A sincere thank you to family and friends who were here when we needed you.
Now that things have settled back down, I am posting the breakdown of what happened.
Saturday morning all seemed okay, I fed Macy and Milo and left for the morning to help host a birding event in my community. Saturday afternoon Milo got a hold of an old piece of wood in the garage and potentially ingested a small piece of it before we got it away from him. He would not eat after that so did not have supper but was still drinking water.
Through the night he threw up several times. With nothing in his belly, it was all grass and clear liquid. I didn’t think much of it until the morning when his behavior changed, and he became a bit lethargic and refused to eat either meal on Sunday. Knowing that Monday would be Victoria Day and the vets would be closed I was really hoping the situation would turn around. I stuck close to home to keep an eye on him. Sunday morning was the last time I saw him have a drink of water on his own, so I was spoon feeding him water. On Monday night I asked my neighbour who is a nurse to come over to see if she could help me get a read on the situation as I was debating whether to take him to emergency.
Naturally he perked up a bit when he saw her. He even went to his water bowl and showed her he could drink water. We looked in his throat and didn’t see anything stuck. His eyes were clear, his gums were pink. We were discussing whether I could wait until the morning to take him to our own vet. Then about 15 minutes later he vomited up a pile of horrid smelling bile that was more like poop. She said, take him to emergency. So off I went.
The veterinarian at Metro Emergency who saw him wanted to do x-rays and bloodwork, but I said I would rather wait to get them down in the morning at my own vet and just wanted him examined and out of danger. He said his abdomen seemed sensitive but nothing in his throat and he was dehydrated so we gave him a subcutaneous fluid injection and I brought him home.
Tuesday morning, we went to our vet, Dr. Jessica McCarron, at the Burnside Veterinary Clinic. We set him up with IV fluids and scheduled an Xray for him. I left him for the day at the clinic and went home and setup a GoFundMe fundraiser as it has been a very difficult year financially in my home and I had no money to pay for any of it. Also, wanted to be able to do whatever necessary without worrying about the cost. Surgery is never out of the question with GI issues and blockages and tests don’t always show the whole picture.
Tuesday afternoon I got an update from the vet that the Xray didn’t show anything of concern although it is not easy so see blockage in an Xray. She suggested I pick him up at 730pm but leave the IV line in just in case he was no better.
He seemed a bit better but when we got home, he would neither eat nor drink water. He ate a bit of grass, came inside, went to bed, and didn’t move once until the morning.
Wednesday morning, he was so lethargic he could barely pick his head up. I put him in his crate and took him back to the vet for another day of IV fluids and tests. I ordered a 2nd Xray and a bloodwork pane. Bloodwork all clear. I requested something to make him feel better since he was still refusing food or water. He was given sucralfate which treats acid in the stomach and esophagus. The vet said the only other test that may show something would be a scope, but they did not have one at the clinic. More on that later. An ultrasound was suggested but it would apparently not likely show anything. The only conclusive way to know if there is blockage when tests don’t show is to surgically open the dog up which is not what anyone wants, and most things will pass in time.
And so now we wait. And hope.
Later in the afternoon I got some good news the Xray showed the barium moving through his system and had reached his colon. Dr. McCarron phoned to say that he was now hydrated properly so she would remove the line. Also, he was now enthusiastically eating so her hope was he was on the mend.
I picked him up Wednesday night. Everyone at the clinic said he was a star patient and they all loved him. Interestingly he didn’t want to leave the day before and couldn’t wait to go back. It’s because he knew he needed to be there. This time he couldn’t wait to go home. Lots of pep and energy. Took him home he wanted to play frisbee, eat, and drink water. Still no poop and that was the final important piece of the puzzle.
Thursday morning, he pooped! Finally! So, I closed donations to the GoFundMe and enjoyed Milo all day.
Thursday night he wouldn’t settle to sleep for night. He kept appearing in the living room or downstairs. I figured he was trying to tell me something, so I went into the bedroom. He was on my bed at this point. He showed me his IV-line battle wound and I acknowledged it then he put his head on me and relaxed. He was trying to make me understand what had happened to him. He then went to his own bed for the night and didn’t stir again. He is such a sensitive and smart boy. Border Collie through and through.
We will never really know if the wood was the problem. I’m told sometimes you never really know. All evidence points to small blockage and lots of discomfort. I will say that dehydration is very serious. Milo has been sick before but not gotten dehydrated and it caught me off guard. Apparently, it is difficult to replenish fluids and electrolytes, so we now have a bottle of Pedialyte in the cupboard…just in case.
I’m very grateful this turned out okay. So scary. I really thought I may lose him. It was hard every step of the way to make the best decisions when talking to the vet and ordering tests.
