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harstinedogs-blog · 7 years ago

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Our New Foster Dog!

So we went and picked up the new foster dog. We didn’t end up with the dog I thought I was originally going to get, turns out that another dog needed our help even more, so we ended up with her instead. She’s a little pit bull, one whom I believe may have come from the fighting world as her face, neck, and chest are covered in scars and one of her ears is torn nearly in half and missing a rather large chunk from it, though it could also be caused by her being what she is. She’s a cute little thing with a sassy attitude and a whole lot of spunk. She’s super sweet and friendly towards everyone human, including children. She’s an incredibly happy, wiggly, energetic, scrappy little girl. I’m rather glad that I ended up with her since she thankfully has no sign or indication of any human aggression issues.

She is definitely not without her problems, however. She needs a lot (a lot!) of obedience work and she needs to learn her manners, though those are both pretty basic and shouldn’t take too much time for her to learn. She seems to be pretty attentive, alert and eager to please, even towards someone she’s never met before, has no allegiance to and no reason to work for. She seems to be pretty food motivated as well, which always makes things easier.

The real problem she has is her incredibly high prey drive. Every little thing that moves grabs her immediate attention and all thought dissipates like vapor and she just throws herself full bore at it. If there is an actual animal visible she goes absolutely nuts and continues to go nuts until it’s out of her sight. Normally a high prey drive wouldn’t really bother me too much, it can even be a good thing at times, as it can provide motivation and drive for quite a few various activities and games. However, this particular dog has an overwhelming desire and need to eat my two beloved cats, which is absolutely not okay, definitely not allowed and will not be tolerated in any way, shape or form.

The first few days she was here she was absolutely nuts. Completely overwhelmed and overstimulated by everything out here in the middle-of-nowhere country, she was trying so hard to focus on everything around her all at once, plus we had a few guests over for the weekend so there were extra people walking around, extra noise and activity. There was sunshine and fresh air, birds, rabbits, deer, cats, dogs, raccoons, rats, ravens and all manner of other things that caught her attention. There was grass, bushes, trees, fences, ties, trails and buildings that needed to be fully sniffed and inspected, even though we tried to minimize her exposure as much as possible in the first few days so she had a chance to adjust to her new environment and her new humans. Since she didn’t know me from a hole in the wall, she paid absolutely no attention to me at all, and wouldn’t give me any acknowledgment or eye contact. I pretty much felt like I didn’t even exist to her, and for a while, I didn’t, not really anyways. I was just someone annoying on the other end of the leash preventing her from getting to all the things she was so eager to get to.

I’ll admit, I briefly entertained the idea of giving her back at that point. I wrote to the lady from the rescue that I got her from and talked to her about it, and that didn’t go very well. They finally revealed some of what they hadn’t wanted to tell me before this “slightly reactive to small dogs and animals” dog came into my life. I found out that there really is nowhere else for her to go. She can’t go back to where she came from because there are 5 other dogs there and no one really has any time for her. So I’m kind of the end of the line for her, and if I can’t deal with her then her next step, unfortunately, is euthanasia. I believe it’s because of the way she is, the way she acts. Though she is an incredibly happy dog and very friendly with humans, they are definitely not her first priority. As much as she likes humans, she has a hard time focusing on them unless they have food to offer her. Her attention and focus is so wrapped up in looking for small furry creatures to kill that she’s constantly in hunt mode. While on a walk she can barely pay attention enough to go to the bathroom because she’s so caught up in looking for something, anything, everything, to chase and kill. She never stops, she never shuts off, and she hardly ever relaxes. She’ll barely even lay down because she’s so focused on what’s going on around her and when she does lay down it’s more of a tense, stiff-legged crouch than an actual, genuine down. She refuses to lay on her side and fights like hell to keep her feet under her and keep her balance and grip, and she never stays sitting or laying down for very long. It’s more like she pretends to sit and down rather than actually doing it.

When she does actually see another animal, regardless of what size it is, it becomes nearly impossible to get her attention off of it and onto something else. Even her food motivation goes right out the window. If you tug on her, she pulls back with everything she’s got, rearing up on her hind legs and choking herself in her frenzy to get the animal. If you turn around and try to walk away, she fights like crazy to stay pointed in the direction of her prey. If you try to body block her you end up doing a strange little dance as she tries to see around you and try to block her view. If you try to give her a command or instructions, she is completely deaf to them. Treats must be thrust in front of her nose before she’ll notice them, and while she will eat them if they’re more enticing than plain kibble, she refuses to break eye contact with her target or turn her attention away from them, not even for food. The only way to get her to come back to you is to drag her, forcefully while she’s kicking and screaming in protest, far enough away so that she can’t see them anymore. Even then it’s hard to get her attention since she keeps looking back at and focusing on where she knows that animal is, or was.

