Rescued dog in need of attention

This column deals with a fairly typical client concern, a rescued dogthat becomes fearful. In the first of this two-part series, I will focuson the history and diagnosis. The second part will concentrate on treatment.In many of these cases the clients think that the dog was "abused"and was made fearful because of the abuse. In most cases the assumptionthat there was outright abuse is wrong, and the clients can benefit fromknowing that dogs raised perfectly can also exhibit fear. This case is theexception: the dog really did have a traumatic upbringing and the nuancedway in which this may have affected his many behavioral concerns may neverfully be appreciated.

Signalment

The patient was a male, castrated, approximately 5 year old ~40 kg (large,but slender) German Shepherd.

History

The client obtained the dog through a local German Shepherd rescue service.They had received the dog after a raid of one of Pennsylvania's most notoriouspuppy mills. When this dog was seized, both his front legs were broken.

The owner of the establishment confessed to backing over the dog withthe tractor and then just placing him in a cage. Since this dog was justone of their breeders, the puppy mill owner felt that lameness would notinterfere with the dog's purpose. The veterinarian who worked with the rescuegroup plated both legs, and the dog healed.

Because this dog may have been used as a breeder as soon as he was firstable (nine months), there is considerable debate about this dog's age. Thepuppy mill owner stated that this dog was a pup he'd bred on the premises.The youngest estimates, based on history and dental and coat condition,suggest that he may be only 3.

At this puppy mill, all breeding dogs were always kept individually insmall cages. There was no play, training or regular exercise and no groupactivity.

After the rescue

This dog entered a household that had two other older German Shepherds.One of them was fairly serious when barking at the neighbors, and had earlierbeen successfully treated for behavioral problems. The other German Shepherdwas very arthritic and dysplastic, but very good, behaviorally, with thenew dog.

The client was very concerned that the dog that had been treated forbehavioral problems, had "taught" this dog everything that wassocially unacceptable and may have been responsible for the new dog's fearfulbehavior. The client had the dog for 14 months before our appointment, andin that time both other German Shepherd companions had died. She believedthat this dog then felt he had to step into the "protective" roleheld by his former companions.

Shortly after getting this dog, the client went to a "positive methods"obedience class. She was very definite about this because she had takenher dog with the behavioral problems to another trainer in the area whoused shock and prong collars on him, and recommended "alpha rolls".To this day she blames that trainer for her first German Shepherd's behavioralproblems. Having been to a behavior clinic with her first problem dog, sheknew that there was no logical rationale for such inhumane treatment andthat trainers using positive methods were becoming more common.

By the third attempt to find a humane trainer, this dog was very wary.

When off-lead, a puppy approached him, he barked deeply, and the clientfelt she should only work him on-lead, a decision with which the leaderof the class concurred because a few people in the class were afraid ofhis size. In addition, I spoke with the trainer who commented that boththe woman and the shepherd were so nervous that everyone else in the classwas nervous.

The trainer had recommended private lessons to teach some manners, andthen suggested integration into very small classes with calm dogs. The clientagreed that this was a good idea but was so concerned about her abilityto implement the suggestions that she sought a consultation first.

Several months later, the client was working with the patient on-leadin a field when a huge Mastiff approached, off-lead. The patient barked,and the Mastiff owner, who had, by then, caught up with the dog, kickedat the patient, which then withdrew, barking frantically.

Other dog interactions were inconsistent. Sometimes the animal behavednormally around other dogs, other times it acted inappropriately.

General patterns of the patient's behavior that may be important to knowincluded that, by the time of the appointment, he would bark and lunge atother dogs when seen and when he was on a leash (the client was terrifiedto take him off-lead), he barked and lunged at joggers as they passed, hebarked and bounced off the door when people rang the bell, and he has occasionally,and only when he was initially in this home, charged random people on thestreet when being leash-walked.

Additionally, this dog occasionally vocalized (about 40 percent of thetime) when left by the client, but this did not occur if the dog sittercame. He also reacted to anyone who tried to take a rawhide, a real bone,a biscuit or other food items from him. The client was also extremely distressedthat whenever she pulled up to a stoplight and someone looked at the dogin the car, or if she went to a gas station, the dog was a ringer for theclassic German Shepherd attack dog.

Exercise

Realizing that this dog was highly energetic and very smart, the clienthad attempted to provide adequate stimulation and exercise, but her yardwas small, forcing her to use public parks. Because of the situations alreadydescribed, she was worried about keeping him safe from other dogs in theseareas, and didn't even feel comfortable assessing his behavioral propensitieswith other dogs, so few had these been. The client did note, however, thatthe dog had been fine when he was off-lead and surprised by other dogs ina remote section of the park and that he was very good at pet stores wheredogs were welcome.

