So far so good.
Well day 5 with the new dog is almost over. Truck is doing pretty well so far. I'm learning that he is an incredibly fearful and anxious dog. I'm guessing at 4 years old, this is something I may never be able to fix. I'm hoping through training and exposure I can teach him to be more confident though. Based on his behavior I wouldn't be surprised if somebody told me he was taken outside and beat each night. He flinches and cowers whenever I try to pet him and a lot of his behaviors (such as the fear aggression and space issues) are directly due to the fact that he is so submissive and fearful. The owners claimed he was great in the car, but my 3 hour drive home from my parents house was spent with him cowering, panting, and trembling in fear the ENTIRE. Poor guy. He has so much potential and he is the kind of dog I wish I had when he was MUCH younger. For now I will just need to remind everyone he is a rescue so they don't accuse me of animal abuse when he cowers as they go to pet him. He is fearful of the cats so he hasn't bothered them at all, which is good. He gets his "I'm going to attack you" face when he looks too intently at the cat but it is easy to re-direct him.
As for the separation anxiety, I bought the Tux toy and gave him one of Franklin's other interactive toys and gave them to him in his crate when I left. They kept him busy for about 30 min. I set up a Skype account as a sort of nanny cam so I was able to check in on him throughout the day. If he was barking I could tell him "no" and he would look around confused and then settle in and lay down. I was also able to take him out for a portion of our walk off-leash because there is an area on the river that is totally enclosed except for the trail down to the beach. He did great, we will have to go down there and work everyday off leash because he only 1/2 listens. He stays close, but if he is sniffing he will totally ignore me when I call him.
So things I have to work on: potty training (still not 100%), fear aggression towards dogs, fear and anxiety in general, off leash training. I feel like I have a puppy again! But most importantly FRANKLIN LOVES HIM!!!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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Honestly...if he is doing this well with Franklin I would really push for a month for his sake and that he doesn't have to start over again. It would not be fair to not give him a chance...look at how well he is doing in how long????? Just my opinion. Those outside pics just melt my heart and make me think he is a great dog...
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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I totally agree. I also think if she needs an answer NOW, I'm just going to say yes I'm going to keep him and if something horrible comes up that I can't handle then I will contact them again and/or re-home him myself. We agreed on a month trial and it's not really fair to him to push so much on him so soon, it hasn't even been a week yet. Most everything is going really well so his reaction to other dogs is going to have to be pretty drastic for me to not be willing to work on it, also with 4 years of these issues, one month isn't going to be enough to fix them anyway and I will need to work with him for several months before I see any real results.
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"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion"YOu are doing a wonderful job Melissa and as he gains trust in you I believe that he can/will be able to get past the dog issues but slowely...one dog at a time. I see how well he and Franklin look together in your last pics...he has it in him but either has to learn to trust you and other dogs before he can go there and yes, you are right it may take longer...I have faith that this will work:) Imagine if you were to be uprooted from everything you ever knew...it would take time to adjust just as it will take him time.
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Permalink Reply by Emily & Scout on
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I agree with the others that you should get your month. Just reading past posts, you know what you're doing when it comes to training. Also, you have a whole community of people who can give suggestions if there is anything that you need help with. And honestly, I'm looking forward to posts on here about his progress.
The biggest thing, i think, is that he and Franklin get along. Just that should boost his confidence in meeting other dogs. Truck has such neat coloring and he and Franklin look good tegether.
Best of luck with him!
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