"Mean" Dog responds to love

[Catherine]

A poor dog at a shelter got labeled as a bite risk. No one wanted to touch him let alone adopt him. Then one brave worker showed him love and he melted.

https://www.thedodo.com/toto-dog-k9-resc...ubexchange

Love does conquer all. The dog was scared and feeling abandoned. Love made him feel secure enough to trust and relax.

How many bad dogs just need to be given love and kindness.

[LPC]

What a moving article! Almost any dog I have ever known responds to affection. Dogs are not "mean"; it happens only when humans make them that way.

[Tobi]

Look at her face....what a depth there is in her. I am so glad someone with understanding managed to reach through to her.

I have noticed that many Shelters deem certain dogs "unadoptable" because of traits they show when under extreme stress, or in the company of complete strangers, numerous other barking dogs, and in a 'jail' environment. These dogs have history of abuse or neglect, or have been suddenly abandoned, and with all that piled on top of them, they are meant to behave like Angels, in order not to be euthanised.

I have watched a few SPCA shows, where certain "aggressive" dogs have been euthanised. Sometimes it's only because they show "resource guarding" behaviour (food aggression) I am sure that goes on in the UK as well as the US. Those dogs immediately are given a death sentence.

Many shelters are overwhelmed, have to move dogs through quickly, in order to make room for newcomers, and there are criteria to meet for the dogs seeking adoption and the people who wish to adopt them. Also the staff cannot find time or inclination(?) to treat the so-called aggressive dogs with more thought-out patient approaches.
And people who adopt always want sweet perfect dogs.

In a stress environment -is there really such a thing I wonder? Some may be OK with the tests they are given....but some very edgy.
I know for a fact that Misty would not allow a stranger to mess with her food, or another dog invading when she was eating. Her chastisement would have been fair in her eyes, and not terrible, but rather wolf-like. (watch wolves eating!)
And yet she was the sweetest nature in other respects.

It makes me sad to know that many many dogs are given death-sentences for less than that.

Thank goodness someone had the patience to try to reach through to this sweet dog.

[Catherine]

The dog is beautiful and she looks so intelligent. I would love to have a dog like that.

You are so right about how many dogs are killed because they "fail" an assessment given to them under terrible conditions.
Animal shelters, even good ones are still frightening places for a dog that was a pet. The dog doesn't understand why it has been rejected. There are lots of reasons why dogs end up at shelters. It is usually nothing to do with the dog.

I think  "resource guarding" behaviour (food aggression) is normal. I don't like people touching my food. Any creature protects its food. Misty was right to stand up for her food rights. I would worry about a creature that doesn't defend its food.

I think that dog was so stressed out it couldn't respond. Someone had to reach out with love to connect with her.

We need more people like that who see the good in a frightened animal.

[Tobi]

(03-08-2016, 01:23 PM)Catherine Wrote: We need more people like that who see the good in a frightened animal.

Yes we do. I suppose the Shelter staff do not have the time. But even an ordinary person can sometimes win over a dog who was aggressive to start with, so long as they understand them and are willing to put the time and patience in.
A good example is a little terrier who lives near me. When I first met her she was intent on ripping me to shreds! Gradually, over time, I have managed to win her confidence, and yesterday she greeted me with a lick and a genuine wag. I was absolutely never scared of her, and knew a friendship/peace could gradually be drawn out of her.
Initially, she was being held very tightly on the lead by her caretaker, whenever we met. I asked the woman to let her off the lead -that I would take full responsibility.
I then progressed to giving her no attention (she bit my boots! haha! but soon began to notice she got no response from me.)
I then treated her whenever she relaxed even slightly. I held my hand down with a tiny goodie in it. She took that gently. All the time I gave her no eye contact. I was close to her physically but showing her no 'crowding' and no attention except for the little treats. My body posture was relaxed.
Gradually she tolerated my presence, but if our eyes met -she growled! I turned my body away, but didn't move away from her. That shows her validation, and respect, but no fear.
If we were out, with all the dogs, I asked her caretaker to allow her to come with us, and not shut her in the house alone, and to let her off the lead (on their property) So she wouldn't feel alienated.
...Then yesterday she came up to me of her own accord with a wag and a kind lick. I clapped my hands and told her she was a good girl, and that I appreciated her gesture very much. She even looked me in the eyes.
This took some weeks, but was worth doing.
This is what those Shelter dogs need!

[Catherine]

You succeeded in winning her over! Congratulations.

That took a while didn't it. You showed great patience and persistence and you took a chance with her, but it paid off.
Am I right that showing no fear was the first important step? I can understand having treats, but I never thought about not making eye contact.

Years ago a senior couple I looked after had a dog given to them. He had bitten all the neighbours when they tried to touch him and they called to warn me.  
I brought a pocket full of very tasty treats and when I came in I left my boots and coat on. When he ran at me to attack, I stood my ground and didn't move. He got two feet from me without me reacting and he suddenly turned and dove under the table to hide. He wasn't aggressive, he was frightened. I then calmly put my coat and boots away and used the treats to coax him out. I sat on the floor by the table talking to him and offering him treats. When he finally came out he was my friend forever.

