Introduction And Advice

VickiandKev

Fishaholic
Joined
Aug 7, 2009
Messages
656
Reaction score
0
Location
North London
A while ago my partner and I rescued a dog, a Pyrenean Mountain Dog with no name, who is now called Bear. We think he is about 4 looking at his teeth but his body tells a sad story.
We know he was a dog used in illegal exploits as his previous owner was arrested and deported and cannot return to the UK. His teeth are very bad, he is covered in sores and he has stiff hips. He was a bag of bones when we got him with matts in his fur and he was severely depressed.

Our pack consists of three other dogs besides him, all youngsters and smaller breeds. When he first came home, he didn't want anything to do with us or the other dogs and slept alone in the other room or hallway. He wouldn't come to call or respond to anything much. He would go 5 mins on his walks and then turn around and pull for home. He was terrified of rain.

In just 3 short weeks he is learning his new name, he will sit and down on command and is slowly learning his recall.
He is excited to meet new people, although aloof outside of the house, and he has a very waggy greeting reserved specially for us :wub:
He has filled out, his coat looks glossier and silkier, his sores are healing one by one and his hips are much less stiff after a few weeks on glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM in his food. He's excited for his walks now and does more than plod along. He will walk in the rain with a bit of encouragement.

Bear is 100% better than we expected him to be, BUT we do think he has been encouraged to be dog-aggressive. He is only around our dogs with supervision and has gone from growling when they get within a metre of him to allowing them to lie near to him and being totally relaxed. He will guard any food though (or plates on the kitchen side) and this causes some tension between him and Skye, our most dominant dog out of the others.
He has attacked a dog on a walk and is now muzzled whenever we are out of the house. He is uncastrated and dominant towards other entire dogs ... leading to aggression if not immediately checked.

We have already made improvements with him, but have found he's a very growly dog at the best of times. Skye is also growly but it's just vocalising for her, 9 times out of 10, Bear is simply vocalising his displeasure at having to obey a command. We correct him with noise and touch, and force him to submit by body-blocking him into a corner and waiting for him to relax. We have, once or twice in extreme situations, made him submit on his side and relax before allowing him up.
Being a 60kg+ dog, we thought it paramount that he immediately learns he must submit to us and obey our commands, hence the hardline approach with calming his aggression.

We do use a lot of treats and constantly positively reinforce his behaviour, we only negatively reinforce when necessary.

Here's Bear:
When he first arrived:
45a5ee39813e415099c630b07e4f561f.jpg

Looking thin :(
c63ecb8b672048cbbd05e877336d7a45.jpg


And just this morning :)
413042070d9b4e4ebb7f92b68c1bee18.jpg


This is the rest of our pack.
Skye - 18months neutered sheepdog *****
2ad552c396ea4fa3964452181a6875df.jpg

Shiloh - 11 months neutered sheepdog dog
04a9b52c472747a1a060ad28a298f46d.jpg

Ruby - 9 months entire rottie x *****
6f11b3b997684493856c10b44d61c1d1.jpg


Unsurprisingly, Ruby has befriended Bear and has, on occasion, cuddled up to him. She will be neutered in the next month.

We plan to get Bear castrated as soon as he has settled a bit more and his sores have healed up a little, but for now, we have to work on his behaviour as it is.

Some days, he is brilliant and we can see how far we have come, other days he seems to go ten steps backwards and we seem to be spending the entire day correcting him, and sometimes he'll even growl or curl his lip at my OH. He does not do this to me, but I tend to obey all the maxims for being pack leader, including not kissing him or allowing him to demand fuss in my face.

We do not let him mark on his walks, he has to do his wee all in one and then get walking ...

I basically wanted advice from anyone who has experience of this breed, of rescues at this age with similar problems or any knowledge that could help us to make this transition easier for Bear.

We know his behaviour is not his fault, and are patient in teaching him a different way to be but some days it's disheartening, I guess I'd like some reassurance that we are doing things right, and if we are not doing things right, some advice on what to change.
 
Try and find a dog that is very frienly, calm, and playful. My Golden Retriever, Mick, has been used for this. There was a Pit Bull that was dog aggresive, so we let Mick meet Princess (the pit-bull). Soon, Princess learned that not all dogs are mean. All dog aggresive dogs are afraid- most likely Bear had a bad experience with a dog when he was a pup. You need to teach him that not all dogs are like that. Take him to meet every calm , friendly, doog you see- and he will start to feel better around dogs. And, number one rule: Do not be afraid. A afraid owner= afraid dog. Keep saying in yur mind: "Bear can do it. Bears a great dog. He can do this n problem!" I had a rottie named Pickles who was a rescue- she had this problem. I introduced her to the other calm, friendly dogs in my house (3 Golden Retrievers, 2 Whippets), and she soon grew to love dogs. And beleive it or not- taking Bear to a dog park can be good for him- just make sure that all the dogs are friendly, so you make it a good experience for Bear

Goodluck!

ZOphie :good:
 
I cant really help with ragards to training but I just wanted to say, kudos to you both.
Partly for giving a rescue a home, but mainly for how well it sounds like you're progressing. And after only 3 weeks!
 
Thank you guys for your encouraging and helpful posts.
Unfortunately we had a set-back with socialising because Ruby got kennel cough and we were effectively quarantining ourselves for 10 days. But Bear has surprised us all by meeting my parents' greyhounds, initially being growly and needing a muzzle and by the end of the 2nd day his muzzle was off and he was happy to sleep within a metre of them :D
I'm so proud of him - he likes to sit on my lap now, and loves being groomed all the time.

He looks like a different dog - I will have to take some more photos. He's got a beautiful, silky coat and is finally up to weight and loose in the hips. He trots around and even breaks out into a faster gait regularly on his walks where he only plodded with the odd trot before.

We're back to socialising this week so we'll see how he gets on. He's learning to walk away when told from dogs he doesn't like but sometimes takes a bit of persuasion lol!

He's sitting and watching my ratties before bed now :wub:
He's got such a puppy face now his eyes are bright again too, it makes me mad to think everything he went through made him only a shadow of what he now is - and I have no doubts that the true Bear is still coming through, and we'll see more again in the weeks and months to come.

ETA: Oh, and he now has a very waggy greeting for EVERYONE. He trusts that everyone is friendly and if they're cool with us, they're cool with him. He loves kisses and has been known to give the odd kiss back too :p
 
OMG Stay away from dog parks please please please. They are terrible places. People tend to not clean up after their dogs, not everyone (as we all know) takes very good care of their dogs and keeps them parasite free. Not everyone actually watches their dogs in dog parks. You know your dog has issues with other dogs. There is absolutely no reason to submit him to a dog park with many dogs running around. All you will do is stress him out and if God forbid another dog do something wrong all you have accomplished is that you set back all the hard work you've already done. For Bear's safety, piece of mind, and health, not to mention the safety of other people's dogs, stay AWAY from dog parks!! Only allow him near his own pack. He does not have to get along with other dogs. He only has to ignore them.

Other than that, you are doing all you can and doing a great job of it.

Good luck and God bless for helping that poor dog.

Shelby
 

Most reactions

Back
Top