FrancesPlaten

Thank you so much Adrienne. I will certainly take all of the above on board. I am well aware that the slow, steady acclimatisation method is by far the best and I have often used it in the past. Unfortunately, the age and fairly rapid decline of the owner is not going to permit this and she is very afraid that if she surrenders Max to a Rescue organisation, they will give up on him as so many have recommended this. Max has been taken to a Vet in the past using the catch pole and virtually dragging him and the owner found this very stressful. We are afraid that the owner will become ill, fall or suffer some other trauma making it necessary for someone to enter the home, to this end I have made it a practice to enter the house from various different doors, he has shown signs of wanting to confront me but when I show that I am not intimidated and simply command him to got to bed or sit he will either do that or come and greet me with a lick of my hand. Because of this, I am convinced that Max can be tamed with a patient but very firm approach. I would like to encourage a few other people who need to visit the home on a regular basis, to adopt this approach but am very aware of the risk, so far, my husband is the only other person who seems to have a affect on Max. the owner has our numbers and we have encouraged her to call us in any emergency no matter when, I worry that if a complete stranger approaches, valuable time may be lost in trying to get past Max. I had already recommended that the lower windows in the house be boarded as I felt it might help a bit. My main aim is to , as quickly as possible, get Max to a stage where he can be lead out, even if it has to be muzzled, and not skull-dragged, to be surrendered to a reputable organization who will have the experts to work with him as you suggest. The owner will feel easier about surrendering him if it can be done this way and she can see some hope for him. Max is a beautiful black shepherd, a little on the big side and I believe there would be many people who would love to have him. Most of the rescue organisations have a very good system of matching dogs to owners so I expect they could find the right person for Max, he is only 7 yrs old. The only other issue that will be a drawback, is his devotion to not only his owner but also to Lisa his female companion, being separated from them will be extremely traumatic for him and will certainly add another challenge to his rehabilitation.

I have recently become aquainted with a lady in my town who is 94 yrs of age and is caring for two very beautiful German Shepherds. How this came about is probably not relevant for our purposes here. The dogs are, Lisa, 11 yr old and Max aged 7, they have been together for Max's entire life. While Lisa is quiet, affectionate and generally well behaved, Max is, and probably has always been hyperactive and almost out of control. I say almost here because I have gradually been able to get him to obey a few commands. His owner can also command him to sit, go to bed and come, very basic considering the high intelligence of these dogs. Most people in our Community avoid this house because whenever any one approaches, or even walks down the street, Max actually throws himself at the windows,( which are floor to ceiling) barking and snarling in a very aggressive manner, Lisa joins in of course but without the aggression. The owner has always just shut the dogs in the bedroom where they usually sleep, before she can answer the door, but sometimes it is very difficult to get Max to go. The owner previously had a partner living with her who insisted on having the dogs but took no interest in their care. The lady who is now caring for them had never had a dog before and knew nothing about them except that they needed food and water and a warm place to sleep, this she has diligently provided and the dogs obviously love her, Max being extremely protective of both her an Lisa. I believe he has assumed the role of Alpha in the household. When these people purchased Max, the man was a semi-invalid, confined to a wheelchair and the lady already in her late 80's. It was extremely irresponsible for anyone to have sold Max to these people, at the age of 6 months he must have already be showing signs of being a highly active and willful dog. Max was wearing a collar when he was purchased which was extremely tight, possibly even painful for him, the collar had to be cut off and, unfortunately, it did not occur to anyone to replace it with a bigger one, therefore, Max has lived his entire life since age 6 months, with no collar, no lead work no walks or socialising with other people/dogs except Lisa and the member of the household. Fortunately, there is a big secure yard where the dogs can get plenty of excercise together. Soon after meeting the lady I asked her to allow the dogs out of the room so I could meet them. I have had a lot of experience with shepherds and was not afraid. The dogs inspected me quite thoroughly, accepted some treats from me, both quite gently. Lisa wanted lots of pats etc but Max just went of and lay down apparently ignoring me but watching every move. When I went to leave, telling my hostess not to bother getting up, Max did the old Shepherd technique of trying to prevent me from leaving, although I was aware of his nonsense, I was preoccupied with making sure he did not get out the door, thereby realising that it was all bluff. The second time he tried this with me I simply turn around and told him very firmly to "Go TO Bed" and he did. I do not believe Max is actually aggressive but he is very protective of his owner, He does not like to be handled much and any attempt to put a collar on him has failed completely. He will run away and has been known to growl if any attempt is made to restrain him. Our local vet will not have anything to do with Max unless we present in the surgery on a secure lead and muzzled. He will then sedate him before any examination. Most people who know about Max say there is only one solution, he needs to be put down. The owner is not prepared to do this although Max makes it extremely difficult for her to get the help she needs, and, although she would probably be a lot better off in care, she knows that no one will take responsibility for him. I am trying to get through to Max so that there may be another option for him, a possibility for him to be rehomed. The local vet is assisting me with providing medication to partially sedate him so that we can put on a collar, check him over for any lumps or other abnormalities and groom him a bit. I am hoping that we might be able to do a little lead work even if we have to introduce a muzzle to do it. I am hoping that, if we are extremely gentle in our handling of him while collared and muzzled, he will realise that it is not such a bad thing. So far, I have been able to scratch behind his ears and at the top of his tail, which he seems to really like but any attempt to take hold of him and he is off, he knows very well too, that if he gets under something he is safe from being grabbed. I would love to hear some thoughts on my plans for Max. I think the biggest challenge will be trying to stop the barking and throwing himself at gates, windows etc as he ignores any attempt to get him to stop.

Hi Adrienne, so far I have loved your program and learned much from it although I am an experienced dog trainer. I have, however, a situation that I have not had to deal with before because I have mainly only trained from puppy school up and, as you know, socialising is one of the first stages. I have adopted a 7 yr old English Staffi called Shadow. I have very little information about her previous life so not sure whether her behaviour is natural to her or a defence mechanism triggered by previous experience. I can see the value of the desensitising process but, at this time, do not have much opportunity to practice it. We live in Victoria in Australia where we have serious social distancing at present. I have been trialing a head stall when out where we might encounter other dogs but we live in a very small community where everyone already knows of Shadow's aggression so stay a long way away from us. I don't blame them really, she is very fast and , even though on a tight lead, has almost managed to bite one of the most gentle natured dogs I know. She really does not like the head stall so I believe it might act as a deterent for her if we get the chance to test it out. Shadow is super friendly with people but I am afraid to let her near any children as I cannot yet determine what triggers this aggression, although, so far, it only seems to apply to other dogs. I am not yet certain but suspect the aggression applies mainly to other female dogs but have not been able to expose her to enough numbers to be sure. I have spent quite a lot of time browsing through the course but have not found anything I can use for this that does not involve exposure to other dogs. I may be missing something and would really appreciate your guidance on this. Thank you, Regards Fran