Keeping my Good Dog Good

Man, I'm bad at blogging regularly. I've done so much in the past year it's hard to even know where to start. I went to New York! I was in a play! I'm in another play! I taught full time! There is no way I could write about all these things in one post so I'm not even going to try. That being said, I do want to talk about something that has been on my mind lately.

My dog, Chewie, as many of you know who are reading this, is my best friend. He is a big furry ball of amazing and I wouldn't trade him for the world. That being said, I never thought I would get a big dog. I always pictured myself having an animal more in kinship with my own personality, little and lazy. Chewie is big, and not lazy and I've learned a lot having him for the past almost 3 years.

One thing about having a big dog is that you just can't ignore some of the behaviours little dogs have. If your dog is little, and they are growling, people aren't usually scared. If Chewie growls at them, people can be terrified. I can't pick Chewie up and remove him from the situation that is making him growl. So, when he started showing some signs of being nervous, and had a few small to medium incidents with humans and other dogs, I decided to consult a trainer from Cowichan Canine.

Now, Chewie graduated from the Foundation Program at Cowichan Canine with distinction. He is one smart puppy. But his anxiety has gotten to the point now where he doesn't always listen to me, and sometimes he is so fearful it overrides his better nature. He has never drawn blood or hurt another human. He has never bitten another dog, though he has gotten into altercations (barking, snapping, growling etc).

Bottom line here, I want to keep it so he doesn't EVER bite any person, or any dog.

So, when the trainer came on Tuesday I was really nervous. So nervous that Chewie picked up on my anxiety and really didn't like the trainer. He reacted pretty much as badly as he has ever reacted to a person, with his teeth bared, his hackles raised and vocalized his discomfort. He is always nervous of people coming to the front door, but this was extreme.

My heart dropped.

I then spent 2 hours in my living room, without Chewie, talking to the trainer about his history, what the problems were and how we move forward. My heart dropped a second time when she said that maybe this was genetic, and no matter what we did he may always be a nervous or reactive dog.

So, I've spent the last 2 days thinking to myself, where do I go from here? I know Chewie may never be "cured". He may always be nervous of people, and other dogs. Just because he wasn't that way for the first 2 years of his life, doesn't mean he won't be for the rest of it. How do I manage a 100 pound scaredy dog? Do I constantly isolate him from people, and only walk him in the dark or out in the boonies? Do I put him in his pen when someone visits, and do I never introduce him to new people or things? This is a dog I used to take camping and with me pretty much everywhere.

With the help of the trainer, and one or two sleepless nights, this is the plan:

Step One: I'm muzzle training him. After speaking with my friend who had a people aggressive dog for 8 years, this is something I've come to terms with. If I can get it to the point where Chewie sees wearing the muzzle as a good thing, what's the harm in him wearing it?
I'm muzzle training my dog for the following reasons:
1) To keep him safe as much as the people and other dogs around him safe
2) To be able to take him places and to be able to relax while doing it
3) So I can bring people up to my front door and have them not worry about Chewie scaring them
4) To control that initial greet so that after he becomes comfortable with people/dogs, we can take it off

What I'm worried about: people will be more scared of him and then he will feed off that fear. People will think he is a biter, or a killer, or aggressive. He is not a mean dog, just anxious. How can I communicate that when we are out? Maybe I'll wear a sign around my neck or something.

MY DOG IS WEARING A MUZZLE FOR PREVENTATIVE MEASURES! Please be calm.

Maybe that's a lot to have on a neck sign.

Step Two: Counter Conditioning. We are currently working on counter conditioning him to be fine with people walking in front of our house. This involves many treats and seems to calm him down. If you want to watch a video on what this looks like, click here and see. I'm hoping this helps with managing people being in our yard, coming up to the front door, etc.

Step Three: Manage his fears, and manage my own. I know Chewie feeds off my energy, and I know that I have to work on my anxiety so that we can work on his. And I am. I truly think the muzzle will help. Writing this blog post is a substep within this step. Being vocal, being honest about what I'm going through helps me process and helps me to realize that what Chewie and I are experiencing is normal. I think I'll have to talk to my neighbours, too. Maybe I'll post a letter up near the mail boxes.

Step Four: Continue the training and try to follow the trainers instructions as best as possible. I want to be proactive instead of reactive. The best thing for Chewie is the best thing for me, and visa versa.

Step Five: Still do stuff he thinks is fun! This is again, where I'm hoping the muzzle will help. He does love people, and dogs, once he knows that everything is safe. I'm hoping maybe he can meet some new dog friends and be social. He loves going for hikes, and it's my own fear that is stopping us.

So I guess that's it for now. I would do anything for Chewie, so I hope that we can move forward positively and proactively, and educate along the way!