This is just so sad and frustrating for poor Thorne and us. From before he was even born, we were making logs to keep track of his socialization and making sure he's exposed to lots as a young puppy to avoid this in the future. Well, turned out our puppy we picked was a reserved pup from day one in taking him home, very different from his littermates who seemed very outgoing. We had our work cut out for us.
We started taking him everywhere, even before all his shots to view people, sounds, dogs and the world. I bought tons of puppy raising books and read many articles on socializing and thought we were doing everything right, or were we? Maybe we oversocialized at first, too much at once made him overwhelmed and frightened him more than helping him.
This is where I now start my rant. I just get upset when I look up articles or hear on forums how a fearful dog must have been abused or not socialized enough. This is just not always the case and people have to admit that in a litter of puppies there are many different personalities. They are not all the same and it's not the breeder or owner's fault all the time as implied. There are dominant bully pups, docile easy going pups, energetic playful pups and submissive shy pups to name a few. Of course owners should manage their dog's certain personality type accordingly and do the best they can for their dog's particular issues.
This brings me to another rant, the phrases "Bad Dog" and "Bad Owner"....grrrr. Other people, whether dog owners or not who see a dog such as Thorne being Dog Fear Aggressive think "wow, is he a vicious dog!" or "wow, those owners shouldn't have him if they aren't going to train him right".... Please stop stereotyping any dog that has an issue because someday you might end up with a pup or rescue that has issues that need to be worked on as well. Our boy is very submissive and only gets defensive when another dog keeps at him , sniffing or jumping on his face or being very dominant over Thorne to the point where he is scared crazy! This is fear aggression not him being vicious! Ninety percent of the time, he is very playful and enjoys other dogs company. His confidence has improved with meeting and greeting other dogs and romping through the fields with them. It's when that one bad experience (every so often) from another dog comes along that changes all the hard work and basically makes Thorne start from scratch again. We are learning a lot about training and behavior modifications because of our sweet but fearful boy. He is helping us to understand dogs in a whole new way than we've ever had before. He's not our first dog, we've had a few and were a bit lazy about training but now we are stepping up to the plate and want to help our canine friend overcome his fear aggression.
To all dog owners: Your dog is no better than any one else's dog. It seems that dog owners have this ego about how good their dogs are and look down upon you for not having your dog behaving perfectly. Have you ever thought, that just maybe, the owner and dog are working on reaching their goals, too. Please hold back on the judgements. That same way of thinking is what started the Breed Banning laws which I will not rant too much about at this time... But it is wrong... for every aggressive Rottie, Pit Bull or Dobie out there, there is an aggressive Lab, Golden or Poodle...same goes for all the cuddly loving dogs that wouldn't harm anyone intentionally... the so called "Bad Breeds" can be just as loving and friendly to everyone. It depends on the individual dog, NOT the breed.
Ok, now I am going to make a plead to all Dog Owners to be more attentive to their dogs. An incident recently happened at Tufts on Tuesday while my hubby was walking Thorne just as he always has before. Thorne was happy, running and sniffing and carefully meeting dogs. They were really having a great day. Well, this group of dogs and their owners were just up ahead and the dogs came over to meet Thorne and all was good until one of the young dogs was being dominant aggressive with Thorne and everytime Thorne wanted to walk away the dog would block him and growl. My husband and Thorne were handling this fine, as Thorne would sit and wait and they would try to stand and leave again but the same thing kept repeating for approximately four to five times. Rob was proud of how patient Thorne was being with this dog. So, my hubby Rob, yelled to the owners of the dogs to ask who owned this particular dog that was aggressive with Thorne, no answer as they were all caught up in a big conversation not watching what was going on. Well, something did get their attention all right, when Thorne finally had enough and started barking and growling and lunging back at this dog in defense mode. Well, the look of horror at this viscious Doberman of ours from the group of dog owners was enough for Rob to get very upset with the owner when he came over to "save his dog". He said his dog was only four months old (he was big for four months) and by that time, Rob was really frustrated with the situation and bleeding from his chin after a good bump from Thorne's head in the struggle to keep dogs seperated. Good day, not so good anymore. Of course all fingers are now pointing at Thorne which is very frustrating because he is such a sweet dog and we don't want people to get the wrong impression and continue giving Doberman's a bad rap.
Thorne is fearful of dogs but deals well and is getting better for the most part. He's never bitten any dog , just trying to scare them off in his own defense. We want to break him of this before it becomes a reaction he takes on for life. Maybe other dogs are picking up on his submissiveness and it makes him a target to be dominated. Just a thought.
We have traveled to many off leash trails, met many dogs and walked countless times at Tufts without any problems. Of course he hides between our legs at first when spotting other dogs, but we are trying to discourage that. It's less than a handful of times that this has happened. He has a great recall and sticks with us really well. Sits when asked and is a reserved with people but sniffs their hands if you let him come to you. He's never aggressive with people, and I don't think he ever will be. He actually has licked total strangers hands a few times and takes treats from people he meets as well.
This is what I want to ask of other dog owners (for everyone's safety):
- Please be more attentive to your dog and don't let him stray too far.
- Make sure he/she comes to you when called.
- Know your dog- if he is a puppy (such as four months) don't trust him because he has been ok so far, keep a closer eye on your new puppy. Not all dogs get along just as not all people do. All dogs have the natural instinct to be defensive if needed and all dogs are capable of fighting at one time or another, regardless of which dog started it. Keep your dog safe by keeping him with you. One dog owner can't control two dogs that have a conflict with each other. Both dog owners need to be in control. Please take this advice for the good of all dog lovers and don't get defensive about it.
- Keep dog meet and greets short, especially if it looks like the other dog's owner seems to want to keep moving. If two dogs are playing and getting along good, that's great...just keep watch on the interaction. Also, be happy your dog is happily playing :)
- Don't be too quick to judge - All dogs are different and have different personalities, fears and temperments. Please be understanding of that and give the owner the benefit of the doubt that they could be at that moment working with their dog and training them to act differently.....Remember this quote when judging a dog breed as well --> "It's not the size of a dog in a fight, it's the size of the fight in a dog "
