Bittersweet story

Indeed Sal.

Sometimes I wonder about our dog, she's had that whole "fear aggression" thing going on, but we've got most of it worked through. Just read this past week about a family who has had their dog for 7 years, and the dog bit their child in the face causing 15 stitches. Now the dog is being put down by the family. If I could go pick that dog up I would, but they live too far away.

Then you see a story like this... and it warms the heart. Sad that the child is very ill - but how awesome to have such a good doggy pal to go through that with. I've never worked with the Belgian Malinois much, but absolutely love the shepherd breeds.

The gal we have now got dropped off here by a friend of ours that said "Either you take this dog, or I'm taking her to the pound." Ahhh geeze, bring her butt over. Figured if we didn't keep her, I would find her a proper home. I was "prepared" because I've had a lot of animals over the years, but totally "unprepared" for what got dropped off. Heh.

This dog, stank to high heaven for one thing... so in about an hour my entire living room smelled so bad the first thing we did was bath her. Had to physically carry her from room to room, because she would NOT leave the living room for dang near a week. Wouldn't go through ANY doors, wouldn't get in and out of a car without totally freaking out. Full of worms so bad, that she threw up a handful of roundworms. And if you have never had a dog that "tickle pees" before... let me tell you what.

You could not touch the dog, talk to the dog, move toward the dog, or she'd "squat and pee" - and right wherever she was at. Didn't matter if she was laying on the couch, was in the car, on the floor - she peed EVERYWHERE. It took me over a year to get her through that. Now, she very rarely does... and I mean like once in 6 months, instead of 20 times a day. Talk about endless pee cleaning! HA!

Totally aggressive on the other hand though, which puzzled me. How could the same dog, be so fearful - and so aggressive at the same time? She would bite at the kids, (and left a few marks on more than one occasion) she would jump all over you, and we had some real rough "go arounds" over the food dish. She was about 3-4 months old when we got her, and I really had to "put her down" a few times for the aggression over I'd say the first year and a half. By "put her down" I mean rolling her onto her back and holding her by her throat. I know that sounds really odd/mean - whatever - but it's been the only way I've been able to get some of that aggression out of very aggressive dogs. One probably shouldn't attempt that unless they know the dog they are working with pretty well I may add, as it is dangerous.

Bet I watched every single "Cesar Millan" show I could, along with some various other shows just to "brush up" on my knowledge. Happy to say - that she only has a couple larger issues left out of all the issues she had when she got here. She's about what - 2-1/2 now.

Issue one, is that she will bark at everyone that comes in the door, including the hubby, the kids, people she knows, don't matter. She hears a noise from any door, she is ON IT. And so fast, it'll make you jump out of your skin. That in itself doesn't bother me so much - because I like guard dogs. But, she does it with the "razor back" hair up - so you know she means business.

I try to be right there before I let anyone in the door, but sometimes I can't. Most of my family and friends know to just ignore it, let her take a sniff, and she calms right down - but others don't know - and she'll do that to the neighbor kids as well. It can be very scary for people that don't know her.

Issue 2 - is that she STILL tries to "take rank" over my youngest son. She'll growl at him, and I know by the look in her eyes when to peg her down. But that drives me nuts. I trust her, I really do - or I'd "put her down" more often, and I can tell a warning growl from a "I'm biting you in 10 seconds" growl. I'll tell Michael - "Stop doing that, NOW!" Normally, he is sticking his face into hers, or hugging on her around her neck (which dogs don't like) - so it's HIS fault 9-times out of 10 - not hers. She's just saying "back off before you get the smack down."

Now, if she ever bites one of my kids - and I mean seriously bites them to where they require stitches, I'm not going to be able to place the blame totally on her. Yes, I love my kids, and yes they come first over the animals, but still. I don't think I would be able to euthanize her. I might, but it would have to be an awfully bad move on her part - with no instigation from the kids. And no option for me to retrain, or rehome.

Think I would blame myself for any bad accidents around here before I would blame the kids or the dog, because it's not my first day at animal training. (Or kid training at this point). Both of them can throw you a curve ball at any time. You have to teach both parties. Teach the kids what NOT to do, and what dogs like and don't like. And you have to teach the dog that they are NOT the boss. You are. Period. If you say, don't growl at the kids - well by gosh - don't do it. Likewise, if you tell a kiddo - do NOT get around the dog while it's eating - then don't do it. I don't care if the dog has food aggression or not - it's just a very bad idea.

