OT: Adopted dog

[Duneaux Harm]

Just a month ago we adopted a dog from a rescue. He was identified as being one year old. He is a Chiweenie. A chihuahua- dachshund mix. Really fun and sweet dog. Knows to either use a pad or go out for the bathroom. No issues at night with sleep.

His background is unknown. He was found out on the streets in Phoenix bleeding with a broken jaw. He appears to have scars on his head from bite marks so we presume he was attacked and the dog that bit him broke his jaw. They could not wire the bottom jaw completely so he is missing the front part of his bottom jaw. So either he got into a fight while he was out in the wild or he got into a fight in his home and either ran away or was abandoned.

But again he is an incredible sweet dog and just wants to sleep on your lap and watch sports.

However if we take him out and he encounters another dog he goes crazy. Starts barking and growling and pulls the leash to go towards them. We have been able to lessen that a bit in where if we encounter one dog we can get him to ignore it’s long as it’s on the other side of the street. If we encounter a second most likely he will ignore it. But man come across a third and he goes crazy. Also seems to go crazy if we walk somewhere where there is a lot of stimulation from traffic or people.

I have read stuff that a dog who was attacked can have PTSD and when they are on a leash and see a dog they know they cannot run away so they basically bark and growl trying to make sure the other dog stays the hell away from them.

We are trying to train him out of this but do not know if it is completely possible.

Just checking in with the board to see if anyone has gone through something similar and what did you do and what were eventual results.

Thanks.

 

[The Ole Six-Fiver]

I’m afraid I have no suggestions, but I wanted to reply to commend you for your adoption, and for your obvious determination to help him. I wish you all the luck.

 

[BVGPitt]

A month ago we took in a stray Pit Bull that was a mess. Fleas, huge gash on his cheek, no fur on his back. We got him cleaned up and he looks great and is the nicest dog in the world. I can take food out of his mouth or toys and he is so gentle. But he and my Lab hate each other. He is like a different dog barks ferocious (my dog as well). So we unfortunately cannot keep him or my Lab may be seriously hurt. Vet estimates age between 4-6 if any knows of a good home for him.

So to your question -- without knowing the dog's history I have learned it may be just an unfortunate trait you have to keep in mind when out socializing the dog. I have seen trainers on You Tube use a fenced in area to have a behaved dog and a not behaved dog meet and get close without fear of injury. Good luck and props to you and your family for saving a good pup!

 

[Duneaux Harm]

A month ago we took in a stray Pit Bull that was a mess. Fleas, huge gash on his cheek, no fur on his back. We got him cleaned up and he looks great and is the nicest dog in the world. I can take food out of his mouth or toys and he is so gentle. But he and my Lab hate each other. He is like a different dog barks ferocious (my dog as well). So we unfortunately cannot keep him or my Lab may be seriously hurt. Vet estimates age between 4-6 if any knows of a good home for him.

So to your question -- without knowing the dog's history I have learned it may be just an unfortunate trait you have to keep in mind when out socializing the dog. I have seen trainers on You Tube use a fenced in area to have a behaved dog and a not behaved dog meet and get close without fear of injury. Good luck and props to you and your family for saving a good pup!

That kind of sucks but I know what you are doing is best for your original dog. It’s hard but i get it.

 

[rmf05]

You know who abuses dogs? CIGNETTI! Damn you Cignetti!!!!!!

 

[CJsE]

Just a month ago we adopted a dog from a rescue. He was identified as being one year old. He is a Chiweenie. A chihuahua- dachshund mix. Really fun and sweet dog. Knows to either use a pad or go out for the bathroom. No issues at night with sleep.

His background is unknown. He was found out on the streets in Phoenix bleeding with a broken jaw. He appears to have scars on his head from bite marks so we presume he was attacked and the dog that bit him broke his jaw. They could not wire the bottom jaw completely so he is missing the front part of his bottom jaw. So either he got into a fight while he was out in the wild or he got into a fight in his home and either ran away or was abandoned.

But again he is an incredible sweet dog and just wants to sleep on your lap and watch sports.

However if we take him out and he encounters another dog he goes crazy. Starts barking and growling and pulls the leash to go towards them. We have been able to lessen that a bit in where if we encounter one dog we can get him to ignore it’s long as it’s on the other side of the street. If we encounter a second most likely he will ignore it. But man come across a third and he goes crazy. Also seems to go crazy if we walk somewhere where there is a lot of stimulation from traffic or people.