This makes sense: leashed dogs are trapped - generally within their minimumapproach distance (1-1.5 dog lengths); unleashed dogs can get away and havesome control over the pace and type of interactions.

A prong collar was used once, but it made the dog worse, and she fitthe dog with a Gentle Leader as she had her previous dogs.

Finally, the client noted in her written history: "If I am upset,he becomes more reactive. He is extremely affectionate and loving."

Physical and laboratory examinations:

He had recently undergone a complete physical and laboratory evaluation,including radiography of his front legs. He tolerated all the manipulationwithout a problem, and nothing untoward was noted.

My exam showed that he was sensitive about having his front legs manipulated,and that he did not like having his head handled from behind. If he knewyou were going to touch his face he was fine, but if it appeared that youwere going to hold his head or muzzle (or muzzle him) he snapped.

It's important to realize that this dog never connected with my skin,and could have if he wanted to. His actions were all about "warning".He continued to permit full physical examination, including examining allof his teeth and his throat.

Because this dog had been a total delight throughout the entire consultation,grabbing any available toys and placing them in my lap for "fetch",I conducted a provocative behavioral examination with him. This involvedwalking the patient on a leash with the Gentle Leader in two situations:(1) those involving unfamiliar humans and circumstances and (2) those involvingan unfamiliar dog.

The patient alerted to strange humans and cars passing, and was prettyvigilant, scanning all the time. If I handled the lead, this tendency decreased.If I could engage the client in conversation while she walked the dog andpaid less attention to him, his vigilance decreased.

It's important to note that the client was able to pay less attentionto the dog because I told her that I would be responsible for "worrying"so that she didn't have to and she only had to rein the dog in if I saidso. Once, someone stopped to look at the dog and he began to grumble. SinceI had already taught him that if he sat and "looked" directlyat me he would get a treat, I just said his name, asked him to "look",and he sat and calmed for the treat. The single clearest piece of informationthat I obtained during this walk was that the client was a nervous wreck.I almost had to physically stop her from using the leash as a winch everytime something moved. It was clear that the dog's vigilance and scanning- classic non-specific signs of anxiety - worsened when she exhibited thosebehaviors. I had to explain to her that since the dog took his cues fromher, her behavior was serving to tell him that he was correct in worryingin inappropriate circumstances.

The dog we used to test the patient was my rescue Aussie, Flash. Flashhas the priceless talent - not only of speaking fluent dog - but being ableto translate it for me so I can learn if the dog is aggressive because hemust control another person or another dog, or if he is that way becausehe is fearful, uncertain, unschooled or unexposed.

On-lead Flash walked right up to this dog that was partially hiding behindthe woman and licked the corner of the dog's mouth. He then took off forthe walk, with the patient trotting calmly beside him and slightly behind.Whenever I asked Flash to sit on the walk, the client asked her dog to sitand look at her. This way, we had a method by which we could interrupt hisreactions to cars, people, etc. By the time we had finished the walk, thedog was watching Flash for all cues. When we returned from the walk we letboth dogs off-lead.

Flash immediately rolled on his back on the grass and rubbed around whilethe other dog sniffed him. When Flash stood, the other dog tried to pushon him. Flash backed off and gave a play bow. The other dog clubbed himwith his front legs and grabbed him by the side of the neck. Flash duckedout of this and then tackled the patient grabbing his neck and rolling onthe grass. By now the client almost needed CPR. She was worried that herdog was too rough and that he would re-injure his legs. The chances of thelatter were remote, and Flash was more than competent to judge and dealwith the former. The dogs played like this for almost an hour.

Diagnoses

The patient was diagnosed with attention-seeking behavior which was reallyonly slightly out-of-context, fear aggression, primarily to other dogs,and protective and territorial aggression that I really felt was mostlyin-context, but I wanted to alert the client to the fact that it could spiralinto inappropriate and possibly dangerous behavior if not appropriatelydirected.

In addition, the dog had some food-related aggression that we decidedto manage by just letting him eat in peace. Since there were no young childrenor other dogs that could be threatened by the patient, this wasn't a problem.

It was interesting, though, that the oldest dog in the household hadbeen able to take food from the patient if he wanted to do so. In fact,when all three dogs were alone, the oldest dog always ended up with allthe rawhides.

The second part of this column next month will address diagnosis andtreatment strategies.