What I think would be very helpful and everyone feels the same is that veterinary care was the same price 24/7 and equipment was available to all clinics. Since speaking with many people, I’ve found out it’s not uncommon to have to go to several clinics to get the treatment you need. The trouble with that is, you choose your veterinarian because your dog loves them, and you trust them. The stress of changing vets and clinics is not good for the dog or for anyone.
One suggestion I have is for there to be mobile equipment that can be ordered to be used at multiple locations. So, if I could have ordered a scope and the equipment could arrive on site, that would save so much stress.
This may not be possible, but food for thought maybe a good business opportunity for someone.
I shudder to think of how many pets are unnecessarily euthanized due to finances and inconvenience that could be saved with some planning.
Of course, Nova Scotia can’t get that sorted out for humans, doubtful we will solve it for pets. However, my hope springs eternal, always.
The common believe when a dog adversely reacts to dogs or people or both is that he wasn’t socialized enough. Although having been raised and kept in isolation can be the foundation for this, many dogs act out not because they don’t know dogs and people, but because they do.
Fact is that when socializing is done wrong it creates a shitload of, potentially long-lasting, behavioural problems.
How to do it right? In a nutshell, exposure has to happen at the dog’s comfort level. In other words, the dog has to feel safe. Not be safe by your criteria, but feel safe. That is the only factor that matters.
Macy and Bowie on a dog date
The first few weeks before any socializing begins with a new pup or dog, she should be given time to acclimate to her new home. Not physical segregation, but allowing the dog time to find safety in a routine: “That’s where I eat, that’s where I sleep, that’s where I pee and poop, how to I fit into this new group”, and so on. No demands. We need to create the security that all basic needs are met to free the brain for learning new stuff. Behaviour happens in the brain.
Next come variations within the home. Dogs as young as 5 weeks are able to recognize and remember patterns and that is anchoring, but we don’t want a dog so stuck in a narrow rut of normalcy that she freaks out with the slightest detail change.
You want your dog to get acquainted with the idea that sometimes unfamiliar to her people enter the home. Randomly, and not every day, invite family and friends to drop in, including with their dog if that dog is socially normal. If you don’t have children, borrow some. No cookies needed here. Tell your guests to refrain from making a big fuss because what we are after is that people entering isn’t a big deal, and if we are successful we will neither get a fear response nor anticipatory excitement and over-aroused jumping and barking when the doorbell rings. Of course the canine guest could trigger some happy arousal – and that is okay. We don’t need to quell all excitement.
Also randomly, 2-3 times a week, change things up a bit within the home setting. My rule of thumb: 90% stays the same and 10% changes. For example, place something arbitrary you found in the basement in the yard, rearrange a piece of furniture in the house, borrow a large vase from a neighbour for half a day and put it in the bedroom. No coaxing. Simply place the object and let your dog be curious about it at her own speed. Exiting and entering from a different door is a change, feeding at a different spot (but not a different time – basic need food has to be predictable), and introducing new foods (carefully).
Although associative learning is more important with a young pup and newly adopted dog than operant obedience, you can introduce cues in these early days.
If I’d teach anything, it wouldn’t be sit, but leave and wait, follow and come, playfully, making it a game, using a high rate of reinforcement. Absolutely no corrections. No demands at that stage. Your pup or new dog can’t do anything wrong.
We want to build on the curiosity to changes in the home when we begin to take the dog off turf. We want our pup to be curious about the world, and ideally we want to tackle that as organically as we do with our children. Orchestrate opportunities to evoke curiosity, and then let your dog figure things out by himself. Free sniffing is a component here, but also watching with the eyes. When something catches a dog’s attention they are not certain about, they naturally halt. An older dog might simply stop moving, a pup often sits without being asked to – both are brilliant. Be brilliant too and don’t interrupt that process, not even with a treat, or you interfere with that important observational and social learning. Some owners combine the appearance of every new stimulus with a game of tug with the idea that their pooch associates new stimuli with something good. Science-wise that might make sense, but distracting is not socializing. What happens in real life is that you overshadow what’s in a dog’s surroundings, and he’ll never really notice all the normal occurrences and could still be spooked by them later. Things you thought your dog was familiarized with, seemingly trivial to you like a parked car or a garden flag, could scare the rap out of your juvenile because real learning about it never took place. Real story.
Be smart about where you take your dog. Curiosity is not possible in a pet store because we can’t allow the pup to put his teeth on all that enticing loot within reach. Being restrained from it though can be quite frustrating, and then the experience is not good. Choosing a dog friendly hardware store instead where sniffing and exploring is allowed, is better.
Being curious equals welfare, and familiarity with many things leads to readily acceptance of new things. Conversely, preventing, or worse yet correcting a pup or dog from being curious carries the risk of making him nervous of, and consequently reactive to, novelties in the future = neophobic. So don’t curb your new pup or dog’s making sense of his world even if you sometimes don’t like what he is curious about, unless, of course, it could harm him.
