Living with Ben, northern breed mix

I am so proud of him.

He and Tai had to be taken to the vet last night, as their latest bout of the dreaded giardia has not been shifted with the usual 5 day dosage of Panacur, and so therefore a course of Metronidazole was required.

We thought we would try a new vet much closer to where we live, so an appointment was made and with Ben firmly muzzled, we entered the surgery with some trepidation. Luckily we were called in pretty quickly. So far so good.

We had a lovely young vet, who listened to everything we had to say, and spent about half an hour giving each dog the once over. He examined Ben first, but spent a good 10 minutes crouched on the floor beside him rubbing his ears and ruff. Suddenly Ben rolled onto his side and stuck his head in the vet's crotch, which I told him he only did with those people who he liked! Ben was exemplary, and the vet then moved on to Tai and took Ben's muzzle off. He stood quietly next to Tai whilst he was examined, and even licked the vet's hand! What a change from 6 months ago, when he had wet eczema and it took 3 vets to hold him down!

We then went back out into Reception, which by now was very crowded with 2 or 3 dogs coming in on leads. My heart was in my mouth because in enclosed spaces, on the lead, Ben has been very aggressive in the past. OH wanted to put the muzzle back on, but I said no, leave him, just keep a tight hold of the lead and I will block him if he starts anything. That wonderful dog never uttered a squeak, he was so good. he had cats in baskets being waived under his nose, dogs walking past him, and he was simply wonderful. He is such a good boy, he almost showed Tai up who showed rather too much interest in one of the cats!

Positive proof I think that you should never give up on even the most aggressive of dogs, it is possible to turn them around. We are not out of the woods yet, by no means, but this is a big, big step for Ben. We have ordered a baskerville muzzle for him for when we go to Devon after the new year so that we don't have to keep him on the lead whilst we see whether he will be less aggressive with other large male dogs. We have discovered that it is black or in particular black and tan dogs that he will attack - he was attacked several times by a female rottweiler apparently, and we are wondering whether this influenced him, although she was a bitch and it is only males that he is aggressive with.

They each weigh 45 kilos, which means that Ben is about 3-5 kilos overweight, so it is important that he can run free as much as possible on those lovely Devon beaches!

Happy Christmas everyone from my two beautiful boys!!

Aw, well done Ben (and Tai of course).

Thanx!! I am so proud of him.

Just now, he and Tai together have licked the platter clean from breakfast with the scraps which I thought was potentially very dodgy bearing in mind the fights they used to have over food, but they shared beautifully with no trouble.

Happy Crimpo everyone!!

Well done Ben and owners!

It's great when I see this sort of post. In January, I had my dog, Jack, PTS due to fearful aggression (DA/HA). None of the trainers were able to give me any advice other than to stay away from dogs/people, keep him muzzled and leashed at all times, and put him on medications like DAP while in the house. I would have been able to manage it, but it didn't seem like a life worth living for Jack, tbh.

Every time I read about someones milestone with an aggressive dog, I find myself smiling.

Congratulations! I hope you keep improving with Ben. Happy Holidays!

Emma

Well done Ben

Kismet had a two steps back, one forward day today... she has a muzzle while walking but is fear aggressive particularly to small white dogs having been attacked by westies and jack russels in the past... True to form we had the lunging snarling wolf monster from hell when we were surrounded by yapping Sh*tshus in the car park... good job I muzzled her in the car before we got out, idiot just opened his door and let the little monsters run up and yap at everyone... She did get one of them pinned, there were too many, I couldn't block them all, but luckily the muzzle meant no-one was seriously hurt and maybe the idiot will learn for next time to at least look to see who else is in the car park.

We then had lunge and panic at the next three dogs we saw... but by the end of the walk she (and I) had calmed down and we finished the walk happily pottering behind a pair of horses and walking with a labradoodle and a springer we had bumped into on the walk...

She is not a bad dog. Just scared and over reactive.

She is so much better. than she was.. But sometimes we have setbacks. Only a couple of days ago she played so nicely with a jack russel we met on the field I was considering there may be a time when the muzzle could come off. But the today reminded me that, that would be a risk not worth taking with her life.