I guess the contrast between this story and the other one got me on a roll. I just wish people wouldn't put dogs down for being dogs, and give them a second chance. If I didn't like creating graphics on computers so much, my second choice would be to go back into training animals. I'm very thankful that I've been able to enjoy animals all my life, and that my boys can now learn so much about them as well. I know you went through a lot with your beautiful dog Sal, and one of these days I'll have to find out what you did for him health wise. For now, I should probably take a nap! :p

Sorry all, was in here typing up a reply to this thread, when the WF went 505 or some error... figured I'd better start typing stuff up in notepad from now on. :-)

I didn't catch your other post Steve, but would like to read that one. Yeah, I'd have been pretty peeved at the previous owners too, if I didn't know the whole story. Apparently this poor dog was found in a gas station parking lot by some people who dropped her off at our friends. She was supposed to be a "Christmas gift" for the family and kids. The problem was, this family has a terminally ill child that was waiting to get a bone marrow transplant. So they had to keep things really clean.

Of course with this dog peeing everywhere, they were having trouble trying to house train her. She ended up having to stay in a crate most of the time. Our friend called me a couple times asking me to train the dog, and I was just not in for taking half a year to train a dog that wasn't mine. I knew the kids (and I) would get attached, so I kept telling him no. Now if he wanted to do all the work, with me showing them how to do it, that would be one thing... but he more or less wanted to drop her off and pick her back up fully trained, and I'm like "I don't think so." Finally he called and said if I didn't take her, he'd have to take her to the pound. Uhhhggg... so. Here she came.

That does explain why she didn't want to get in a car, or go through doors, etc. Being in a crate in the house all day doesn't teach a dog much. That's why she stank so bad I'm sure. Plus all the worms she had, absolutely no good to be around a terminally ill child. She was a LOT of work. Too much for a low income family with 3 boys, one a toddler, and one very ill. She got lucky when she got dropped off here.

She's definitely an abused alpha Sal. Great idea on the muzzle grab, I forgot about that one. She's such a pain on the leash sometimes though. Has to be "just ahead" and not to the side (alpha) - so I'm always having to tug her back, or tap her on the back end with my foot. But also a great idea for around the door. She generally calms right down, but she has to get a chance to smell first. Just wish she'd put her hair down while she's getting a whiff, know what I mean? Stuff to practice on for sure.

We're pretty careful with the vaccines too. I have given her rabies, because there is an occasional stray mouse in the house, plus critters outside... so I figured that one should be fine. Other than that - no, I don't need the "boarding" vaccine etc. She really hates the flea junk we put on her back, so if you have any good tips on natural flea/tick/mosquito repellants I'd love any ideas. Would love to learn more about better dog foods as well. We had her on "rachel ray" food for a while, because it looked like it was going to be a good food - but she quit eating it one day. Hmm.. ok, so we switched her to a dog food called "premium edge" - and she likes that one. We read the labels pretty closely.

I tend to add cooked chicken, broths, etc, and she likes fruits and vegetables surprisingly. She'll eat raw carrots, apples, banana. The kids know not to give her any grapes, chocolate, candy, and any bone that hasn't been parent approved. Seems like any cooked egg will give her the scoots, which is weird, so we pay close attention to what she eats. I'd love to have "organic" dog food, but it's really pricey.

Sheryl, yes they certainly do pick up on moods. Every once in a while I'll come down the stairs in the morning, and the dog will disappear. Hahha - I'm like what - am I that grouchy this morning?

Overall, she's doing very well. Even with her last couple issues, that dog sticks to our family like glue. I can take her nearly anywhere, and off leash she won't leave whatever yard/park we're in, won't travel out of sight. She knows all about the road, and NOT to go near it unless asked by one of us to cross. Comes whenever you call her, totally house trained. Heck, she doesn't even chew things that are not her own. With all the toys and whatnot around here, you'd think she'd chew something, but she doesn't.

LOL - I remember when that dog couldn't even catch. Now she catches all kinds of things, including a mean frisbee! Jumps in and out of the van like a champ. She'll even swim in the pool. Just a couple more issues to dial in, and I think we'll be good!

In general, the American method is to tease a dog until it either breaks or fights back. Not all dogs will fight back.

However, the German Shutzhund methods make it into a game for the dog. Shutzhund training also includes obedience and tracking, in addition to protection. Because the dog is playing, instead of being a nervous wreck and on edge from being teased, a shutzhund trained dog is totally under control by the handler.

Schutzhund is more of a sport or game and if my memory is correct, shutzhund only accepts dobbies, german shepards, rotties and schnauzers. A level 3 shutzhund trained german shepard will cost about $8000 - $10,000.

Oh, I KNOW! THAT is why I said he "shouldn't be so quick". NO animal is perfect. Humans aren't, and dogs certainly aren't.

Steve