Curiosity is one side of the making positive life experiences coin, and choice is the other.
Choice to approach or retreat; to be approached or not, is critical during the socialization process.
Let’s chew over what social means.
Against conventional belief, it is not being everyone’s best friend or accept rude impositions from others, but to function in the environment one lives in without anxiety and frustration. My goal with my dog is that environmental stimuli are perceived as neutral, perhaps briefly paid attention to but otherwise regarded as irrelevant to their life. That is how we define being social for ourselves, do we not? A friendly nod and hello from a fellow human we encounter on a walk is nice, but we aren’t interested in being groped or having a long chat.
Regrettably, being groped without consent is exactly how socializing is still widely implemented when it comes to dogs, especially with puppies and the under 20 pounders. What unfolds is that their human at the loop end of the leash restrains, while the general public, kids and dogs included, approach hands outstretched’n’all, and little or no attention is given to whether the dog feels threatened with the too much too quickly too close.
If we want our dogs to feel comfortable around dogs and people in the future, so that we can take them with us wherever dogs are allowed to be, choice – and again that means no manipulation and coercion not even with a cookie – is key.
The dog’s space bubble must be respected, and when necessary protected, or there a considerable risk that she becomes increasingly more sensitized and reactive to increasingly more things from an increasingly larger distance. Space issues are safety issues. Always, and for all animals. We clearly get that when it comes to us.
Because choice to just walk away isn’t an option for a dog on a leash, and even when off leash there is the emotional bond and dependency to his humans, the onus is on the person to act on their dog’s behalf. In nature, too, young animals have the backup of their elders when they bravely put themselves out there. As curious as one might be, novelty in itself carries weight and can make one feel a bit queasy. Harking back to the human comparison, travelling to foreign lands, starting a new job, attending a social event where most guests are strangers, is exciting and at the same time for most of us also just a little unnerving. Or a lot.
For the owned pup and dog, that secure base to explore from and safe zone to return to is the person they are with, and you must be that consistently because relinquishing safety to another requires a huge amount of trust. The more this happens though, the more your dog will socially reference, look to you for information when he is uncertain, and follow your trained cues instead of “attacking” the problem on his own. How far a dog’s sense of self and safety extends outward depends on her nature – larger for dogs on the more cautious end of the spectrum, and her past experiences – larger if they were aversive, or perceived as such.
Learn to understand doggish, then listen to your dog. Watch her when she is presented with something new, when someone comes closer. If she needs more space, create it. A few steps are often enough. Then let her observe and process from the farther distance – if she wants to.
If a person insists to say hello to your dog or have their “friendly” dog have a sniff, demand that they don’t. Even the friendliest dog and kindest person can be felt as threatening. If your dog says no, it is no. His job is not to be an antidepressant for strangers or entertainment for their dog or kid.
If your dog is frightened by something that surprisingly popped up, or you miscalculated where you took her, get out of dodge. Change the situation for your dog.
Keeping that at the fore, take your dog to many places: walks in your ‘hood, multi-use on-leash parks, towns and cities, new to you subdivisions, boardwalks, restaurant patios, places where there are buskers and street musicians.
Switch between quieter spots and busier places, or just quieter spots if that is all your dog can handle at the moment.
Sit on a park bench with your pup by your side or on your lap and watch the world go by. Maybe share an ice cream or have a picnic.
Take your dog to places frequented by kids. Playgrounds and near schools during recess are good options because the kiddos are busy doing their own thing and chances are less that they’ll crowd your dog. Again, it is exposure only: allowing your dog to watch what young humans do: skip, run, screech, flail arms, mock fall, make snow angels.
Neither choice nor curiosity are an option in your run-of-the-mill group class.
What I unfortunately still see is the pup or newly adopted dog thrust into a room full of strangers and expected to learn right away, to sit on command and focus on the handler or else, depending which philosophy the facility follows, loses out on the treats or kibble or experiences pain and discomfort when corrected for expressions of distress.
If you sign your pup/dog up, and it is definitely not a must-do to end up with a mannered pooch, pay attention to space and the quality of the instructor.
Your instructor should be able to adjust criteria to what your dog needs and put the relationship before obedience. You should be able to increase the distance to other participants if your dog needs it, or leave early if he is overstimulated or overwhelmed. And no passing the puppy around. That can be scary for many puppies. Don’t play along.
A word about dog parks, etc. Without having kept a formal statistic, reactivity to other dogs is the major behavioural issue I am hired for. I see many more dogs barking and lunging on the leash then a decade ago, and I believe that the popularity of puppy socials, busy off leash parks, and daycare, has something to do with it. By the way, I also see many more out-of-control, rowdy in their interactions with other dogs, dogs.
Where is the problem?
Lack of choice and overstimulation!