Other people had pushed themselves on him and he bit out of fear. The treats helped and I let him touch me before I touched him.

I think many shelters are trying to work with dogs to help them. Our local shelter has a foster parent system. They can send a dog to a foster home and keep it out of the shelter environment. Some dogs just don't cope with being in a cage like that.
I wouldn't like it either.

[Tobi]

That sounds good, what you did with the dog. Yes some are aggressive through lack of socialisation, fear, lack of trust in people they don't know, protectiveness of their home....loads of reasons. Fear aggression is common.

No fear is very important, yes. And showing that in body language, while also allowing space. Allowing the dog to make up its mind in its own time, in a way, but being graceful and persistent.


Most do not like to be crowded by another -especially someone, or another dog whom they don't know very well. I mean -who can blame them? If we were sitting in our own garden and a stranger came in throwing themselves at us, and crowding into our personal space (area around our bodies)and staring us right in the eyes, we would feel similar! We'd probably react differently, but the instinct would be the same.

So allowing the dog some personal space and not crowding is very important. Direct eye contact is a strong thing, and also has a psychological effect of making another feel pinned-down in some way, unless it is with mutual consent.

And dogs deserve understanding and respect. They are not just there to be complicit and follow our every whim, including those of all human strangers. They should be respected.

[Catherine]

I have sensed that showing fear in any animal situation is not good. Animals react to our fear. Running is the worst thing to do. I am sure it would trigger all kinds of response in a dog.

Giving space makes sense. I can see why it is better not to make eye contact. Even reptiles can be bothered by eye contact, lizards anyhow, snakes not so much. If you are going to pick up a snake, do it with confidence. If you act in fear you can trigger a response in a snake. Baby snakes will strike out of fear. They are so small that it doesn't hurt. So I let them do it and that usually works. They get used to being handled. I am calm so they become calm. It is actually pretty funny when something the size of a piece of wool is attacking your hand. I won't let the babies go as pets until they are past that stage.

I can see how dogs need space and respect and how they need to have time to come to us. Dogs are a pack animal and they are more complex in their emotions.

I would like to think that almost any dog can be won over with enough time, patience and love.  Look how they rescue dogs from horrible situations and they turn into loving pets.

[Tobi]

(03-10-2016, 02:30 PM)Catherine Wrote: I have sensed that showing fear in any animal situation is not good. Animals react to our fear. Running is the worst thing to do. I am sure it would trigger all kinds of response in a dog.

This reminds me of an incident with Jet, Misty's friend. Jet was a Border Collie, but acted more like a semi-domesticated Wolf than anything else. At any rate, he did have some Border Collie tendencies, and the reason they are great with sheep when trained   is because they have freely given their strong predator instinct over to their bond of love and respect with their handler/caretaker. They herd sheep well when trained, but the underlying instinct is to hunt them down one way or another and get them all gathered together so they can't escape.


Okay....Jet treated anything else which ran, flew by, tried to escape.....the same way. That included tractors, cars, car tyres, bicycles, and screaming people. Most of the time Jet was covered in pond-slime and had that predator's gleam in his red-brown eyes. Nice people screamed and ran away. Not-so-nice mud-splashed people like me didn't care two hoots. But he gave chase if anyone was scared and ran away. They immediately became prey/to be herded.

Most 'nice people' weren't used to their dogs behaving like this. He was too primeval for them. That, unfortunately resulted in many lock-downs with Jet, which was a situation I tried to manage, as he always found a way to escape to come to visit me and Misty.

He was not a leashable dog. And most of the time we operated in a semi-wilderness so it was okay. But woe betide if we should meet some unwary neighbour round a bend on our walk!

Gradually I worked to help them with their Jet-Encounters. Gradually he learned to make friends. But he reverted back to type if they got scared and ran.

As an emergency measure I carried a "Squeaky Stick". (A plastic squeaky-toy shaped like a stick) If anyone squeaked it he asked no further questions and turned and shot off in a bee-line right home! He was scared stiff of it! Rotating LOL

[Catherine]

Quote:As an emergency measure I carried a "Squeaky Stick". (A plastic squeaky-toy shaped like a stick) If anyone squeaked it he asked no further questions and turned and shot off in a bee-line right home! He was scared stiff of it!

That just doesn't fit with the image of Jet as the predator.  I guess even the toughest hunter has a weak spot.
Even as a child my instinct was to stop and face anything that ran at me. I was maybe ten when a big dog came running out of his driveway and attacked me on my bike. I jumped off the bike and turned to face him. I stood my ground and he stopped. We both sort of backed away, me further down the road and him down his driveway. I backed a long way before I got back on my bike.
That always seemed like the best way to handle things. If it runs it must be prey. That is how I would expect a dog or a lot of other animals to see it.
It sounds like Jet saw it that way.
I think most people do not know how to handle dog situations. If they did  there would be less dog situations.