I worked with a dog years ago, a little buff-colored foxy thing, who had been rescued from abominable conditions. She’d spent years tied up in a barn, expected to pump out puppies for a daily feeding of kibble and a bowl of nasty, green water.
And yet, she sashayed into my office like she’d been raised in heaven. She trotted into my office and came over right away to say hello. She loved people and got along well with other dogs. Her owners brought her in because they needed help with house training, not because she had any other behavioral problems.
Soon after, I met a retriever mix who had been raised from puppyhood in a wonderful family. He had everything going for him. Good genes. Well socialized. An enriched environment. And yet, after being attacked by another dog (no injuries, the dog lunged and knocked him down), the retriever fell apart. He was afraid to leave the yard, and became increasingly aggressive to other dogs.
Why did these two dogs respond so differently to negative experiences? One of the answers lies in what psychologists call “resilience,” or the ability to cope with aversive events. It does not mean that one never suffers, or remains chipper in the face of something distressing. It means that one can bounce back from experiencing trauma, like a tree limb bending instead of breaking.
There is a lot of research in human psychology about how one develops resilience. But is any of this relevant to our dogs? I think it might be. Circling back to the article I wrote a few weeks ago on dogs and trauma (The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog) I thought it was important to talk about resilience, and how we can help our dogs develop it.
GENETICS: Of course, the first thing we can do is to consider “resilience” to be an important breeding criteria. Surely the ability to bounce back from something aversive is more important than a dog’s coat color or tail set. If I were queen (don’t hold your breath–it’s unlikely and I’d hate how the crown squished my hair), I’d write that into every breed’s “standard.” There’s no question that a certain amount of resilience is influenced by one’s genetics. A review article by Feder, Nestler & Charney (Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 446-457, June 2009) makes it clear that the genetic make up of an individual can have a significant influence on an animal’s ability to bounce back, primarily by changing the function of multiple neurotransmitter pathways. The importance of the “right stuff” (genetically speaking) is a perfect example of why, yes, it is indeed possible to be a responsible breeder, if one is focusing on producing healthy, happy dogs who have healthy and happy owners. (See my earlier post: Responsible Breeding–An Oxymoron?)
EARLY DEVELOPMENT: We also have overwhelming evidence that what happens during early development can create an adult who copes well with aversive experiences, or falls apart because of them. As first shown in 1962 by Levine, rats coped with novel situations more effectively if subjected to mildly stressful events when younger. Similar results have been found in other mammals (see “Neurobiology of resilience” in Nature Neuroscience, 2012, by Russo and colleagues.) This is the basis for the mildly stressful handling techniques made popular by Carmen Battaglia (see a video here), and well illustrated in Joan Killion’s Puppy Culture, which I reviewed earlier.
It’s important to think of the impact of early stressful experiences like a U: Mildly discomforting events make individuals more resilient, while extremely stressful ones do the opposite. Thus, while we need to raise puppies to experience novelty and mildly stressful events (but not during their “fear period”), we should be doing all we can to avoid stressing dogs too much during critical periods.
CULTIVATING RESILIENCE IN ADULTS: Ah, but here’s the rub. It’s one thing to cultivate resilience before a dog experiences something traumatizing, but another altogether to work on it after the fact. Super resilient dogs can bounce back quickly, like the dog I write about above, but others don’t, and even resilient dogs can be so profoundly traumatized that one needs to start at the beginning.
Our first job is to help a traumatized dog heal, which I address in the article about trauma that I wrote two weeks ago. If this topic is of interest to you, I advise you to read the comments–there is much wisdom and experience there. (The knowledge of some of this blog’s readers sometimes takes my breath away, and I am grateful every day for the village that contributes to this blog.) Summarizing that article, traumatized dogs need 1) a sense of safety and security, 2) a sense of control over their lives, 3) social support, 4) repeated, routine experiences of positive experiences, which take 5) lots of time and patience.
Is there anything else we can use to help dogs, based on what we know about developing resilience in people? One of my favorite science writers, Deborah Blum, wrote a great review article, Finding Strength: How to Overcome Anything on resilience in people. (Another great resource is Project Resilience.) These sources emphasize that here is no predicting how any one individual will respond. Each individual has his or her own path to travel, and I would argue this is equally true in dogs.
This may sound trivial (of course everyone is different!), but I mention it because I’ve had so many clients over the years who were either frustrated by their dog, or felt like failures as owners, because their dog hasn’t progressed as fast as they (or others) felt they should. I remember a tiny, black lab bitch, rescued from an abusive home, who had been doing well until a metal pan fell from the counter, and scared her so much she wouldn’t come out of the bedroom for days. Or the Bichon from a puppy mill who still panicked when someone reached toward him, even a year after being rescued. And yet, so many of my clients would tell me that their friends thought that if they just tried harder, or pushed their dog farther, they’d be great in Flyball, or just love going to the dog park. So many times I’d counsel them that there was nothing wrong with their dog staying in the house and the yard until they were ready to go beyond it. Or that, yes, it really is okay that your rescued dog doesn’t enjoy agility class and you don’t need to keep trying to make her love it.
One last thing, at least for now: One of the prime components of helping people recover from trauma, and developing resilience for the future, is social support. Much of that support is dependent upon language: Someone to tell you that they have faith in you, someone to listen to your story, and talk about how to have faith in the future. We can’t use language in that way to help our dogs, but we can think about what kind of social support they receive. That is why I, and many others, believe that the presence of another dog can be a lifesaver for some dogs. No matter how much we love dogs, we still are aliens to them. We don’t “speak” their language, at least not very well, and we simply cannot perceive the world as they do. As long as a dog is comfortable around another dog, he or she can get something from a member of the same species that we could never give them. Even if it takes weeks or months for a dog to be comfortable around another, that one relationship with a member of the same species can do wonders.
I’d love to hear any experiences you’ve had in which one dog became a friend and mentor to a dog who was damaged in some way. Some of you wrote compelling notes about traumatized dogs you’ve worked with in the earlier article published two weeks ago; I’d love to hear more about whether other dogs were part of healing a dog from a difficult past, and developing resilience for the future. Thank you again for your comments so far on this topic, they’ve been amazing.
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: Willie’s shoulder is improving. His physical therapist thought his bicep tendon was a bit tight, but felt that I could gradually increase his exercise over the next couple of weeks. Willie, of course, has no understanding of the concept of “gradual,” so as soon as we took him outside off leash he did three flip spins in the garage before I could say ask him to settle down before beginning our “walk.” We’ve worked up to walking in the woods and doing short outruns on the sheep, and hopefully he’ll be in good shape for the Patrick Shannahan clinic coming up this weekend. Patrick won the Nationals with Maggie’s father, Riggs, and is the perfect person to help Maggie and I progress in our training. Can’t wait! I’ll post photos next week. Here’s Willie today, waiting to play the Find It game with me. I love how goofy his ears look. Don’t tell him I posted this picture, please.
Tootsie posed for a portrait for me; given her seven years in a puppy mill I thought she was a good model for today’s article. Sweetie.
The weather has been heavenly, actually a bit too hot for my taste yesterday (82 in mid October? Crazy!). But we’ve had a heavenly fall so far; lots of sun and blue sky and bright colors appearing in the leaves. The only downside is the influx of Box Elder Bugs and Asian Lady Beetles. There are hundreds, if not thousands, clustered on our windows and siding, and many of them come inside. It’s pretty much like living in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Just substitute “The Beetles!” for the “The Birds!” They’ll go away (or at least, over winter in any cracks they can find around the house) once the weather turns a bit cooler.
Tovah says
I am the honoured guardian of two senior female Golden Retrievers. One of them has been with me since puppyhood and has always been a well-balanced, confident girl. The other came into our lives five years ago at the age of five. A longtime volunteer with Golden Rescue, I fostered Hanna. We never completely know what they’ve experienced in their previous home, but after her surrender, Hanna came to me a mere shell of a Golden, substantially underweight and frightened. She was afraid of everyone and everything, her tail always between her legs. Hanna took to me immediately and I started to refer to her as my “velcro dog”.
But what really surprised me was how quickly she bonded with Moxy (in less than a week). I placed them in a doggy daycare one day while away at work. When I picked them up later that day, a staff member told me that I should adopt Hanna. When I asked her why, she told me that during an outing that day, each of them had a separate walker. When Moxy’s walker got too far ahead for Hanna’s liking, this quiet timid girl barked at her new sibling. Moxy immediately turned around, stopped, sat down on the sidewalk and waited for Hanna and her walker to catch up.
That incident directly influenced my decision. Rather than move this timid and frightened dog again, I adopted Hanna into our little pack. Moxy and I worked with her patiently and lovingly for months, and it was worth it. Hanna eventually became a different dog, one who shows affection for humans and welcomes other dogs, albeit in a cautious and reserved manner.
I completely agree with you that having a companion dog can accelerate the rehabilitation process. Moxy was a wonderful role model for Hanna when she needed it most.
Lacey says
Two of my shyest fosters were very dependent on other dogs for cues. It didn’t matter which of my (smaller) dogs was setting the example; if either of them showed friendliness toward a person, these fosters gradually were able to approach the stranger. Both were successfully placed with well socialized dogs in the families.
Benita Saldutti says
My experience isn’t dog-dog, but dog-cat. When I married, my cat and I moved in with hubby and his cat, which was very traumatic for my 10 yr old cat. She for weeks, only coming out to eat when everyone else was asleep. After 3 yrs of marriage, she was still unhappy and rarely left the bedroom.
