OCTOBER 10, 2008 10:06AM
A Most Unlovable Dog
Rate: 11
She came from a trailer park; one of ten puppies born to an unusually large but shy white female miniature schnauzer and an unusually small but personable male miniature schnauzer. Mama wanted nothing to do with anyone. Papa would have gone home with anyone who gave him a pat on the head.
I shouldn’t have been there. It had only been a week since I had to make the painful decision to put my best four-legged friend to sleep. Clearly I was too vulnerable. Still, I missed having a dog so much. The house was too quiet, the yard too empty. How could I possibly walk away? The conditions into which these puppies were born were awful. I could at least provide a much-needed home to one of them.
All of the puppies seemed shy when my husband, three kids, and I approached the wooden box in which they were corralled. The kids gently, slowly, extended their hands toward the puppies. The puppies ran to the other side of the box. Only one puppy remained; a little girl with a wide black stripe on her back. I picked her up and placed my hand on her head to pet her. She arched back into my hand as if to say, “Again! Again!”
We passed her around among us and she enjoyed everyone’s attention. After playing with her for awhile, the kids pleaded at me with their eyes. This was the one.
We paid the woman who owned them and got into the car for our long drive home. Everyone took turns suggesting then discounting names for her before finally deciding on “Shelby.” She looks like a Shelby, we reasoned. Plus, it was the name of my husband’s dream car. Perfect! Shelby didn’t seem to care what we called her. She curled up and slept on my lap the whole way home.
The The first two weeks at home were great. We puppy-proofed and trained and Shelby played and peed and pooped. Things were working out well. She was so smart. Each day brought her closer to being the ideal dog for us. 
I I took her to the vet for her next round of puppy shots. She had to get an awful lot of shots at once: rabies, distemper, lyme disease, and two others that I can’t remember. So many shots for a six-pound puppy. She wasn’t fond of the shots but seemed to get over the experience as soon as we left the examining room. The vet said that she thought I’d chosen a great puppy.
A week or so later, we were having a birthday party for my middle son. His best friend and his mom arrived. The mom has a very loud voice so there was no doubt that she’d arrived, even before she opened back door and let herself in.
I wasn’t prepared for what happened next. Shelby ran toward the woman, growling and barking as if to drive her back out the door. I couldn’t believe that a tiny puppy of only 12 weeks was behaving this way. I instinctively picked her up and tried to calm her but she growled even more. Only later would I learn that instead of calming her, I was reinforcing the aggressive behavior.
After a few weeks of Shelby barking, growling, and lunging at people who came to our home, I called the veterinarian about it. “Fear aggression” was the label. She could be trained to manage it but she would never be a friendly dog. Professional training was suggested, along with the possibility of medication in the future, and I was given a phone number to call.
When I spoke with the dog trainer, she advised that I should simply return the dog to the breeder. Return the dog? To the deplorable conditions from which I rescued her? To me, that wasn’t an option. I wanted this dog FIXED. Isn’t that possible if I simply love her enough? The trainer agreed to see if she could help.
At our first session, the trainer took a detailed history of Shelby. When I told her about the visit to the veterinary hospital for shots, she stopped her note taking. She went to her desk to retrieve some papers. “Here, look at this,” she said as she handed me a photocopied article. “It’s somewhat controversial, but a growing number of dog experts are discovering that vaccinations given too early and in combination with other vaccinations are causing the development of fear aggression in dogs.” Evidently, the quantity of the vaccines, given too soon, in combination with a genetic tendency toward shyness, caused our dog to be irreparably broken.
“Will it go away?” I asked, already knowing the answer in my heart.
“No.”
What do you do when you learn that a dog you’ve chosen and committed to love for its whole life is damaged? Broken? Unfixable? Dogs are supposed to be friendly and love people, not fear them and try to chase them away. Who on earth could love a dog like this?
I couldn’t accept this reality. I decided that I would work with her to overcome her shyness and fear of people. I would correct her when she growled. I would praise her good behavior. Whatever it takes. We would get through this. I would fix her.
Shelby is now 19 months old. In spite of my training, she still does not like any people other than my immediate family. We can’t have her unleashed or uncrated when someone comes to the door. We have to instruct visitors to not make eye contact with her until she approaches them. She’ll always require sedation when going to the vet. We’ll never be able to take her to the dog park and she certainly will never be service-dog material. She’ll always be fearful and will need to be managed when other people are around until she gets used to them. A certain routine must be followed which requires a lot of time, patience, and my full concentration.
