Comments on: Nothing’s quite the same now.

By: lisa

lisa — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 23:40:22 +0000

David: Thanks for the advice. The last dog we had was a puppy, and I was ten, so I didn’t do much in training her. I’ll definitely have to check out those books, because when she’s not afraid, I’d like to train her to the point I’ll be able to take her off-leash and not worry about her coming when called. (The last dog never learned that).

Scott: Thanks for the encouragement. I know dogs change over time, and usually it’s a good thing. My boyfriend Dustin has a dog named Twitch, and when I first started dating, he was as hyper as all get-out. Now he’s pretty mellow, getting along with the other animals in the house.

By: Scott Marlowe

Scott Marlowe — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 19:29:04 +0000

Sounds like you’re doing a good job with her. I’m no expert on abused dogs-we have two, neither of which was abused before we got them. Our first we got when she was about one year old from a city shelter. She was extemely submissive while we were checking her out and then for several days after we brought her home. But then, as she got comfortable with her surroundings, she turned into a freakin’ terror! Nothing bad, but a very crazy dog. Anyway, sometimes they just take a lot of patience and time to get comfortable with new surroundings.

Good luck!

By: David D.

David D. — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 11:42:24 +0000

When caring for a dog that may have been abused and/or that has emotional or psychological issues, it’s most important to be consistent, structured and predictable.

Despite the best efforts of Disney to make us think otherwise, animals can think and feel but they are not people. If your pet has been mistreated in the past, it expects to be mistreated again because that’s the only behaviour it knows and understands. Your job is to help it unlearn this, and relearn another way of living and behaving. It’s hard work, and it takes time. Some animals never fully recover from the way they were treated–but that doesn’t mean that they can’t become more social and more enjoyable pets.

Also, keep in mind that as a new owner, you’re a relative stranger to this dog. The dog has been through a great deal of change, and you are a part of that change. It doesn’t know that you love it and are committed to it, that this is its new permanent home, and that you can be trusted not to hurt it. And it may not come to realize this for quite some time.

The key is to not become frustrated (or infuriated) when your dog–who was doing so well one day–backslides, sometimes severely, the next. It’s important to be patient, and to keep in mind that disciplining your dog isn’t about punishing it; it’s about teaching it. By teaching your dog how it should and should not behave, and by helping it understand your behaviour and your expectations, you are helping it lead a better life than it lived before it met you.

There are a few good books on understanding dogs–one is Stanley Coren’s How Dogs Think (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743222326/104-9594364-9035139?v=glance&n=283155). There are also high marks for Deborah Wood’s Help for Your Shy Dog (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0876050364/qid=1152617891/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-9594364-9035139?s=books&v=glance&n=283155).

Some things take time, and this is one of them. It may take a while before you see true progress, but it will happen.