FAQs | Re-Home Your Pets

Question:

I have a silver lab. He is 5 years old. He is our only animal that we have. We have always had him in the house lose when we are away from home(Work, store trip). In the past year he has started to scratch at the carpet to where it is ruined in spots. Usually it is same 4 locations. We started to put him in his cage when we left because damage to the carpet was getting bad. We bought a dog cage for outside 10×10 with the top for shade last week. SO that way he wasn’t couped up inside in a small location. He has done great in it. Until today. He has messed the door up by prying the fencing up. I know he has some separation issues but I don’t know what else to do or what will help him. I need some help in finding what I can do for him.

Answer:

When a 5 yr old dog changes behaviors suddenly or over the last year, we must always suspect medical issue first. Anxiety is manifested when a dog is confused about what is happening in his life. First suspecting a medical issue is a smart path. Have your veterinarian investigate any and all maladies which can cause pain, joint pain, muscle ache, etc… Such things as heart issues, Lyme disease, tic born diseases, Thyroid, and other conditions that a complete blood workup can reveal.

Praying for a solution.

K9-Jack

Longshot Farms

Question:

Hello,

I volunteer with a small rescue in NC. We are a in home foster Rescue.

We have rescued a dog named Red who is a Bully breed, possibly a AS mix.

Red is unpredictable. He can play with other dogs for months and then will attack them.

He was neutered months ago and it did not change this behavior.

He is now in a kennel, because the fosters cannot risk harm to their dogs.

We just do not know how to help him and are afraid to place him, because of the behavior.

Any advice would be appreciated

Yours in rescue..

Answer:

I’ve seen it many times, the unpredictable behavior preceded by weeks of normal play.

The issue is not whether he can live with other dogs, rather when can he safely cohabitate?

The answer lies with the knowledge of care and handling he receives. This is the difficult part. This dog needs lots of controlled time with dozens of dogs where he cannot make a mistake. That control requires a very in tune trainer.

Absent that option, he may do okay with a puppy household, less than 6 months. He may do okay in a home with only one dog if given about two months of supervised time with the other dog. AND of course, he can do well in as the only dog.

If you’ll allow me to make an assumption; I presume it is the other dog that triggers the response and fight from this dog.

Many dogs do OK, until there is food, treats or toys involved, then Fight’s On…

You’d be wise to remove all such items from the formula. Another trigger is when the other dog takes time to sniff, nose to nose for more than 2 seconds, your Pit breed takes that as an aggressive position and Fights on again.

I wish a had a simple answer, but for 30 years of aggressive dog rehab, I’ve not found one. Knowledge, patience and love is all that I count on working.

God bless

K9-Jack

Longshot Farms

Question:

Hello,

I have a 4 year old Beagle mix. I rescued him as a puppy and know he is part beagle but don’t know what else. He looks exactly like a Shepard though. He is about 70lbs. He is trained in the sense that he will sit and lay down and wait to be told to eat his food. That is the extent of his training. Since adopting him, I have moved 5 times (i know it’s a lot!) I try and exercise him a much as possible but honestly I work a lot and he isn’t getting enough walks. I got a dog walker recently but didn’t notice a change in his behavior. When I get home he is so overly excited. He cries and cries and won’t stop trying to be near me. He is only calm when I am touching him. At a young age, I tried to ignore him when I got home as I was told in training courses. I still do this but he will literally follow me around the house crying and jumping until I pet him. He also will have these days where he is only calm when laying next to me either on the couch or bed. I try to make him stay on the floor but again, he cries and won’t stop nudging me with his nose. I will put him in “time out” sometimes but it seems to make the situation worse. I really think it’s an anxiety issue? Some vets have told me he should be on medication but that makes me nervous.

At this point I am living in a condo with a small cement backyard. I am getting more and more worried that I am not giving him a good life. I do not want to give him up but don’t want to be selfish either. Do you think this could be fixed with training? Or should I look into anxiety pills? I have a steady income but can’t do anything that’t too expensive. Just want to explore all my options and make sure my Bentley is getting the wonderful life he deserves!

Thank you in advance for your help.