We adopted Angel, a young adult shepherd mix. Angel didn’t retreat from the Ashley’s hissing and slapping, she just wagged her tail and smiled. Soon they were best friends and Ashley gained the confidence to move freely around the house. The cats never became playmates, but they co-habitated in peace from then on.
Kaye Wickenberg says
We have had several border collies over the years but always got them as puppies. After the death of our dear 14 year old “best boy” border we contemplated life on our little farm without a dog. Couldn’t do it. So we adopted a two year old rescue border collie with what can only be described as PSD. He was involved in a very nasty domestic violence situation and subsequently is very growly around unfamiliar people, particularly men. “Mr. Bark A lot”….snarls at certain men but is fine with others. Loves visiting dogs…the more the merrier! Having been a suburban boy , he knew nothing about horses (.we have 2. ) freedom to chase chipmunks, squirrels, geese, etc. within a week he adapted to life on the farm…a rather isolated situation. Within 4 months He has bonded with one of our cats, is a major cuddle bug, comes when called, knows the boundaries of our 15 acres, allows us to do any sort of grooming etc. and still would gladly attack some people. Seems like if visitors ignore him he forgets what he was so mad about, especially if they come with a dog!
This dog is a huge lover in so many ways. What can we do to get him more accepting of other humans? We keep him leashed or in his kennel until he settles down with visitors. Any suggestions ?
Chris from Boise says
Our 10-year-old border collie Habi, adopted at 3 years old and incredibly reactive to anything (triggers too numerous to name), who only knew how to communicate by screaming, has had two mentors. We don’t know her prior history, but the behavioral vet we consulted with suggested poor genetics and lack of socialization rather than trauma/abuse. Lack of resilience indeed!
Michael says
I’ve taken in Rottweiler’s, for years! They’ve actually taught me more, about myself, through their actions, n behaviors, than any other life expirienced. Rotties are Definitely a resilient breed! Given the proper amount of love, n guidance, can boucle back, from the Worst, of upbringing! I adopted one, 12 years ago, n lost him, last November, at 4 months, shy, of his 13th birthday. He taught the rest of my pack, his wife, n pup, that I kept, how to behave n listen! If you adopt,rescue, I advise, the first thing you do, is adopt a Senior dog, keep, n teach them, for a year, or two, then, get the senior a pup! You’re work, Will pay off!
Chris from Boise says
Ah, this is a topic near and dear to my heart. Our border collie Habi, now ten, came with zero resilience; the flip side was 100% reactivity. Her basic attitude was “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m sure it’ll be bad”. We adopted her at age three, at which point her triggers were too numerous to list, her reactions were total hysteria, and the only way she could express herself was with screams. We waded through years of embarrassment at what other people thought and frustration about our ‘failed’ expectations, but somehow we kept plugging away and finding more and more resources to help us on this journey.
We had always been a one-dog family, and a second dog was the last thing we needed (we thought). But a year into this, a friend gave us her sweet, mature Aussie with terrific dog skills, saying Habi needed him, and indeed she did. Bandit was the “Ferdinand” of Aussies, oozing love from every pore, and he gave Habi stability and the beginnings of confidence. In exchange, she taught him to bark at squirrels (but the trade-off was well worth it).
Bandit died a year ago, and within two weeks of his passing – convinced we were out of our minds! – we adopted Obi, a five year old border collie (foster write-up: “great with other dogs, even the crabby ones”). By then (nine years old), Habi had come a looooong way; her last hurdle was dog reactivity, on-leash and off. Obi is inherently optimistic with incredible dog skills. He seems to know when to back off and build her confidence, and when to push the envelope. He has injected joy into Habi’s life, and her interactive and play skills have increased exponentially. Now, seven years into this project, everyone comments on our sweet, smart, happy, resilient (!) girl. We were very, very fortunate that two perfect mentors fell into our laps just when we needed them: wise old uncle Bandit, then joyful pal Obi.
Cecile says
I watched one of my Siberians fall apart this summer and then – FINALLY – bounce back. It started in the spring when I took in 2 sled dogs who had been severely neglected as fosters. My own little group consisted of a male and a female who are 5-year old Siberian husky litter mates from a very good home, and a 3-year old female Siberian-Alaskan husky mix I had adopted from the local shelter a year earlier. This group was very tightly bonded. The mere presence of the foster dogs, who were in a separate outdoor pen and never came into the house was already pretty stressful for my little team. Then I adopted an 18-months old male Siberian who had been rescued out of a severe neglect situation a month earlier. Some context here: I’m not a horder or rescue fanatic. I had been looking for a young dog to add to my dog team (as in mushing). The older male had always been a very laid back and playful dude but not particularly confident. He clearly felt threatened by this young, completely full of himself young dog – and although he liked him just fine on trails, in the car, and in the pen, he did NOT want him in the house. So there was a lot of careful management with baby gates and such. Then the bottom dropped out. The young Siberian mix got past me at the door and did something people cannot forgive dogs. She was euthanized after a 10-day quarantine. I became useless – paralyzed with fear and grief. The older male had been very, very, very attached to the young female. If dogs can love each other, he loved her deeply. When she was gone he fell apart – although, of course, my own state of mind did not help. The foster dogs went to another foster home, but the damage was done. The older male started to behave erratically, losing his “temper” at the drop of a hat. In the house he tried to attack the young male any chance he got, although he never actually hurt him. But he was relentless in trying to get rid of him. He even bit me once when I was trying to keep him from turning on one of the other dogs – didn’t break skin but it hurt. In that moment he was just plain angry, and he had nowhere to go with his anger. He also became more predatory, and he stopped playing. He was never relaxed or happy anymore. Although he had shown good bite inhibition, I was worried he was going to become dangerous. I actually thought about having him euthanized – and that got me even more depressed. I consulted with some local dog people and with my veterinarian. They all leaned toward euthanasia. Since I had to do SOMETHING while I was trying to decide I put pheromone collars on both male dogs. Much to my surprise I saw significant improvement in their interactions within a few days. And after another consultation with a vet I put the older male on fluoxetine (Prozac). I had very low expectations for this treatment. And yet, things continued to improve. After about a month I no longer had to use the baby gates. Then the two boys started to play with each other in the pen – and the older one even initiated play. They now really trust each other – their play includes mutual humping, lots of chasing, and chewing on each other’s necks. In the car they curl up together on the back seat and in the house they sleep near each other. When the young male does something truly rude, the older guy doesn’t even flinch. He is the happy, playful, affectionate dog I fell in love with again.
This is a long story, I know, but there is a lot of resilience in it. The 2 foster dogs learned to trust people and enjoy off-leash walks after having been nearly starved to death. The young male I adopted into my team never looked back after he was released from the tiny prison he had been in from age 9 months to 18 months. And he’s catching up on all the social skills he didn’t learn during his social isolation. And my older male came back from the brink. We don’t know much about if and how dogs grieve – but it is difficult for me as a psychologist who has studied animal behavior not to interpret my dog’s mental state as grief. Now I can’t wait for the snow because we are going to have so much fun sledding through the beautiful Alaskan winter landscape. The new boy pulls like a freight train, and my female Sibe, who is the undisputed empress of the universe, is teaching him how to be a good sled dog.
Frances says
I cannot resist a small brag for Sophy, my polite, brave, very resilient little Papillon. A week or two back while we were walking by the sea we came to a deep dyke half filled with what looked like sand – as she paused on the brink I realised it was not sand but floating foam, but as I opened my mouth to warn her she jumped. She hates even getting her feet wet, but bobbed back up, swam strongly for the side (never swum in her life before), scrambled up a six foot vertical bank, shook herself, rolled on the grass, shook herself again, and was ready to bounce off on the next adventure. I was still in shock…! I can’t take much credit – she has had excellent bounce back from the day she came to me at 12 weeks old.
Mireille says
Thank you Trisha for a lovely post. I have two Siberians, littermates but from the day they came home with me they differed in resilience. Spot is more timid, easily scared. Where Shadow a puppy “attacked” the vacuumcleaner, he fled the room. Even after 4 years, he is still not comfortable with vacuumcleaners or brooms, sometimes shy around strange men and he lunges and growls at ANY dog that approaches him to quickly. He was never attacked by a dog or severely bitten, but many dogs appear to be bad news. Especially dogs that approach in a straight line besides a bike. One day I got my finger caught in the leash when he started lunging and barking and I panicked because it hurt so much, and that did not help either. But when we went to a GT and he approached us with his dog running besides his bike to see / judge his response. he was fine. He didn’t lunge… . So this remains a difficult situation because when we trie to stage it, he doesn’t lunge … Some days he can pass a dog without trouble, other days he ‘goes crazy” with the same dog. I am now keeping a diary to see if there is any logic in his behaviour. I wonder if it might have to do with his resilience in other aspects, like, if I ask too much of him one day, see in running in front of the dog scooter, will he be more reactive the other day when he is tired and maybe a bit sore? I haven’t found it yet, but do you have any recommendations in general on how to increase the capability to deal things?
This is a dog we raised form puppyhood, and although I wouldn’t recommend having littermate, at least for me is had the advantage now that I can see that Shadow is so much easier to train and better behaved, that it is not all my fault. He is not a easy dog, easily rattled, difficult to reach while outside and distracted, scared of unexpected things, especially other dogs.
