The Meeting…
Thanks for being patient…there are a lot of things happening
right now, BUT let’s get to the meeting of the dog in question.
I’ll give him a false name to protect the innocent: Frasier.
When last we spoke I mentioned that Frasier had been given up because he bit an owner that I had a few suspicions about. Although the wife told me that her husband was a gentle man, I had my doubts.
Dogs who bite their owners do so for a number of reasons.
One of those can be because the owner is not the leader, the dog is. That could happen with someone who is “gentle.” But this guy sounded hard and angry over the phone. Plus the circumstances of the bite seemed a bit out of whack. More about that later.
Anyway, before seeing the dog I had to keep an open mind. He might have been the monster the guy portrayed. I doubted it, but better safe than sorry, so I was careful in planning “the meeting”.
I would meet Frasier at the boarding kennel where the rescue
organization kept some of their dogs. I would also meet with the foster, a lady I done a session with some years back. I was
prepared to meet a “beast.”
We got there about the same time and after talking for a bit,
Frasier was brought out to us. He appeared to weigh between 50 and 60 pounds, a Shepherd mix. He was very distracted, contantly searching back and forth both visually and scenting. AND he was contantly whining. He appeared to be in a great deal of emotional pain…as you might expect. What he didn’t appear to be was dangerous.
The foster and I took him for a walk. He was distracted and whining the whole walk. He had no problem with me touching him on the head or the back or walking behind him.
He had no problem with me approaching him or walking away from him. He did seem to have a problem being away from his family.
Since I only got one opportunity to speak with both the wife and the husband I didn’t know if he showed signs of separation anxiety at home, but he certainly was anxious on the walk. I also had given him every opportunity to show that he was dangerous and there was no sign of it.
The foster then felt confident to take Frasier with the
understanding that if there were any problems she could call me. We went over some strategies to make sure that he got over his anxiousness as quickly as possible and we ended the meeting at that point.
Sounds pretty clinical doesn’t it? Well I talked with the foster
several times and it actually took Frasier over a week before he stopped constantly whining and pacing. By the way the foster and I went over how NOT to reinforce the anxiousness and begin to train “happiness,” so I know she didn’t cause his anxiety to linger.
Here was my diagnosis after talking with the husband and wife, meeting Frasier and consulting with the foster: The wife and daughter loved and spoiled the dog and as a result unknowing “trained” him that he was the leader in the house. Not unusual. As a matter of fact probably the main cause for all K-9 behavior problems, after not enough exercise.
And all this “love and attention” was the cause of the extended and very intense separation anxiety.
Further the husband was WAY too hard on the dog: In fact the foster told me that the wife confessed to her that when the husband got bitten the first time he had grabbed the dog by the haunches and yanked him out from under a table.
Frightening enough that a dog might bite out of fear, but for a dog that is “trained” to be the leader over humans, to be grabbed like that would be “unacceptable.”
Neither I, at the meeting nor the foster in her home, saw any of that. Then again we treated Frasier kindly and gently and also in a way that showed him his proper place as a dog, not a leader of humans.
What’s sad is that I had explained these problems and issues to the husband PRIOR to meeting Frasier. A one hour training session, NOT with Frasier, but with the humans in the house would have solved it all.
But because the father “knows so much about obedience” a
little girl is missing her dog..and a dog is missing his family.
Sad.
We can only hope Frasier finds a great new home. As of this writing he is doing fine in his foster home.
So after all of this can you guess what the biggest obstacle is to a well-trained and behaved dog? Think about it and until next time…
Train on!
Doug