Can I AW my dog for a minute? (long)

[RoxMonster]

We rescued Roxie in December after she had been forced to have a litter of 12 puppies when she was one year old and had been dumped at the shelter. Chances are, she was abused. We soon found out she was EXTREMELY skittish of everything--noises, new people, other dogs, etc. She exhibited fear aggression when other people approached; she was just so terrified. She would literally bark at every little thing she heard, we could not take her in public and could barely walk her. We couldn't have people over because she could not calm down.

We looked into an animal behaviorist who came to our house from Jan-April every few weeks.At first, Roxie was not even OK with this woman being in our house or touching her/trying to work with her. Slowly, she became OK with her coming in the house and the last few sessions, she did not even bark. We worked on some basic commands like sit, down, loose leash walking, etc.

Basically, more than anything, we wanted Roxie to be OK around other dogs and people. She didn't have to run up to them wanting to love on them, but just be OK in their vicinity. So we wanted to try the group classes this behaviorist put on. In April, she told us she though we'd be OK to sign up, but she wasn't sure how Rox would react, and she would be able to tell in the first class if it was too much for her.

We started classes at the end of May. The first session, she was very barky and hyper-aware of the other dogs (more so than people). To wrap this up because it's getting long, basically she was a total rockstar and passed every single skill on her test at today's last class. She no longer barks at any of the dogs and was able to loose leash walk with me around the room with the 5 other dogs, even when one was freaking out. She has gotten so calm! At home, she no longer barks at things unless she has a reason to (it used to be she would bark at a neighbor walking to their own car, etc). She can be in our backyard with our neighbors out and keep on playing without freaking out. She has gotten comfortable enough with my parents that they have been able to dogsit her twice overnight without us there (when they met her in March she just continuously barked at them for about 45 min. initially).

I am so happy and thrilled with her progress I want to cry. She had such a terrible first 1.5 years of her life and I just want to give her a loving home and a good, happy life, but I was concerned we could never get past these issues (FWIW returning her to the shelter was never an option for me, but I still was concerned she would never be calm or comfortable in our home). Thinking back to Dec., I feel like we have a different dog now, and I have so much hope for our future life with her. She is such a sweetheart and brings so much joy to our lives.

Here's a pic from class:

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Thanks if you made it this far!

[RoxMonster]

Thanks Her fur is always so shiny....I call her my pretty girl.

[goaskalice]

This is awesome! Our dog is pretty reactive, especially around big dogs. One day I hope to have the means to get him into a program similar to that. He's mostly ok, but lots of people around here think leash laws don't pertain to them so we need to work on ignoring dogs when they run up to us.

How did you pick your trainer?

[Doggy Mommy]

Aww, that is wonderful! I'm so glad that she is feeling so much calmer and more comfortable. She has a great home and amazing parents!

[RoxMonster]

Jul 2, 2013 22:14:46 GMT -5 goaskalice said:

This is awesome! Our dog is pretty reactive, especially around big dogs. One day I hope to have the means to get him into a program similar to that. He's mostly ok, but lots of people around here think leash laws don't pertain to them so we need to work on ignoring dogs when they run up to us.

How did you pick your trainer?

We found her through the animal shelter where we adopted. She is a certified animal behaviorist who has done over 300 hours of field work with animals and has a Master's degree in animal behavior. I would highly recommend someone like that over a trainer at PetSmart, etc. especially if you have a dog like ours that is very skittish, reactive, etc.

The one-on-one work was awesome and she limits her classes to only 6 dogs. We looked into the PetSmart classes, but they were more expensive and right in the middle of the busy store, plus they have you walk your dog up to people in the store (that's what they told us, at least). I'm not saying these classes or trainers are bad, but they just would not have worked for Roxie at all.

I might start with animal shelters in your area--ask to see if they recommendations. Or Google for certified animal behaviorists and then your city name.

[goaskalice]

Thanks RoxMonster! We got taken by our first "trainer" when we got Toby as a puppy, she was horrible. But I was young and it was my first dog so I didn't know what to look for. I'll definitely ask at our humane society, it's a pretty good one. I don't know why I didn't think of that. 

[bania]

Yay Roxie!! What a sweetheart. She's lucky to have such great owners now.

[emnm]

Yay...she's got such a happy smile.

[BlackCanary]

Yay, that is awesome! Such a cutie!

[joshlyman]

As a scaredy cat dog parent myself, I LOVE this.

[Yankees21]

That is awesome, yay Roxie! And she is just gorgeous.

[So_Fetch]

That's awesome! Good dog, Roxie!!

Brains and beauty.

[amberlyrose]

Awwww! She's such a pretty girl. She's lucky to have you as parents

[nomad100]

Yay!! What a great dog and you are fab dog parents. I love storied like this.

[christy082]

Yay Roxie! What a lucky girl to have you to help her.

[Jalapeñomel]

Go Roxie!!! <3

[snickers]

This is awesome!
What a cutie!

[lolly]

This is awesome. One of my guys is/was very similar and it was so. much. work. to get him to a better place, but so worth it. Great job dog mom!

[RoxMonster]

Thanks everyone! It has been a lot of work and has taken a lot of patience on our part, but it's so worth it.