Getting over early bad experiences
When Dennis the Border Terrier was about 18 months old he began to be grumpy and growly towards some dogs when on his lead, especially near his home in Caerwent. He also developed a dislike of puppies – even when he was off lead. His guardian was assured by other Border Terrier owners that he would grow out of it, but far from that being the case, the problem began to extend to growling at people. When he was nearly two years old Lorraine finally contacted me for advice and reassurance.
We worked out that Dennis had reacted badly to people when he was feeling trapped and needed to move away. He had had some worrying encounters with a few dogs, and it seemed that the high energy levels of puppies were just too much for him. I noted, from my observations of Dennis, that he wasn’t physically comfortable all the time and indeed, he had had some serious digestive issues in his short life. Pain, discomfort and sometimes even the memory of pain, can make a dog much more likely to react badly in situations in which they might worry. With my support, Lorraine changed Dennis’s diet to ensure that his digestion and therefore his emotions, were more settled and healthy and, together with advice from her vet, these changes have helped Dennis to feel so much more comfortable.
He needed to understand that he could trust his guardian to keep him safe in all situations. In her turn, she learned to relax more when she was out with him. She learned to read his body language so they could communicate well, to recognise her own tension and to give him as many positive experiences of seeing dogs as she could. These didn’t need to be full-on meetings, just being close enough to dogs for Dennis to feel connected but to remain relaxed and able to think straight.
Over the past few months he has behaved much less reactively and now regularly joins us on the monthly FIDO socialisation walks, where he has settled into the pack.
