Brody – Adopted

This post is mainly focusing on his behaviors and training progress, written specifically for other rescuers and his future family. His “available for adoption” post is now on my photography blog. I will list his issues into different categories so that you don’t have to read the entire post to find topics that might interest you. He is available for adoption through www.bcrrt.com

History (pre-rescue)

Brody was picked up by an animal control in mid January. He was limping when the rescue got him, possibly due to the way he was captured by a catch pole. At the shelter, he was nervous but supposedly warmed up to shelter workers after a while. During the two weeks when he stayed with a temporary foster, he lived outside in a climate controlled area. I was told that he was “respectful” with other dogs and was nervous about going into his kennel.

Initial observation

With me:

He slowly came over to me with his head low and with a little wag of his tail. He let me touch him on his head and body. He did not pull away from me but he didn’t seem excited either. He showed interest to high value treats but did not eat them. He flopped down on his back and showed me his belly but it was more of a “tap-out” — which is often mistaken as “give-me-belly-rubs”. He is overbite and his top jaw is slightly longer than the lower jaw, which makes him look like a cartoon character from one angle! I think it’s cute!

With my dogs:

Brody and my dogs met at the front yard one at a time. Cooper got excited when he saw the volunteer person he knew. When Cooper barked at her out of excitement, Brody flinched, turned his head away and tried to avoid him completely. As soon as he got to the “marking bush”, he was no longer nervous about Cooper’s presence. In the back yard, he tried to keep distance from my dogs, but his hormone seemed to have taken over his shyness. He marked every inch of the yard then tried to chin-over Jazzy. (which was of course unsuccessful) When she warned him, he turned his head, looked down and walked away. (Like a kid who got in trouble by his teacher) His avoidance behaviors were exaggerated and seemed well practiced. After a few more unsuccessful attempts at Jazzy, he moved on to Cooper. Brody was more insisting with Cooper. Brody tried to “taste” Cooper’s urine (never Jazzy’s) on the grass and directly from Cooper. (common behavior by unneutered males) He was “respectful” around my dogs’ faces, but I believe it was more to do with his nervousness. He was very comfortable with their rear ends, but purposely avoided their fronts. The only time he ever got excited was when I turned on the water hose and Jazzy started chomping at it. He barked excitedly but with a bit of frustration. I wanted to see which was making him so excited — the water or Jazzy’s movement. I did a quick isolated test and it was indeed Jazzy’s movement that was making him excited. He was afraid of water but he wanted to herd Jazzy when she moved fast.

Sensitivity with noises and movement:

He was very jumpy with noise and my movement. He enjoyed physical affection but he flinched if my hands moved a certain way around his face. He didn’t respond to “Good boy” or my kissy sound at all. Kissy sound actually made him more nervous. He loved when I made “meow” sound and tilted his head, but if I did it more than a few times he got nervous with that too. He flinched over general household noises; when I pulled aluminum foil out, closed my fridge, dropped something, and so on. He froze in front of TV but did not react to it immediately. When he is nervous he looks for a place to hide. When he tried to climb onto the couch, I thought he was allowed on furniture in the past. And I realized he only does it when he was scared of something. For a dog that is scared of confinement, he was very comfortable with my dark garage. He tried to push himself in there between my legs, making me wonder if he lived outside in a garage or a shed.

Marking/Potty training:

His urine had such a strong smell (he was still intact) so I encourage him to potty out in the yard, not in the patio, by blocking it off with a long pen. I used “ECO-CARE” by simple solution. At first I thought it was meant to prevent dogs from marking so I sprayed the pen. Within a few seconds, Brody went straight to the spot and marked all over it. Then we realized that the solution was meant to teach dogs where to pee/mark. (Duh) I washed the pen where he marked, then reapplied the solution on a tree in the yard. Within seconds, Brody marked on the tree! It does what it’s supposed to — Brody approved! (Update: The Eco-care worked for a few days. He no longer cares about the smell. But he no longer marks obsessively either.)

Inside the house:

He was hesitant to come inside the house. He planted his feet, froze and lowered his body when he was in smaller areas of the house  — hallway and the foster room. He will be on leash when he is in the house for a while. He wears a belly band when he is in the house unconfined for several reasons: to protect my furniture, to prevent any future marking by other dogs, to discourage him from marking. He tried to mark my couch once but I interrupted him quickly enough. However you have to be careful with interruption as he is very sensitive.

