I am so glad that he is feeling better. Thank you for giving me an update. 😀

Hello, it’s me with an update on my barky dog and his behavior. After reading all the info you suggested, the big change I tried was getting rid of his kennel.

I noticed a change right away. This made me feel awful! I was told to use the crate when his anxiety/barking escalated. After taking the crate away, his anxiety went way down. It is so sad thinking I was making him feel worse.

Thank you for the help. While he continues to bark, it is less than before. Because the crate was removed and his anxiety is less, the urinating is decreased significantly. When he barks at the door, we ask him to sit and then he stops barking. This is when we pick him up.

Thank you, thank you thank you!

With my Shiba Inu, I did dog-to-dog desensitization exercises to help him be more comfortable around other dogs and dog-to-people desensitization exercises to help him be more comfortable around people. I did these exercises in a structured environment and under the supervision of a professional trainer.

More on dog socialization.
ASPCA article on puppy socialization-
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/socializing-your-puppy

Dog behavior is very context dependent and there are many different types of aggression, so each dog and situation are different. In cases of aggression, it is best and safest to get help from a good professional trainer/behaviorist.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
https://apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/

What is his daily routine like? What type of training is he used to? How was he desensitized to the various noises and what was his response? Was he totally calm and relaxed with the noises prior to the last 6 months? Did anything different/unusual happen around that time? Were there any changes to your routine or his routine? Were there changes in the neighborhood, e.g. new sounds? Is he eating and drinking normally? Is he showing any other unusual behavior? When was his last vet visit?

Sudden changes in behavior can sometimes be the result of physical pain, discomfort, or some other vulnerability. Physical issues can cause a dog to feel more vulnerable, and thus be more likely to respond with fear and aggression. When there are sudden and large changes in my dog’s behavior, I rule out physical issues first. After I am sure that my dog is physically healthy, then I start looking at other causes.

There are many different types of aggression and fear aggression is very different from dominance aggression. This article from UC Davis has more on dominance and aggression-
http://behavior.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/local-assets/pdfs/The_Truth_About_Aggression__Dominance_dogs.pdf

More on dominance and bad dog behavior.

My younger Husky has a softer temperament, and when she was young, she was fearful of loud noises and unusual things like people on skateboards. When in panic mode, she would pull very hard and try to get away as fast as she can. This has nothing to do with respect, dominance, or inability to learn. She was simply afraid, and when she is too afraid, she switches to instinct mode, and is no longer able to listen or respond.

I help my dog by managing her environment and slowly building up her confidence and trust. I do desensitization and counter-conditioning exercises, I start small and set her up for success, and I very carefully manage her environment so that I do not expose her to more than she can handle.

The more successful and positive experiences she has, the more confidence she gains, the more she learns to trust me, and the better her behavior becomes. Similarly, fearful and reactive events will undermine her confidence and trust, significantly set back training, and worsen her fears and fear behaviors.

When I had problems with my Shiba Inu, I got help from several trainers/behaviorists and I also read up a lot on dog behavior. Dog behavior is very context dependent, so it was helpful for me to have someone observe my dog in his regular environment and routine, help me identify the source of his problem behaviors, and help me come up with a safe and effective plan for retraining. I look for trainers who understand operant conditioning principles and the different forms of aggression.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help
http://shibashake.com/dog/finding-a-dog-trainer

How I deal with my dog’s bad behavior.
Where I get dog behavior information.

I feel like he is just no longer respecting me as the leader of this “pack” and I really don’t know how to gain that respect back. I can’t have a dog this out of control. Walks are stressful too as he spends the first 15 minutes dragging me around. And Sundance is a VERY smart dog! He can respond to 24 different commands (all of which I taught him)! So it’s not that he can’t learn…

If you could give me some advice in this area or direct me to some videos/articles on how I might handle this, I would be sooooo grateful! I tried so hard to mold a stable, calm companion and instead I have an out of control 75 lb. dog. Any help would be amazing. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me!

Thank you shibashake for all the links. I appreciate you taking the time to find all the info specific to my issue. I will read and print all of them today. In addition, I will suggest my husband read them, so we can take the same approach.

Hope it is o.k. to contact you in the future, to let you know what I have learned and done to improve my dogs life.

For separation anxiety, desensitization and counter-conditioning exercises helped with my dog.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/separation-anxiety
http://shibashake.com/dog/separation-anxiety-dog-why-how-reduce-dog-stress

More on dog anxiety.

As for other people and what they say, what worked best for me is to just focus on my dog and do what is best for him. I observe my dog carefully, I read up as much as I can on dog behavior, and I got help from several trainers.
Being embarrassed by my dog.

More on where I get information on dog behavior.
More on how I went about looking for a good trainer.
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/finding-professional-help

Over the years I have worked at the shelter on Thanksgiving and Christmas when no one else wanted to volunteer. I have spent thousands of dollars on vet bills for the foster animals. One year I took in a feral cat and her 4 kittens. For years I had a dog, the feral cat, 2 of her kittens and another cat (all indoor only).

Now, to my point. My current dog has behavior problems. Separation anxiety, inapropriate urination by the door (when he hears a noise or spots movement outside), and general anxious behavior. Yes, the vet is aware. He is with me a great deal since I am disabled. While I have worked with him, and spent $75.00/hour having the vets recommended pet behavioralist work with him, he continues to have issues. My husband works long hours, so walks him 1-2X/day. I cannot walk him.

The dog we had before this dog, was perfectly behaved. She came that way. Our boy dog (yes, he is neutered) has been very high strung since the day we got him. Because of his behavior, he attracts a good deal of attention and people decide it is their place (because they LOVE animals) to call the police or speak to me because they feel he is distressed. Yesterday, he came in to car with me to run a 30 minute errand. I checked the weather before I left and due to the 32 degrees, I put his cashmere wool coat on him. He has 2″ long fur. Someone was very rude to me about having the dog in a heated car. Another time a woman called the police, because my husband tied the dog to a fence. There was a sign saying NO DOGS at the park. My husband was helping me, due to my disability and we were about 6 feet away from our dog (keeping a constant eye on him). Another time, my husband was in the car with the A/C running on a warm day. We were taking the dog to the vet. I went in the store for a few minutes, while my husband stayed in the car with the dog. When I returned to the car, a woman confronted me about having my dog out on a hot day. My husband claimed she had been standing in the parking lot and looking at him for 5 minutes. She told me she was thinking about calling the police.

If there really are so many people who LOVE dogs, then where the heck were these animal lovers when I was the only volunteer. From my years of working at the shelter, I know dogs with temperments/behavior issues like my dogs, end up abandoned on highways, dropped off somewhere, euthanized ect. The last thing I need is strangers putting their 2 cents in my business. Any suggestions, other than someone else telling me off.