The Whole Dog Journal

I have seen so many dogs fight out of fear and anxiety. I am now realizing that one of my girls has a touch of this and that it caused her to be a target. I don't really know what came first, the anxiety or the beating up part. Two of my X girls beat up on her pretty badly at different times and I needed to give one back to the breeder (I was ... See Morefostering her) and another little blind dog just got her a week ago and I had to rehome her. All the same size, and same breed. I didn't understand it at all till I just saw a show Cesar did on it. He corrected the problem while he was there...but they still had on and off problems with it. I couldn't risk that. My min schnauzer girl that I still have had her shoulder torn out. She's not extremely anxious, but enough to make her a target I guess. She's a wonderful little service dog and very intelligent, have had her since a pup...so she's not going anywhere without me :) She has two other dogs that she has no trouble with. One larger schnauzer boy...one tiny maltese toy poodle rescue..five pounder. Another factor that I think came into play with her getting beat up was that both the other girls had been used as breeder dogs before living here. They got tough skins, so to speak, even though they appeared extra sweet. Well, one I kept here through her pregnancies till she was ready to deliver...then back to the breeders. That's when she started changing her attitude towards my girl that I still have. The blind dog used her as her own personal guide dog...and it made my girl nervous with her always attached to her back quarter. She let her know to get off her a bit, and it escalated from there. Then the blind dog kept nudging her and barking at her constantly as if to provoke a fight. Very very sad for me giving both of those dogs up at different times in the past five years. My little girl here is a virgin and always will be~

Please tell me your thoughts on this and perhaps some of it will help you write your article.

It is time that all dog owners realise that most dogs do not bight out of aggression but fear (insecurity). Those terrible dog fighting people use that and start their dogs by creating fear which will create aggression. The dogs just start protecting them selves until they think that is live and become biters (fighters). Recognising fear or ... See Moreinsecurity should be a required course before adopting an abused dog. Helping a dog over that stage on the other side will leave you with a wonderful submissive dog. You can not find a better one.

Not all dogs are fearful from abuse, this is a common misconception. Shelters should not adopt out fearful dogs to inexperienced families and shouldn't adopt them to any family without a consult from a behavourist., period. On a lighter note, adult fearful dogs benefit tremondously from the handling exercises that we do with puppies.

In a perfect world Dave. Municipal shelters don't have the luxury of screening adoptive families for more then simple quailificatons. In their world, better adopted by an unprepared family then euthed. One advantage we have is a crew of 100 volunteers who are socializing many dogs and can advise potential owners. Still we have a revolving door and boomarang dogs. What handling exercises do you do with puppies? http://www.alaskadognews.com

The best thing we have these days is awareness, which was not there years ago.

The only concern I have with "better adopted by an unprepared family then euthed" is that if that one family gets the problem dog- has a terrible experience- never adopts again- tells family and friends not to adopt due to the risk- reduces the amount of adopters- dog gets returned and euthanized anyways.. we want to increase the amount of happy adoptions... not postpone deaths... and create bad experiences... (worked at shelter 4yrs and saw this)