Basenji Blogging Friday - Last Ditch Effort

Friday, September 26, 2014
So. We adopted a rescue dog about five months ago, the infamous Jackson. Since that time, we've been working daily to address her various behavioral issues.

In some respects we've been successful. Her "house" manners are pretty good at this point, although she still gets overly excited when someone she's never met comes to visit. Her recall skills are improving steadily, and her reaction zone has diminished.

However, this dog is still a hot mess when it comes to her behavior on leash.

Subscribing to the theory that a tired dog is a happy dog, we walk her daily. And every day it's a struggle. She has an extremely high prey drive. She has a severe case of leash aggression. She's never been properly trained to behave correctly. We hired a private trainer to help us learn how to correct these behaviors. We've been working on it for five months. We've tried to follow our trainer's advice diligently. And the only success we've had is that her reaction zone has diminished from approximately 40 feet to approximately 25 feet. She continues to lose her shit every time she sees another dog on the path. And by lose her shit I mean she becomes 50 pounds of struggling, snarling, twisting, clawing Tasmanian Devil. My legs are in a constant state of bruises and scratches (the last one the size of a softball), and on one occasion she lost herself so thoroughly that she bit me trying to get away. She jumps and snarls at cyclists, and while she doesn't struggle as much to get away when she sees a deer or rabbit on the trail, she's still easily distracted. And the more distracted she becomes, the worse her reaction when she does see a dog on the trail.

And then yesterday she kept picking fights at doggy day care, causing a puncture in one dog's lip, and then brilliantly attempting to start some shit with a Bull Mastiff. Her caregivers removed her from that situation before she got herself hurt, but when they called me, I was close to tears at this new example of her neurosis.

She just can't be trusted.

So on the advice of two professional trainers and a veterinary technician, tomorrow she's going to the vet so that we can discuss getting a prescription for a low-grade tranquilizer.

We just don't know what else to do, and if she bites me (or anyone, I'm just the most likely candidate) one more time, we've agreed to give her up, as we just can't have that. Nor can we have a dog who gets so wrapped when overly stimulated that she scares everyone within eye or ear shot. That's not good canine citizenship, and other people have the right to use the trails without having to worry about our neurotic dog.

We really hope this last ditch effort will provide her psyche some stability. We hope, we hope.

4 comments:

mom in northern said...

Oh my...You both have worked so hard to get results. But, you are right...things can not continue as they are. Then there is the matter of Lilly when she visits...
Sigh

Yogi said...

Man, Janiece, I'm really sorry to hear this. You are right to draw the line. But it is truly a tough thing to do.

Sending you the very best Yogi wishes.

Janiece said...

Thanks, Yogi. We've not given up just yet. Our vet is consulting with a colleague who specializes in dog behavior, and we're formulating a plan.

Jeri said...

Oh no! You are such an amazing dog owner. Fingers crossed for you both!