Assessed 4 dogs this afternoon in the same family, and all were very insecure. Insecurity is due to fear, and fear is due to lack of trust and these dogs trust nobody. I met each dog one at a time alone in the back yard, and all I got was a whole lot of insecure barking – not one attempted to bite. The owner wants to socialize them, and that’s where we are heading.
Brought Monty in with each dog, no aggression but they were intense when meeting him. One of the dogs was like a vacuum cleaner checking him out. None offered to hurt him, they never offered to bite me – so they aren’t aggressive dogs.
There was one dog however, this is the only video that came out. When I need the gopro most, it fails.
Little Bear is a special case, PTSD. She’s not just insecure and scared, but there is something underneath. The owner explained that he had no choice but to try a boarding kennel with the dogs cause he had to go out of town. There were no other options – and they are still not sure what happened to her. The scars on her muzzle, down her chest and legs create a story of their own. She went missing for 2 days and when she was found inside the kennel complex, she was a wreck. Likely attacked by another dog and left to stew in her own fear for 2 days, owners were looking for her outside the complex – they suspected she escaped. She’s been this way ever since.
There was one moment where I was squat down, she was 4 inches from my face barking her head off and she’s frothing at the mouth – but she showed no indication of wanting to bite. Most dogs that do that try to get a rise out of you – but she was reading different.
Flood the dog? Sometimes it’s best to do so – her mental health is in bad shape. She was carrying alot of mental stress, she’s running hot on cortisol all the time and that’s dangerous long term to a dogs health and behavior. This is how she’s living, triggered by everything and it’s time for change.
I didn’t need to push her, she needed to blow out the lines and she did. Get rid of that mental stress that she has so pent up inside her. I was just calm, not chasing her, I’m not taking it personally, I’m not scared of her – she blew out the lines on me. And that’s exactly what she needed. She raged at me for nearly a half hour.frothing at the mouth, had me covered in slobber. The rest of the dogs were easy in comparison. When she was done, she laid down content, the beast was gone. She smelled me and it was a done deal, she came to me for affection just like the others did. Once she calmed down and the brain engaged, she was a different dog.
The owner contacted me tonite saying that Little Bear is much calmer, looking to cuddle with the other dogs instead of being amped up and wanting to roughhouse or fight. The beast is gone, she’s calmer and able to think now.
Mental heath is huge when dealing with behaviors. The dog needs to blow out the lines too. This is one of the big problems for pitbulls – many are a freight train of a mental energy, it’s all go go go.
The owner has been sending me updates daily, and he can’t believe the changes in his pack. Bear is much calmer, she’s sleeping all night and sleeping in – none of the dogs are barking at everything over the fence. The females aren’t fighting anymore – and Bear is one of the females. They had to be kept separate.
I go back to meet Bear today – I’m anxious to learn how she’s going to greet me and we’re off to a dog park for some socialization. Bear is going to move from the scared shit disturber position to leader of the pack. She’s going to help teach the other 3 dogs.