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The other day my mom and I loaded up the dogs and headed to a local park. The only problem was that, well, it was like 20 degrees out...
"Hey, you, throw something into the water!!" No, Panic, it's freakin' below freezing out here.
"Do it."
"DO IT"
"Fine, I'll just pretend to chase things."
Um.....Sorry, but doesn't he just look stupid standing out there?
Until he realized how cold it was...Zoooooom!
"No, it's really not cold at all. Promise!" (Yes, that's drool frozen on his face. Lovely.)
In case you thought I was joking, Panic's butt did literally freeze:
Haha, serves you right!
Meanwhile, Maxie is thinking "Why am I here? It's cold. I'm freezing. I'm DYING!"
"Oh, a treat? Well okay...I think I'll be able to go on a bit further..."
How cute :]
Now, I can't even begin to explain how amazingly monumental these next photos are. I have never mentioned the issues we've had with Toby. He has VERY severe fear aggression towards other dogs. Not all dogs, but there are just certain dogs that set him off, and we can't really find a pattern in it. He is incredibly insecure and stresses very easily.
Now, dog attacks don't usually phase most people including myself, but his attacks are unique in a couple of awful ways; 1.) He does not do multiple bites like most attacks; he latches on to a body part (commonly the head) and does not let go. It really reminds me of the "lock jaw" that people think pit-bulls get. 2.) He does not give any indication that he is going to attack. No growling, snarling, snapping, etc. Just a brief (like half a second) tightening of the mouth and dilated eyes that occur just as quick.
This has only happened twice, both instances have occurred in our backyard. Other than the location, the attacks themselves have been very different; one was on Laila, a little BC pup we fostered last August. The second was on Nikita, an old, fat American Eskimo mix we were dog sitting for a few days in November of last year, I believe.
The two things we have tentatively concluded are that the attacks are due to his stress level, territoriality, and "personal space bubble" invasions. Some people think we're crazy because, ordinarily, Toby is an incredibly sweet, loving golden who doesn't seem to have any problems. We even had him evaluated by a behaviorist (obviously not a very good one) who said we were fabricating his issues.Other people who believe us think we're crazy to have any other dogs at all, let along be attempting to integrate an insane, high drive border collie into the household.
Maybe we are crazy, but either way I think we are making huge strides. On the service he seems normal, but underneath he is an incredibly insecure, fearful, wanna-be-alpha dog. Once we learned how to read his stress and how to manage it, we've been making wonderful progress. I have to give credit to a couple of resources that have helped us tremendously, ones that ANY dog person should check out:
Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt
These are just a few that were wonderful in helping us. Stuff by Patricia McConnell and Jean Donaldson were also great resources. Anyway, sorry for that long winded explaination, but that really doesn't scratch the surface at explaining the ordeal my mother and I have been through working with this dog. Here are those incredible photos I was talking about.
Toby and Panic, loose together. Toby CALM!! YESSSSSSSSSS!
I think I might cry its so great. :]
"Hey, you, throw something into the water!!" No, Panic, it's freakin' below freezing out here.
"Do it."
"DO IT"
"Fine, I'll just pretend to chase things."
Um.....Sorry, but doesn't he just look stupid standing out there?
Until he realized how cold it was...Zoooooom!
"No, it's really not cold at all. Promise!" (Yes, that's drool frozen on his face. Lovely.)
In case you thought I was joking, Panic's butt did literally freeze:
Haha, serves you right!
Meanwhile, Maxie is thinking "Why am I here? It's cold. I'm freezing. I'm DYING!"
"Oh, a treat? Well okay...I think I'll be able to go on a bit further..."
How cute :]
Now, I can't even begin to explain how amazingly monumental these next photos are. I have never mentioned the issues we've had with Toby. He has VERY severe fear aggression towards other dogs. Not all dogs, but there are just certain dogs that set him off, and we can't really find a pattern in it. He is incredibly insecure and stresses very easily.
Now, dog attacks don't usually phase most people including myself, but his attacks are unique in a couple of awful ways; 1.) He does not do multiple bites like most attacks; he latches on to a body part (commonly the head) and does not let go. It really reminds me of the "lock jaw" that people think pit-bulls get. 2.) He does not give any indication that he is going to attack. No growling, snarling, snapping, etc. Just a brief (like half a second) tightening of the mouth and dilated eyes that occur just as quick.
This has only happened twice, both instances have occurred in our backyard. Other than the location, the attacks themselves have been very different; one was on Laila, a little BC pup we fostered last August. The second was on Nikita, an old, fat American Eskimo mix we were dog sitting for a few days in November of last year, I believe.
The two things we have tentatively concluded are that the attacks are due to his stress level, territoriality, and "personal space bubble" invasions. Some people think we're crazy because, ordinarily, Toby is an incredibly sweet, loving golden who doesn't seem to have any problems. We even had him evaluated by a behaviorist (obviously not a very good one) who said we were fabricating his issues.Other people who believe us think we're crazy to have any other dogs at all, let along be attempting to integrate an insane, high drive border collie into the household.
Maybe we are crazy, but either way I think we are making huge strides. On the service he seems normal, but underneath he is an incredibly insecure, fearful, wanna-be-alpha dog. Once we learned how to read his stress and how to manage it, we've been making wonderful progress. I have to give credit to a couple of resources that have helped us tremendously, ones that ANY dog person should check out:
On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas
Click To Calm: Healing The Aggressive Dogs by Emma Parsons
Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt
These are just a few that were wonderful in helping us. Stuff by Patricia McConnell and Jean Donaldson were also great resources. Anyway, sorry for that long winded explaination, but that really doesn't scratch the surface at explaining the ordeal my mother and I have been through working with this dog. Here are those incredible photos I was talking about.
Toby and Panic, loose together. Toby CALM!! YESSSSSSSSSS!
I think I might cry its so great. :]