Even in puppy class he did not want to interact/play with the other pups. We had a class that did not routinely let the pups play, we just had 2-3 sessions with 3 wel matched pups in size to show us owners what to look for. Spot just avoided the other two that started to play. And pups still rattle him, he gets so excited that he barks and lunges at them and doesn’t seem to want them near. Looking back, I wish we had picked up on that sooner and we might have done something there to help him deal with it.
Margaret says
Loved your post. Until recently I had Alfie (English Springer Spaniel, been with me since a pup), and Dylan (rescued Yorkie-X, very rough life). I hadn’t intended to adopt Dylan, he came to us by accident. When he arrived he was a snappy little dog, didn’t trust anyone (to my knowledge had been abandoned at least twice), was nasty to Alfie, scared stiff of being dumped yet again.
Alfie is generally a confident hound, not least because he’s had no reason not to believe that he will be treated well. The change in Dylan was incredible. You could see him learning from Alfie, and although it took a while he soon became a loving, happy little dog, eager to meet other people and dogs, and unafraid of anything.
In fact his streetwise attitude became a good thing for Alfie, who can be a little nervous sometimes when meeting new dogs, Dylan was eager to meet and greet no matter what the size of the dog. Dylan passed away in January after 5 very happy years with us. Alfie and I miss him very much.
Jessica Hekman says
Open access version of the Feder 2009 article is available here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2833107/ and of the Russo 2012 article here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3580862/
Really lovely post. My shy dog Jenny concurs that her big brother Jack is her security blanket. Sometimes she will let strangers pet her – if he stands in between them.
Barb says
I don’t have exactly the kind of story you are looking for, but, since childhood, I have always been fascinated by watching dogs teach other dogs coping and problem solving skills. Mothers (and sometimes the fathers) teach the puppies how to interact with people and other species, how to negotiate steps, etc. And dogs will teach their friends. I once saw a dog teach another dog how to climb a 6 foot chain link so they could play together in the same yard.
When we got our German shepherd puppy, he taught our older rescue Aussie how to howl in a couple of days. He took her to a corner outside the house where sound resonates. Her sharp barks turned to lovely ascending howls like his as they practiced together. And he loved having a new howling partner when the fire siren went off. She, in turn, taught him how to greet new people.
I look forward to reading other posts. This is a fascinating subject.
Diane Purcell says
Loved this article! So many times we see dogs at various stages of their lives that just do not have the resilience to over-come certain obstacles. My own dog had a lovely playful attitude with neighbor dogs and I was determined to keep her social and happy. Unfortunately, when she was 8 months old, I had a near-fatal motorcycle accident and suddenly ‘disappeared” for 10 days. When I returned, I was no longer physically able to manage much of her physical needs and social needs. Although she became calmer and surprised me with her ability to adapt to my own limits, it was a bad time for her in her developmental stages to be isolated from other dogs. At 18month of age, she suffered her OWN trauma with exposure en masse to venous spiders (we think) and almost died. 10 days for HER in the hospital with a mrsa type infection, drains, and open wounds. Needless to say, she wasn’t around any other dogs for quite a while and her experiences were of smelling and hearing other animals in distress at the hospital. She is now one of those ‘dog selective’ dogs, and although she does a great brief ‘meet and sniff” and enjoys some social events, I’m careful not to over-whelm her. She plays with my boyfriend’s mother’s dogs in their large fenced yard once or twice a year and seems to really enjoy their company – to a point lol. I think sometimes we need to just be compassionate and consider each dogs life, history, and personality. I hope to one day get another dog in the house, but for now, it’s just her and 3 cats lol.
Paula says
We have adopted 3 rescue dogs. The first two weren’t terribly afraid of people but did startle at new things in their environment. Both took a year or so to settle in and be pretty comfortable. Our current rescue we got about a year and a half ago, when she was 6 months old. We don’t know anything much about her background. She can be a little nervous about people but wants to greet them, the same with most dogs. BUT…..she is terribly afraid of SO many sounds and scents. We took her to many group classes, tried some natural calming products, and finally went to a behavioral vet who suggested a combination of two medications to help lower her fear level and the time it takes her to recover from a scary sound/scent/event. She explained that we wouldn’t be able to even begin to help her get over her fears until she was a bit calmer. It has been a few weeks and I can see small steps of progress. I never know how each day will go since there are so many things that could send her into a panic. This is the most frustrating thing I’ve ever done and yes, I feel like a failure almost every day. I get up each morning determined to do better, be better, somehow make it all right, even though I know that there is only so much I can really do. I’ve already let go of a number of things I had hoped to do with her, but it is hard to keep letting go. I feel like as I let her make her world small enough to keep her comfortable, my world gets so small I feel trapped. It is really hard and I feel very alone. People criticize because we’ve been to so many classes, spent so much money, use drugs. As you can probably tell, much of the post really spoke to me.
EmilyS says
Dogs rescued in “dogfighing” busts (I put that in quotes because often they are more like puppy mills/mass breeders with little evidence that any dogfighting occurred) are often stellar examples of resilience. Despite being raised in horrific conditions with little/no socialization with dogs or people, many have turned out to be amazingly good with other dogs and people. I invite people to visit 2 facebook pages: https://www.facebook.com/teothepitbull?fref=ts and https://www.facebook.com/MightyFinnTheDog?fref=ts as just 2 of many examples. (More famously, several of the dogs rescued from Michael Vick have become therapy dogs and compete in dog sports such as agility)
Andy says
Most of my exposure to traumatized dogs has likely come through shelter work. Allowing for barrier reactivity, it’s nearly impossible to know why fearful and reactive dogs are the way they are, but certainly some have experienced trauma, and that may have contributed to their surrender.
I’ve mainly seen dog “mentoring” through shelter playgroups. I’ve seen stable, playful groups help very fearful dogs open up and relax in a way human handlers couldn’t manage on their own. Regular, scheduled play became a source of real joy for some fearful dogs, and I think it’s reasonable to assume that some of these dogs were recovering from trauma.
However, I also wonder if playgroup is a source of trauma in and of itself for other dogs. Injuries (and human corrections) are inevitable, and every time one happens I wonder, “did this dog really just ‘get over it’, or have we created trauma that may not manifest itself right away?” My best guess is that some dogs do not get over it, and that downstream it manifests as increased reactivity, especially on-leash.
It’s a complicated issue, and I wish we had more longtitudinal data on the use of this tool so it can be used more effectively.
Trisha says
More later today, have to go now, but Paula, you are NOT a failure. You are a saint. Letting go is okay; keeping her alive and as fear-free as possible might be the most you can do for her. We just can’t fix everything, so don’t blame yourself that progress is slow, you are doing a wonderful, wonderful thing!
Lori S. says
I believe that the biggest thing that helped our former PM collie Kira overcome her fears was the presence of the other dogs in our house. I just could not have done for her what they did early on. Not only did she not speak my language, but she was terrified of my presence. She spent months watching the world from her crate and watching every move that my other dog Obi made. She had been around other dogs all her life and trusted and understood them. She saw that Obi wanted to be with me all the time and that good things happened when he was around me. He was our bridge of trust. One day, after a couple months of watching, she came out and joined us on the couch. She just climbed up and laid down (tensely) , as if she had come to a decision about it. Much of her progress has been like this. She watches and watches and eventually she decides to do something. It is as if she has rehearsed it a million times in her mind while watching the other dogs do it. I don’t know if dogs can do that….. She copies everything Obi does, even the odd stuff. He doesn’t like storms and paces with a toy in his mouth when it rains. She doesn’t mind storms at all, but happily paces with him. Once she realizes he has a toy in his mouth, she will stop and pick up a toy to carry too. She came to us with no behaviors of her own. She had spent her life in a cage with no options, no choices, doing nothing. So as she learns to live in a house, a large part of her strategy seems to be to copy what she sees other dogs doing. She is now, 15 months later, often affectionate and trusting with me too, but it wouldn’t have happened without the other dogs, especially Obi.
Interestingly, though Obi helped Kira get over her fears, he is not himself a naturally resilient dog. He has lived with me since he was a puppy and has suffered no trauma or abuse, but it only takes one minor incident for him to develop a lasting fear of something. He is terrified of stink bugs because one flew into his head once. He is panicked by the crack between the bed and the wall, because his leg slid in there once. He never forgets anything. He picks up phobias very easily and is hard to re-assure.
Joan Houghtaling says
We moved to a place on 5 acres for the purpose of fostering dogs and a place for our own. We call it White Fluff Ranch in Sarasota, Florida
If you goggle the Herald has done an article and video on our work recently. It focuses on our Maltese retired mill breeder Grace who was considered unrehabilitatable. She is amazing.
LisaW says
In thinking about resiliency, I wonder how we perceive or recognize resiliency and how lack of resilience can take many forms. One of my dogs is on the outset an enthusiast. She conveys a not-a-care-in-the-world persona and everyday is brand new. My other dog is much more outwardly worried, her body posture and responses are all about how the sky is falling until she decides things are ok for now.
My seemingly happy-go-lucky dog’s response to a few triggers that she has not been able to let go of over her 11 years is to wag her tail harder and harder and lick you as if you’re an ice cream cone on a hot July day. Outwardly, she just looks like a goofy dog, but her frantic actions are her way of either coping with the situation and/or hoping it all goes away if she wags and licks hard enough. It took me a while to realize that this response means the same thing as a dog who runs and hides or quivers. We have not been able to change her response to these few, specific triggers despite our best efforts; we now just try to avoid them.