Answer:

The first thing to understand is that dogs are very adaptive. If you love your dog, you will give him attention, love, and care. Your understanding of how to give proper care starts when you reach out to those who know, which is what you’ve done here. I have no doubt the best place for Bentley is with you. If he could talk, he’d beg you to never let him go. I’m sure your trainers gave you good advice as Bentley was growing up. The advice missing was that no one piece of knowledge is enough to handle every dog or behavior. Your dog probably is under-stimulated, and you are sensing this. The answer to that question is what method will work with your schedule? I’ll suggest one here and tell you there are dozens of ways to get the job done. Google away! Try this invention that I use for very active dogs who live with their owners in small apartments without a yard. Watch this video > work towards Bentley behaving like this… https://vimeo.com/26279876

Full article about Flirt Poles

http://iheartdogs.com/does- your-dog-have-self-control- issues-try-a-flirt-pole/

Make your own Flirt Pole

http://www.tractorsupply.com/ tsc/product/wonder-whip-66-in- with-72-in-lash-lunge-whip?cm_ vc=-10005

http://www.tractorsupply.com/ tsc/product/spot-mini- skinneeez-dog-toy?cm_vc=-10005

Let’s talk about ANXIETY. Dogs are not by nature anxious. We humans instill that into them. Dogs manifest anxiety when they do not understand what is happening around them. Fireworks, thunder, loud noises, your absence, etc. When we yell at our dogs, “NO”- “SHUT UP”- “DOWN”, the anxiety is increased due to the dog’s lack of understanding. When you constantly say “NO” and your dog behaves worse, STOP the repetition and try another approach. When you yell at your dog for his anxiety-related behavior, he will increase the anxiety level and not improve.

When I rescue a high-anxiety dog, I begin by hand feeding him for two weeks. This process is called “Classical Conditioning” (explained below). I do this to have a good association with his name “Bentley” when I need to redirect him away from any behavior I find bothersome. If this sounds like mumbo-jumbo, you should ask yourself… why would a guy who rescues hundreds of dogs take all the time to hand feed them for two weeks??? Without this conditioning, we can only say negative things to our dog when he is about to do wrong. This is not rocket science, but does require patience.

I recommend hand feeding Bentley for two weeks. This must be done in the same manner as you’ll see in this video > https://youtu.be/YQY9ykt4Dug Please don’t add or take away from this procedure. It’s simple, so keep it simple. This will begin to build a foundation which you do not presently have with Bentley.

You must try to keep distractions to a minimum and the food-tastiness to a maximum. If Bentley is not interested in eating, either make the food better or skip a meal. Don’t quit or put the bowl on the floor. (Disregard the last portion of this video. We will come back to that later.)

To help you better understand what we’re doing in this exercise, watch this video. https://youtu.be/hhqumfpxuzI Pavlov used a bell to evoke salivation. You will be using the word/sound “Bentley, Bentley, Bentley” instead of ring –ring-ring. The end result is a conditioned response to the sound “Bentley,” which will create a calming effect and a high level of attention. If you’re really good, salivation. Note the timing of the sound “Bentley.” It is spoken just before the food is delivered but continued while eating. The cue “SIT” is unrelated to Pavlov but concurs with the practice of not rewarding your dog without asking for something first. “There ain’t no free lunch,” which I’m sure you’ve heard before. After repeating this for two weeks, you will see some changes in the way Bentley responds to you. Once he has this foundation, when you want his attention say, “Bentley, Bentley, Bentley” and watch what happens.

Feel free to write back with your results…

K9-Jack

Longshot Farms

Question: I adopted a 3 year old female Shih Tzu last year. The adoption organization told me she came from a small breeder that kept her in a small outside kennel. She is a great little dog but she has an annoying persistant bark at night. It happens after we have gone to bed when someone comes in the house late or any loud noise outside. How do I remedy this problem? We need our sleep, any ideas?

Answer:

The first thing to do is to begin by ignoring the behavior. ANY comments to the dog negative (“No” or “Stop it”) or positive (“oh, it’s ok, it’s just sissy”) give the dog the attention that it is seeking.

The longer a behavior has gone on, the longer it will take to correct. It sounds like the behavior has been going on for 2-3 years. Correcting it can be fairly easy, BUT will take time.

Step 1: “Birdcage” Method: Cover the dog’s crate with a sheet or blanket and place in an isolated part of the house. Put toys, treats, peanut butter filled kong, or whatever else the dog like. You don’t want it to be a punishment. The dog needs to be conditioned that there will be no reward outside the crate for making noise.
Step 2: Be Consistent: (This is the hardest part)You need to do this every night realizing that it may take several weeks because of how long the behavior has been a part of the dog’s routine. This is not a quick fix.

Step 3: If there is no reduction in barking, you may need to seek an evaluation for a trained professional.

Regards,

Jason Purgason, CPDT-KA

Question: We adopted out dog 2 years ago when was 8 weeks old. He is an unknown mix, but looks like a terrier of some sort. He has always liked to bite, but this problem has gotten progressively worse over the past 2 years. He is now extremely possessive over certain things (the couch- not allowed on, under our bed- not allowed under, toys- we’ve now taken them all away). Even though we try to take away the things the likes to be possessive over, he still gets very aggressive and has even bitten us several times. We had a baby 8 months ago and cannot risk this behavior with our son. We love our dog so much, but are at a loss on what to do. We feel like we’ve tried everything. Our first choice is to re-home (as we don’t have money to have extensive training), but are unsure who will take an aggressive dog. And advice?

