ the behavior does not waiver. It’s not realistic for her to be kept inside the whole time we are in the pool because summertime is short so we absolutely take advantage while we can. I reallllly need help- I’d love her to swim with us or at least let us swim while she plays in the yard etc. We have never forced/thrown her into the pool EVER. However, I have done everything but that to coax her in. (I’d never throw her in, to be clear!) I’ve gone stair by stair with her with treats/praise for every step- but as soon as her feet are submerged on the third step she turns into a kuala, holding onto my shoulders for dear life. It’s as if she wants to go in but is scared to death- and my back has been shredded up plenty with the amount of tries! I take her to an agility center and have one on one time with her in a small pool with a ramp for dogs to learn to swim/get over the fear of it.. but it’s more of the same thing. I have gotten her to swim to me but I absolutely cannot get her to not hang on me with those claws. We live in the northeast on the lake where we have brutal winters and only 3 good months of swimming weather, so her exposure to the pool has been limited since she was born October 2021.. straight into the winter. We have three young kids and love having friends over.. but I can’t risk any of them getting bit. My oldest son was bit once while he held onto the ledge and I can’t let anything like that happen again. I assume she fears for our lives because she herself isn’t comfortable with the water. Please please please! Any suggestions or different approaches to this issue? Any follow up info on the matter needed? thank you!!!

Hi, my 4 yo dog Cali (Lab/Cocker), male, castrated, is good 90% of the time but occassionaly for certain triggers becomes extremely reactive and starts barking and lunging at anything that moves (cars etc included). I have him on a lead with a collar and so when he gets like this all i can do is hold him back which obviously is choking him and is not nice for either of us. These are a list of the triggers, but they dont always trigger, sometimes he will ignore them completely. Skateboards/scooters Dogs barking somewhere that he cant see Certain neighbourhood dogs Dogs on the other side of the road that he cant say hi to. Dogs where the owner pulls them aside so they cant say hello. I list them because they may not all trigger for the same reason, but the result is the same. Cali will start lunging and barking at them, and once they pass he continues to lunge and bark at everything nearby. Signs that it is about to happen include whining, or just his head turning and once it has his attention it seems impossible to snap him out of it. Once it has happened, i need to restrain him on his lead and collar, which is choking him as he lunges, and i try to get his attention, lead him to the side of the path and get him to sit and eventually lie down. But even when he does this he is still looking over his shoulder constantnly in apparent fear and anxious. We continue once he gets to a certain level of calmness again. He is very good on pack walks, he is a bit barky in the garden or when visitors come, but he is never agressiven just excited. He is food driven and any advice you can offer would be appreciated, thanks. 🙂

Hello all, I would love some advice. My 1 year old cockapoo is so reactive to everything! It’s like she’s on high alert so the tiniest sounds and she has to go investigate, or in the park she wants to chase / greet every dog / bird / squirrel etc! She also struggles to settle in new places so if we visit a holiday cottage she won’t settle, or even in other peoples gardens she won’t settle. If anyone had any advice I’d be so appreciative!! Thank you x

Hi, We have a border jack puppy--5 months old. She is VERY food motivated and would say that all food and chews come before anything even herding the cats! She growls even if you come close to her while she is eating out of her bowl. She will growl if she is chewing on a high value meat bone. She will also growl and nip if she sits next to us and is tired and we pet her. I know she is still a puppy and we need to teach her what is the right way to behave. I'm trying all sorts of things, but she is still a little "B". LOL Any suggestions for us to handle this aggressive behavior? thank you! Suzanne