Schutzhund Question -- Can a "Ruined Dog" be saved? - Page 1

A lot will depend on how strong the dog is. I've seen a dog returned to a breeder friend of mine that was some what abused. She would hit her belly if a voice was raised at her. With a lot of work she turned out pretty good. Trust needs to be built with her, don't work her for awhile take her out spend time with her and let her be a dog. Regardless of how much prior training she's had start from scratch. Take it slow and don't push her to hard in the begining.

Good luck.

Most definately!

 My dog "Theo von Ryan" was a dog I bred, he came from a litter of 12.
 He went to his new home to live & I kept his sister.
 The lady that got Theo would bring him to my home for me to babysit him while she worked, she was a nurse and loved Theo very much.
  Unfortunately, she had an A_ _Hole for a husband, one day after not hearing from her for a few months, she called and told me she was getting a divorce, and she could no longer keep Theo, I gladly took him back in the hopes of rehoming him, Theo was just 7 months old at the time.

 Well, after having him back for a week, I noticed he was scared to death of my husband, and for that matter all men, Theo would tremble and shake with fear and hide behind the couch and pee himself when my husband would just stand up and walk across the room.

  I knew that he was a happy pup in his younger days, and this isn't what I bred, my husband even thought he was a "broken" dog.

  I decided to keep him, just incase he was "broken" and I couldn't rehome him, I rehomed his sister instead.

  I am very happy to say that Theo has become well-balanced and stable after A TON of socialization, I'm talking non-stop come with me everywhere I went and meet and greet everybody along the way!

  Theo now has his Canine good citizen, Companion Dog title, herding instinct certificate, has been an active therapy dog since 2007, has been temperament tested, and is a proud sire to some very healthy offspring.

  I introduced him to bitework about 2 years ago, and he just showed advoidance, but now he just turned 5yrs. old and is willing to play tug with strangers, men... of all people, so I guess he's ready to take on anything at this time in his life.

 No dog is "broken"  not if you take the time to treat this great noble breed with the respect they deserve, may take a lot of your time, but in the end the bond is unbreakable!


  Bottom line...YES, a "Ruined Dog" can be saved!

JC Your "topic" is "Schutzhund Question", so you are asking if a dog that has been dominated to the point of automatic belly crawling submission can be rehabilitated for the schutzhund field, and not just to the point of being a suitable pet?

A lot does depend on how strong the dog is.  I think also it depends on how old the dog is.  Unfortunately if the dog has been dominated to the point where it has developed bad nerves, it might always display some form of negative reaction in the face of a strong helper. 

I guess it also depends on how much time you want to invest in the dog, and what the goal would be.  If you are looking to just get his titles and retire him, probably could, but you are looking at a long term project.

So I guess I would start with a lot of bonding stuff, as well as letting him just be a dog for a while, try to unstring him.  It's a hard call, probably you will have to just observe him for a while to see what his nature is and see if he can relax and start to build some independence and confidence.

YES!!

My Della came back to me belly crawling, pissing herself the whole way.

Now granted she only had 9 months of hell but she is now the biggest smile maker I have ever had. Her temperament is 2nd to none. She will never be the strongest on the field but she will show up! Maybe she was never going to be the strongest from the get go, i dont know. But I do know with time and love, a well breed dog will overcome if given half a chance!!!!

Good luck to the dog in question. I can only hope it will find its forever home that will love it unconditionally :)

JoAnn

edit- oops, forgot to sign my husband out......sorry John

I saved a 9 month old pup from a member of a local club(I used to belong to) he had been handled very badly from 8 weeks old on by a person who had ruined every dog he has raised. WAY over bearing and no clue what it takes to raise a puppy. At 9 months the training director and this man decided that the pup had to bring out his defense(at 9 months old) they tie his fursaver to a eye bolt in the wall at the neck and proceed to put mega pressure on him to fight back and at the end they were flanking this pup so hard he pissed him self.  

I was not there when this went on but the owner of the pup told me all about it the next day and was trying to give the pup away. I told him I would take him for a few month,s (it was October) and work with it and if he came around and I liked what I saw I would buy him from him after the first of the year and he agreed. so the pup came home with me that day and I never returned to that club. 

I worked with him and with the help from the helper I was training with after that, we finally got him to trust people( at first as soon as he would come on to the training area and see a helper in pants he would just piss him self) so for several months all we did was let the helper play with him and everyone else we socialized the crap with this pup stores,mall,s any where there was a large roup of people and finally he started coming around he started trusting my helper to the point he was getting excited to even come to the training field. 

By December  he was barking at the helper nicely and doing puppy sleeve work and actually doind g a nice bark and hold for his age with our helper. The 1st day of January I got a call from the owner demanding payment(I had been sending him video,s of the pup,s advancement)  I told him the pup would work with the right handleing and he had video of the proof but He wasn,t what I needed for a male(I have my own) and if he did not want to work him I was sure I could find him a good home and get him the money he wantted(500.00)  This wasnt good enough he wantted him back the next day, I agreed (after all legally he was his pup) so the next day he comes to my house I got the pup out and played with him on the tug and showed him that the dog had the essentails to work. I even got out a puppy sleeve and played with him  and called him in to do a bark and hold on me which he did nicely. I explained that you could not be heavy handed with this pup or any pup for that matter and what they did when they were tieing him to the wall was no different if I hit the owner with a chair several times and as he laid on the floor I kept hitting him and yelling "fight back you pussy" never giving him a chance. He did,nt care he just wahtted the pup back so when I brought the pup back out to give him I told him call him to you and be excited to see him the pup got half way to this guy and laid down in the snow and pissed. Long story short,  can you fix a ruined dog?  Depends on the level of ruined and the level of stupidity that ruined him. Pup got traded to a equpiment supplier down south for 100.00 dollers worth of  equpiment.  Handler involved in this still in his club and has ruined yet another pup afte this... You can,t fix stupid.

Bob, what a sad story.  Poor puppy.  Jesus some people are ignorant.  Unfortunately the ones that end up paying are the dogs. 

Yes I do believe a dog can be "retrained" to trust and work.  Look at most rescue dogs.  I am sure if they could talk we would hear some horrific stories of their sad lives but instead most of them learn to adore their new owners and I believe that is because they truly new the other side of the coin, their lives before.  Sometimes when you adopt from a bad situation the dog is so glad to see a new face they become the BEST pets possible.  I say go for it and agree also that it will probably take some time and effort but will be well worth it.  Best of luck  Nanci

Oh Bob, That's such a sad story; poor dog! Some people, there just aren't words for.

But thanks, you guys have given me hope for this dog.

Yes it can be done and  it takes love Patience and a compassionate owner as well as a supportive and helpful club !and a helper - trainer who cares more about the dog  rather than the ego!