My worry-wart dog came with many, many triggers and was almost feral in nature. Over the years, her resiliency has been building. She might still startle at a sound or a plastic bag in the wind, but the amount of time she needs to recover is much, much shorter than it used to be. She has a lot of resilience building to do and is much more “typical” of what a lack of resilience looks like. But her resilience building process seems to be more on an upward arc than our other dog who only has a few triggers but can’t seem to build — or maybe it’s sustain — as much resilience to them. It’s curious and fascinating.
To answer your query on having a dog friend and mentor, our last brace of dogs had just that relationship. We adopted Grace when Ester was about 4 years old. Ester was one of those reliable, enthusiastic, well-grounded dogs. Grace was malnourished and shy and scared. We worked with Ester to help show Grace what sit or come meant and that food and treats and walks were good things. Grace slowly became comfortable in her own skin but rarely let Ester out of her sight. There were certain boundaries Grace insisted on — she would only take treats from a few specific people, new objects in the yard were to be watched carefully, and people were somewhat suspect until proven otherwise (and some people remained suspect forever). Over the years, Grace became more autonomous and grew to really love us, but I don’t think she ever loved anyone as much as Ester. When Ester died, Grace’s grief was palpable and lasted a long time. Every picture I have of the two of them, they are smiling as wide as can be:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipO6t7fx2ey2dCDxZ–mfRM7Tw3STaLuRikOryoLHtKd9rjb0ddBZPE7i0_VD5Uw3A/photo/AF1QipPA–jeRzsDzp5P6v1KV6eVTecAODaDaBnDvoa8?key=ajJaaFBIRnd2ZTd2MFlhNlZ5Mk1jUEx0dHNWZ1Z3
Jackied says
We adopted our second dog in the hope that she would help our other dog, because we had noticed that he was slightly more confident when my parents dog came to visit.
It hasn’t worked out quite as well as we hoped. #1 dog was semi feral for at least three months in his adolescence, and came to us (first dog owners!) completely shut down, rapidly progressing to reactive to everything. He had shown some improvement over the three years befofe we got #2.
#2 has brought great joy to his life, and taught him how to play. That in itself made it worth doing. She has also brought joy to our lives – it is very isolating and depressing having to hide from other dogs and humans all the time. With her we only have to feel a failure with regards to recall training!
She hasn’t made as much difference to his reactivity as we’d hoped, but he has turned out to have some previously undetected neurological problems. (Also she is now somewhat reactive to large dogs, after a couple of nasty incidents 🙁 )
I think that if we had had dog #2 first, she would have helped him far more.
Shawndra says
Paula, you are not alone in sometimes feeling like a failure. I know neither of us is a failure, but the feeling still surfaces when living with a dog that for whatever reason (trauma, genetics, combination of factors, whatever!) has some special needs and may not fit with the human half’s natural wiring in that respect. I think even if it does fit well, its still very hard at times. It is just different.
I hope the following isn’t too long for you to finish reading. 🙂
I didn’t realize how different it was to not have resilience in a dog until I got my second dog. My first dog had a not stellar start and the only thing she’s retained from that is her tendency to binge if she can get into something. Other than the food thing, my first dog is bombproof and a joy to live and do anything with. Even herd sheep, which I think is impressive for a husky bucket. I also did not realize how big a role genetics played.
I said no to my second dog Scout (GSD via hoarding bust situation mother, Scout was born in the shelter after the seizure) I don’t know how many times. Long story short she ended up with someone I knew who wanted a dog like Lily and since Scout is a similar color and also has pointy ears they must be the same right? Nevermind that I knew a dog Lily’s mental and physical energy wouldn’t be the right fit… add Scout’s issues on top of that. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but it wasn’t great either. I took her for a week or two for socialization and basic life skill training a couple times during the six months this person had her. Anyway Scout’s never wanted to be owned by anyone but me and I eventually stopped fighting it. 🙂
I love her dearly and she is vastly improved from when I first took her in 5.5yrs ago. She still ducks randomly for no reason even to the people she loves most in this world. But many of the worst things have not recurred. Like the screaming when touched from behind, a friendly comforting touch is all. She’s comfortable with nice belly rubs now. Frankly in some ways she is easier than Lily when life gets rough because she’s okay not having strenuous exercise every day and in fact now that she is 7 its better if its fairly gentle exercise. Woohoo for less than stellar body and mind. :/
She’s been on good counter-conditioning and other positive training since I began interacting with her while she was owned by her second owner. I don’t think her first owner did much training but she is a super nice lady. Scout sure has never been in a really bad situation, other than one incident with a wayward grandchild in her second home. Good grain free food helps a lot. Raw was MUCH better, but things happen and it is what it is. Prozac helps a LOT. I wish I had done it sooner. For me it was a money thing, not any mental hang ups of my own, and I wish I had known that it was only $10 for several month’s worth. I was thinking it would be like the $30/month stint we did on clomipramine when things got bad after I homed my foster she was very attached to.
I stopped taking her places where we might have an encounter with a strange dog closer than 200 yards away. I stopped trying to make her do sport type things. Her anxiety has gotten worse as she ages, as happens commonly with many dogs wired this way I’m told and its no longer fun for her even just training on our own. I developed body language such that people don’t ask to pet my dog and I am always between them and Scout. She’s very friendly and in fact very co-dependent on the dogs/people/cats/our horses that she is bonded to and can meet in a relaxed off leash manner in a safe environment. Basically at home or someone elses’ home, we’ve been mugged too many times by people and dogs in public areas and she will never forget. Sure Lily and I had our share of run ins… she’s been hospitalized before despite us being a careful and responsible dog/human team. We both bounced back with great resilience. Poor Scoutini is not wired that way, so I do not put her in those situations. I thought when I got her that we could just train through her experience with classical and operant conditioning. I was wrong. At the end of the day, she’s still Scout.
Adding another animal to the household can have its challenges and we worked through the most obvious being two females of similar age sharing a human they are very closely bonded to. That wasn’t too hard.
There was a subtle and very unfortunate side effect. Lily and I cannot do a lot of things we love to do because even if I have someone she is bonded to with with Scout, she gets very upset if we go do something without her. This has resulted in a huge amount of frustration for both Lily and I. It would be too long to write out all the details, but suffice to say everyone’s needs are properly met and happy… however it will never be the same. It makes me sad. I feel like I failed because my amazing dog is hobbled by living with her sister. I can’t magically end her frustration because her frustration is being held back by my managing and cheerleading her sister. She loves Scout very much and she will grieve if Scout goes before her as I’m afraid she despite being 1.5yrs younger than Lily. I feel like a bad person for occasionally wishing that it was only Lily and I. Scout would not do well away from me, she’s bonded that hard, it is why I kept her.
I feel bad for knowing that the huge amount of stress built up wears on me so hard. It sucks knowing that I am making the right decision in not raising a puppy until she is gone. I would give a lot to have a stable clean slate puppy with a healthy body and good working drives. My parents’ just got one and she is a delight, I’m a lot jealous even though it isn’t even the breed I’m wanting. I hate seeing Scout live with the monkey on her back. The scary thing is that she has relatives much worse off than she is. Those rescue folks thinking they did such a job well done saving those dogs. Is that why so many bounced back into the system to be euthanized? Is that why I have so much worry over making sure my Scout dog has good quality of life? She is wonderful, she’s probably saved my life as much as Lily working through some hard life things and she would give her life trying to stop anyone who wanted to harm me and she has excellent judgement and etiquette on what is and is not appropriate in those situations. She isn’t a watch dog, but she won’t let a someone who does not live with us in the house while I’m sleeping or showering.
She is terrified of children because a 3 year old bit her in the home she was in previously and yet to see her try to gently engage my best friend’s son in a tag your it game despite being a huge and afraid dog. She will definitely be the most unique dog I ever own! She is worth it. I won’t do the anxious rescue thing again after her. I don’t think I have it in me. Giving my all to this one special one. It costs a lot and sometimes (more often now as time wears on) I have feelings I can’t help that make me feel like a bad person for having them.
We rent right now and that doesn’t help. Heck, I’m annoyed by people noises overhead and our neighbors are currently pretty good. I was lucky and grew up literally in the woods with no neighbors and where my parents’ now live they own 100+ acres, so having been patient with neighbors overhead these past 5 years has been no mean feat for me. They don’t even mind that my jerk husky (I keep Lily on leash as our yard isn’t fenced, so no chance unless the cat is super suicidal… btw she continues to be awesome with my personal housecat…) wants to eat their cats. Scout wants to befriend their cats so badly… She always lets herself out of her crate. I’m not sure how she figured out getting out of the latest gerry rig, but it didn’t damage the crate. So smart. Anyway neighbors had friends over and some kind of loud drama going on Sunday night and Scout had an anxiety attack so bad that her tummy got upset and she lost control while I was at work. Then she was embarrassed about that… Poor thing.