When she’s home with us, she’s a great companion in every way. Her large expressive ears are like her own personal sign language and she never fails to get her message across by using them. She loves her squeaky toys and has learned how to put them on the couch and then sit perfectly so that we’ll throw them for her. She knows when the school bus is due to arrive and waits by the door for the kids. She might not like strangers, but she’s never even nipped at my boys, even if they pick her up in awkward ways. She follows me around the house and sleeps on the stairs while I work at the computer. She’s learned to throw her own ball so that she can play by herself when we’re busy. She refuses to let me sit on the couch alone. In Shelby’s mind, it’s her job to keep my lap warm and she never lets me sit without being right there, ready to take her position. She even catches spiders and thousand-leggers so I don’t have to.
I will never be able to convince others to see the good in Shelby. A bark, a growl, or a lunge will cause them to form an unfavorable opinion in spite of what I say. But we see the good in her and we love her. Even if she’ll never be society’s version of an ideal dog, she’s our dog, and maybe that’s good enough.
Comments
There are so many things you could try, this seems to be behavioral, though I'm no expert.
When we first brought Edwina home we had a similar problem with agression, though it was towards Beano and other animals. After working with her constantly, rewarding only good behavior, the agression has subsided. She knows that when she acts like a good family member should, the world is her oyster.
I wouldn't give up. If you can afford it, I suggest contacting Stronghaus Training Center in your area, a friend of mine in NJ speaks very highly of them.
Your baby is still young and very capable of unlearning this behavior.
Hang in there!
My doxie is very senstive to immunizations and got very sick when given a multi one, so we do singles now.
Do get a dog whisperer as per P & P's suggestion. Age will also temper her.
Good luck!
rated and oooohed
your doggie. It's so wonderful to see people who will keep
a dog no matter what. Too many people get "rid" of their pets
at the slightest inconvenience.
I do housecleaning for a living and one of my clients has
a dog similar in temperament to yours. He's a Shiba Inu
(or something like that) He makes my job difficult to say
the least and they have to cage him but he still makes
a lot of very shrill high pitched noise. Yet they aren't
about to get rid of him nor would I wish them to. It's
very hard for me not to like any animal so I hope one
day he and I can be friends.
Lucky you with two Jack Russell terriers. They're one of my favorite breeds. I'll bet you have a lot of fun with them!
Even though my friend knew about Shelby, she agreed to pet-sit. We embarked on some training to get Shelby used to her. I instructed my friend on how to behave: don't make eye contact, don't try to pet her until she comes up on her own, try to engage her in play once she approaches, etc. etc. My friend did EVERYTHING WRONG. She looked at Shelby and talked to her, insisted on petting her (even though Shelby was totally freaking out), and didn't wait for Shelby to approach her. It all worked out, I think, because she engaged Shelby in a great game of tug-of-war. The play seemed to win Shelby over.
My friend came over on three separate occasions, the last of which I waited outside as my friend let Shelby out of her cage and outside to go to the bathroom and then fed her. It all went fine. My friend had no problems while we were away and she and Shelby are still friends to this day (she is pretty much the only outsider that Shelby is happy to see).
I think the biggest things my friend had going for her were that she was willing to work with Shelby, she played with her, and she wasn't afraid of her.
Thank you for taking the time to read and leave such a lovely comment.
Having heard about some of your puppy nightmares with Shelby, I was wondering what tales of canine misbehavior a post titled "A Most Unlovable Dog" would contain. But what comes through loud and clear is your love for Shelby. In a world of disposable everything, your devotion is refreshing and inspiring. I'm still hoping she mellows as she grows up and makes life a bit easier for you.
I have a friend who has been doing dog training since '82. She's a bit of a miracle worker for troubled dogs. She has a website which includes a lot of archives from her Click Train email group, and several of the "keepers" (tips people have found particularly helpful) deal with aggression. Please check it out and see if maybe there's something there you haven't heard or tried before. The list of keepers is here:
http://shirleychong.com/keepers/problem.html
And there are other areas on the site that are helpful as well, plus you can join the email list if you feel you need more specific guidance.
She helped me with a couple stubborn issues with Abby (jumping, herding people), all long distance, and her training is spot-on.
Good luck to you and Shelby.
Umbrella - Can't thank you enough for that positive ju-ju. You can never have too much of that! Thanks so much for stopping by.
Chicago Guy - Thanks for reminding me that I'm not the only one hopelessly in love with her dog - for better or worse. I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment.
On the bright side - she does look totally scary, so as a watchdog, she works out pretty well.