Taking treats:

He turned his head and refused all sorts of high value treats. But as soon as the treats are out of my hand, he ate them happily. Just like he did with my dogs, his avoidance behaviors were deliberate and well practiced. Sometimes he would look away until he couldn’t turn his head any longer. It was as if he was punished for even looking at the food a person was holding. I thought he might have been taught to refuse food from a stranger. But if someone was this “good” at teaching a dog not to take a piece of hot dog, then that person would have taught Brody other behaviors. But he doesn’t seem to understand any of the basic signals — sit, down, come/here, off etc. Teaching him to accept food out of my hand is going to be the top priority so that I could use it to work on other things.

Fear of crate:

With hot dogs and canned food, he very slowly and hesitantly walked into a large crate. I have to be very careful not to make any noises, or he panics and bolts. Once he’s inside he is OK, but going in there is a big challenge for him. He was reaching in to grab a piece of hot dog, my neighbor passed in front of the window and he made some noises. That little noise completely shut him down. He did not want to have anything to do with the crate or the foster room after that. Because he started making a negative association with the hot dogs and the crate, I decided to switch to another form of confinement for now. I tried a bigger plastic crate, which he was even more scared of. He was better with a tall pen with top open at first, but he got scared of something and tried to climb out of it. In the last several days, he’s been staying in a small guest bathroom with a crate with its door open. It took him a while to step into the bathroom but once he realized he didn’t have to go into the crate, he walked in slowly and crawled into a tiny spot next to the crate. His water, food and bones are all placed in the back of the crate. I put a really comfortable dog bed in the crate but left the bathroom floor bare. That way he will eventually realize crate is better than outside of it. I set up a video camera and monitored him. (to be continued below)

Things he likes this week: smelling, humping, marking, dogs’ butts

Things he dislikes this week: noises, hands, sudden movement, car, crate, inside the house, treats in my hand, barking, dogs’ faces, water hose, camera, certain words, toys that make noises, Cooper

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Update — Week 1

Crate update:

(See above for previous update) He was kept in the guest bathroom with a crate with its door open. I needed a slightly larger confinement, so he would not be so anxious, but an area small enough for his house training. First few days, he quickly went into the crate as soon as I left, ate half of his food, ran back out and slept on the floor the rest of day. On day 4, I saw him going inside and stayed in it more than two minutes. That was a progress for this guy! On day 5, he walked in right in front of me but I did not close the door. It’s going to be a slow process because his desire to eat is very low. In addition to his meals and bones, I tied a stuffed Kong in the deep end of the crate. That way he will have to stay there longer to enjoy the snack. At this point, all goodies happen while he is in the crate.

With other dogs:

By day 7, there is no more chin-over or humping my dogs. But when he met another dog, (male/10 months old/neutered) he was back to the humping mode. It took me several body blocking and a few warning from the other dog for him to give up. This is to be expected with new dogs for a day or two.

Medical:

When he got neutered, (cryptorchid) I knew he would regress. And that was one of the reasons I wanted to get it done sooner so that we could start our training with minimal  regression and interruption. The x-ray showed no recent fractures or any obvious damage to his right leg. The vet saw a healed fracture to his knee. So his limping could be from an old injury, not from the dog catcher after all. Per his vet, he is on doxy for thirty days, heart guard and he will be re-tested for his light heartworms sometime in March.

Sensitivity and fear:

I am still trying to pinpoint what noises are scaring him so that I can work on them. So far I know he does not like when I say “Back” (which I use to get my dogs to back up). I am wondering if he was told “Bad-dog” a lot. One minute he is happy, sweet and affectionate, then the next minute he is running away from me and facing against a wall or a fence. It is as if there are two completely different dogs inside a body.

Reaction when he is shut down.

Camera:

He is not too scared of my camera as long as I don’t use the flash, but he is definitely uncomfortable with it. Without an exception, he will turn his head or walk away if I point a camera at him. I have to be creative since I can’t use food or toy to get his attention.

Car ride:

He is still very scared of getting into my car. I’ve been having to pick him up, which is really hard on my back. It makes it even harder because my Jeep is high and the doors don’t stay open widely. If I get in the back seat, he will put his front paws but he gets nervous and goes flat on the ground. Just like in the crate, he is OK once he is inside.

Taking treats:

He will, for the most part, take high value food out of my hand now. I’ve noticed that he will not eat if my dogs are in the area either. He still wouldn’t take food if my hand is above his nose.

