Fear Reactive Dogs

A few days ago, I received a phone call from someone who adopted a pound-bound dog.  He has lived with his new family for several months now.  He is gained weight and blossomed into a very loving dog – toward the family and the family’s dog.  However, he has suddenly become aggressive toward anyone except the man and woman who adopted him. 

Let me preface this post by saying I am not a dog trainer.  I have no specialized training.  I just have many years of experience living with dogs.  My recent experiences with Gracie have taught me a great deal about fear’s power over dogs. 

I told her first to take the dog to the vet.  Pets are stoic.  In the wild, only the strong survive, so animals naturally hide weakness.  It is bred in the bone.  Also, our furry friends cannot talk.  The only way they have to communicate with us is by “acting out.”  What we see as bad behavior may be a cry for help.

If the visit to the vet did not uncover any underlying medical conditions as the culprit, I advised her to consider his history.  Her dog without question was not properly socialized.  I encouraged her to speak with a trainer.  In my non-professionally trained mind, it sounded as the dog had finally settled into a loving home and wanted to protect them.  Again, this is my gut instinct, not professional advice.

I also told her to check out the Internet.  You can find a wealth of information there.  As with anything you read on the Internet, you should carefully consider the source.  ALWAYS seek positive training methods.  Negative training never works and can be enormously detrimental with fearful dogs.  Think how you would feel if you were scared and someone tried to “show dominance” over you, yelled at you, or used a choke-chain on you.  You might do what that person told you, but you would not do it willingly and would most likely grow to hate that person, wouldn’t you?

I told the lady she would have to invest a lot of time and that she should not expect a quick fix.  She told me she really loves the dog and wants to do whatever it takes.  I commend her.  A lot of dogs and cats find themselves at shelters because their owners do not share the same attitude.  I wish her and her sweet rescue the best of luck.

Rescue Mommy