HELP PLEASE...I suspect my dog was abused before he came to us!

[sarah & max]

We have a 3 year old Labradoodle. We have owned him for 5 weeks. He came from a local breeder, who retired him after he sired 9 litters. He is VERY loyal to me, and at first was extremely cautious around men. However, after 5 weeks, he has completely relaxed and has released all his fears of men! He is doing AMAZING in our home and we absolutely adore him.

 

BUT, on Saturday my friend and I returned home from shopping. I immediately let Max outside to greet us. When she reached into the trunk to get a roll of wrapping paper and pulled it out, Max INSTANTLY cowered down to the ground, began peeing everywhere and began shivering and shaking for 15 minutes. I am not exaggerating about the amount of time. I have NEVER seen anything like this. I dropped to the ground and just held him, telling him that it was ok and that he was safe. My friend did the same. Max LOVES her!

 

I spent over an hour with the breeders when I went to meet Max. In my heart I don't want to believe that they could ever hurt him that way. I just don't know what to do. Any help or advice would be appreciated!

 

Thanks,

 

Sarah

[Jennifer and Jack]

Oh that just breaks my heart, seriously and truly breaks my heart, Something happen, I would call the breeder and tell them what happen, Most often dogs that are in breeding programs live in guardian homes.... she needs to be aware in case she has any more dogs in that guardian home, I am so grateful Max has you now to love and have forever, where he will never be hurt again.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

He'll get over it. That kind of reaction to a long, cylindrical object is fairly common in rescue dogs; Jackdoodle had it, too, as well as some fosters I've known. In Jack's case, he dropped to the floor cowering when I turned from the refrigerator with a long European cucumber in my hand just as he entered the kitchen. That's a classic sign of having been hit or threatened with rolled up newspapers, magazines, and other similarly shaped objects during housebreaking. As strange as it seems to us, many people still think that's a good, acceptable housebreaking technique. Some people even swat their puppies for other behaviors, like running, jumping, nipping, etc.

It will take time, but eventually Max will see that nobody at his new home ever hits or threatens him with anything, and cylindrical objects will lose their significance. Five weeks is not long enough to develop a deep trust, and while he may already know that you won't hurt him, this was a stranger whose behavior he couldn't predict. It was also a strange, unfamiliar object, and dogs are notorious for being uncomfortable with unfamiliar things suddenly appearing, especially in the hands of people the dog doesn't know well enough to trust yet.

Just keep showing him that he is safe with you. He will get over it.

 

[Kyoko]

So sorry to hear abou this..... { hugs...} for both you and Max......

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

How awful for poor Max, I think that in time he will get over this.  It's horrendous to think that he was treated in this way but thank goodness he now has the wonderful home he deserves.  I would call the breeder and tell her you know he was abused.   I don't know what good it will do but perhaps it may prevent another dog belonging to her being treated in this way.

[Jennifer and "Cooper"]

First, I'll apologize for the length of this reply.

When our boxer was afraid of thunder, fireworks, etc, our trainers told us not to make a big deal and praise, hug, cuddle, etc. a dog that is showing some sort of fear reaction because the dog interprets the cuddling, hugging, etc. as a positive re-inforcement to the feeling of fear and behavior associated with the fear. In other words, the dog thinks that he is being praised for being fearful and will continue to exhibit the same behavior the next time because he thinks that's what he's supposed to do.  So we bought one of those nature Cd's with sounds of thunderstorms on it and played it at random times and random volumes.  And video taped fireworks and played just the sound portion at random times. If our boxer showed signs of fear, we just ignored the behavior and kept doing what we were doing.  If she heard the thunder/fireworks and ignored the noise she was praised, got treats, etc. It was 12 years ago so I don't remember exactly how long it took, but I don't think it was very long before she learned that it was just random noise and nothing to be fearful of.

 

Years later something similiar to your situation happened to us when we had adopted a lab mix puppy from a rescue.  She would crouch, roll on her back and pee anytime anyone raised their hand(s) over their head.  (The same motion someone would use to hit or throw something.)  The rescue never mentioned this before we adopted her so I don't know if something traumatizing happened to her before she was at the rescue or while she was in the foster home at the rescue.  We basically used the same technique to desensitized her to that motion.  We would walk around or just be sitting around or playing and randomly raise one arm or both, if she crouched, rolled on her back or peed, we just ignored the behavior (cleaned up the pee if necessary) and moved on.  If she didn't crouch, roll or pee we made a big deal out of it with lots of praise, treats, etc.  It only took her about 2 weeks (of us looking like total lunatics to the neighbors as we have huge picture windows in our living room) before she learned that nothing bad was going to happen to her when we made those movements.

 

Doing something similar with Max might work.    When he can be observed just leave a couple cylindrial objects lying around.  If Max goes over to them to investigate, praise him, give him treats, etc.  Then as his comfort level increases, start holding them with them pointing to the ground, when he's ok with that, praise, give treats, etc.  And so on, and so on. 

 

Also, I know there are some cylindrical shaped dog toys available (I know Kong makes one).  Maybe associating the shape with something fun will also help.

 

Jen

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Good advice. I was also advised by a behaviorist that using phrases like "It's okay", cuddling, babying, etc. will reinforce fear behaviors by letting the dog think there is indeed something to fear. "Good boy" is okay if the dog shows some hestiation but doesn't go into full-blown panic or fear behaviors. This was how I got JD to become braver about walking past objects that frightened him; encouragement, but not babying.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I try to just talk in encouraging, matter of fact  tones like "It's only firecrackers." The dogs pick up that I'm not scared and I think it helps.

[Becka]

I agree with everything Jen says here. I know it's counter-intuitive to not comfort the dog, but it's important to not reinforce the fearful reaction. I also like the advice about being encouraging and matter of fact. That's what I try to do with Sadie during thunderstorms and other loud events.

 

Also, no matter what your take is on Cesar Millan, I think he gives very smart advice when he says that we can't give in to feeling sorry for our dogs because of past situations that we have no control over, such as abuse. Of course it's normal to be sad, but we can't let that sadness affect how we act and speak to our dogs if it's not in their best interest.

[Christy and Yoda]

We had a similar reaction when we first got our rescue.  With him it was a broom.  I pulled it out to sweep and he tucked his tail and SPRINTED into his crate.  In the process, he was running so wildly that he ran into the crate door and squealed in pain.  I felt terrible, but now almost three years later he doesn't even bat an eye when I pull out the broom.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Excellent advice from all! I would start with center from a toilet paper roll. Cylinder but small - hopefully Max won't be too afraid of the smaller roll. I keep Zukes mini's for training - smells (I think they stink but the doodles love them) and the size of a pencil eraser so you can keep them handy to toss. He will think that the roll gave him a treat if he isn't frightened of it.

I hope that he will get past this quickly. My heart hurts for him.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Poor guy!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Awww.....hugs to all of you!!