Answer:

This is common problem we see with dogs who are bored or not stimulated. However a proper diagnoses would have to be made in person by a professional dog trainer/behaviorist. We have found in the past that owners who would like to re-home the problematic dog have much more success when they have the dog put through professional obedience with behavior modification. It’s a proven fact that simply re-homing the dog without attempting to maintain the behavior results in the dogs becoming euthanized. Please let us know if we can be of assistance diagnosing your dog.

Regards,
Jason Purgason
Training Director
Highland Canine Training, LLC
866.200.2207
www.highlandcanine.com

Question: We adopted a Yorkie from FHCR he is a sweet dog but he is very afraid and nervous and stays at my feet constantly I am afraid I am going to step on him and hurt him. He will not go into the yard without me. I am hoping this will change with time. How can I in the meantime help him be more secure and get him away from my feet? I have another small dog in the house, they seem to be getting along well until she barks then he gets really afraid and nervous.

Answer: I would begin by crating your Yorkie at night to ensure that he is safe while you sleep. To address his fears, I would begin to have new people feed him treats whenever he encounters them. As for the dog constantly being under your feet, I would try to encourage him to give you some space by taking some of his favorite food or treats an throwing it on the ground or floor a few feet away from you. In time, you will see that he naturally creates some space from you. You will want to reward this behavior by again throwing treats in the ground during those times when he is ample distance (you decide the comfortable distance) from you.

Regards,
Jason Purgason, CPDT-KA

Question:

We adopted a flat coated retriever 4 years ago from a shelter where she had numerous four-legged pals. She has become increasingly aggressive with all dogs and has injured three, despite our best efforts to avoid this. She is loving, affectionate and playful with people. We need to “re-home” her for another issue (son’s allergies) and won’t have much luck with this aggression issue. Can you help?

Answer:

Aggression can often be a frustrating behavior to work with. In order to effectively rehabilitate problem behaviors, such as aggression, you must first properly diagnosed the problem. It is vitally important to understand the root cause of the problem in order to begin to fix the issue. The behaviors that you are describing could be the result of possessive aggression, fear aggression or dominance aggression. In order to treat any of these behaviors you will likely need the help of an experienced dog trainer or behavior specialist in order to first properly diagnose the problem. Then a course of treatment can be developed to help curb the aggression with your dog. If you are located in any of our service areas www.highlandcanine.com/contact.htm feel free to contact the trainer in your area for a free evaluation so that your dogs problem can be diagnosed and addressed.

Regards,
Jason Purgason, CPDT-KA

Question: Our cat is about 2 YO and still acts quite kittenish. He’s quite playful and doesn’t mean to tear up the house, but with his enthusiasm, playfulness, and sharp claws, the hardwood floors are suffering, as are various pieces of furniture and drapes in the house. He’s been diagnosed with an eye condition that prevents him from being let outside. Can you please speak to the issue of our possibly declawing him? I know claws can be removed by lasers, but this seems to be out of our budget. Is the cheaper alternative much more painful to cats, especially to an adult cat?

Answer: While declawing would be the easy answer, it is the most costly. I would not recommend having your cat declawed with anything other than the laser. We have been using it for almost 12 years and will not perform this surgery any other way. The recovery is much quicker and the pain is much less-especially in an adult cat. If you chose this option your cat cannot be allowed outdoors as he will not be able to protect himself or climb as well.

Keeping the cat’s nails trimmed frequently (maybe weekly) could definitely help. This is something you can do at home for only the minimal cost of the nail trimmers.

Another option is using soft paws. These are rubber “claws” that are glued on over top of your cat’s real claws. Theses are availble on line and can be applied at home. They do have to be replaced periodically depending on the activity level of the cat. Most cats tolerate them well so this is another option for you.

Dr Chip Cooney
Animal Hospital of Statesville

Question: Is it possible to house-train a dog who is 9 years old and spent his life in a large fenced in back yard?

Answer:

Yes, it is possible.

The first step is to purchase and crate train rigorously. Dogs typically don’t want to “poop” or pee where they eat and sleep. You also want to provide all the treats, toys and bones in the crate so the dog will learn to enjoy his new area. This may take time, when I dog has never been crated before you may experience some barking, whining, or scratching…don’t give in, it will get better!

Take the dog outside as soon as you remove it from the crate (Use the same door each time). Once outside take the dog to the area you want it to relieve itself and walk it around, (this will take time). As soon as the dog relieves itself, praise, praise praise, praise.

Keep the dog outside and play or have free time in the house (watch closely so the dog doesn’t have an accident). Don’t immediately but the dog in the crate, make sure you give free time!

With consistency your dog will understand house training in no time!

Regards,

Jason Purgason, CPDT-KA

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