I finally resorted to making her steak bite treats (much to the frustration of my father, who was going to eat that steak…) and while she absolutely loves them and happily works quickly and with plenty of motivation for them while she’s alone, if another animal is within 50-100 feet of her, they may as well not even exist. So that’s going to be an incredibly difficult challenge to break. Honestly, I don’t know if she’ll ever be completely free of the behavior, and she may never be able to go into a home that has any other animals. I definitely can’t trust her for even a second, and I have to constantly remain on guard and alert for anything that moves and breathes. But we’re working on it…

I have managed to get her into a sit when she sees another living thing, and she’ll only break the sit if they come within a few feet of her, at which point she lunges wildly with all intent to kill, or at least maim and injure. So it’s a very small start, but at least it’s a start. We are also working on impulse control in a lot of other areas, such as not rushing and pushing our way out of the crate simply because its been unlatched, or not pushing and rushing our way out of a door simply because it’s been opened, and not pouncing on the food bowl before it even hits the ground, and not devouring a treat that’s offered along with half of the hand that offered it.

She definitely has a very dominant, pushy and stubborn nature, and when she is forced to do something she definitely does NOT like it and will push back with everything she has against giving in and actually submitting, though she will do it eventually. She develops a major attitude and resentment, a giant doggy “Fuck you, I do what I want” kind of response. I don’t think she’s ever had anyone really enforce the rules on her, and she’s used to getting her own way if she stands her ground and doesn’t give in. But she is beginning to get the hint that those type of behaviors just doesn’t fly with me, and that there are consequences to being defiant, just as there are rewards for being obedient. She has missed out on a meal or 5 for a few hours because of her refusal to cooperate and play nice. However, these lessons all seem to be sinking in rather slowly, considering how smart and crafty she has shown herself to be.

We don’t have much of a bond yet, though we are gradually developing a relationship and respect. At least I get to exist in her world now, and she is beginning to give me eye contact and acknowledgment when there are no other critters or distractions around to catch her attention. We are working continuously on “Leave It” and she really only gets praised for actually looking away from her prey and making eye contact with me, however brief it may be. So she is improving, though very, very slowly, and only with a lot of work and frustration.

We are also trying weight pulling with her, and she seems to be responding to it quite well. At the moment she’s only dragging a single tire behind her on our walks, which she does with ease, though it does an excellent job of giving her a workout and wearing her out after about a half hour walk. Since she gets tired and starts lagging in the middle, we take her harness off to give her a break and a bit of a normal walk for 10-20 minutes before we finish bringing the tire back home. She always pulls it just a little bit further each time we go out. She seems to really be enjoying it, and will even walk calmly off-leash for short periods when we’re safely back in the woods. On-leash she does an excellent job at keeping up, with a slack leash most of the time and she doesn’t need much encouragement at all, though she does enjoy nearly constant praise and a steady supply of treats when she’s working. She is also starting to understand that when she has the harness on she is “working” and not just walking and that many behaviors that are allowed on a regular walk are not tolerated when walking in-harness. She really is quite smart and actually learns quite quickly, and she remembers very well, even if we only did an exercise once or twice a day or two before, she only needs a couple of reminders before she picks it back up again.

She’s not quite as affectionate as I would like her to be, and she’s not very snuggly at all, except for the brief, rare moments when she chooses to forget about the outside world and it’s critters and relaxes, allowing herself to just be a dog and be loved. She’s even let me roll her over and scratch her tummy a couple of times. So she is definitely showing major signs of improvement.

She is certainly going to be a very difficult dog to work with, but I think that once our relationship improves and our bond strengthens, once she actually begins to trust me, and trust that she can rely on me, things will improve dramatically.

There are certainly times, however, that I have to pause, take a deep breath, and remind myself that I volunteered and asked for this, that I wanted a difficult dog to work with, one that everyone else had given up on, one who was out of chances and at the end of the line. That is exactly what I ended up with. Be careful what you wish for! You just might end up getting it. I know that I have, many times over.

Even with all her problems and the difficulty of her particular challenges, I have to admit that I am much happier and more content now that I have a dog to concentrate on and work with again then I was before when I was still wishing that I had a dog. Life is just so much better when you have a dog by your side, however difficult and frustrating said dog may be. Life is always better with a dog to love.

#Dogs #Dog Behavior #Dog Training #Foster Dogs #Rescue Dogs #Dog Behavior Problems #Behavior Rehabilitation #adopting a dog #dog adoption #dog rescue

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