I have read stuff that a dog who was attacked can have PTSD and when they are on a leash and see a dog they know they cannot run away so they basically bark and growl trying to make sure the other dog stays the hell away from them.

We are trying to train him out of this but do not know if it is completely possible.

Just checking in with the board to see if anyone has gone through something similar and what did you do and what were eventual results.

Thanks.

A lot of pet trainers will have socialization classes with a dozen or so dogs where they can supervise and correct behaviors. If you can't find one that offers those then any intermediate training course would likely be a benefit because the dog will be training to focus on you with other dogs in the room and are generally not very expensive for a 5-6 week program.

Some classes won't take overly aggressive dogs and may require private training first or even boarding training, but it's best to be up front about it before hand.

 

[ShipofFools]

Just a month ago we adopted a dog from a rescue. He was identified as being one year old. He is a Chiweenie. A chihuahua- dachshund mix. Really fun and sweet dog. Knows to either use a pad or go out for the bathroom. No issues at night with sleep.

His background is unknown. He was found out on the streets in Phoenix bleeding with a broken jaw. He appears to have scars on his head from bite marks so we presume he was attacked and the dog that bit him broke his jaw. They could not wire the bottom jaw completely so he is missing the front part of his bottom jaw. So either he got into a fight while he was out in the wild or he got into a fight in his home and either ran away or was abandoned.

But again he is an incredible sweet dog and just wants to sleep on your lap and watch sports.

However if we take him out and he encounters another dog he goes crazy. Starts barking and growling and pulls the leash to go towards them. We have been able to lessen that a bit in where if we encounter one dog we can get him to ignore it’s long as it’s on the other side of the street. If we encounter a second most likely he will ignore it. But man come across a third and he goes crazy. Also seems to go crazy if we walk somewhere where there is a lot of stimulation from traffic or people.

I have read stuff that a dog who was attacked can have PTSD and when they are on a leash and see a dog they know they cannot run away so they basically bark and growl trying to make sure the other dog stays the hell away from them.

We are trying to train him out of this but do not know if it is completely possible.

Just checking in with the board to see if anyone has gone through something similar and what did you do and what were eventual results.

Thanks.

I have two chiweenies. Milo is an adult male that has more Chihauhua in him and looks it. He will be 9 years old next May. He goes haywire whenever the mail person or deliver person is on the street. Vey territorial.

Mitzi is my other one that looks pure Dashi. Female that will be six years old next month. She acts tough to my neighbors two Pit Bulls when they are behind a fence, but is really a kitten when faced with danger otherwise.

You most likely will not train them to be social towards other dogs or strangers, especially kids.. They are a stubborn mix of breed. Barkers, sniffers, troublemakers towards territorial infringements. They like routines and will accept adult company only if that visitor enters the house.

They are also very loyal, separation anxiety pets that love their owners and display affectionate personalities.

As frustrating as they can be with the barking and other intolerance, I wouldn't trade my two in for anything.

They have entertaining personalities and will always make you their most important part of their lives.

 

[Parkview57]

Just checking in with the board to see if anyone has gone through something similar and what did you do and what were eventual results.

First I want to commend you on caring for this poor dog. Without going too far into explanations my two stories end in a bad way, not horrific. Based on what I experienced, it seems that the dogs have no way out of their reactions in situations that caused the trauma. In these two cases their was suppression of the fear and anger as you described, but eventually the behavior continued. In both cases I am familiar with the dog could not be kept in a traditional, family pet, setting as you describe. One of the dogs I was speaking about was like a pit-bull or rottweiler type, very obedient and loving but very territorial and eventually grabbed a rather large dog by the face and would not let go because it walked to close to the house, the innocent dog escaped with small wounds , one behind the ear and the other below the opposite side jaw, it did not need medical attention, but the owner of the rehab dog could not keep the dog, sad deal.

 

[lilspainishflea]

Thanks for doing such a wonderful thing for this dog. My rescue just passed on Sunday night (only 5 years old) due to liver failure and blood clots. Really, really upset right now. She got sick in January/February after my son was born and I worked so hard to keep her going. I hand fed her from January - October. We spent almost 24 hours per day together for the last year. I'm crushed.

My dog had similar issues. There were some dogs that she just didn't get along with. She was better with male dogs for whatever reason. One thing that we did was to keep training treats with us and give her those to distract her / reward her if she complied. We also bought a Gentle Leader which helped with the pulling. It will turn the dog's head so they will deescalate themselves. For whatever reason my dog was also just calmer and more compliant while on it compared to a traditional leash or harness. Incredibly so actually.