Thinking about asking the vet about adding trazadone to our prozac regimine for at least the next 4-6 months. I tried a course of pain medication to see if that was making anxiety worse, but it didn’t seem to be the cause. We only have about a month and a half left here and then we’ll be staying with my husband’s grandparents for two months while our house stuff gets finished and then we’ll be on a small acreage two doors down. Scout will LOVE that, best doggie friends, people she knows and is bonded to, never being totally alone, out in the boonies next to BLM land with strange dog free hikes, doggie door to nice fenced yard she likes to sleep in… Drugs and hugs makes the world go round in some instances. Lily should be a lot less frustrated too as I can just saddle up and let her actually RUN off leash with us. Scout usually just follows behind me unless a rabbit gets flushed. Good times. 🙂
P.S. I don’t know if Pat Shannahan is willing to work with non-bc’s, but I would sure like to cross train my next dog in herding. I had just started lessons with another local trainer here with Lily when I took in Scout and had to stop lessons for time/monetary reasons. All the breeders I’m looking at have had some customers who herd so hopefully!
Jen says
I work in corrections and many of our staff struggle with resiliency – it is something that I find myself discussing fairly regularly. It’s been really interesting reading through people’s stories here and on FB about how dogs help each other create, build and maintain resiliency. There can be no underestimating the tremendous power of positive peer support.
In my home, a wonderful example of this is Wisp, a temporary visitor that will never leave. 🙂
A friend of mine took in a mini Aussie (almost teacup size at 10 lbs) thinking that she might be a good agility prospect. Wisp was originally ‘rescued’ from a puppy mill where she spent her first year. She was then taken in by a woman, a hoarder, who kept her and around 50 other minis crated for 5 years until the dogs were removed by animal control. When my friend got her she was a wreck of dog, highly anxious, eyes distended from her head, unable to settle, frantic when she wanted something…just a sad mess.
She did not fit in with my friend’s household at all and ended up spending 23 or so hours a day in her crate (by choice) refusing to come out unless forced.
I offered to take her for a weekend as my friend was incredibly stressed by her behaviour. that weekend will never end.
I have a husky and a husky cross who are both friendly, playful, happy dogs. I adore them and truly enjoy letting them just ‘be dogs.’ For example, on hikes I rarely call them back allowing them to do whatever it is that dogs like doing (generally trying to catch mice, wallow in mud and whatnot). I have mostly ignored Wisp and allowed her to do whatever it was that she felt comfortable doing; as almost anything you asked of her created too much pressure – some days this included even looking at her. (Saying her name and telling her to come in a firm voice made her cringe and submissive pee).
It has been fascinating watching her change and grow, in large part due to the other dogs – and actually the cats too. From the first, she has been very comfortable with them. She barrelled around under their legs on walks and was always in between them somewhere. In the car she wants to be in the back with them and if, for some reason I pulled her out (remove a leash etc.), she would panic. She is definitely happiest being a ‘big dog’ and part of the pack on her own four feet. Treating her differently from them (like picking her up) creates anxiety and stress.
She has become more confident in her interactions with them over the past two years and now her favourite game is to scream bark during fetch at the husky x and often times actually nipping her neck or flank when she’s over aroused. For their part, they totally ignore her antics and will let her claim her spot on the dog beds without protest. She and the husky cross will sleep curled up together. Interestingly she has shown no interest at all in dogs outside of my house and is obviously slightly fearful/distrustful of most of them.
Wisp has come a phenomenally long way and now bears no resemblance to the neurotic, sad dog that arrived at my house. Even her eyes have changed. Now she is mostly confident, will boss around the cats and in general is a ‘normal’ dog (I have found little mini footprints on my dinner table in the mornings!). I think this is due in large part to an environment with no pressure or expectations, where she felt safe. This sense of safety couldn’t have been achieved without having other dogs around that were relaxed and happy, that taught her that life can be fun. They completely accepted her, quirks and all and it allowed her comfort and space to regain her personality. She now has even been seen to pick up a toy when she thinks no one is looking and play with it. 🙂
Cheryl Weeks says
My only previous experience with a dog with PTSD was my former dog (lived to be 16) who was attacked as a pup and lived the remainder of his life with fear aggression. Fortunately he lived with several other dogs and was fine with people and “his dogs” but not new ones. I spent his life training and managing and he was an excellent and titled agility competitor with no issues at a trial. After losing all my dogs to old age, I got a wonderful pup a little over a year ago who has boundless energy. Because I work a lot I felt he needed companionship. I envisioned a little bit older bitch who would play with him and “teach him the ropes”. I adopted a 3.5 year old puppy mill breeder and in an extremely short period of time, watched my puppy with boundless energy turn into a calm, solid, steady, mature adult. Why? Not because the older dog was a good influence, but HE changed his demeanor to accommodate this traumatized bitch. (My daughter has her Ph.D. in Animal Behavior and she immediately diagnosed PTSD.) Her constant pacing, spinning, panting and shaking were beyond comprehension, but he has brought such a calming, solid influence into her life that in the 2 months she has been with me, we have seen great progress. It will take a long time, if ever, for her to stop the obsessive behaviors she has developed, but she is able to lay quietly now and listen to commands and respond instead of spinning. I am quite positive that it his influence and companionship that has effected the change we have seen and I could not be more grateful to him, this one year old “pup” who has turned into the Rock of Gibraltar. I sometimes feel badly that he was thrown into a position that he did not have any choice over, but his response has been incredibly admirable and his influence on her heartwarming. I look forward to seeing how much more progress she makes in the coming months with her “Rock” by her side.
Patti W says
We had a 14 year old dog when we got our first rescue. He was an insecure clingy thing afraid of storms, water, and the dark. She had been an only dog her entire life and at her advanced age, didn’t want a clingy little brother. But as long as he didn’t get too close, she was tolerant. He learned by watching her that he was in a place where he was safe and loved unconditionally. But he never lost the need for a companion.
Two years later, when she passed, we knew we’d need to get another dog quickly. I contacted the same rescue I’d gotten him from and they said they had two females that had just come into rescue from another state. We met for a meet-and-greet. As soon as we arrived, one of the females came right over to me, sat down in front of me and put her paw on my knee. So, we filled out the paperwork. When I went to put her in the truck, the other female–who had not come near me once–jumped in and went right inside the carrier. Both girls came home with us that day. The one who had jumped in the carrier was aloof for about 6 months. And then she wasn’t. And when she decided she was going to be part of our family, she gave it her all! But the other one was literally afraid of everything. She spent the first year and half with us in a half-crouch and ready to bolt. She was afraid of loud noises, brooms, quick movements, strangers, fire, everything. At some point in her past she had suffered some kind of trauma to the side of her head–her ears and jaw are uneven, she is missing two teeth and we believe she has some hearing loss related to whatever happened, which may also be part of the reason she’s afraid of everything. When you think about all the things that she was afraid of, and then understand that she was the dog who walked up to a complete stranger and seemed to ask for a new life. We accepted early on that all we might be able to do for her was to provide her with a safe place to live and love her unconditionally while enjoying her good days and helping her through her bad ones. But we didn’t understand just how badly she wanted a new life. She and the other female tolerate each other but she has attached herself to our clingy little male and modeled her new self after him. She has picked up a number of his habits from having to carry a toy with her everytime she goes out to helping herself to what she wants in the garden. It’s been four years since we got the girls and she continues to grow into her own personality and become more confident. And, our clingy little male has blossomed as well by being the mentor who showed them it’s nice to get a belly rub, that it’s fun to run the fence racing the neighbor dog, that you wait patiently watching for “The Pizza Man” and don’t bark at him but you DO bark at everyone else who comes near your home. He’s still working on convincing one of them that it would be so fun if they would chase him. And he’s getting close with his follower.
Kaye Geyler says
I rescued my dog Tomahawk in March of 2012. He came to me with multiple problems: he was shut down emotionally and really detached from his environment, he would blow up if a dog was even a speck on the horizon, he has numerous fears- even sounds like the beep of a digital thermometer set him into blind panic. I could go on, but you get the jist. My only information about his background was his previous owner who got him as a small pup had 2 other dogs who would bully him, her solution was to put him in the barn where he was alone except for when she was riding her horse. I think he is naturally not a confident dog and the lack of support in the face of his fears caused him to turn inward, he shut out the world because he couldn’t deal with it. I got him at age 6 and we spent the next 2.5 years untangling the knot of emotional problems. He made a lot of progress, he was able to finally bond with me, enjoy being touched, learn how to play and learning how to deal (that he could deal) with the world. In the Summer of 2014 he was able to join a group of small dogs who meet nightly in the park; he really seemed to enjoy it (he prefers dogs smaller than him) and I noticed that he would look for his friends whenever we came to the park. So I decided if the “right” dog came around it was a good time in Tommy’s therapy to have a constant canine companion. It needed to be a solid, social dog, one who could help build a bridge for Tommy into “normal dog behavior”. Labor day 2014 this special dog arrived, walked right up to us in the park as if to say “here I am!”. This little boy (who is now named Aardwolf) was about 10 months old, and a bright happy boy who seems to get that Tommy “is not quite right”. In the last year, with Aardy’s guidance, Tommy has much more “normal” dog behaviors. These include the happy (play, hanging out, etc.) and the not-as-positive-but-very-normal behaviors such as disagreements, “what do you have, can I have it”, and other sibling stuff. I am glad for all (even the irritating behaviors) because they all are completely normal, every day stuff. Tommy has smoothed out more in the last year than the previous years combined, I do think Aardy has played a large role in Tommy’s recent progress, but I don’t think it would have been so if there was another dog in the picture from the very beginning. One of the things that is so crucial to behavior rehab is knowing when, where and how much to push. If a “mentor” dog is going to be of help, it needs to be the right dog at the right time. Thanks for listening! Kaye
Mary Beth says
I had a horse who helped his buddy. My Arab was terrified of thunderstorms. Inevitably, if I hadn’t beat the storm and locked him up in a stall, I’d be trudging out in the pouring rain with lightning overhead to drag him back into the barn and lock him in a stall where he’d spin till the storm was over. Definitely didn’t want to ride him with a storm imminent. One day I headed to the barn to lock him up pre-storm. I get there only to witness my older Tennessee Walker, his buddy, kicking the snot out of him. Since it was so odd to see any discord between these two, I stood back and watched. The Walker was standing relaxed in the doorway of the run in. Every time the Arab would try to bolt out, Copper would start kicking him. I left them to work it out. Next storm I went to the barn to find the Arab totally relaxed standing in the doorway head down lip hanging napping. And here everyone wanted me to put him on Prozac. That old walking horse turned out to be the biggest blessing I’ve ever received!