The socializing key determinant, choice, is difficult or impossible to uphold in crowded places, and some dog parks, puppy socials, and daycare, are crowded.
In addition, not all are supervised properly and no attention is being paid to compatibility of the play groups. In such places, the self-assured pup practices being obnoxious – even if one stops playing because the game is too rough rowdy Rover simply moves on and annoys another, and the cautious and timid pup is overwhelmed by the commotion and becomes fearful when her cut-off signals are ignored.
Even for an even-keel puppy uncontrolled play with peers could be detrimental. Internationally acclaimed dog trainer and award winning author Nicole Wilde says that young dogs don’t yet have the advanced social skills to handle high arousal play, and that sentiment is shared by the famous Norwegian trainer Turid Rugaas, who says that a few minutes play with peers every-so often is okay for a pup, but in a small group that also includes an adult, or more than one. “Dogs learn how to be a proper dog from dogs who already know.” I love that phrase. So be careful who your puppy’s teachers are.
A socially normal adult is also the best reader when the energy in the room goes up and will interfere – or by watching him you know that you should. Interfere benevolently. The expressions can still look aggressive to people, but the difference is that there is no fear instilled – the pup on the receiving end is still interested in social interaction, but approaches more politely.
Benevolence even with a badass pup. Teaming an aggressive youngster up with a meaner and bigger dog to clue him in will make him fearful, more defensive, and more aggressive – if not against that dog than he’ll target a weaker one.
For a pup who is already fearful of dogs even a small group can be too much. In that case exposure has to be one dog at a time, starting with a very gentle, socially savvy adult who loves puppies. It is a lot easier for a fearful dog to read one other dog than several, and the overall energy is lower too.
But for the more self-assured and confident pooch who likes the company of other dogs every-so often daycare and dog social can work. Just not exclusively, because if off leash groups is all a dog experiences, she rehearses constantly that NOT paying attention humans whenever dogs are in the mix is a thing. Dogs become such a magnet for that dog that she’ll seek dogs out anywhere she goes. At that point it is beyond competing attention with the person she is with: Dogs are the big deal, and arousal (excitement, anticipation, frustration when on the leash and unable to act on impulse) goes up each time one is spotted, even smelled. Behaviourally that plays out with not listening to a come or leave cue, barking and lunging on the leash, and frantically pulling after scent trails.
Leash reactivity is not always because the dog feels defensive, but can also be rooted in frustration.
At least in a daycare and training facility there is some supervision; at the dog park there is none. If you go, choose the park wisely, have good enough obedience to be able to cue your dog out of a pickle, make it a normal occurrence to be on the leash at times on off leash trails (not in the smaller fenced-in spaces), and leave if there are dogs who are rowdy and inappropriate (or when yours is).
Although stipulated by bylaw in just about every municipality, not all dogs who frequent such spaces have reliable obedience, and not all owners understand when things get heated. No, dogs will not sort things out by themselves, not without a lot of distress – distress that can linger. A seasoned dog with years of great experiences can overcome the odd bad one, but an impressionable young puppy, especially a cautious-by-nature one, or newly adopted dog who knows how many bad experiences he’s had in his past, could be affected for a long time.
The dilemma is that play with dogs is part of normal social development, but a small group with compatible dogs yours likes and where all humans are on the same socializing page provides that. Studies showed that even having just one dog friend is enough to meet a dog’s social needs in that aspect (The Domestic Dog/Second Edition 288).
So it’s okay if you opt out of larger dog groups and instead look for compatible play mates. That also allows you to create opportunities for your dog to form relationships with dogs that encompass more than intense physical interactions, something Alexandra Horowitz, professor and senior research fellow and head of the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College, Columbia University, says is crucial for a healthy relationship between dogs. She defines play as: “an interaction between partners who are also functional in other contexts”, including on leash walks together, training together, and just hanging out. That easily happens with dogs who see each other regularly privately, meet for hikes, and who live in the same household. It can even happen in a carefully run daycare facility that has a fairly stable group of dogs that hang out with each other, rest, sniff, share toys, engage in relaxed jaw wrestling games in addition to charged-up physical romps.
Final Words
Dogs relationship with their own species can be funky. There always is the genetic factor and what happened in the first 8 weeks, but also know that social appropriateness and friendliness are not the same. Even the most diligently socialized dog, once an adult, isn’t necessarily friendly or interested in interactions with unfamiliar dogs. It was dogs our feral born Will knew. She was trapped by a humane society when she was 10 weeks old and in good physical condition, which indicates that mom-dog was able to care for her pups and others likely didn’t beat her up. In her foster homes, and with us, she only experienced benevolent and playful dogs. We took great care that her experiences with new dogs were good too, did go to off leash areas but multi-use trails, did go to dog socials but the space was large and the dogs selected. Yet, once she reached social maturity she did not tolerate any stranger dog in her space and told an offender who ignored her warning stare very sharply to “take a hike”. However, she never injured a dog or caused lingering fear in one. She was, in fact, fantastic in schooling puppies and juveniles. Always appropriate, but not friendly.
