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It has been my experience after years of rescue work, that
this does not work with abused animals. The whole idea of the pack mentality is
lost on a dog that has seen nothing but abuse. I have worked with a lot of
abused animals over the years, and have found that pretty much all the normal
behavior we humans use with a normal dog will backfire with an abused dog. Of
course, this is just my experience. Maybe it has been different for
others.
I have also found the same to apply to humans. As a foster
parent I found that kids that came from abusive homes did not respond well to
any type of negative reinforcement. Even the kids that acted totally out of
control would respond better to unconditional love but would act even worse when
physically disciplined or when negative attitudes were used. In other words, if
my child came up to me and called me a foul name, I would absolutely bust
his/her behind and he/she would NEVER attempt that again. But if a foster child
came up to me and did the same, they would do it again if they were disciplined
for it, but if I talked to them and showed that I had been hurt as a result of
their words, they were more likely to understand my pain (since they had felt
the same in the past) and would be less likely to repeat in the future. Whereas
my child had never experienced that pain and thus could have no empathy for
it.
The abused dogs I have had, if I had picked it up and squeezed
it or grabbed its nozzle or anything, it would have cowed in fear or else become
aggressive toward me, where as if I held it in my arms, baby talked it and
petted it, it came to trust me and want to please me. Now, on the otherhand,
should one of my dogs, whom I know has not been abused, were to growl or snap at
me, I would not hesitate to correct it.
My preferred choice of correction for aggression in a "normal
dog" is to take the dogs face between my hands, look them straight in the eye (a
sign of dominance) and sternly say no! and continue to hold the dog in this
position until he or she stops struggling. That is just what works for me on the
normal ones, lol
Marsha
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, August 20, 2006 11:07
AM
Subject: {SPAMFILTER} Re: {SPAMFILTER}
[Chihuahuas] My Chihuahua is mean and aggressive
There are ways of showing that you are alpha dog without scarring, or
harming a dog in any way. You will need to show you are alpha even if the
dog has a abusive past. Treating a dog as though you are equal
with them will not work. Dogs have retained the pack mentality of it's wolf
anscetors, and there are no equals in a wolf pack. If you don't show you
are alpha, then the dog will become alpha as there are no equals in a wolf
pack there are no equals in a human/dog pack. A stern voice should
not scare a abused dog as long as it is used quietly without any raise in the
voice. Normally it is the yelling, and screaming that scares the dog not the
tone of voice. However there will be dogs that a stern voice does scare. My
advice is every time your dogs do something you want to correct slowly,
gently, and quietly pick the offending dog up, and slowly, gently grab the top
of his/her muzzle, and give it a gentel squeeze. Say no at the same time. You
can choose wither or not to use a stern voice. However the dog needs to know
you are disappointed at the behavior he/she did. Make sure you grab the top,
not the bottom. Grabing the top says you are alpha, while grabing the bottom
says you are omega. Then directly after you correct him/her pet, hug,
kiss, whatever you do to show your love for your dog, so that he/she knows you
still love him/her, and that you are not going to be mean to him/her because
he/she mis-behaved.
Jennifer.
marsha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]org>
wrote:
With rescues with abusive past, they CAN be turned around,
but it will take a LOT of love and patience. That is the only thing that
will work in the long run. Gain their trust, give unconditional love, make
sure they know they will never be abused again. Also, most normally used
means of correction will backfire on a dog with an abusive past. We crate
our pups, we use newspapers, squirt bottles, penny cans, stern voices ect.
All these things may be successful with a pup, but often have adverse
reactions with a dog from a bad past. The best thing is to not scold or use
any physical or scary means of correction. Just full unconditional love.
Hold them as much as possible. If they do do something wrong, pick them up
and talk gently, distract them from what they are doing and let them know
you still love them.
I have always had chis and always had puppies and I always
let them know I am ALPHA. I am the boss!! But I have also done a lot of
rescue work and have found you can not treat these dogs the same as you can
with those dogs who have never known abuse. These dogs fair much better if
the Alpha role is not played. If you do a more :"we are equals" or "I am
your protector" role as opposed to a "I am your boss" role.
Best of luck.
Marsha
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2006 9:28
PM
Subject: Re: {SPAMFILTER}
[Chihuahuas] My Chihuahua is mean and aggressive
i have two chis, jojo and rayray. i adopted both of them a few years
back and they are still very mean. they will warm up a little, but will
not tolerate a lot of love for long - they turn to biting and growling.
they came from an abusive home which is im sure why they behave this way.
my question is - is there a way to train them "out" of this behavior>
it becomes very hard to have two chis and still have company or even bring
them around family. they are the cutest babies ever, but they are just so
mean... jen
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