Chris from Boise says
Paula – you are not alone, and you are not a failure. Good for you for finding a behavioral veterinarian and starting medications. Sometimes these dogs literally cannot think because their brain is in a ‘cortical storm’, as our behavioral vet phrased it. If you can help their brain chemistry settle down through drugs, you may find her able to make more progress. Also, she may not be able to handle more than a very small world at this point. When we adopted Habi, we thought that she needed more socialization, more exposure to the world, more training – we were so wrong! Our behavioral vet helped us understand that she was totally overwhelmed, her brain chemistry was totally out of whack, and she needed drugs, complete rest (two months in the house, curtains closed, no training, no guests, only outside in the backyard to potty), then gradually start adding stimuli (over the course of months and years, not days). We learned to celebrate the tiniest steps forward. Gradually, ever so slowly, she started to come around. And gradually we found local and online resources and stopped feeling so dreadfully alone. As Trisha said in her comment, if all you can do is offer her a refuge from a terrifying world, that in itself is huge. I wish we lived next door to share ideas and support.
Minnesota Mary says
I also have huskies and foster them. Several years ago I had an extremely fearful foster dog. She was a mix but definitely part husky (I think GSD also). We would walk early in the morning and she would bolt if she saw a person two blocks away. Kids in particular frightened her, especially on wheels (bikes, skateboards, skates). After three months and no improvement, I consulted a friend who is an expert on GSD. He said that it wasn’t productive to try and figure out why, but rather I should spend my energy on rehabilitating her. He cautioned me that fearful dogs take time. Lots and lots and lots of time. I should expect baby steps and slides back to previous states. All of this was true. I gave her nearly a year and she improved dramatically. My own calm dogs who look to me for leadership were definitely a strong factor in her rehabilitation. I also understood, after living with her for a while, when to push her just a little bit out of her comfort zone, and when to let her retreat. My first “aha” came while walking around in a wooded area nearby where dogs and their owners congregate. Not an official dog park but similar. A teenage girl loved my fearful foster and yearned to pet her, which just wasn’t happening. One day while we were walking together, I whispered to the girl “go with me on what I’m going to do next”. On a total whim, I got the dog’s attention and handed the leash to the girl, then kept on walking. The dog was obviously scared at the new development but my “business as usual” attitude soon calmed her and we walked for the next half hour with the girl holding the leash. After that, she allowed that girl, and eventually other people, to hold the leash. She allowed petting and soon lost track of who was trusted and who she hadn’t met yet. I learned a lot from this beautiful dog and have had a chance to use it again and again with other fearful dogs. Just last night I had a fearful Rottie over to my house for the evening. She’s been improving but is starting to attach too much to her foster owner so I agreed to give her a new evening’s experiences that were fun and safe. This is a wonderful post Trisha – one of your best!
Laura says
At Cecile,
wow, what a wonderful story, just had to say that. As others have said, I don’t really have a great story of my dogs being resilient, but I suppose it is because it is attempted to be built-in for many of them. I can say, that my first and current dogs are and were more resilient than my middle dog. I remember when Marlin taught Torpedo how to swim. Torpy was getting a bath and so I lead him out into the lake to rince off his fur. He began to get scared, more or less kicking at the water with his front legs and not paddeling. Marlin swam up beside him and stayed there, calmly swimming. I don’t have enough vision to see what happened next but I’m sure Torpedo copied Marlin and he immediately calmed down, beginning to swim like Marlin was. I love watching dogs teach each other things. I don’t like the methods of “The Dog Whisperer” very much, but watching him put traumatized dogs in with his calm dogs and just observing the dogs begin to realize that these other dogs are fine and that things are ok is a good thing. I think of this when I think of social support, like group therapy in a way.
As for resilience, I saw it in my dogs in different ways. Torpedo was resilient in that he worked for as long as he could, but he was stressed out by that work and it manifested itself in our home-life together. Eventually, he couldn’t be resilient anymore and he had to be done with his job. Seamus is resilient in a different way. He’s just resilient to everything. Most dogs will show understandable signs of stress after a traffic check, shaking off their stress, lip-licking and yawning, but he just remains calm, not doing any of those signs. Perhaps he is giving signals I don’t see though so I’ve learned to pay attention to his signals when we’re in an especially difficult situation. I give him breaks, give him food to pick him up as well as reinforce the good behaivors and give him petting when we have a moment of down-time. It’s hard for the dogs to be “In harness” for long periods of time. imagine you working for 4 hours straight on a project, you’d need a break too. I keep a watch on his stress level while working not just because I love him and want him to have a good life in and outside of work, but also because I believe he’ll be able to work longer and will enjoy work more if I make sure he is as comfortable as he can be. My dogs have to put up with a lot and so I owe them that. I learned that from my Torpy, who held so much inside and I learned that from this blog. I think I have to be careful in always keeping in mind, that my service dogs are still dogs and that they aren’t machines. I’ve never intentionally thought of them as a machine, but sometimes you can get caught up in your day and forget the dog is another being, possibly needing a break or some other care. this especially hard when you really need them all day and so you have to figure out to help the team as a whole. My entire point is, I think taking care of my dogs throughout the day improves their ability to be resilient in their daily work and helps us to have a happier life together. Can’t wait to read more posts, sucha good topic.
Trisha says
So many wonderful comments. To those of you who asked “what else can we do?” (including friend Kay Wickenburg… I’m looking at the gorgeous bowl you sent right now!), I’d suggest using the counter conditioning techniques explained in The Cautious Canine booklet. Link the lowest possible version of the “trigger” (perhaps visitors drive up but don’t even get out of the car, much less ring the bell; or… you ring the doorbell yourself, no actual visitors) with the best possible “treat” (as defined by the dog, usually food or play). Repeat, endlessly, gradually increasing the intensity of the trigger. But I’d only advise this after some of the first work has been done… the dog has established a ‘safe house,’ has some sense of routine, and ideally, a stable dog to key off of.
I’ve used that stable dog at times as a competitor. “You, fearful thing, don’t have to come out of your crate, but when the doorbell rings all the other dogs get treats. Too bad.” Works with some dogs, not others.
There are so many comments that I can’t answer one at a time, but I have to mention that Cheryl Week’s story about her pup growing into a mature, stabilizing influence when a traumatized dog entered the home was truly compelling. What a perfect icon for so many of your stories, about one dog, or horse, or other individual providing a secure sense of attachment that we humans could never quite provide. I have to admit it makes me all bleary-eyed (that darn allergy I have) thinking about animals like Aardy and Alfie helping others learn to trust. I also laughed out loud at Mary Beth’s story of the Walker using a method I’d never recommend for the storm-frightened Arab (kick him every time he tried to run out of the barn in terror when it thundered).
And I loved Minn. Mary’s comment about handing the leash of a fearful dog to someone else and continuing to walk. Does anyone else remember John Rogerson’s more draconian version of that? Have the owner walk the dog on a long, long line, walk past a collaborator, and then let them take up the line and walk away with the dog. Then the dog is taken home to the new house, and kept for 3 days. Repeat, teaching the dog that approaching people aren’t monsters, they have homes and dog food and doggie treats like everyone else. I never had the nerve to suggest that to a client, but I think handing off a leash on a walk is a great idea, as long as safety is the first consideration and the owner continues on the the walk. Anyone else ever tried this?
Kat says
@Paula–You aren’t alone. I also have a dog with issues, a lot of well-meaning people who “know best” how to deal with her, and my times of feeling like a failure. Finna’s world diminished in size to the house and the 700 square foot dog enclosure behind the house but when she learned to be comfortable in that world her world has gradually expanded to the entire yard first on leash and then off and now to walks to the end of our rather long driveway. In time she’ll add walks on the street and maybe someday even the whole neighborhood. I think our fast paced world of instant gratification makes us impatient and what these dogs need most is time lots and lots and lots of time. Celebrate even the tiniest of victories. I found it incredibly useful to keep a record (on a blog in my case) to be able to look back and see how much those tiny victories had added up. What began as a dog who couldn’t cope with me going to the bathroom alone without coming unglued is now a dog that can spend most of the day without me when necessary without undue stress. But that improvement happened 30 seconds at a time over the course of years. You are not a failure you are an amazing human being.
