Fear Aggression
Our lab of 16 years passed away this past January. The first of August we adopted a roughly 2 year old lab mix from a rescue organazation. We know she was from a divorce couple and neither wanted her....
Forum Discussion
An update on Sahara. We went on a week long camping trip. She did very well on our walks around the campground. Every now and then she would let a bark out at someone, but never got aggressive toward anyone. When someone would want to pet her, I would tell them I couldn't let them and then explain why. Most would then stay and talk for a few minutes which would allow Sahara to experience new people near her. I am going to take treats on our next trips and let people who ask to throw her some treats. She is treat driven.
Her obedience training is going well. She is responding well to commands and learning new ones. When it is wet outside and she comes in from bathroom, we dry her feet with a towel. She has learned that as soon as we pick up that towel, she will lay on her back and put her feet up in the air for us to dry.
One thing that I have noticed is her actions around other dogs. It is like a calming affect. If she is showing any anxiety when we come up on someone, if they have a dog she will calm down as soon as the dog walks up.
I have taught her how to go up and down stairs. Evidently she hadn't been exposed to them. She was very scared of steps when we first tried. Getting her in the camper was hard. It took me over 2 months to get her in the basement using the steps. I started by helping her down and up. She got use to going up but was afraid to go down. After working with her she would go down, but would end up going so fast she was missing 4 to 5 steps at a time. I started using a command of "slow" and today she went down and stopped a couple of times and used every step. I know that doesn't sound like much to most, but for her it is an accomplishment.
We have found out something that is disturbing. My wife got a broom out to clean the front porch. It was the first time that she had been around one while we have had her. As soon as she saw the broom, she went into a cower, started shaking and ran into the dining room an hid under the table drawn up in a ball shaking. It took my wife some time to get her calmed down to see she wasn't about to be hit with it.
She still has some issues with noise and being scared. Most seems to be sounds she hasn't heard and doesn't know how to react. She is still wanting to investigate some new things, verses running from them, which is good.
All in all we are seeing some progress, but still have a long way to go.
Her obedience training is going well. She is responding well to commands and learning new ones. When it is wet outside and she comes in from bathroom, we dry her feet with a towel. She has learned that as soon as we pick up that towel, she will lay on her back and put her feet up in the air for us to dry.
One thing that I have noticed is her actions around other dogs. It is like a calming affect. If she is showing any anxiety when we come up on someone, if they have a dog she will calm down as soon as the dog walks up.
I have taught her how to go up and down stairs. Evidently she hadn't been exposed to them. She was very scared of steps when we first tried. Getting her in the camper was hard. It took me over 2 months to get her in the basement using the steps. I started by helping her down and up. She got use to going up but was afraid to go down. After working with her she would go down, but would end up going so fast she was missing 4 to 5 steps at a time. I started using a command of "slow" and today she went down and stopped a couple of times and used every step. I know that doesn't sound like much to most, but for her it is an accomplishment.
We have found out something that is disturbing. My wife got a broom out to clean the front porch. It was the first time that she had been around one while we have had her. As soon as she saw the broom, she went into a cower, started shaking and ran into the dining room an hid under the table drawn up in a ball shaking. It took my wife some time to get her calmed down to see she wasn't about to be hit with it.
She still has some issues with noise and being scared. Most seems to be sounds she hasn't heard and doesn't know how to react. She is still wanting to investigate some new things, verses running from them, which is good.
All in all we are seeing some progress, but still have a long way to go.