There's also a good community on Reddit - Dog Training that's a great resource which can give you incredibly precise and tailored advice, although I am certain your question has been asked there already.

Understand and accept that dogs, like people, have their own natural ceilings in different areas. Mine was brilliant - literally knew hundreds of words - but was super protective of her toys or things she deemed hers like sticks - so we just had to keep those away from her when she was around other dogs or kids. You may not be able to train this dog into the perfect Golden Retriever type compliant pet. But you can improve it from where it's at and manage its particularities once you learn them.

Good luck.

 

[Duneaux Harm]

Thanks for doing such a wonderful thing for this dog. My rescue just passed on Sunday night (only 5 years old) due to liver failure and blood clots. Really, really upset right now. She got sick in January/February after my son was born and I worked so hard to keep her going. I hand fed her from January - October. We spent almost 24 hours per day together for the last year. I'm crushed.

My dog had similar issues. There were some dogs that she just didn't get along with. She was better with male dogs for whatever reason. One thing that we did was to keep training treats with us and give her those to distract her / reward her if she complied. We also bought a Gentle Leader which helped with the pulling. It will turn the dog's head so they will deescalate themselves. For whatever reason my dog was also just calmer and more compliant while on it compared to a traditional leash or harness. Incredibly so actually.

There's also a good community on Reddit - Dog Training that's a great resource which can give you incredibly precise and tailored advice, although I am certain your question has been asked there already.

Understand and accept that dogs, like people, have their own natural ceilings in different areas. Mine was brilliant - literally knew hundreds of words - but was super protective of her toys or things she deemed hers like sticks - so we just had to keep those away from her when she was around other dogs or kids. You may not be able to train this dog into the perfect Golden Retriever type compliant pet. But you can improve it from where it's at and manage its particularities once you learn them.

Good luck.

I am so sorry about your dog. This is our third dog in a little over a year. We had a papillon mix that had congestive heart failure. We moved June 2021 and she seemed to do better here in the desert. Then about September it just got worse. Coughed all the time and could not sleep. She was on sedatives so she could sleep but eventually those just did not work. We lost her last November. We adopted a sweet old guy in January and we thought we would give him a home for his last few years but he had Cushings and passed quietly in October. I didn’t want another dog. Too much pain but my wife couldn’t resist this little boys face.

 

[Duneaux Harm]

I have two chiweenies. Milo is an adult male that has more Chihauhua in him and looks it. He will be 9 years old next May. He goes haywire whenever the mail person or deliver person is on the street. Vey territorial.

Mitzi is my other one that looks pure Dashi. Female that will be six years old next month. She acts tough to my neighbors two Pit Bulls when they are behind a fence, but is really a kitten when faced with danger otherwise.

You most likely will not train them to be social towards other dogs or strangers, especially kids.. They are a stubborn mix of breed. Barkers, sniffers, troublemakers towards territorial infringements. They like routines and will accept adult company only if that visitor enters the house.

They are also very loyal, separation anxiety pets that love their owners and display affectionate personalities.

As frustrating as they can be with the barking and other intolerance, I wouldn't trade my two in for anything.

They have entertaining personalities and will always make you their most important part of their lives.

Interesting so what you say makes it seem more like breed than other issues perhaps. We have not introduced him to any kids because our neighborhood just does not have that many. She sometimes gets excited with adults and other times not but we introduced him to our neighbors and he seemed okay.

ALso we took him to our daughters and son in laws and he did well there with them.

He is okay with our cat as long as our cat doesnt do anything like move or walk or generally live. No just kidding. However we have only allowed him to be in same room with her if we our holding him.

So let me ask you, what did you do for walks and exercise? We can take Fitz for a quick walk to avoid interactions and let him play in the yard.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

I like dogs more than people. I am not kidding. They are so genuine, no BS. I got two, one is just a little terrorist (33lbs) and is about as cute as anyone could make a dog. She looks like a mini lab total alpha dog personality, ruled the house from the moment she came.

The other was a rescued lab. Not a huge lab (about 60lbs) but she was really skittish when we got her and I know she was abused because she was seriously underweight and kept in a small cage. That was 4 years ago. She is now happy, healthy. The two dogs unbelievably get along as sisters. They sleep with each other, play, tug away and walk together.