Things he likes this week: smelling, marking, hot dogs, canned food, peanut butter, my affection, being safe, rolling in the grass

Things he dislikes this week: noises, sudden movement, car, crate, inside the house, barking, camera flash, Cooper, aluminum foil

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Update Week 2:

Sensitivity: (Important)

I finally figured out some of his triggers for his “panic attacks”. I was puzzled when he had one of those episodes when nothing in the room, in my eyes, had changed. I had been observing him carefully and trying to pinpoint the triggers. I was aware that he didn’t like sudden movement and loud noises but I also knew there was something else that was scaring him. When a light reflection bounced off my iphone and hit the ceiling, he froze and panicked. I could see his pupils enlarge, and he immediately tried to crawl under the bed. A few days later he reacted to a flash light when I used it to make sure he was peeing in the yard. I learned not to use the flashlight anymore as he refused to go in the yard that evening. Now I notice his body flinches every time I turned a light on, subtle but consistent. His reaction to the light switches wasn’t as severe as the one for the reflection on the ceiling. It was either because the regular light isn’t as concentrated as the reflection or he is more scared of moving lights. As long as the light is already turned on, he is OK. Someone said if he was hit by a car at night, causing him to be scared of moving light. It made me wonder as he did come with an old injury to his leg. But he doesn’t seem to be scared of incoming cars. I already tested him with TV on the first week but the result was inconclusive. He didn’t act that afraid so I left it on.

Yesterday, he had another panic episode when there was a scene with really bright colors on the screen. He tried to crawl into my book shelves and knocked all the books out. So with TV, he is only scared of bright scenes. That explains the inconsistency in his behavior changes when he’s in the house. Clearly no flash on the camera, and I don’t even want to imagine his reaction to fireworks and lightning.

House training:

He hasn’t marked, peed or defecated in the house. (knocking on wood!) So far he has access to 1/3 of the house.

Crate training:

I wanted to eventually move him back to the foster room with the bigger crate. He was still nervous and avoided the crate at all cost. I put all sorts of high value food in a bowl, placed it at the very end of the crate, shut the crate door and I let him smell the food from outside the crate. People and dogs want things they can’t have. After teasing him with the scent for a while, I opened the crate door and left the room. I watched him slowly going inside on the video feed. I repeated this several times. When he was in a good mood — and his mood shifted quite often — he walked right in. After a while, he did that even when I was in the same room, as long as I was sitting down, facing the other way. He always looked back to make sure I wasn’t too close to him. At this point I’m trying to establish a routine which he feels safe. I feed my dogs on the other side of a baby gate, allowing Brody to see and smell. Because his desire to eat is not as strong yet, it was important to tease him and get his food-drive up prior to the crate training. Watching my dogs eat their extra high value meals made him excited and even let out a whine. And I knew he was ready. I put his meal together in front of him — pills inside hot dog pieces and a few spoon full of canned food. He follows me into the foster room, (all part of routine) I place the bowl deep inside the crate and I step away. Sometimes he walks right in, sometimes he hesitates. I’ve been trying to figure out what’s different each time by watching us on video. I tried changing the lights, the way I sit and the way I move. I have to make sure I don’t make any noise when he is in motion.

Overall, I think his crate training is moving forward — two steps back but three steps forward. Pushing him and forcing a dog like him would only make him more afraid and set his training back. If I really need to confine him and he’s too scared to go into the crate, especially before I go to work, I just put him back in the guest bathroom. To me, it’s important to have a plan B so that you don’t have to force a dog into doing something. With his progress with potty training, I think he can be left loosely in the foster room very soon. But I still have to teach him that crate is a good place to be. He might need to be crated at the vet’s office, boarding and at his new home. In those situations, he would be very stressed in those situations. without positive association.

With me:

He started seeing me as a safe place. He follows me very closely, glued to my knee particularly when he is scared. If I turn, he turns right next to me like a little magnet. Once his confidence is up, I will have to teach him to give me a little more space and to be independent. If he goes to a home with other dogs, his clingy-ness could cause issues. On the first week, he didn’t care about my high pitch happy voice or kissy sounds. Now he, still with a bit of hesitation, comes to me when I call his name or clap my hands.

Starting to see the real Brody…

He is one of the most well behaved fosters I’ve had when it comes to my dogs. I believe he grew up with other dogs. He is respectful (except when he meets a new dog and his humping urge takes over) and hasn’t shown any signs of guarding. I took them to a quiet field the other day and I was stunned to see a completely different dog. He was still respectful but much more playful. He ran, did the silliest play-bows at Jazzy, danced and rolled in muddy grass. He even tried to tug Cooper’s frisbee for a brief second. He let Jazzy chase him and pounce. That day I met the real Brody. I knew he was in there somewhere. Something happened to him in the past that made him fear in certain situations. I think we are going to be OK! That night he seemed much more relaxed and happier. I had to laugh when I caught him with one of my fluffy piggy slippers. He was never interested in toys until that day. I quickly replaced my slipper with a fluffy toy but it was an indication that he was starting to feel more at home.

