I posted a video recently of a current behavior rehab that, after a thorough evaluation, the owner and I decided it would be best that they surrender him to me. The dog is now named Chowder. When I first met Chowder, he had bitten several people; breaking skin and causing trauma. He was growling and going after the owner when they would PUT FOOD DOWN, so you could forget about picking that up. He would need to be crated when the family wanted some relief from the stress of the dog; however that meant hours of screaming in the crate to the point of going horse. The family made arrangements for the dog so that they would not get bit, and would not lose their hearing any further. These arrangements mostly meant someone who the dog liked would be with the dog feeding him treats, sitting outside with the dog, or crating the dog outside in a small shed away from the home. I was called to advise about this dog because a few people who knew of the dog realized that he was young and possibly just a dog in the wrong situation.
After speaking to the head of the household it was determined due to circumstances in the home that this would not be something the family was going to be on board with training themselves, and that surrendering the dog would be everyone’s best chance at a happy ending for this chapter. I do not just take on every dog that needs to be surrendered. I evaluate the dog based on if I believe I can get the dog to a good place and rehome them. I have 8 of my own dogs along with fosters…I am not looking to just take on a bunch of projects. I am realistic with the owners if I believe the dog should be euthanized.
Evaluation day! My favorite. I will say that there is a good chance of being bitten when I am evaluating a dog that I am going to take ownership. More so than in an evaluation of a dog I am going to just rehabilitate with someone else (a training client). Why? Because I am going to live with this dog for the foreseable future. Now to each their own, but I am prepared in these cases to have and work the dog for at least a year. My goal is to get these dogs into new homes. If i feel like the dog is going to need major management I will not rehome that severe a case. It is not fair to the dog nor is it fair to future possible homes. It also does nothing for the name of Dog. So I will use minimal equipment and avoidance when working these cases. I am not glorifying being bitten. This is just my level of comfort when my goal is to rehome.
Now having read some back ground I wonder what most readers have pictured Chowder to be (if you have not seen the video). It will come to no ones surprise that this is a 1 year old, 25 pound blue Australian Cattle Dog. Not a typical family dog, for they are still very useful for work. This family was left with he dog because a young person in the family was convinced that this would be a perfect house dog. Convinced by someone who is supposed to know better. For Chowder this could have very easily been a death sentence. For the family that was about 10 months of terror and injury. This does such a disservice to a really great breed for those who need an independent, head strong, agile, working partner.
Now what happens when I get him? Well, we begin with I am not afraid of this dog and he must realize this. How do I convince him that I am not afraid of him, but that he does not have to be afraid of me either? Consistency. When he attempts to bite me I respond appropriately, and I move on. This can mean an array of responses depending on the circumstance. He tries to bite me when I am opening the crate…so I sit there with my hand on the crate door for as long as it takes for him to show me a slight behavior change. For the first few days he has a leash attached to him at all times, even when he is left in the crate. DISCLOSURE: this can be dangerous—the dog is left alone in a kennel or crate with a leash and collar, there is a possibility of the leash getting caught—please be aware of that. This is for a few different reasons. One, it allows me to be very consistent with my pressure. He is also trying to figure out what just happened—his life was just flipped upside down. I am building trust, not programming a soldier. Two, it does allow me a way to safely and fairly defend myself, without undue fighting with a living thing who is just trying to communicate that he is afraid and confused. Three, to add to number one, it avoids conflict with the pressure he feels when I go to remove him from the crate. This is where he most mistrusts pressure. By giving him these few days I am allowed the opportunity to change the way he feels about frontal pressure. Very quickly we get past this crazy barrier frustration and fear. He soon is entering and exiting the crate with ease and comfort. Now we take it a step up—he no longer is left unattended with a leash and collar in the crate. From now on I will reach into the crate leash him and remove him. On the opposite side I will get a sit in front of the crate. Will remove the leash and I will guide him into the crate with my hand on the collar. Here is where I must give trust to get trust, and realize that any mistakes he makes is not personal. The first few days there are moments where he puts his mouth on me, and in these moments I must decide each time if a correction is necessary, and either way I must follow through with my action showing him no fear of his mouth. Pulling away and flinching only feeds the idea that this is an appropriate, working tool. Now we have done the ground work, so I trust him. In just a day he understands that pressure and accepts that I will not budge and will remain fair, clear, and consistent. When I see him relax into this new procedure I begin to give him the freedom to enter the crate on the command “crate” without adding the pressure of me leading him in. I do not make conflict with his food. I place his food in the crate, leave, allow him time to eat, and then I remove the empty bowl. He has shown me no aggression around food. Until I see it, I will not push the issue to make an issue. He spends his day hanging out where I train dogs for hours on end. Only allowed to lay on his bed. He started out growling and barking at people who came in and out of the area. I would only correct him for leaving the bed, and instructed those who would be coming in and out to ignore him and go about business as usual. This also means not avoiding walking near him when they need to for their day to day tasks. He now almost immediately goes to sleep in the training area. I had to go on a trip to Minnesota for 9 days and had a friend watch him. He is doing wonderful with this trainer. He has specific guidelines that I strongly recommend he follow. I know that there are plenty of reasons to deviate from those guidelines and I trust the judgement of this fellow trainer, and friend. He has sent me videos and I am so happy seeing Chowder respond the way he is.
This is where we are at week 6. This is what we will build off of over the next year while I find his new job and work him towards a new life. There are lots of deviations to a rehabilitation. However, there are key fundamentals for me. We live life. We do not avoid, counter condition, and manage. We do not measure success on a linear line, because the truth is there will be moments where he reverts. Especially at the beginning. The rules are not just for him, they are also for me. Sometimes I must remind myself of where a rehab has come from to put my expectations in check. I am not looking for perfection in a rehab. I am identifying where the dog has huge fluctuations in behavior and through clear, consistent communication looking for those fluctuations to become less and less until the dog is picking up new tools without thinking. When the dog accepts the new way of life then I will start to look for something more permanent. This is why when I take a surrender in I do the evaluation keeping my goal in mind: “can this dog change his perspective reliably?” I am not unrealistic, however, as far as sometimes foundational behaviors will come back under stress. Before I decide to look for that permanent solution I will put the dog under stress that before would have easily triggered those behaviors to determine how quick the dogs to revert. I will then push the dog so I have a clear understanding of his boundaries and limitations. This will help me be sure of his future. Unfortunately, something that is always on the table is behavioral euthanasia. However, I bring all my expertise to bear in my rehab cases, whether it be a student or a surrender.
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