The call was a brief one. “We have our new dog only a few weeks and already we are desperate for help. You have to come now to train her.”
In a few short weeks this dog had already knocked down her owner, alienated their neighbors by barking through the night, lunged and jumped on everyone, and caused such disruption in the home the owners felt they may have to give her back to the shelter.
I needed to learn more about how they got to this point in such a short time, how a happy adoption became a desperate situation.
These people were dog people. They lived with dogs before. In fact, they had recently lost a beloved dog and were still mourning the loss. They thought a new dog would help them move on and lessen the devastation they felt.
Here are just a few of the missteps that can result in this type of desperate situation :
- Searching for a new pet while still grieving a lost one
- Impulsively choosing a dog based on cute looks alone
- Little or no knowledge of the mix of breeds that blended together in this new dog
- Bringing a dog into the home that was ill-suited for the family lifestyle and energy level
- Comparing the new dog to a lost pet
I was greeted at the door by sixty five pounds of muscle – all over me. This was a powerful dog, out of control and urgently in need of direction. Anxiety poured out of her with every drool, shake, jump, bark and quiver.
After about fifteen minutes of my being patient and ignoring her rude behavior, she settled down and came over to sniff. Once I had her nose engaged, we could move forward. Her new owners were finally able to get to know this new family member, her true self beyond the amazingly gorgeous eyes.
But her new owners had never dealt with a powerful breed before, nor had they adopted from a shelter before. They were embarking on a journey new to all of them and they were committed to making this work.
The family wanted a new dog to help ease the pain of losing a precious pet, but it was not this dog’s responsibility to fill a void. It was not her responsibility to be “like our other dog,” nor was it her responsibility to heal them.
Once they started looking at what their new dog needed, rather than what they needed, it all turned around.
Within two hours this beautiful, nervous, excited, scared dog was on her back seeking out a belly rub. Her new owners learned how to establish order and routine in the home, how to encourage calmness from their new dog, how to look beyond the external and understand the instinct and drives of their new companion. They began to exude confidence and belief that this can be done – a new family can be established and while no dog can be replaced, there is room to love again.
The next phone call I came home to was a far different one from the first. “We wanted to update you … it’s like she is a new dog. Last night she barked for 15 minutes to go to sleep, not and an hour and a half, she stopped jumping up on us the moment she saw us, we were able to walk her and we have hope.”
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