Car ride:

He now happily jumps into my Jeep! He might need to be introduced to a new vehicle slowly and positively. When he is nervous treats only make it worse. I use “me” as a reward in those situations. It’s best to get him bond with you (if you are the adopter) first so that you can use yourself as a reward.

Misc:

I have not worked on any “obedience” training on purpose. My focus is on getting him adjusted and build his confidence at the moment. His food drive is not stronger than his fear so using food to teach him new behaviors could possibly poison the cues. The only time I use food to train him is with crates. He is usually rewarded with my affection, being safe and having the freedom. He lets me clip his nails, clean his ears, bathe him and even trim the sutures from his belly.

Things he likes this week: smelling, hot dogs, canned food, peanut butter, my affection, being safe, kitchen, car ride, open field, running, rolling in the grass, Jazzy, guest bathroom, my fluffy slippers

Things he dislikes this week: noises, sudden movement, crate, camera flash, reflections, flash light, bright scenes on TV, aluminum foil

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Update Week 3

Crate training/House training:

He goes into the crate without hesitation 80% of the time as long as all the criteria is met — he is not already anxious; he is not full, there is no strange noises; I am not in a rush; nothing in the environment has changed — then the success rate was 100%. On a bad day, he might walk in half way somewhat excitedly and then he would flinch and bolt if, for example, the heater goes off and blows air out of the vent. I widen the vent in his room so that the noise wouldn’t interfere with his training. I have to turn around and look away until he starts eating. The value of the reward has to be much higher than the level of fear he is in. If something spooks him, a piece of steak wouldn’t motivate him to look towards the crate. He pants, drools, shrinks and plants his feet and the only way to move him from the position is to pick him up at this point. This dog needs a solid routine to feel comfortable. Changes need to be applied slowly. But compared to the first week, he has made a huge progress.

In the evening, I let him sleep loosely in the foster room as he has been doing really well with potty/house training. He has not tried to mark, pee or poop in the house. I still leave the crate door open and I have caught him going in briefly to drink water.

Crate training – burrow space

Managing the flash lights and reflections is pretty easy but most households have TVs. I wanted to start working on his fear of TV, or at least find a way for him to cope without panicking. And honestly, I like having TV on in the evenings so this was something we needed to work on for my sake too! When he first had his panic episode, he tried to run through my book shelves, knocking all the books out. When that didn’t work, he tried to crawl into my fireplace (which was turned off), and squeezed himself between the fireplace and my couch.

My goal was for him to be able to stay in the living room with us without freaking out. So I had this pretty cool idea. Why not combine the training with TV and crate? I created a small tunnel using a blanket and a wire crate at the end of the tight space he likes to hide. I didn’t try to encourage him to go in. He took a quick peek inside but avoided it for a few days. The hardest part was to keep my crate loving dogs out of it! On day 3, I left my TV on, left Brody in the room and walked on the other side of the tunnel system with Jazzy. I played tug of war with Jazzy, which usually gets Brody excited when we are outside. He had options — and fearful dogs should always have options. He could either face the TV, run to the hallway alone, or go into the tunnel to get to me. At this point, I was the biggest resource to him, more than hot dogs and bones. He whined a little and eventually met us at the end of the tunnel — in the crate. He was rewarded with my affection and a surprise discovery of a stuffed Kong. Whenever I turn the TV on, this became his safe place. Later on, I will move the crate, remove the blanket and the tunnel system. All I am trying to teach him is that the crate is a safe place and he does not need to panic when something spooks him. The good thing about using a crate for this is that it is portable. When he goes to his new home, he will have to go through the process of adjusting all over again. But if he knows that crates are safe, then it will be much easier for him to adjust.

If he is scared of something, he goes into the crate through the “tunnel”.

Update: This picture below was taken with TV ON!! He thought about hiding, but he decided to stay out and SLEEP!!! From that day, he stopped hiding when I turned the TV on.

CAT:

I’ve noticed his reaction to my “meow” on week 1 and it made me wonder if he was into cats. He stayed at another volunteer’s house with several cats prior to coming to me. She said he was good with cats. I’m wondering if he was too overwhelmed or stimulated to show that side of him that night. When he heard cats in the neighborhood, he snapped out of the nervous mode and started whining and searching. When an actual cat passed on top of the fence, he ran back and forth whining. He wasn’t aggressive but playful.