So your dog really doesn’t have to get along with every other dog to be normal. Even some puppies don’t like other dogs in their space, and if they don’t as a pup, they likely never will, no matter how hard you try to socialize. If you have such a dog, you’ll have to protect his space bubble for a lifetime, or he will have to.
With people, aside from you the only time when safe handling is required is with your veterinarian, depending on your lifestyle your dog walker or daycare staff member, and depending what breed you own, your groomer. The best chance to achieve that is not a 100 hands-a-touching in the first 3 months, but that your dog experiences that hands, yours and the hands of your chosen professionals, as gentle and safe, and that there is at least a degree of choice.
I get it: Groomers and veterinarians don’t have all day, but even there we have a movement that gears toward consent whenever possible.
It is not the more the better with a pup, and an overload of stimuli does not make up for time lost with the newly adopted older dog, but when we prioritize what the dog needs when we socialize we can prevent future problems and make things better for the dog who already is uneasy. Key is the right kind of stimuli in the right amount at the safe for the dog distance.
The more encounters the dog can check off as safe, the safer she will feel (and be) in the future. Focus on that, and that your dog gets help whenever she needs it, which includes the choice to walk away.
Doing it that way means that socializing is a slower process, and that is the crux. New puppy owners often feel under pressure to fit as many experiences as possible into the “socializing phase” we are told runs out quickly.
True, there are these first 20 or so impressionable weeks, but when experiences are perceived as aversive, again and again, the outcome can be as detrimental as making no experiences at all with the wider world.
Even if you tried, packing every possible life form your dog could encounter, every single object or situation, every surface to walk on, into that 20 week frame is impossible. For example: You get your pup in the spring or early summer, and when she is 6-8 months old she sees people bundled up in winter coats and toques.
We got Davie at the age of 16 weeks in late winter and then had an especially dry spring and summer. By the time she, for the first time, heard the sound of a car driving on a wet road she was almost a year old. She startled but quickly relaxed – because by then we had established a pattern of her freely and at her comfort level exploring new things, and we also had a relationship where she trusted me to keep her safe. Both are equally important, and both take time. Time you have. Trust me.
One more thing. Support is to provide a roadmap that makes a pup and dog feel safe, and safe again when he’s uneasy. It is a myth that by paying attention to fear that you reinforce it and make your dog more fearful in the future.
magine you are afraid of heights and find yourself stuck halfway up a ladder, frozen shut. Would your fear disappear if everyone on the ground ignored you? How would that change if someone would assure you and guide you, rung by rung, back on solid ground?
It is nonsense to believe that ignoring our dog’s fears magically makes her more confident. As long as the trigger is present, so will the emotions, and with it the expressions we don’t like. Conversely, each time we help our dog out and act on her behalf, increase distance, change the situation, or guide her into a behaviour that brings about a feeling of safety – and trained cues can be safety cues, she gains trust.
Even if there was a slight chance that a dog who receives attention when she expresses fear signals will use these in the future as an attention getting behaviour, so without the emotional aspect present, so be it. I run that risk because it is still better than not offering safety when my dog needs it. Protecting and helping is not babying. Your dog doesn’t need your pity, but for you to make decisions on his behalf. Done right, he will develop a sense of general safety when in the environment, and then he will be able to deal with an occasional stressful event without it having a lasting adverse impact.
Life is life, and distressing moments here and there are unavoidable, but if the foundation is solid, mastering little stressors together can increase the bond. The key word is together – you being on your dog’s side. Always. You must be your dog’s spokesperson and ally even if he just behaved badly. All he did was express that he felt overstimulated or overwhelmed, in any case distressed, and it’s exactly then when he needs your support more than any other time.
When I adopted my Border Collie mix, Macy, about 2 1/2 years ago I quickly realized things weren’t quite right with her. She is very triggered by movement and sounds and doesn’t have a great sense of smell, and potentially not a full range of vision. Some of this I have only recently learned by attending another round of Agility classes and sharing my difficulties in training her with the course instructor.
People employ a wide range of cruel and unusual techniques it would seem to solve somewhat simple problems. Border Collies are bred for their eyesight and herding instinct. Poorly bred dogs can suffer from undesirable neurological traits. Or, a dog like Macy who should be breeding sheep as she was somewhat bred too, has difficulty being a house dog. Not that complicated IMHO.
So Macy is prone to barking and lunging at object that pass by windows in the car or house and even though I have employed a variety of force-free techniques I have to finally admit I’m not winning the battle to any degree. I had a few small wins on this front I can build on over her lifetime but I need to let the rest of it go.
