#problem dogs

Went for a great walk with a friend today, and Emily Bear. We made it all the way down to a local park/wildlife/nature reserve.

We got there, and as we turned the last corner to the park, a German Shepherd started bounding toward us.

Off-leash dogs in this area are common, even though there’s a sign at the park entrance that clearly says DOGS ON LEASH. There is only one person in the parking lot, and I’ve known owners to be up to a 1/4 mile away from their dogs. So I bellow: “CONTROL YOUR DOG!!”

The German Shepherd, being a Good Boy, immediately drops into a stay to show how good he is, and that he is FREN.

The person yells back, “Ex-CUSE me?!?!?!”

Me: (still unsure where the owner could be) IS THAT YOUR DOG?! (We are at a distance)

Person: ARE YOU *HARASSING* ME BECAUSE I’M ALONE?

Me: ?!?!?!?!?!

Person: People come here ALL THE TIME with their dogs off leash!!!

Me: I have a REACTIVE DOG ON LEASH!!!

They reluctantly called their dog back, but like … WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK?

If all the other dog owners jumped off a cliff, would you jump off too?!

The amount of reasons to keep your dog ON LEASH, or at the VERY least, be paying enough attention that when your dog approaches another dog you STOP him is … it’s just so long.

What if Emily WAS reactive and aggressive? (She’s not; I couldn’t think what else to say.)

What if Emily had a communicable illness? Emily is a service dog; I need her to stay confident in public. I don’t know your dog! (Emily was attacked by our neighbor’s dog just the other week.)

Also, your dog is a BIG DOG, what if I am afraid of large dogs? Your behavior isn’t helping that!

Additionally, having your dog loose in THAT park is just … stupid. It’s not a dog park; it’s a habitat. There are bears - I’ve seen their scat. Last year, some off-leash dogs got mixed up with a cougar. Luckily, they survived.

Not all dogs are a good fit for all owners.

But a dog like Gloria needs an owner who is willing to stay home with her most of the time, deal with barking, pay for expensive medications all her life, be patient with biting, and train gently, in a house with a yard so she can exercise without meeting people, all while loving her and not recieving conventional affection in return.

It’s a privilege to own Gloria.

Not only because you need to be rich and have free time. But because many people don’t get to keep their problem dogs.

Gloria is smart, and great at sniffing, and believes we humans can fix all her problems (if she pesters us about them). She is so attached to all of us and so different from every other dog I know, so you can tell she loves you by her own unique ways of showing affection. She’s relaxed with her medications.

Photo from Honest Kitchen When dealing with a dog behavior issues, the options usually include training, often including some sort of equipment or tools; and, for some problems,  medication. No matter which combination you choose, thought, there’s also time. There are no quick fixes. A single consultation with a dog trainer is not going to transform your dog. I have recently talked with dog…

To make a long story short, one person--let’s call them Person A--adopted a Potcake because they wanted a dog who could grow up with their two kids. Their pooch loved one kid but was iffy around the other. I know they reached out to a trainer, but I guess the dog nipped the iffy kid. I don’t think it was hard--it was just a warning nip, like Buttons would do to me if I was being a pain-in-the-ass as a kid--but it made Person A nervous and they came to the heartbreaking decision to rehome their dog because it wasn’t the right environment for them and it was giving them agita. All of which I understand and totally respect.

Idk, there was something about reaching out to a rescue or maybe the original owner, I was having a difficult time following the story--but I guess the dog was going to a boarding kennel for two weeks of training before going to a foster or whatever. A few hours later, Person A is upset because they got a call about how her dog is wigging the fuck out, wouldn’t let anyone near him, and how the dog has to go to another state instead of whatever the original plan was.

Last I heard I guess one of Person A’s friends called and spoke with the trainer and they said they told their staff to leave him alone and let him calm down, so that’s good? I got the sense the dog was just wigging out because it was an unfamiliar environment and the poor pooch is a nervous wreck. I’d freak out too if someone pulled me from my home and placed me in an unfamiliar environment with no explanation.

Anyway, seeing how upset and heartsick Person A was made me want to cry because I have BEEN THERE with Zoe. Obviously I haven’t rehomed her, but I’ve thought about it when things were really bad. I’ve had nervous breakdowns over her issues. It’s a constant struggle. I GET it.