Things he likes this week: smelling, hot dogs, canned food, peanut butter, my affection, being safe, kitchen, car ride, open field, running, rolling in the grass, Jazzy, guest bathroom, other treats, my fluffy slippers
Things he dislikes this week: noises, sudden movement, crate, camera flash, reflections, flash light, aluminum foil

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Week 4

Noise sensitivity:

I took them to another open field and it did not go too well this time. There was a shooting range near by and he was able to hear the popping sounds. He went flat on the ground and shut down. We walked further away into the woods to see if he’d get better. Whenever he hit some wilderness scent, he was able to snap out of the shut down mode. But when he realized the popping was still going he looked for a place to hide. The good news is that he did not leave my side the whole time. Needless to say we had to cut this outing short.

Two days later he refused to go potty in the yard. I could hear some faded popping sounds but I couldn’t tell what they were. I am pretty sure that’s how he will react when there are fireworks in the neighborhood. He did not go potty for 14 hours that day. One positive thing out of this was that he used his crate to hide. He is finally starting to see it as a safe place.

Food + other dogs:

He gets nervous when my dogs are eating in the same room. He never takes food if my dogs are near by. If I toss a treat in front of him, more than 5 feet away from my dogs, he turns his head and pants. But he is not shy about approaching and smelling when my dogs are eating. When he goes to new home this needs to be carefully monitored so that he doesn’t get himself in “trouble” by other dogs!

Crate training:

Now that he is comfortable lying on the brown cushion by the fireplace, I blocked off the “tunnel system” and added the crate to where the cushion is. The transition was so smooth! While he is in the living area, this is where he chooses to sleep. Even though this crate is smaller than the one in his room, he seems to be much more comfortable being in this one.

Play:

The day after the scary outing, he was in the best mood I had ever seen. He was happy and playful. He even played tug with me for a few seconds. For whatever reason he got nervous and stopped playing. But he was the cutest thing when he zoomed around, stole Cooper’s frisbee and bounced around my dogs. He started doing the same when he was in the house this week.

 A little set back:

I hurt my back on Friday and I am having to use a walker and a walking stick in the house. Unfortunately that set him back on training a little as my constant grunting and the extra objects made him worried. For the most part he stayed in the crate when he was in the living room. By day 3 he got used to the walker and my movement and we are back on track!

Finally got a little smile!

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Update: 3/18/2015

It has been a very difficult few weeks for both of us. Since I hurt my back, I haven’t been able to do much with him and I am having a hard time handling him physically. On top of that, someone in the neighborhood started making faded popping sounds (they almost sound like gunshots or fire crackers) every night. The noises are not loud enough for human ears so I couldn’t tell why Brody started panicking in the yard only at night. One night I noticed him pausing, looking up the sky, and listening to something before stepping out the backdoor. That’s when I noticed the noises in the distance. I tried making noises to mask the popping sounds and playing with my dogs (which sometimes get him to snap out of the fearful mode) but once he is shut down, he does not go potty in the yard. The only way to make him go is taking him out on leash in the front yard. You can still hear the popping sounds but he has not made the same negative connection with the front yard, and he absolutely loves going for a walk. I try not to use the front yard for nightly potty unless it is absolutely necessary.

On a good note, he is doing so much better in the house. He regularly sleeps in front of the TV and he goes into his crate without food lure about 95% of the time. He takes treats out of my hand and getting more comfortable with house lights and camera.

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Update — the good and the bad… 3/25/2015

The good news is HE LOVES KIDS! He met four strangers, two of them under 3 years old. He was a little shy at first but he was amazing with all of them, especially with the kids. He was sweet, gentle and affectionate. Even thought he was great with them, I still feel more comfortable adopting him to a family without small children because of his sensitivity to movement and noise.

The bad news is that he was tested positive for heartworm again. He was tested very light positive two months ago so the vet put him on 30 days of doxy and bi-weekly heart guard. We wanted to see if the less invasive treatment would kill the worms before putting him through the painful injections. Unfortunately, he will have to…We will start him on the treatment right away once we can get him to Dallas next week. He will receive two injections, 30 days of rest, then one more injection followed by more rest after that. If everything goes well, he will be available for adoption at the end of May or early June. On a side note, he was incredible at the vet. He was slightly nervous but he made friends with the vet and the tech right away. They were able get his blood without any issue. He even whined when the technician left the room.

If you are interested in him, please apply online at bcrrt.com