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Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Life with our Puppy

I'm going to tell you about a big source of stress for me. From early in our time with Hachi, we noticed his shyness toward both dogs and people. In response, we decided to try to socialize him as much as we possibly could. We also noticed resource guarding against other dogs almost from Day One - which means that he would try to scare off dogs who came near his food or treats. Again, we hoped that we could deal with it using some methods suggested by our trainers.

As we worked on these issues, we also came to love Hachi. All of his "bad" behaviors came from fear - probably due to his early scary experiences living on the street, his mom's stress level trying to care for puppies without a home, the craziness of living in a shelter for a while, and due to genetics. It is very hard to be angry with a living being who is behaving badly completely out of fear.

Until quite recently, we thought that things were going well. He has totally come to love playing with other dogs and to be very sociable with them. He seemed less hesitant to meet people. And, his resource guarding became rare.

Fast forward to the past week - for some reason, almost everything has gone south. He had a horrendous vet visit where he was so scared that he lost control of his bowels. He resource guarded at two dog classes last week, which means that he snarled and scared off puppies who were interested in his treats. His behavior appeared very scary but he didn't actually touch the other dogs. Then, we tried to have visitors at our house but Hachi spent their entire visits staring at them and intensely barking at them.

On one occasion while a visitor was here, Hachi launched himself at R in a fury of snarling. There were no injuries except that we were deeply shaken. We believe that Hachi was guarding treats that were in the room. He was more prone to do that due to the stress of having a visitor in the house. As those who have had to deal with these kinds of issues will know - it's called "trigger stacking".

To be fair, I must mention that our Duo gets along with Hachi beautifully 99.9% of the time. They still snuggle with him daily. So do we. Hachi is so deeply attached to me and the Runner that it makes my heart hurt.

He is being neutered on Friday, and we hope that might help. Moreover, we are working with two good trainers, and we'll follow their suggestions. But the future is a great big unknown.

I am telling you where things are with Hachi so that you know that life with our puppy is not even close to perfect. He's still incredibly sweet 99.9% of the time. But those outbursts of aggression have shaken me up badly. I hope that we can help him but I'm not certain that we can. Aggression in such a young puppy is really scary.

Especially when you love that puppy.

29 comments:

  1. Sweet Hachi we will keep our paws crossed for you.
    Hope that the neutering will help.

    xo Astro and Mitzie

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  2. we cross all paws for your appoinbtment and we hope for good news when you are back t home ;O)

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  3. I had hoped his experiences could be overcome because you are such a great trainer. and I do hope the people you are working with can help. this happened to us with Jake, we got him from the street, the first year he was fine with Baby and Cooper, then the aggression happened once in a while...terrifying each time. when cooper died we did not get another dog, when Baby died we did not. Jake never got over the aggression of protecting what was his... but I did not have help and we stopped walking him after he got into a fight with 2 pit bulls. I have no advice but my heart hurts for you and I pray you will find a way to overcome this....

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  4. I'm so sorry this is happening. You don't expect it when you raise a pup from early on.

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    1. That is one reason that we got an 8 wk old puppy - we thought that socialization would be able to overcome any fearful or aggressive tendencies. I'm sure that it helped... but it didn't wipe out the effects of past experience and genetics.

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  5. Well, I do believe that you have your answer, snip time. I was wondering about his testosterone levels when I was reading the beginning here. The Vet, we humans will "never" understand the smells, sights, etc of a dogs perspective. Meaning, that behavior is not on you. Now, I see that its time for a puppyhood to be cut and adult Hachi time to shine. Hachi will be fine and with your constant reassurance, he will be a wonderful dog for decades to come. If not, BLK Dog will chew his A$$. HA, I mean that in the very best way and added humor.

    Have A Brilliant Week, Stay Strong, & Be You,
    Cheers

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  6. We know Hachi is in the best hands to help him through these challenges. Think of how far you have come with Shyla. We're confident you will eventually work it out.

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  7. I am so very sorry KB for you, Runner, R and Shyla and especially Hachi. Bless his heart. Such fear at an early age and having to fight for everything he got. Surely LOVE will conquer this behavior and lets hope and pray neutering takes rids him of the DNA instincts. All the love he has rec'd under your roof will win out I'm sure. Sending tons and tons of prayers and hugs to your family of 5!
    Cecilia

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  8. We hope that the neuter helps a lot. It often does. With as wonderful as you did with Shyla, I know Hachi is in the best of hands.

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  9. We will cross fingers and paws that your neuter will help immensely, Hachi.

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  10. Hari OM
    It may just be that Hachi has plans to be the leader of the pack. Neutering might help, but a lot of firm team-training may be ahead yet. I am surely sending all positive vibes to your 'pack' but in particular to Hachi... YAM xx

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  11. Oh man, we are so sorry to hear that. Puppies do have those stages where fears start or flare up. If you catch it then, you can hopefully work through it. Poor little guy. We understand your being shaken as well. Any dog, young or old who shows aggression is scary.

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  12. So sorry for the way fear is being manifested. We've never experienced this behavior but I can only imagine how very difficult it must be for you to deal with. And certainly unexpected when you adopted Hachi at such an early age. I shouldn't have thought the past would even be a problem. I know you are philosophically opposed, but I tend to agree with Yamini. He may require a bit more firm training technique, especially if the neutering has little effect.

