Hard week with a 5 y/o recently adopted mutt

[ledinh121189]

I adopted a rescue dog two months ago with my partner. She is about 5 years old. We are unsure of her previous circumstances, but signs point to her being a street dog in Mexico, or at least without a caring home as she has had many health issues and is covered in has scars over her face and body to indicate she has been in some situations. Over the past two months she has come leaps and bounds in her progress with us. She is such a sweet dog. This week, however, things took a turn.

Since adopting our dog, she has always been somewhat wary of other dogs, especially those who are off leash and energetically run towards or bark at her. The other day, an off leash mastiff (much larger) approached our dog (who was on leash...we were not at an off leash park) and sniffed her, which she did not appreciate. They got into a fight. My dog can be quite reactive when dogs approach her impolitely and get too much in her space/crowd her.

Then, a day or so later, she growled at the cat when he sniffed her food. She has shown no other signs of resource guarding until that moment.

Then, yesterday, she was cuddling with me on the couch and suddenly snapped and bit me in the lip. She did break the skin of my lip. She did not growl or move away or show any other signs of discomfort prior to snapping. This was completely unexpected, as she is a real people dog and loves to be around us, cuddling all of the time. She often puts her face right up in the crook of your neck, etc. She is never happier than when we allow her up on the furniture with us as a treat. It felt so unexpected and so out of character for the dog I have been getting to know that now I feel very apprehensive of her.

My partner and I have decided to take steps backward in that we are going back to no longer allowing her to cuddle on the couch or bed with us, etc. and no longer put our faces near hers etc. But, I am still worried and confused and so sad. Any advice?

 

[keith841]

@ledinh121189 I adopted a former street dog who was estimated to be between 4-6 years old...so I relate to a *lot* of this. I'm 3 years in, so maybe this will give you all some hope.

When we first brought our dog home, she was still in shock I think...but over the coming weeks, she became resource guarding and guarding around us. We also have a cat, who she did *not* respond well to...even though she did at the shelter!

Here's what we did that helped:

- We got two crates - one for the dining room, and one for the bedroom. 1. Dining crate: She only goes in her dining room crate for a few things: She eats in her crate with specific food times (no more worries about resource guarding), she gets bones in there (makes her like her crate/feel happy), and she goes in there when we leave (no worries about the cat). 2. Bedroom Crate: I used to have my dog sleep in bed with me, but no more...she sleeps in her bedroom crate. I give her a "dental bone" every night there, and she goes to sleep. At first, she whined, etc..but within a few weeks, she was fine...and it gave us all peace of mind.

- Guarding us/sofa. We worked on this one a *lot* and one method that helped is this one: https://www.clickertraining.com/node/1403 It didn't "cure" her entirely, but I'd say it is 90% better and has been for years now. The only time she gets into guarding mode, is when she's dead asleep and gets scared or something. Practice it like a religion every day. It really does work well.

- Medication. Our dog had separation anxiety, guarding, and is dog-reactive...and let me tell you, Prozac helped. It definitely did *not* cure anything, but it took it from being hypervigilant and at notch 120% to being down to 30% vigilant, and it made her more trainable, less anxious, and better with our cat too. Again, all of those also required work, but she was more trainable to do that work. The prozac took months to really work imho.

So I hope this helps you, because when we were just starting out, it felt absolutely impossible. I actually had my dog on a harness & leash 24/7 around the house for the first 3 months because she was that out of control. Now, she roams freely around the house, sleeps on the sofa, and is like a normal dog 80% of the time. She's still dog-reactive, but that's really the only thing that makes her any different. She doesn't mind her crates, and has a good routine with her meals and runs in her dining crate to eat when it's time.

I wish you all the best.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@ledinh121189 I have a dog who sounds very similar. The second week we had him, he was sleeping on the couch next to my boyfriend, and suddenly started growling and bit his nose, breaking the skin. I was so freaked out I considered giving him back to his foster parents.

While that was the last time he has bitten a person (other than very occasional nipping at feet without making contact when stressed), he has bitten another dog. He gets along with our cat, but the two of them can irritate each other.

I think not allowing him on the couch or the bed is a great start. It establishes boundaries. He slept in our living room the first 6 or so months. Now he sleeps in our room but on his own bed, and comes up weekend mornings for cuddles. He is SUCH a cuddle bunny, I feel bad depriving it of him on weekdays, but it's important of him to also have sense of independence and to understand who makes the rules around here

When I first adopted him, I kept reading about the 3 day, 3 week, 3 month rule, and it's very accurate. The first three days are the hardest, then the first weeks are a little easier, and then after three months, he's has finally himself!

 

[harrison19]

@imagebeastmarkbeast The 3-3-3 rule is definitely a great reference! I volunteer with the behaviorally challenged dogs at my local shelter and this is something I always tell adopters about. I think the key take away from that is that your dog is adapting to their new environment and new behavior is expected as they adapt.

There are a few things that have really helped my reactive dog be calmer and understand what I expect of her on leash:

When I see another dog, I try to be as calm as possible (no leash tension, calm voice) and move away from the other dog. Moving away means crossing the street or getting off the trail for us.

Once we've moved away, I will calmly point out the other dog to my dog and reward her for looking at them. This has really helped, as she now knows that I won't let dogs sneak up on her.

I do not let other dogs approach her because it makes her uncomfortable. It can be really hard communicating this to other owners - I find saying that my dog is not friendly generally works.

I also really suggest working on "place" or crating your dog while you're home (for short periods, maybe while you eat dinner or watch some TV) as another way to help them relax and work on being independent.

 

[ledinh121189]

@harrison19 Thanks for all your stories it really helps to know others are dealing with similar issues.

We have already seen huge improvements in the past two months. Our dog is much less likely to lunge at cars and bikes now (but still hates motorcycles and super fast road bikers).

Luckily, she is only reactive to other dogs when they crowd her back end and get their noses all up in her buiness, or when they persistently bark at her through a fence or something as we walk past...So, mostly, we can avoid interacting with other dogs except in the case where they are off leash and run up on her, which is so stressful!

She's quite independent really - we kept her in the kitchen area of our apartment for about 6 weeks while our cat adjusted to her presence, now she is able to roam freely and often chooses to lay either in the kitchen on a blanket, or on her bed in the bedroom. She is never really underfoot and allows us both to work from home without issue. I think it helps that we are dedicated to walking her 3 times a day and playing fetch whenever the school field is empty - so she is always well excerised and thus, sleepy.

She hasn't shown much guarding behaviour yet except the one growl at the cat sniffing her bowl, which we have now been working on. I am vigilantly watching because she is absolutely in love with my partner, and I don't want her to develop an unhealthy relationship with regard to him.

I still can't believe she bit me though, and remain sad and confused that it happened, but hearing your stories make me hopeful that with time and persistence we can avoid any subsequent incidents.