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SHERRY DAVIS: The journey to socializing a dog named Maggie
BY SHERRY DAVIS, Contributing columnist
doglady@bakersfield.com | Sunday, Jun 27 2010 12:00 PM
Last Updated Sunday, Jun 27 2010 12:00 PM
Maggie is a 1-year-old Border Collie-Australian Shepherd mix whose owners recently contacted me about aggressive behavior she was exhibiting with alarming frequency. The decision to call came from her recent unprovoked snap at their daughter's friend and the liability that such behavior presents. Maggie was loving and responsive with the family, never showing aggression to any of them, but had become increasingly cautious and stand-offish with strangers.
On arrival at the home I was greeted with a savagely explosive dog barely restrained by her owner. Being held on the leash unfortunately heightened her aggression, but due to her extreme territorial behavior and her hard-wired breed instinct to circle, bite and run, I chose the safe route. As the owners were fearful that she would break free and bite me, I had them crate Maggie while we discussed her behavior. She immediately curled quietly into a small ball, avoiding eye contact, but constantly aware of my location.
The owners had purchased Maggie as a 10-week-old puppy from the breeder, who lived on a ranch and kept the large litter outside in a pen. During the visit, he family was not allowed contact with the puppies' parents, who were confined in another pen where they growled and jumped at the fence in an unfriendly manner.
Maggie's puppyhood progressed uneventfully. She was very bright, housebroke easily and could learn commands quickly, although she did have an annoying habit of dropping to her back submissively when approached.
Following their veterinarian's instructions to not take her anywhere until her shots were finished, the owners kept her completely isolated from human contact for the next two months.
Once she was released to go out in public, they found her easy to manage as she preferred to stay close when out on walks, and she loved to go to daycare and run with other dogs. Then, as an adolescent, Maggie had started to lunge when anyone approached, which the owners at first just interpreted as teenage bad manners, but with which they became more uncomfortable. She was less obedient at home, testing authority, and had caused a scene during a vet exam. Then the snapping incident.
Given the guidelines for puppy socialization, you can see that Maggie's behavior was following a distinct pattern. Parents of questionable temperament; a large litter kept together for two and a half months without one-on-one human socialization away from each other; a genetic predisposition for shyness; further isolation from life experiences and human contact during the vaccination period; and no respect for the owners' authority.
Add approaching maturity, mix well, and you have all the ingredients for a fear aggressive cocktail.
I found her to be an extremely tense dog, overstressed and overstimulated in her efforts to keep intruders out of her environment through aggressive displays, and since the owners did not possess the knowledge to deal with her erratic behavior, Maggie had taken this as weakness on their part and began to challenge their leadership.
It's been almost 30 days now since I started training with Maggie and her owners.
By taking a team approach based on firmness, patience and consistency, we are working to control her aggression by creating rules and boundaries for her behavior.
Maggie's future is looking pretty good.
***
It was not an easy decision to do this series on socialization. I knew I wouldn't be able to cover it in one column, and I wasn't sure if readers would have the patience to invest weeks in following the transitional stages in a puppy's development.
My goal was not to weigh the reader down with scientific lingo and textbook terminology, but to provide a comprehensive guideline for new puppy owners, help the owners of rescues understand the origin of their adopted dogs' "baggage," and make all dog owners see that early and continued socialization is as important to their puppy's development as a good diet and proper healthcare.
-- Sherry Davis is a dog trainer/owner of CSI 4 K9s.
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/loc...The-journey-to-socializing-a-dog-named-Maggie
BY SHERRY DAVIS, Contributing columnist
doglady@bakersfield.com | Sunday, Jun 27 2010 12:00 PM
Last Updated Sunday, Jun 27 2010 12:00 PM
Maggie is a 1-year-old Border Collie-Australian Shepherd mix whose owners recently contacted me about aggressive behavior she was exhibiting with alarming frequency. The decision to call came from her recent unprovoked snap at their daughter's friend and the liability that such behavior presents. Maggie was loving and responsive with the family, never showing aggression to any of them, but had become increasingly cautious and stand-offish with strangers.
On arrival at the home I was greeted with a savagely explosive dog barely restrained by her owner. Being held on the leash unfortunately heightened her aggression, but due to her extreme territorial behavior and her hard-wired breed instinct to circle, bite and run, I chose the safe route. As the owners were fearful that she would break free and bite me, I had them crate Maggie while we discussed her behavior. She immediately curled quietly into a small ball, avoiding eye contact, but constantly aware of my location.
The owners had purchased Maggie as a 10-week-old puppy from the breeder, who lived on a ranch and kept the large litter outside in a pen. During the visit, he family was not allowed contact with the puppies' parents, who were confined in another pen where they growled and jumped at the fence in an unfriendly manner.
Maggie's puppyhood progressed uneventfully. She was very bright, housebroke easily and could learn commands quickly, although she did have an annoying habit of dropping to her back submissively when approached.
Following their veterinarian's instructions to not take her anywhere until her shots were finished, the owners kept her completely isolated from human contact for the next two months.
Once she was released to go out in public, they found her easy to manage as she preferred to stay close when out on walks, and she loved to go to daycare and run with other dogs. Then, as an adolescent, Maggie had started to lunge when anyone approached, which the owners at first just interpreted as teenage bad manners, but with which they became more uncomfortable. She was less obedient at home, testing authority, and had caused a scene during a vet exam. Then the snapping incident.
Given the guidelines for puppy socialization, you can see that Maggie's behavior was following a distinct pattern. Parents of questionable temperament; a large litter kept together for two and a half months without one-on-one human socialization away from each other; a genetic predisposition for shyness; further isolation from life experiences and human contact during the vaccination period; and no respect for the owners' authority.
Add approaching maturity, mix well, and you have all the ingredients for a fear aggressive cocktail.
I found her to be an extremely tense dog, overstressed and overstimulated in her efforts to keep intruders out of her environment through aggressive displays, and since the owners did not possess the knowledge to deal with her erratic behavior, Maggie had taken this as weakness on their part and began to challenge their leadership.
It's been almost 30 days now since I started training with Maggie and her owners.
By taking a team approach based on firmness, patience and consistency, we are working to control her aggression by creating rules and boundaries for her behavior.
Maggie's future is looking pretty good.
***
It was not an easy decision to do this series on socialization. I knew I wouldn't be able to cover it in one column, and I wasn't sure if readers would have the patience to invest weeks in following the transitional stages in a puppy's development.
My goal was not to weigh the reader down with scientific lingo and textbook terminology, but to provide a comprehensive guideline for new puppy owners, help the owners of rescues understand the origin of their adopted dogs' "baggage," and make all dog owners see that early and continued socialization is as important to their puppy's development as a good diet and proper healthcare.
-- Sherry Davis is a dog trainer/owner of CSI 4 K9s.
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/loc...The-journey-to-socializing-a-dog-named-Maggie