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  13. oh I'm so sorry you've had to experience that fear. I rescued a little cocker spaniel years ago. she was given to me by a fellow worker who had rescued an entire litter from a puppy mill. they apparently had small children who literally were terrorizing the puppies. when she walked in to get them at the arranged time one of the children was 'playing the piano' with my little puppy by squeezing her in both hands and banging her up and down on the length of the keyboard. she wasn't even old enough to be weaned yet. my co-worker and friend took the mother dog and all the puppies. I got Sarah when she was only 6 weeks old. too young really. but all her life she was terrified of young children. and men in caps. like baseball caps! I just kept children away from her. the pain of her memories of them went so deep that she never outgrew it. still... she was a wonderful and loving little companion to me and my immediate family until she died at the age of 12. I don't regret keeping her. she just took special patience and acceptance. the vet told me once that if she ever were to bite anyone I could be assured it was "out of fear." I knew that in my heart. and her shots were always kept up to date. but it's hard.
    and if the early fear and scars go too deep little Hachi might never outgrow it. I pray that's not it in your case! XO

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  14. Oh no, I hope the procedure helps with this. It just might do the trick. He's such a handsome pup. I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed that he can get past this.

    Have a fabulous day. ♥

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  15. Oh gosh, you know how much I feel for you since some of this is so similar to Luke. We didn't have resource guarding with him though, and most of his issues didn't come about until he was older. We tried to do the right things with him, but still things seemed to get worse instead of better.
    You work with Hachi so much more than I ever did with Luke when he was young. I know you will never give up on him, and we'll be pulling for you all.
    I appreciate your honesty too....it's difficult to write about these things, I know. There are days I feel like no one understands Luke and what we go through with him at all.
    Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets

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  16. You should contact the Dog Whisperer.

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  17. We know that you will work with him with patience and love.

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  18. We have our paws crossed, and know that if any family can help a pup overcome anything...it's yours!
    Hugs!

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  19. We have to agree with everyone that Hachi is in the best place possible for him to be helped. We know that you are and will continue to do whatever might help him. Hang in there. We are here for you. Hugs.

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  20. I've had Elsa for 2 1/2 years now and every day is an adventure. I can never be sure if this the day she'll react to someone or some strange dog while we're out on a walk. I can only continue to love her and try as best as possible to steer her in the direction I'm hoping she'll thrive in. Don't be so hard on yourself-you've done amazing work with him and no one or thing is ever perfect 100% of the time. Sharing successes and fails is part of the process with rescue pups. Hang in there. Hugs and tail wags from me and the Knuckleheads.

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  21. I sure hope everything works itself out after the surgery but we know you will make it work if you can. Hugs from all of us.

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  22. I'm sorry for what you are going through. As you know I went through it with Brut almost from the time we brought him home at 6 weeks old. I wish I had some words of wisdom or could say something that would really make it all go away. It is frustrating, scary and painful. But I have seen you overcome so much with yourself and your dogs, I know you can do this too. My prayers are with all of you. Good Luck!

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  23. Yuppers, I thinks he picked the right pack to help him. I'll keep my paws crossed real tight that things get easier for both him and you guys. {{{hugs}}}
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥

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  24. We have had 2 cats that have been so aggressive to our older Felicity. They ran, pounced, attacked, and fur flew. I hope that Hachi in time will settle to lose this behaviour, and I know that you will do and have done everything to give him safety, security and love. After a start to his life on the street, a Mum struggling to feed him and others, he must have an inner instinct to protect what he sees as HIS. I send a heap of love to you all.

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  25. Oh KB, I can imagine how you felt when Hachi flew at R - I've got tears in my eyes just typing that. But you've got so much training experience - I'm sure (unlike me) you knew what to do in each situation to defuse it. I'll be keeping a good thought for you and Shyla and R and the Runner and Hachi. And since the recent setback in Hachi's fear-based behavior seems to have come on suddenly, I'll keep my fingers crossed that it's hormone-related and will be "fixed" by neutering. Big hugs all around.

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  26. That was strange with the vet visit. You know you are the best owners a dog could ask for and with the help of trainers, being neutered, and all your love, I think he should be OK. Before Samson was neutered, he beat up an older shepherd mix, Soldier, so badly we almost had to put Soldier down. We didn't and he slowly recovered. After being neutered, Samson is the sweetest dog I have ever known.

    Faith takes her guarding of me and our home too seriously. When it warms up a bit, I will work with her and my neighbor's dogs. She is very good at the vet when I am not around. They take her in the back and can do all procedures. When I'm in the room with her and the vet, she get stiff as a board. And gives this look that is really scary. So I leave, which is the easy way out, I know, but the vet has work to do. And I don't have the energy to even train her to enjoy a ride in the car so we can go places and meet people.
    She's wonderful with people who come to visit, once I have let them in the door. They both are.

    And this may be way too much information, just wanted to share my experiences. And they were both raised here, no rescues. So I feel very responsible for Faith. I just hope that a part of Hachi's problems will go away once he has been neutered.

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  27. We keep thinking about what you have shared with all of us KB,,,
    I want to say thank you for trusting all of us, with what is going on in the real world,,, and your fears, and how you are handling all of this.

    I am sorry we sometimes(quite often) dont make it to your new posts very soon,,, but we do read them and care.,
    Sometimes emotions right here,,, get in the way,,, and leave not much energy to be social,, and respond... We love all of you so much,,, and when your heart hurts,, so does ours
    love
    tweedles

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  28. You are doing everything possible to help him. Perhaps more time off the street along with your wonderful attention will change things. I really do believe you are going to be able to work this out. Amy

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