So I have been really lucky. But it is hilarious seeing the smaller dog try and bully the bigger dog. The only issue, I suspect that the girl who had our rescue dog before, her boyfriend abused her because she is fiercely protective of our house when people come to the door and even my fenced in yard. I wish how I knew I could calm her down in these situations.

 

[USN_Panther]

Interesting so what you say makes it seem more like breed than other issues perhaps. We have not introduced him to any kids because our neighborhood just does not have that many. She sometimes gets excited with adults and other times not but we introduced him to our neighbors and he seemed okay.

ALso we took him to our daughters and son in laws and he did well there with them.

He is okay with our cat as long as our cat doesnt do anything like move or walk or generally live. No just kidding. However we have only allowed him to be in same room with her if we our holding him.

So let me ask you, what did you do for walks and exercise? We can take Fitz for a quick walk to avoid interactions and let him play in the yard.

Good on you for giving this dog a chance. So many just need to be loved and re-taught to be a pet.
We have adopted a greyhound. Greys are funny creatures. They lay around most of the day, then get the zoomies where they run around all crazy for a few minutes.
Our Bertram is a retired racer. He was a good one too. But as a racer, these dogs do not live normal dog lives. He listens and aims to please. We've had him 6 months and it took him a while to adjust to being a pet dog. He just didn't know what to do. Now he sniffs and explores and digs and hides his toys. He still doesn't know how to play with other dogs. If they are just running and chasing he's fine. Just last week two other dogs were playing around wrestling and play biting each other at the dog park. Bertram saw this and wanted to play. He grasped the one dog by the neck straight off and that was the end of that outing. He let go when we told him. He just didn't know how to play that way. He seemed confused to what he did wrong. He didn't hurt the other dog, but that could have gone very wrong quickly.
It is a process and you can't express anger at the dog. Be stern and consistent, but also reassuring and reward them. Bertram doesn't do well with scolding, but he gets upset if he doesn't please us. Pleasing us is his primary motivation, not food.
All the best with your new family member. I applaud you for doing this.

 

[Duneaux Harm]

Good on you for giving this dog a chance. So many just need to be loved and re-taught to be a pet.
We have adopted a greyhound. Greys are funny creatures. They lay around most of the day, then get the zoomies where they run around all crazy for a few minutes.
Our Bertram is a retired racer. He was a good one too. But as a racer, these dogs do not live normal dog lives. He listens and aims to please. We've had him 6 months and it took him a while to adjust to being a pet dog. He just didn't know what to do. Now he sniffs and explores and digs and hides his toys. He still doesn't know how to play with other dogs. If they are just running and chasing he's fine. Just last week two other dogs were playing around wrestling and play biting each other at the dog park. Bertram saw this and wanted to play. He grasped the one dog by the neck straight off and that was the end of that outing. He let go when we told him. He just didn't know how to play that way. He seemed confused to what he did wrong. He didn't hurt the other dog, but that could have gone very wrong quickly.
It is a process and you can't express anger at the dog. Be stern and consistent, but also reassuring and reward them. Bertram doesn't do well with scolding, but he gets upset if he doesn't please us. Pleasing us is his primary motivation, not food.
All the best with your new family member. I applaud you for doing this.

Fitz gets active around 8 pm. When he gets the zoomies it is something to behold.

 

[Pantherguy4]

God bless you!

 

[ShipofFools]

Interesting so what you say makes it seem more like breed than other issues perhaps. We have not introduced him to any kids because our neighborhood just does not have that many. She sometimes gets excited with adults and other times not but we introduced him to our neighbors and he seemed okay.

ALso we took him to our daughters and son in laws and he did well there with them.

He is okay with our cat as long as our cat doesnt do anything like move or walk or generally live. No just kidding. However we have only allowed him to be in same room with her if we our holding him.

So let me ask you, what did you do for walks and exercise? We can take Fitz for a quick walk to avoid interactions and let him play in the yard.

Perhaps Fitz is a little more social outside the house than our two, which is good. Good luck with the cat though. When we take ours outside to do business if they spot a cat or rabbit they want to chase.

They love to walk. We used to walk ours everyday around the neighborhood, but had to cease. Too many people let their dogs loose and they would come after ours. There are bike trails along the river where we live. Dogs must be leashed and we walk them down the trails.

We also take them to Cook Forest where we rent a cabin every year. They love the walks through those trails. I fenced in part of my yard for outside time as well.

Enjoy and congrats on your new member to the family!! Sorry to hear of your other two.