plebayo wrote:I am from the club of, you let me touch it, poke it, squeeze it or we'll need to have a serious discussion.
amazincc wrote:I don't think euthanasia is justified at this point.
airwalk wrote:It is very hard (Christine and Michelle you guys know this). It is a lifestyle - it governs what you can do, when you can do it, how you can do it and with whom you can do it. Whether he is HA (which maybe not) or just having lots of anxiety issues - either way this is a long process that may never be good, just managed.
airwalk wrote:It would be wonderful if a home that is able to handle him and is willing to handle him can be found...but i can tell you from personal experience of trying to place hundreds of dogs with "issues" every year...those homes exist but it's a bit like looking for a needle in the haystack and there is still a dog and his issues to be handled in the meantime.
airwalk wrote:Shanna and Bob love Troubles that much...they would do whatever and have done whatever it takes...but Duke is new to their home and doesn't sound like he is making himself easy to love that much.
mnp13 wrote:amazincc wrote:I don't think euthanasia is justified at this point.
Justified? There are a ba-zillion dogs out there with issues, Duke is one of the very very lucky ones who ended up in a home that is trying very hard to work with him. I wish that there were more options open to you for training, but even if there were, that still may not be a great fit for you. You have to make the best decision for the two of you, Trouble and Duke and not justify it to anyone.
We do not routinely smack either dog for their behavior, and for Duke that wasn't a good move. I suspect he has many past demons we do not know about. If that is true, they are sure to rear their ugly heads on occasion. We must choose how to live with that.
My fear with this is that you never know if a new person is going to trigger him. Do we even take that chance with him anymore? And doesn't his quality of life go down if we eliminate human contact other than ourselves?
katiek0417 wrote:You're putting human emotions on this dog. Dogs don't NEED other people to have a good quality of life. We have dogs in our house that we DO NOT allow people to touch...does that mean they have a poor quality of life? No! Our dogs are happy, healthy, they play with each other, they play with us. Jue, in fact, is quite content having only Greg and I in his life. Cy is an aloof dog, I have to be careful with him meeting new people. I have a new puppy that I'm raising that I suspect may not be totally social when he gets older. I will continue to try to socialize him, but I understand it may not happen. That's fine...I'll deal with it. With a dog that isn't as social, it just means that you need to be more guarded. You can't be as lax with the dog...it doesn't take major lifestyle changes. People think it does...but I can take our non-social dogs in public....I take Jue down to the pier by my house when there are people down there and let him off-leash and play with him (he loves to swim)...I take Cy and Dru out to PetSmart/Petco...I just use alot of obedience, and I stay more guarded when we're out. I keep my eyes out for stupid people, but my dogs still love life...Quality of life comes from YOU...
And YOU and BOB are giving him a good quality of life.
He allows himself to be muzzled without any problem, and maybe someone in his prior life trained that into him. He is not pushy and bossy unless triggered. I think, as some of you pointed out, he is intolerant of some things. While I respect that he must tell us in the only way he knows, I have issues with a dog that will react that badly to the people who care for him. We do not routinely smack either dog for their behavior, and for Duke that wasn't a good move.
Pit♥Bull wrote:P.S.
Just an FYI..... When a 'smack' was mentioned I suppose it wasn't made clear.
The 'smack' was no harder than the affectionate 'pats' he receives many times during the day. I was just trying to get his attention as he is bad about going in to 'focus' mode. Kinda like tunnel vision.
No, we contacted one but weren't impressed and all the others are several hours drive which makes it rather impracticable. And we thought we had made real progress until the latest incidentmaberi wrote:Just wondering if you ever got Duke into see a trainer? I know you were looking for one a few months back
TheRedQueen wrote:a dog that choses "fight" rather than "flight"
Pit♥Bull wrote:Feet are 'off limits'.
He cannot be awakened by touching.
He cannot be trusted around other humans or animals.
It will take major lifestyle changes for us to continue giving him a happy home.
I don't frighten easily but he had me in major fear for my life.
I could not and will not consider having someone else adopt him.
This 'fear' was short lived (momentary) and I never backed down from him or let the fear be shown, all is back to normal as he still takes corrections well. I think rather than 'fear' I was just dumbfounded for the moment.mnp13 wrote:However I will say that if you fear for your own safety with Duke in your home then you need to remove him from your home immediately.
DemoDick wrote:From everything you have written about Duke, I do not believe that he is "human aggressive.". In fact, I think the opposite is likely true. He has had multiple opportunities to bite, and he has specifically avoided doing so. He is literally trying to figure out "How do I make Dad stop doing this without biting him?". Hence his repeated warnings without contact.
I think you are misunderstanding his behaviors as disobedience or aggression when he is in fact just problem solving using what has worked before. It seems like you and his previous owners have unknowingly taught him to use unfriendly, anti-social behaviors to make unpleasant things go away and that is the first tool he pulls out of the toolbox.
I'm sure it can be fixed, but it will require that you both learn to see the world through his eyes and stop qualifying his behaviors as "good" or "bad," as all he understands is what "works" and "doesn't work." Fixing this will require a step back to coldly analyze and discover why he acts the way he does. You will have to drop any and all preconceptions about why you think he is doing X, because you don't know and are assuming too much. You guys are also going to have to learn to pick your battles and allow the dog some space, as you can't control every aspect of his life and behavior.
Fixing this is not for everyone, but it can be done. If you do decide to tackle this problem it will give you a new skill set to more clearly communicate with future dogs. On the flipside, you have to understand that this is a learning process and it takes time and patience, and while you're figuring it out you still have a dog to deal with and manage.
Demo Dick
TheRedQueen wrote:
Demo...I wuv you.
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