Case history-Cherry

Kerry Blue terrier rehomed aged 2 years and 11 months as owner had allergic new baby requiring a 7 hour lung operation

Fine for 1st month in new home then exhbited dog aggression/reactivity. (unsure whether she was "finding her feet" or had bad experience at groomers as groomer had up to 20 dogs running loose together)

Took her to training class for help and advised by trainer to shake her by scruff of neck when she got reactive to another dog being nearby.

Got a lot worse so I considered having her put to sleep at the lowest point as felt out of my depth and hadn't wanted a dog reactive dog.

Saw a brilliant behaviourist (Attila) who taught positive clicker and treat training and said she wasn't as bad as I thought as his dog Fly wasn't bothered by her.

Persevered with training her to ignore other dogs and "watch me" command. Got through a pile of cheese!

She now has lots of doggy "friends" and can mix with small strange dogs and larger dogs that she knows.

Has 2 obedience trophies and would have been a brilliant competition dog for agility if I could ever have trusted her!! Had been doing agility up to earlier this year but when we went for a specialist check-up at the vets re her eyes the vet was shocked when I said she had been doing agility as she said she was almost blind and couldn't see the equipment. I was close to tears when she said we must have a fantastic bond (never thought of me and Cherry being a good match until then!).

I have learnt a lot from caring for Cherry and I appreciate her good qualities of which she has many.

This is a link to a series of video lectures by Jean Donaldson.
http://www.youtube.com/user/PerfectP...836A5CBED30189
It`s a talk on dog body language, which is interesting.

Aww - thats fab

Fly could be a cow when she wanted to be!!

What a refreshing thread. I dont have any videos Can you upload a video to Youtube from your phone?

And what is the message of this thread?
what is the core principle of all we are reading?
TIME TIME TIME

Huge respect and commendation to all the owners on here who have demonstrated true devotion, patience and fortitude regarding their dogs ...

Now how do I bottle this and sell it to every owner I meet

What a lovely idea Claire

What a great, positive thread. Proof again and again that with hard work and a huge amount of patience anything is possible. You get out what you put in.

Lovely thread ~ great idea C&D And so heart-warming to hear of all the successes with these dogs now leading happy lives.

Wilma's Story:

Picked up as a stray, approx 3 years old & in 2 different rescue kennels for about 6 months. Very timid with adult new people, hand shy, handling issues, & would lunge & nip to get strangers to move away. Once a chased a lady jogger & pulled her trackie bottoms down.

Method: For new introductions at first, she was introduced in the presence of the rescue centre handler that she trusted, & strangers were sitting down & offered treats. She very quickly took treats & allowed herself to be petted but would bark & lunge if the stranger stood up. Everything was done slowly, quietly & in a non-threatening manner until she accepted the person.

Once rehomed she improved very quickly & had a fantastic recall from day one. IMO she was greatly helped by my other dog & watched him closely to see what the "house rules" were. Handling problems with people she knew resolved themselves very quickly by going slowly & using treats. Out on walks she was recalled at the sight of other people & distracted by using treats & her ball ~ quickly learned that strangers very rarely approached her & she could safely ignore them. Now she can be petted by anyone, even tall adults & positively adores children & makes a beeline for them & tries to engage them in tennis ball games

The only remaining problems are that she'll bark at strangers coming into the house or garden but in the last few months she has met probably 4-5 strangers coming into the home, has barked just once, then made friends & settled very quickly. In fact her way of making friends is to join them on the sofa & lick/nudge them into submission! It works too as they are all very flattered by her attention

I have a sad story too but won't ruin this positive thread.

Utterly fantastic thread and thoroughly interesting read Have a difficult dog myself and still working through his training, it's so good to read all of these and learn your methods.

With Cain, no magic here, just time....lots and lots and lots of time. Going slowly, keeping everything within his comfort zone when possible but also learning when to push him a little to progress (my dog trainer is better at this, I still find it difficult to trust Cain not to react badly). Learning to read his body language and react/control a situation before he does. Learned appropriate rewards (food works in quiet environments but toys outside).

He's getting on well but I may have to admit that he may never be that dog who I can take everywhere with me or volunteer him as a PAT dog etc. But he's lovely and loving to me and a wonderful dog in the house. Quite frankly if I can just get him to a point where he can be let off lead on his walks to run and play, that's all I ask and I think he'd be a happy dog

C&D very interested in your story about Daisy. I would dearly love to get Cain to a level where he to could play with childrne in the park (or at least just have them in the vicinity and trust him!). With you "if she reacts, go home" method, how did that work if you were a long way into the walk? Cain lunges far less now but sometimes he does it when we are a good 30 mins walk away from home, surely at this points he wouldn't make the connection? Or was this only for the early days with Daisy?

Really facinating stuff You are all amazing. Well done for your dedication.

Wilbar, I would be interested to know about your sad tale too sometimes, although I agree it's nice to keep this thread positive I'll certainly come back and read this thread after a bad day with Cain to make me feel positive again.

It does help to look back somehow and realise how far you have come, Try writing things down.

The other day I popped Polly in the playpen because someone she doesn't really know was coming and forgot to say not to touch her. Pollly was great, didn't think about biting and enjoyed the fuss.

I know she is 12 now but that felt good even so! Especially after how bad she was at the vets.

rune