It wasn’t very long after we got Macy that we discovered her problem with shiny spots on the wall and the ceiling. She will climb up furniture and break things to get to them. It’s quite a problem. She really thinks they are birds or something that have gotten into the house and wants to chase them. And there is simply nothing to be done about that. It will never improve. I did a fair bit of reading on it and was really upset because the indication was that she needed a sensory free room to have time outs in, combined with medication, and if no improvement then euthanize her. As is my nature, I do not accept things that are unacceptable so I thunk and thunk until my thinker hurt, and came up with an incredibly simply solution…curtains. They were expensive to find a size and suitable style for my taste on my budget, but now as soon as the sun hits the problem threshold and makes the taps or glasses create those scary shiny things on the wall and ceiling, we just close the curtains for a few hours.
Whew.
curtains for Macy turned out to be a good thing!we can keep the shiny monsters now!
Our next step was to cover the dreaded floor to ceiling window by the front door in some translucent window cling. Previously she laid at the top of the stairs barking at everything that walked by, and now no problem and the light still comes in.
translucent window cling
Finally I have just as of this week accepted that I’m not going to win the picture window battle. We put up some curtains halfway up the window last night, and it’s our first bark free day in 2 years. Lovely!
we can lower this about a foot, but a half curtain still lets the light in and she can’t see dogs and people walking byeven sitting on the couch she can’t see out – she is probably wondering what happened to her television…LOLthe princess is happy…both of us! I don’t think she enjoys acting crazy and will feel calmer over time for not practicing bad behavior and being triggered
Will probably find someone with a sewing machine to shorten them up and drop them down a foot or so (very hard to find curtains shorter than 54″) so my plants will be happier, but this is going to be amazing as a humane solution / aversive-alternative.
As for the barking in the car, I can somewhat live with it with Macy as a solo companion, but if we introduce a second dog down the road, they will simply have to be crated in the car. No way around it.
It’s a bit like the serenity prayer – accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
I see no point in trying to force a square peg into a round hole here, and refuse to do anything cruel or unwarranted.
I love my Macy and hope this helps a dog you know and love to deal with some of these issues. We ask a lot having working breeds live in cities and subdivisions, we have to give a little understanding in return.
These may not have been my first decorating choices, but it’s a give and take to share your home with a living creature.
Without fail all of the dogs I meet with sketchy or nasty temperaments have been subjected to aversive training methods and/or devices. In fact just today a German Shepherd dog was reactive and nasty to my dog, Macy, for absolutely no reason at the off leash park and the first thing I noticed is that it was wearing a choke chain. German Shepherds have an undeserved reputation for being aggressive, but I can tell you first hand that we meet a good deal of lovely, friendly ones who have been raised in non-punitive environments. The quality of a dog’s temperament is extremely dependent upon what methods are used to train them.
Who wouldn’t be nasty and unpredictable if all of their guidance in life involved pain and/or fear. Just think about that. Typically I avoid any dog wearing a choke, prong, or electronic collar because I simply don’t trust them and don’t want them to hurt me or my dog. It can do damage to your own friendly dog’s temperament to interact with aggressive dogs so it is wise to be choosy about who your dog meets for sure. Anytime I’ve ignored that I’ve immediately regretted it and had months of remedial work to remind me of my error in judgement.
At some point some misguided person decided that the most important thing is for a dog to be a robot under complete control. Walk on a tight leash, don’t interact with anything, don’t sniff anything, don’t be happy and curious, don’t pull toward things that interest you. Be miserable and frightened of potential harsh repercussions all the time. But hey, the owner will feel important and powerful envisioning themselves as some kind of urban lion tamer. Well that just sucks. It’s way more important that your dog is well socialized and will come when it’s called off leash than if it can heel. You need to be certain that even if your dog is wearing no collar at all that it will listen to you. If you develop a good trust relationship with your dog and teach it what is expected and make learning fun, it will.
Your dog will be happier and friendlier when you loosen up your expectations of complete control and start putting a lot more value on a rock solid, friendly disposition.
Do not yell, grab, pin, shake, or hit your dog. Do not use pinch/prong, choke, or WORST ever electronic collars of any kind. They are banned in the UK and many other countries yet sadly Canada still hasn’t gotten on board. Do not get sucked in by slick marketing and rhetoric about positive training that actually refers to positive punishment. I can tell you right now, aside from scientific jargon designed to confuse you and dupe you out of your hard earned money, there is nothing positive about punishment. Discipline means to teach. Punishment is frankly gross and has no place in a civilized society. All of the tools that will hurt or frighten your dog are pure profit for trainers and stores who promote them. I promise you they exist for no other reason.
The absolute best way to train your dog is to reward good behavior when it happens. Especially if the dog does it without being asked or taught. Can you imagine if great food fell into your mouth from the sky when you did something by accident? Bet you’d do more of it.