@Mireille–your description of your Siberian who can sometimes handle things and sometimes can’t reminded me of Finna. Eventually I realized that for her it’s all about whether she can predict what will happen. In training set ups she can predict that the scary person is going to stay a safe distance away and handles it pretty well in real life she has no such expectation. I find it helps if I tell her what is going to happen. It isn’t that she understands what I’m telling her but that it shows her I’m aware and will keep her safe. I don’t know if your guy has the same need to predict but the description was so similar to what I experience with her I figured it couldn’t hurt to mention it.
For me I think resilience is partly a function of where a dog falls on the continuum of optimism to pessimism. Ranger is a very optimistic dog and nothing in his life has undermined that natural optimism. He is incredibly resilient nothing seems to phase him. Finna falls at the more pessimistic end of the continuum and her early life bore out her expectation that bad things were about to happen and that any new experience wouldn’t be pleasant. She didn’t have any natural resilience but four years into this adventure she’s becoming cautiously optimistic–she wouldn’t be surprised if the new experience turned out to be unpleasant but she’s willing to give it a chance not to be–and as her optimism has increased so has her resilience. Where meltdowns used to happen multiple times a day and take hours to recover from now they happen occasionally and recovery is in minutes if not seconds. I know some of it has been Ranger’s example. For instance one evening we were in the yard when an owl flew low overhead. Finna came unglued barking, leaping, and generally acting like we were under aerial attack. Ranger came running from where ever he’d been looked to see the owl, gave Finna a look that appeared to say “really, you’re freaked out over an owl?” and went back to whatever he’d been doing. Finna immediately calmed down and hasn’t reacted to an owl in flight since. She did get irritated with the Great Horned owl that screamed “Who” at her from the tree but I couldn’t blame her for that; he startled the heck out of me too.”
And having a calm confident dog mentor can be helpful not just with damaged dogs. Therapy dog work can be pretty overwhelming for a dog the first time. In our Therapy Dogs International Chapter we often pair new dogs with Ranger. Having him as a mentor has helped a lot of dogs adapt to the work and learn the ropes. One of our chapter dogs is a beautiful steel grey pitbull who adores people but generally prefers the other dogs keep their distance. She lives in the same neighborhood as Ranger and they get along so naturally she was paired with him for the first couple visits. She is so people focused that I assumed she’d figure out that I was the one to keep an eye on because from her perspective I’d be the one who controlled whether or not she’d get to interact with the people in the room. I was wrong. She immediately decided that Ranger was the one who controlled her access to residents and wouldn’t let him out of her sight in case it meant missing out on another chance to interact with people. Going into what can be an overwhelming environment full of lots of new stimulus is easier to take when you have someone who knows what they are doing, truly loves the job, and shows you the ropes.
Marjorie says
First off, love the sweet picture of Tootsie.
My first Cavalier is a dog with little resilience. I purchased Taffy at 14 months of age, the breeder sold her to me for half the usual price. She was hoping to breed her, but felt that she was too timid, so she failed the breeding program. She explained to me that she was from a winter litter that did not get enough different people socialization at the critical time (they live out in the country, have no children and the critical socialization time was during a very stormy Canadian winter). She said with patience she would improve, but never completely make-up for the lack of critical socialization.
She has ended up being the best and the most difficult dog I have had (also the smartest and closest to my heart). She was Cujo Cavalier to anyone entering my home, but a cringer whenever we met someone outside the home. It took my sister coming over everyday for three years before she could put a harness on her and take her for a walk. I kept in regular contact with the breeder as she was always available for support, she felt bad that this little dog was having such a hard time, so after a couple of years + (lots training and behavioural consults) my breeder suggested a second dog might help her gain better people social skills. She gave me (free of charge, spayed and UTD vaccines) my dog’s half sister Teena who was just four months older. This dog was from a summer litter that got lots of socialization and was very people orientated. The dogs had been raised together for the first year of their lives so they were already acquainted.
It was a real turning point for my first dog, who is a combination of confidence and fear. She used to get charged at the dog park almost every time we went, but once Teena came on the scene, she took over all the greeting and we have never had a problem since. Having been a mother Teena has no problem correcting bad manners with just a glance. She also loves to be the focus of attention and this takes the pressure off her timid sister so that Taffy could relax and just get used to hanging out around people. Taffy studied Teena’s interactions with people for a long time before she started seeking attention outside her very small people circle. This is where competition was born and it has served to both help and hinder.
I feel Taffy’s progress has come at a cost to Teena. Teena is very spirited and bubbly in nature and this at times can cause her sister Taffy anxiety and stress around competition for attention and resources. Taffy will do things such as hump, body check, and cut off Teena which tends to shut her down and dampen her enthusiasm. I try and re-direct Taffy as much as possible, but Teena still seems to feel the effects of Taffy’s behaviour and need to control the situation. I don’t think it’s easy being the sister of a drama queen. I feel bad sometimes for Teena in that she does not always get to shine her brightest. Her level of independence and fullness of expression is directly affected by Taffy’s ability to handle anxiety. I guess everything comes at a price.
Andy says
Re: John Rogerson, my favorite local training outfit is, in part, a Rogerson shop and used that 3-day method with several shelter dogs I knew. In one case, it was for a deaf hound-pit mix who was very lonely yet didn’t know how to interact with humans appropriately and was super-insecure. It worked for him. In another case, it was with a very fearful pit-bulldog whose greatest joy in life seemed to be playing with chihuahuas. In his case, the transitions between homes proved to be too much (he would freeze up at the door) so he went into boarding with a different trainer who very deliberately asked very little of him. To my knowledge, both dogs have been homed successfully and are well-loved.
My own dog responded to some Rogerson-type rituals (mainly in dealing with reactivity) but only after a year of trust-building with both me and his instructor. Prior to that, he couldn’t handle it and would have a big meltdown, so we just focused on touch, counter-conditioning, and dog sports.
Mireille says
After reading some of the story’s on this blog I am wondering what exactly I am complaining about with mu guy ;-). It must be so difficult to have dog that has so much difficulty in dealing with the world in general and then get the “helpful” comments. I have a very good friend who helped me a lot by repeatedly telling me that I am the only one that needs to like my dog. That if the rest of the world sees him as a monster (because of lunging) that really does not matter, nor does it matter what people think of me as a dog handler. Suzanna Clothier describes it as “training without ego”. Because the moment I let that influence me, what other people may think, I start making wrong choices. There is a real ‘danger’ of me getting irritated at him lung-barking at the new puppy in town instead of calming him down. I also have no trouble whatsoever anymore of telling people “get your dog away, mine bites”.
@Kat: thanks, I think there is a lot in your suggestion. Thinking about it, it might also be that my behaviour is slightly different because I know the situation will not get put of hand.. I know I influence both the dogs a lot, but especially Spot. When I had a bad day at work, he sometimes is cranky ;-).
About the optimist attitude: I feel that might be a great help indeed. Funny you saying that, my two previous Sibes we described Janouk as a dog who was a bit “sad” and then I kept seeing pics of him smiling. But he was not so much sad, as easily worried/pessimistic.
That being said, I have a friend who adopted a dog that was severely abused and neglected. He was a very strong dog in character, but turned very much inward and decided that most human were up to no good. But he wasn’t a pessimist. Actually, him trusting any people at all gave an indication of his resilience (he had the scars to show that he had little reason to trust any human). But he was a very serious dog (hmmm, can’t find another way to describe him). Now she adopted another dog from a bad situation who’s natural sweetness and inquisitiveness is helping her bounce back. So both dogs show resilience, the first one from inner strenght, the second one from sweetness. It is also so funny to see her view of what dogs need change. The first one needed very very clear boundaries and much management (he would attack people he didn’t like) the second one needs clear boundaries as well but also lots of play and stimulation. Both dogs benefited a lot form close physical contact, which helped them bond with their owners.
(and well, pictures vs words, dog nr 1 http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aOYkBtgAo1w/VCx06b8sXoI/AAAAAAAACVY/CN_KFCBWngM/s1600/Gorby-sepia.jpg
dog nr 2 with Spot
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-malEUB8b_KM/VSLim1_jwKI/AAAAAAAACoA/PaXnWkNtYZ8/s1600/Shannah%2Ben%2BSpot%2B-Kampina%2B%2B-%2B01.jpg
Yup- they got along very well. Spot gets along well with most dogs we set out on walks with… he appears to trust me when I choose our walking partners 😉 – and we start walking parallel and not meet head-on
Melissa says
I am so happy to see this being talked about. After my PhD on optimism in dogs, I developed a new appreciation for giving dogs little challenges on a regular basis. As a result, I turned my risk averse lapphund with zero persistence and anxiety about problems and obstacles into an adventure-hund that will pester and pester me to train with him, and actually goes out of his way to find obstacles to overcome. He is a completely different dog, with so much more joy in his life now, showing that you can change these things to some extent. He’s never going to be the bold type, throwing himself into things 100% without a thought, but he’s not so far off these days, and I could not be more pleased that we were able to open the world up for him so much. Occasionally we admit we miss risk averse Kivi, who would not leave our sides to go very far and therefore did not get into the inconvenient mischief he gets into now, and it is certainly a lot more work to keep that recall good. But he’s so much happier!
Here is a blog post I wrote about some of the things I did with him to improve his outlook on life: http://blog.creatureteacher.com.au/2014/01/risk-aversion-3-training-for.html
Mireille says
@kat; we saw three dogs today that Spot lunges at, one even head to head meeting. Told him what would happen and what i wanted of him and he didn’t lunge but rekaxed. Hmmmm another tool in the toolbox ?