And I just wish there was more I could do for Person A and their pup besides from offering understanding, empathy and a shoulder to cry on. And I can’t and I hate it.

I wish all of the “adopt, don’t shop” crazies who believe that “all you need is love” to help a dog and all of the rescues and shelters who don’t disclose a dog’s issues or previous history and who are just lookin’ to make a buck could read Person A’s post and feel their heartbreak.

I get not wanting to scare off potential adopters, but you gotta make the right match with the right owner. Person A wanted an easy-going family dog, a Potcake was NOT going to be that, ever. 

Not being honest and being greedy AF and luring good-hearted people in with sob stories is only fucking over the dogs. Not everyone is like me and will rise to the challenge of owning a “project dog.” Hell, there have been days where I barely manage to deal with Zoe’s issues. It’s not easy and it’s a constant source of anxiety and stress for me.

Do you all know that Daisy and Olive live at home, and they can’t move in with me at school until August.

Well, Olive feels much better now that she’s in her end of recovery from her heart worm treatment, and she’s a WILD child. She’s very cuddly and chill when everyone settles in to watch some TV, but any other time she’s running circles around the house, trying to play, and most importantly, trying to chew everything. She goes on a walk in the woods with my other dog and my mom every morning where she gets free time to run and get some of her energy out, but since my family all works, she spends about anywhere from 5-7 hours alone at home. My mom learned the hard way that she loves to chew anything she can find, and a lot of her expensive furniture has apparently been destroyed. After I lectured her about 10 times on the importance of crating her with chew toys and food puzzles while she’s not home to supervise her, she finally started crating her so the chewing when she’s not home is no longer an issue.

However, our dogs also spend a big chunk of time outside together in our fenced in backyard, and we have a lot of expensive outdoor furniture as well that she’s been chewing even when my family is home.

Worth Revisiting: Our Dog is BRILLANT Enough to Act Dumb

Our supposedly untrained chocolate lab is brilliant enough to act dumb when it suits him.

We adopted Duke (Marmaduke) when he was nine months and he stubbornly clings to several bad habits  that are just too much fun for him but a pain in the neck for us.

For example,  he constantly leaps up literally in my face, to engage in some sort of mock fighting. Since he is only 14 pounds lighter…

feistyfinley I’m starting a new post for this.

I’m not sure she would understand if I put her in another room when she starts to nip, her attention span is so short. she’s totally spastic. plus she get evasive and even more nippy if you try to grab her. I have her at the home of another client of mine who she visits often, and she plays with the other dog the entire time so she is tired. this dog is incredibly difficult to engage/redrect for even a few seconds.

the thing is, this behavior isn’t only with me, it’s with everyone, including her owner, who I’ve spoken to several times about it escalating dangerously and the need to seek help from a professional trainer before this progresses to full-on biting. as I said before, this dog is legitimately crazy. I suspect her to be a malinois or GSD mixed with either akita or husky, and she has an insane drive and OCD nature that has recived zero direction. her owner does very little training with her dogs and basically lets them run loose on her property all the time which was all well and good for low-drive dogs like her corgi mix, or when she had multiple huskies entertaining themselves. she’s never had a shepherd or a dog that requires a job so it won’t go out of it’s mind before, and has no idea how to handle this dog.

this is a case of an extremely smart, high drive dog that’s been left sitting for the first couple years of it’s life and has gone nuts inside her own head with zero mental stimulation. the lack of training this dog has recieved has contributed not only to that, but also now to the fact that she has zero bite inhibition, no impulse control, and very little ability to focus making her extremely difficult to work with. she is also very insecure and nervous, pair that with her other traits and she’s a disaster waiting to happen.

my recommendation for this dog is that she would be much happier and more confident if she was rehomed to an experienced handler or trainer who could work with her to improve her behavior and mental health. in the hands of someone who knows what they’re doing I could see her becoming a well-adjusted working dog. most of all she needs someone who can do bitework with her to teach her when it’s appropriate to act on that instinct and to teach her to have an off-switch for when it’s not. 

every time I discuss the dog with her owner the rehoming thing comes up. I have told her multiple times that it’s what’s best for the dog, but of course the owner is very attached despite the dog’s faults. and she knows the dog has serious problems, she knows she’s a potentially dangerous animal, and she has agreed that rehoming is probably the best option. but every time I see her it’s always “oh she’s getting better” but I see little to no improvement on the things that matter.