The earlier you start this the better and if it’s later on to counteract bad behavior just stick with it and be patient. It will take more time but it’s way more effective than punishing your dog and yelling and getting angry. At best that makes dogs think you have no emotional control and are someone to ignore, or you are scary and untrustworthy.
Unlike children who may or may not want to please you depending on many factors, odds are your dog lives to please you. So harness that instead of being mean and cruel and angry with your best friend.
Anyway, the cost of control is high.
Too many dogs are angry and filled with anxiety these
days.
When you see an expression like the dreaded “whale eyes” on a dog then you should be able to clearly see that poor animal is in distress.
Dogs have a tremendous repertoire of calming signals they use to appease other dogs, and harsh owners and methods. Animals have a basic instinct in stressful situations for fight or flight. Always keep this in the back or your mind that it takes discipline and experience to fight your animal nature, even if you are a dog.
The focus of all force-free trainers is to contribute to the
well being and good temperament of dogs.
Furthermore, every force-free trainer and behaviourist I
know works pro-bono with rescue groups all the time, but they don’t advertise
it and use it to leverage sales as the shock jocks like to do.
A money back guarantee from a shock jock if the dog ends up euthanized really is not the same as a dog that is alive and friendly is it? Although it rarely makes the headlines, there are many dogs who have been euthanized after being “rehabilitated” with electronic collars. However, I do recall a recent news story where someone was killed by a dog who had been “treated” for aggression using an electronic collar. Clearly it was not rehabilitated. So sad, and so preventable.
Simply put some dogs have problems just like some people have problems and you can manage this in a variety of ways, but you cannot cure it. They may have been bred poorly and have genetic temperament issues, or they may have suffered abuse and trauma that they are unable to overcome. If you force a dog into situations they can not handle, there is always the danger they will “blow up” and ignore any pain or repercussion and that can be much worse even then how they would have behaved had you not used harsh training methods. Very dangerous. Do not trust quick fixes from people who are getting rich quick because you didn’t do your homework or really think this out from the perspective of a living creature, who is most likely frightened and not “trying to be the boss”.
Please be humane in the management strategy you choose, please and don’t expect more than a dog can deliver.
I think we were put on this earth to make dog’s happy and protect them from harm. Some would not agree, but I don’t let them near my dog!
In early September this year, I spent a glorious week in Greece. I spent some time in urban and touristy areas on an island, and a good spell in the countryside up north. Everywhere I encountered homeless animals. Both cats and dogs. This is not something that is specific to Greece, it happens in every country but since I took the time to slow down in Greece and study many things, I have some observations and ideas that may be helpful.
My intention is not to pick on the wonderful Greek people. I met so many kind and lovely people in my travels and overall my view of Greek people all my life has been positive, and only reinforced by spending time in their country.
Also, at home I have done my fair share of fundraising and advocating for animal welfare, so as I hopefully intend to return to Greece many times it is a place where I would also like to do some good for the critters.
My hope and intention is to build a bridge between like minded people from my home and away that will give me even more reason to return and do something meaningful when visiting.
In the urban areas the dogs seem to be dumped dogs which is really a shame. I saw many single breed dogs running down the streets looking frantic as dogs are social creatures, so they were clearly very upset to be abandoned. That is heartbreaking, and any person who would let their dog go in the street to fend for itself is heartless in any country and this does happen in every land unfortunately. I do wish I had taken more time before leaving for my trip to get the information for local shelters and rescue groups, so I could alert them to abandoned animals. In the future before I travel to any place outside of Nova Scotia I will make sure to familiarize myself with these organizations. At home I know all the phone numbers to call and do call all the time when I see dogs wandering on my travels. So, no reason not to do the same everywhere I go. In fact, sometimes they have just gotten lost or run off on their owners and need some help getting back home. On the topic of dumped dogs, the one thing that really aggravates that situation is the unscrupulous sale of puppies and kittens in pet stores. We have banned that practice in Nova Scotia and it has had a profound effect on pet overpopulation. In an extremely positive way. It is a pet peeve of mine that people put profit before the welfare of animals.
Anyway, I do know the urban areas are most likely to have resources in place, and the problem of dumped dogs will not be addressed until sales are regulated so that will not be my focus.
I will say that most of the dogs I saw running loose in urban areas were clearly purchased dogs as they were single breed dogs such as the German Short Haired Pointer I saw roaming downtown Antiparos, or the frantic Bichon Frise running downtown Parikia.
The dog I saw roaming in Lefkes didn’t really worry me as the cars drive very slow there so no real danger to him in that respect. But those other two in areas where there was a lot of traffic are goners if someone doesn’t get them off the streets.
Homeless cats seem to fare better than dogs in some ways only because cats are independent and don’t mind flying solo, whereas dogs enjoy the company of other creatures, dog or human.