Must be carefull what I say though, sinceI have nicknames for all the dogs in the neighboirhood when i don’t know their real names and they are not all complimentary ? (jack russel terror fi…)
Kat says
Mireille, that’s wonderful! One of the things that I love about this blog is sharing ideas in the comments. I’ve learned so many new ways to manage my psycho bitch and help her become less of a problem. And I hear you about the less than complimentary names. The GSD next door is Nemisis and the Great Dane on the other side of our fence is Invisible Monster. Those are the kind names I use for them lol. The GSD isn’t usually too much of an issue these days but the Dane is highly reactive and wants to fight Finna though the solid wood fence if they’re both out at the same time. I have some very uncomplimentary names for him.
Trisha says
To Kat (re the brilliance of blog readers and how much they add to the site). I couldn’t agree more!…. What an amazing community!
Craig says
I just discovered The Other End of the Leash and I am hooked!
I’d like to add another dimension to the concept of resilience – the physical resilience. A few years ago I invested in a startup that treats canine cancer with immunotherapy. I worked with the founder for a few years (I have a background in molecular biology) and learned SO MUCH about what happens to dogs as they age. A dog’s physical resilience starts to go downhill due to metabolic reasons that can be mitigated.
Increasing the level of glutathione is very important in dogs as is people. I’ll leave it at that to be succinct. And here is a YouTube video of the cancer therapy (we’re finishing our second dog study now with fantastic results). Should be available within a few years.
https://youtu.be/x8odLbe7h5Q
Marie says
5 years ago Atlas, a lab-shepherd mix and I, rescued each other. I mean that in the fullest sense of the term. While I set on to rescue a dog from a high kill shelter and have a good time with him/her, it turned out he has done as much to rescue me. (A story for another time maybe) He didn’t stop there. Fairly soon after we found each other, I ended up being deployed abroad for work. I was worried this wouldn’t be great for Atlas, but we bonded so fast that we decided to give it a shot at a rate of one big move/year. During those 3 years of traveling, Atlas got to run through the forests/mountains/beaches of Kenya, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United States. He was happy. It is then that he helped rehab 2 dogs in really poor conditions, one in Kenya, and one in the United States. When we entered our rented apartment in Kenya, a black lab mix had been left behind by the previous tenant, likely for several days. He was terrified, and bit me. Atlas put his wtf face on (he is literally afraid of nothing, elephants included) and as far as I can tell, told the other dog to back off, and he did. The apartment owner offered to take the dog away and, well, shoot him, which wasn’t going to work for me. The terrified dog, named Nero, kept his distance from Atlas–and thus from me–but little by little, the most amazing things started to happen. Nero started to mimic Atlas, from sitting up straight at meal time to relaxing together in front of the TV. Nero started to follow Atlas beyond the walls of the apartment into the compound yard, and then around the neighborhood, then the car, to Karura forest, and on to a big trip to the beach. The dog who was afraid to get out of his home and of drops of water was now hundreds of miles away swimming in the Indian Ocean. Time came when Atlas and I had to leave Kenya. Nero, now his own, was re-homed with a wonderful family with a HUGE yard and is doing great. It was hard to say goodbye, very hard, but all in all, we did what we thought was best for Nero. Back in the US, Atlas and I moved into a dog friendly building. Within two weeks, we ran into Ash, a pup newly rescued from a terribly abusive situation. Ash was afraid of everything; it would take her human hours to go on a simple walk as Ash would hide in every available bush on the way. The day they met, Ash made a B line for Atlas, and Atlas clearly took a big brother liking to Ash. Ash’s human started calling me several times a day… “Can you come on a walk with us, Ash won’t get out of the building.” With Atlas at his side, Ash learned to fight and ignore his fears. He also learned how to be a dog. Ash didn’t know how to play, how to swim, how to enjoy the good dog life, and within a few months, he not only got there but became the certified loving goof of the neighborhood. There is nothing that Ash doesn’t like today. He gives way more credit to everything and anything than Atlas (who took on somewhat of a protector role) does, for that matter. All this took an incredible amount of patience from the humans involved, but I can’t imagine ever getting there without Atlas’ presence. As I mentioned, perhaps as a result of this all, perhaps because of hitting 5 years old, Atlas became a bit too protective for a city dog, and I am now focused on special times with Atlas so that he understands he doesn’t have to be the world’s protector (by the way, he is named after the map, not the burden on your shoulder guy!). He is a smart guy, and I am sure that with love and patience, he will quickly get there.
mama says
I’ve been thinking about this post a lot in the last week. My reactive pup had a setback about 9 days ago and I saw months of hard work vanish in seconds. We were back to barking insanely at other dogs and drooling and shutting down in abject terror at the sight of the car. Aside from wanting to scream in frustration, I have been desperately hoping that at least some of our hard work will have “stuck” somewhere back in the recesses of his brain, and that it won’t take months to work our way back to where we were.
I upped the value of all our treats immediately and invested in some “calming” treats. I don’t know that the fancy treats have done any good, but they haven’t done any harm and at least I feel like I did something extra. We’re back to using the calming pheromone spray on my pant leg at every outing and have had frequent sessions of clicker training to take the salmon jerky off the car bumper, off the very inside of the car with the hatchback open… Remus will sneak up, snatch the treat, and bolt as far away as he can get.
I’ve hoped all along that my non-reactive, everything-is-cool dog would help Remus out. He hasn’t. At best he seems oblivious, at worst he sees Remus’ panic as a good reason to bark and enjoy the sound of his own voice (which is why they no longer go on walks together). However, bringing Sieger out to jump joyfully in and out of the car peaked Remus’ interest quite a bit. Not enough to get him into the car, but he lingered longer while taking his treats and didn’t look as stressed.
The dog reactivity has cooled fairly quickly, and if we aren’t exactly back to where we were before his setback, we’re at least close. We passed several other dogs tonight on our walk and he did not bark or do anything spectacularly embarrassing. He watched me when asked, and was able to turn himself away from trouble without being cued (something he had just started to do leading up to his big meltdown). Seeing him alert to the presence of another dog and then turn his face to me with a dopey smile on it- even as every hair on his body stands on end to let me know he still thinks the other dog is terrifying- gives me hope that we’re on the right track.
We’ve also had moments that we’re beyond amazing. Sieger is great out of the house, but is your ultimate super protective GSD in the house. Over the weekend we had to have someone come out to the house for something. I took both dogs in the back room with a clicker and a bag of treats. Remus was mildly nervous, but kept his eyes on me and was happy to sit and down for cookies. Sieger went into a fit of barking. Remus watched Sieger, looked at me, and, upon hearing “Good boy,” produced the most elegant play bow I’ve ever seen and proceeded to draw Sieger out of his barking fit. The treats I had were not enough for Sieger, but Remus was able to give him the reinforcement he needed to move away form the door and calm down. I think it was the single most hopeful moment we’ve had in the whole process of training Remus.
On that note, today I took a whole bowl of fresh chicken livers out to the car, and Remus climbed right in. Mind you, we didn’t go anywhere, but he got in. He wasn’t drooling in terror and he wasn’t plastered to the ground quivering. I’m starting to believe that resilience is something we can teach, and just maybe my boy is learning it.
Sue Davie says
I’m working on catching up on your blog and just left a reply about a book in your ‘what are you reading’ blog that would go with this topic as well. Paul Tough’s book How Children Succeed, Grit Curiosity, and the Hidcden Power of Character includes information on a study of resilience in rat pups and how pups who are licked and groomed frequently by their mothers have higher levels of resilience than pups who were licked and groomed infrequently. It’s a great book. I highly recommend it.
Cathy Withall says
Thank you for this article, and everyone who has commented. We have a two year old female Husky x Inuit, who we have had from a puppy, and has grown from being a skittish pup to an almost bombproof dog, especially where other dogs are concerned – many times she has been lunged at or barked and snapped at, only for her to turn calmly away with a look of ‘I guess you don’t want to be friends then’! Now we have taken on a five year old Northern Inuit, not exactly a rescue but a rehome from a good breeder, who did her best for him since he was a puppy, but could not do anything about the fact that he doesn’t like crates or lots of other dogs around him, or females in season.
He had been fed well and exercised adequately, but he came to us a skinny, anxious dog, who when faced with uneven ground in the forestry for the first time nearly fell over. After just three months he has put on 5kg (only about another 5-7kg to go at a guess, but at least his ribs aren’t showing so much now!), has learnt to run on uneven ground, been to the woods, the beach, in streams and is just starting obedience classes with a view to doing agility.
Your article has given me confidence that we are on the right road with him, giving him space, a routine, and a single confident friend who can show him that the world isn’t as scary as he thinks it is. He still won’t eat if the rubbish lorry is around, but he’s stopped panting and drooling in the truck, and is starting to come to us for cuddles of his own accord. You’ve definitely given me hope for the future 🙂
Bob Rich says
When I was an undergrad in the1960s, we were told of a dog experiment. Like-sex litter mates were put into experimental and control conditions. Controls were given to families as pets. Experimentals were put into dog heaven for 2 years, then given to matched families. Within 6 months, all the experimental dogs were dead — some due to lacking antibodies for diseases, but most from depression. I would love to track down the reference to this study.
bob@bobswriting.com
Thank you