Rufus got to see his brother Buzz and owner last night at group class.  He was sooo excited and jumped up to greet her.  And then he did something that surprised us all.  His owner worked with him for a bit and when she did he began acting a little defensive towards another dog.  Not aggressive by any means but barking and pulling at the leash.  This showed me a couple things.  First is that he is getting more confident.  I noticed in the past couple days that he has been using his voice more.  His self esteem is improving and its starting to show.  The second thing that we noticed  is that he is at a intricate part of his rehabilitation.  When you take a dog from nervous to confident you have to make sure to keep his new found esteem in check.  All of a sudden you have this dog that feels proud of himself and realizes he has control and since its so new to them they don’t know how to control it.  Sometimes you don’t know what type of personality you will find underneath all that pent up nervousness.  With Rufus we still have a great tempered dog.  It will be important that his owners take control of any unwanted behavior right away so that he understands its wrong.

Later in the afternoon Rufus had another group class, this time he spent the hour with his other owner, Lindee.  Again he did amazing and surprised everyone with his progress.  Malaika and I got some good video footage of him also.  Stay posted because we will have it on the website.

Next week Iam going to focus on some off leash/distance work.  Ive noticed that he appears a little ‘stuck’ when he is farther away from us.  He becomes unsure of what to do and a little nervous.  Even though I’m never very far away I think he feels like he’s been left alone.  I want him to be comfortable exploring and standing on his own two feet.  I also want to get more sound exposure in.  The park we had group at had quite a few cars going by and the noise from them made him uneasy.  I only have 6 more days with him and I want to make them count.

I also wanted to mention some tail news.  The first day when I brought Rufus on a run his tail was tucked under and he lagged behind us.  Today when we ran his tail was up high and he was right upfront with my dog.  Yay, we have improved his self esteem which in turn has made him less fearful!

Nurture vs Nature

First its important to understand the difference between nurture and nature. Nature:   There are some breeds that are generally more nervous than others (Vizslas, chihuahuas, some terrier breeds, german shepards even).  And then there are just some dogs that are more nervous than others no matter what the breed, they were just predisposed to being nervous.  It is a part of their temperament the same way Evel Knievel had the personality of a dare devil.  For example I got my first Boston Manuel as a 12 week old puppy.  He was a happy pup who went everywhere and did everything with me.  He was exposed to all types of people, noises, places, ect.  He is going to be 6 in April and in those 6 years has never been through a traumatic or frightening experience.  Yet I still tease him and call him a nervous nelly because he decides to be anxious and nervous for random reasons.  He isn’t a severe case by any means but he is still an example of a dog who is nervous due to nature.

Than we have nurture.  Most will probably associate the nurture part of anxiety with shelter dogs, abused dogs, or stray dogs.  Though these are all legitimate examples of why a dog acts nervous/anxious/fearful, there is another group of anxiety nurturing behaviors that 99% of owners don’t recognize.  So how do you nurture anxiety?  You pick up the chihuahua who appears nervous on a walk in the park.  You pet and coo the lab who is hiding from the thunderstorm.  You give a treat to the mutt who hides under the bed when you have company over.  Every time you reward or agree with a nervous behavior you are strengthening the behavior.  To humans its natural the try to protect and help animals when we see them in distress, the same way we would a child.  Unfortunately for the animal we are only making things worse.

So what about Rufus?  My opinion is that Rufus’s behavior is due to both nurture and nature.  I believe that he is a dog with a natural timid/reserved temperament.  To top that off he did have a traumatic experience happen in his life.  Then he was adopted by 2 loving and compassionate women who tried to help Rufus to the best of their ability.  They did the right thing by bringing in professionals to help them.  When Rufus goes home he will be ready for a new lifestyle.  I will teach his owners how to deal with him when he gets nervous or goes to hide.  Give them tools to help him through his emotions instead of nurturing them.

*Its important to point out that a dog who starts out as nervous, fearful, timid or anxious dog can end up with even more behavioral issues such as aggression or destructive behavior.  For this reason it is important to hire a trainer at the first signs of a behavioral problem.

Tonight Rufus will join in on our weekly Wednesday night group class.  Then we head over to a vet hospital to help as trainers at a puppy party.

He is getting better at the place command.  A little less shaking and a little less trying to get off.  He does really well with ‘come.’  He seems to be walking better on a leash too, very little pulling.  He has a good sit.  Tomorrow I am going to pick it up a notch.  We are going to work a  little bit longer and expose him to even more new places.  I have to keep him on his toes and always thinking.

He is really going at a rawhide right now.  He is getting so much more comfortable around the house.  He doesn’t move away when you walk by him.  He is getting more vocal with Mo.  Whenever he does one of his nervous behaviors I laugh out loud at him and give him a rough pet.  It is almost as if I am exaggerated around him.  Because he is so sensitive to touch, sound, and space (how close you are to him, how open he is in a room), I can’t respond by being super gentle or we wont ever progress.  I have to be super animated and even when hes stiff with nerves I give him a real strong pet and act a little silly.  I want him to look at me like I am a weirdo, then he will realize its actually all normal and ok.  This is why it takes so long to rehabilitate a nervous dog.  Every time they progress a level  you have to meet that level and push him a little towards the next.  And this is always done on their time.  You can’t rush a nervous/anxious dog.  But when is all said and done…it will be worth it because you will have a happy, balanced dog.  I believe Rufus is on his way!