Both the cats and the dogs encounter the same major problem though, cars. As countries modernize and roads get better, cars go faster and there are more of them. This is very dangerous to free roaming cats and dogs. I spent 2 days birding in the Kerkini area of Northern Greece and in that short time saw 2 dead cats, 1 dead dog, and 1 injured dog and had to jam the brakes on numerous times to avoid hitting one myself. That was in a very rural area so proportionally that is quite shocking to me.
I do recognize that a life running free can be wonderful in many ways, and that would be lovely if cars didn’t make that so dangerous.
Overall people seemed to treat the homeless dogs and cats with kindness. Many people feed them, and I did not witness anyone being cruel or mean to them in my travels. There are just too many, and no homes available for them. Even though they are being fed, their meals are not nutritious, and they don’t look healthy.
Herding breeds are the most prevalent in the rural, agricultural areas and I do understand that these dogs will not all be neutered and will live outdoors and work. They are fed and owned and doing fine overall. But some of them will have litters of puppies who are unwanted and end up roaming and homeless.
The mother of a recent litter of homeless puppies had red eyes and appeared tired and weak.
Her puppies are being raised outdoors, and not at the farm she came from. So, they are homeless and she is not getting the care she needs. They are social with people but if they are not spayed or neutered they will also have puppies, and if there are no homes for them how will their puppies get homes?
Perhaps a low-cost mobile spay and neuter clinic to address the problem would be beneficial, and some free spay and neuters of homeless dogs and cats could be arranged.
Thessaloniki is only a little hour away and is a big city of a million people so there must be clinics and organizations who could help.
It would also be great to have a little angel fund to help dogs like the one injured one who haunts me still and is the reason for this post.
When birding in Vironia I saw a pack of herding dogs tending the Water Buffalos. One of them was lagging, holding a broken paw in front of him. He was in great pain. I assume he was hit by a car and never taken to the vet. Perhaps that is not what happened, but it was clear that he was suffering greatly. It crossed my mind briefly that he was getting by somehow and just not fast enough to keep up with the pack, so it wasn’t that bad but when I got home and zoomed in on my photos my heart broke.
There is no fur on any of his legs. All the other dogs in the pack have fur on their legs.
It is not mange or a skin disease in my opinion. I believe he has chewed the fur off his legs to deal with the pain of his unhealed injury. Many times, since I left I have wished I could go back and do something about it. It may be impossible, but I am hoping someone in the area could help get him to a vet to be treated.
I do not wish to attribute blame as the cost of the vet may be more than the farmers can afford. He may not even be their dog. I just wish we could make him comfortable. I realize that many people and animals suffer, and you can’t help all of them but to help just one matters I believe. Well it sure does for the one you help.
Likely I will not be able to organize anything in time to help that dog, but those are the types of angels I’d like to find a way to raise funds for. I’m just not sure how to go about it so ideas are welcome.
Perhaps I can trade trip planning and birding advice for the region for a donation to a designated fund?
I found this great page on Matt Barrett’s Greece Travel Guide (a site I visited quite a bit before heading to Greece thank you Matt!) and will start reaching out to existing organizations for ideas before trying to tackle this on my own of course.
I’m sure there are people in place who can help if they are alerted to problems and they would benefit from donations to their funds to help.
Birders like myself, have great powers of observation and cover a lot of ground in search of birds so are in a perfect position to help.
This is also why my focus will be the Kerkini region and surrounding areas. Lake Kerkini bosts 300 species of birds and is an amazing place for birders and nature lovers to visit. I will have a separate blog about the birds and my adventure in this beautiful place.
I think birders are in a special position to help the homeless dogs and cats and that overall, people who love animals love all animals. A very organic partnership could evolve here without a lot of trouble.
When you know better, you do better they say.
Just knowing where to direct donations, or who to mobilize on the ground would be very beneficial.
Clearly it is not practical, and perhaps even wanted, for tourists to take it upon themselves to approach or collect homeless animals in another country. Local people need to be involved for this to work.
So, let’s find some local people in Northern Greece we can work with to identify animals in need that we see when we are birding in this amazing natural landscape.
If we could start by finding a way to reach out to the locals to get the dog with the broken leg to the vet, I would happily try on my end here in Nova Scotia to raise funds to help.
It took me a while to write this post as it wears heavy on my heart, so I will be happy now to allow myself the freedom to write some birding and travel logs of my amazing time in Greece where I fell in love with the people, the food, and the beautiful country.
I would really like to put a group of my friends together to go birding in the Kerkini region so if this interests you get in touch. I am a fantastic travel planner and now that I’ve done the tour of the region completely on my own, I know what to do, and what not to do. Let’s go on a great adventure and maybe even help a few dogs and cats on our travels.
Perhaps I can donate a portion of sales of this photograph to the cause? These puppies stole my heart at the boat launch in Lake Kerkini. There were 4 of them, all homeless.
