Help with potential rescued dog adoption
 

Looking for some advice from anyone who's adopted a rescue animal. Our previous dog passed away last November (I had her for almost 18 years) and we think we're ready to adopt again.

Lucy is a 1-year-old terrier/poodle mix who was rescued from animal control in San Jose after being picked up as a stray. We met her at an adoption fair and are currently on a 7-day trial adoption run to see how she fits in with our lives.

But we've run into some issues. Lucy was fine around small dogs and strangers previously - at least at the adoption fair. When we brought her home and started walking her around our neighbourhood, she was skittish around big vehicles and big dogs and just wary of strangers (she would stop walking, watch them walk by, then continue walking). We introduced her to my mom and everything went fine.

But after a somewhat scary experience for her at our vet during a checkup yesterday (she's never been there before and she started trembling the moment she entered the clinic), she's now started growling at strangers during our walks. I tried to introduce her to some coworkers and she growled and snapped at them. She even growled at me this morning after I appeared from the bedroom (though when she realized it was me, she became happy/excited as usual).

Is it possible that her experience at the vet just brought back bad memories of being at animal control and she'll go back her old self after a day or two? Or is this a sign of something else? Where/who should we go to in order to help her with stranger/dog socialization if she doesn't improve with time? Is this something that we have to expect with adopting from a rescue?

At home, Lucy is a great dog... if somewhat possessive (still learning, I suppose) but cuddly and loves stealing socks. But given recent developments in her behaviour, I'm not sure if we should still forge ahead with her or return her to the woman who rescued her. :( We feel totally horrid for even thinking about doing that but the thought of dealing with a scared, growling, barking, biting dog on each of our walks makes us hesitate.

Thanks.

Lucy, the sock stealer:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c44/seakrait/lucy.jpg

Its like dating single moms with bagage,

You can either deal with the damaged goods and love them,

or you cant handle it and move on to someone who isnt damaged.

That dog is still young, and can be trained and integrated.

its just wether or not your willing to put in the time to do it,

sure as hell wont get fixed in 7 days

What is her history?

I would say those behaviors are due to environment change from animal control to your area. As long as you don't reinforce them, they will go away.

- Keep her on a short but relaxed leash.
- Don't freak out when there's strangers coming by. Dogs can sense if you panic.
- If you know your neighbor, say hi when they walk by. She'll learn that they're your 'friends' and there's nothing to worry about.
- Be assertive, dont be afraid. You're rescuing a dog. Rescue dogs have some sort of problem most of the time. You can help them rehab get over it. Most problematic dogs exist because of the owner who don't want to rehab them and give in to their bad behaviour instead.

My puppy daschund used to stop and avoid strangers and especially dogs. He just ignore them now.

As for growling at you, I'd say shes still adjusting to your presence. My dog does one of those half bark when he's startled--like when he heard us open the door.

As a proponent of The Dog Whisperer's philosophies (works for us, anyway), the first thing you need to do is establish yourself as the "pack leader" around the home. For Groucho, something as simple as not letting him jump up on me made an immediate, BIG difference: by stopping this, I let him know that he didn't have the right to invade my space, that I would not be submissive to him.

Work on gaining control at home (that might include NOT letting her steal socks; basically anything that lets her think she can claim things from you). As she comes to recognize you as "the boss", she'll realize that protecting your pack when you're out is YOUR job, not hers.

It's important that you not baby her - this particularly includes not scooping her up and coddling her when she freaks out. When you do that, you're reinforcing that behaviour.

When we first got Daisy, she had been returned because of this type of behaviour around the home: she'd been the alpha in her litter, and her first adoptive family babied her and let her take over the house... which culminated in her nipping one of the kids for petting one of the other dogs in the house. The day we took her for fostering, we took her straight to the small-dog park, where she spent the whole time with her tail under and hiding between our feet, begging to be picked up. We refused and forced her to deal with other dogs on her own level... three straight days of this, and while she still kept close, her tail was up and she wasn't begging to be picked up. We took he back by the store and they told us she didn't even seem like the same dog, the change was that profound... just by letting her BE a dog.

I'd suggest watching (or re-watching) Dog Whisperer, especially if there are any episodes that pertain to this behaviour... but most importantly, PAY ATTENTION not just what WHAT he does, but WHY he handles a specific dog the way he does (as he says, a big part of his job is to TRAIN PEOPLE).

And if you want to have her evaluated by a trainer, I'd suggest Desiree at In The Dog House (In the Doghouse: Canine Training and Behavior Inc.)

(edit: Lucy sure is adorable!)

^Yup, we never pick up our dog either. If another dog appear to be excessively aggressive, we just body block and intimidate it. Most of the time, if they just want to socialize, we let them even though ours appear to be scared. By not picking them up, you helps establishing their confidence.

I'd say OP's case is nothing to worry about. Do it right and you'll be fine. There are no hopeless dog.

Strictly a training issue.

With a bit of training in a proper home with good owners those issues will disappear the vast majority of the time.

once she finds security and has faith in you then she will be fine

Thanks for all the great advice. We're definitely trying to make sure we're being consistent with praise and discipline, keeping in mind she probably didn't get much of either as a stray or as a fostered dog. We're working on establishing ourselves as pack leaders and hopefully with that will come a calmer dog outside.

One note . If the dog is weary of strangers they probably weren't socialized much when a young pup. Don't let strangers come up to the dog. Take the dog to places where there are people and just let her watch. Walk by the people in the neighbourhood, let the dog see them but ask them not to approach. As she shows that she is more comfortable encourage the dog to go up to someone (pick someone calm). Having the dog approach allows them to feel more comfortable, this way they know that they can retreat if they feel threatened.

^THIS! Remember the story recently about the reporter who was bitten by the rescued dog: dog was stressed, overwhelmed with all the attention, she got in the dog's face, uninvited... and he responded the natural way a dog would when he feels threatened.

Edit: see Cesar's response here: http://www.cesarsway.com/newsandeven...n-TV-and-Radio

We officially adopted Lucy last week! :D

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...C_0373edit.jpg

we had our first puppy socialization class this past saturday at bow wow haus (where the adoption fair was held when we picked her up) and it went great. she interacted well with the other dogs there and was licking every human in sight. she acted just as she did at the adoption fair which was great to see. we've got level 1 obedience classes starting this saturday as well.

on the leash, however, she's still different. but she's much better at ignoring strangers now and she's letting other dogs get much closer to her before barking. slowly but surely!

Try behavior adjustment training. Google it, works wonders.

Sounds more like leash stress then actually being scared of strangers or other dogs. Alot of dogs who weren't trained to a leash or were given mixed signals end up reacting. Remember to keep a loose leash when people and dogs walk by. This way it keeps the stress levels down. If the dog reacts give a pop and then ignore the situation (it's over, done and gone). If you don't react the dog will realize there is no reason to react. Alot of people make a excited matter worse by reacting in a bigger way then neccessary.