Can a dog come back from this? - Page 1

 Let's say a dog suffers a severe trauma on the training field. The owner then puts him up for a few months and doesn't bring him back out. Two years comes and goes ... dog is still suffering from mental trauma.

 

What are the chances this dog could come back and be a working dog again? Should it even be tried or would most of you say the dog is too soft and not to waste time trying?

Very curious to hear responses. Thanks

What exactly was the trauma and what do you intend to do with the dog?  What do you hope to do with this dog?  This information would help.

Jim

 This is not my dog. This is someone else's dog, which is why I am trying to be vague so as not to offend the person.

It was an accident on the field ... something that occurs easily enough. The dog shut down afterward. It has been two years since the trauma. The dog has not yet overcome the trauma, but at the same time, has not been worked with much in order to overcome it.

I was asked for advise about this issue today. My first response was to not bother with the dog. The owner wants to continue the dog's schutzhund training. However, I thought perhaps I was being too harsh. I thought it would be interesting to see the responses from people on here.

Well, it's hard to answer such a vague question.  If the trauma is something that "occurs easily enough" perhaps the dog is too soft or weak to recover?  It's really hard to say.  For a sport dog that someone doesn't mind putting a lot of time in to train and rehabilitate it may be possible.  If the goal is just to train and compete at the club level they may be successful. 

I guess it boils down to what the trauma was, how old is the dog, how committed is the handler and how good was the dog before the "trauma?"  A marginal dog with a mediocre handler, probably not.  A good dog with a determined handler very possible. 

Jim

I agree with Jim. I think for there to be any chance at all, the handler has to understand and be willing to accept the fact that it may never happen and not to be disappointed or feel like a failure if it doesn't happen. If the handler can do this, then they need to give it their all and understand that they may feel as if they are making progress and then regress and progress and regress. In order to have success, they have to stick with it consistently and keep trying. Have an open mind though. Think outside the box. Try things you may not have ever considered before. Approach everything about training differently than ever before with the dog. This may help lessen the trauma. Make it fun, short, positive and always try and end on a good or positive note. Take baby steps and never push the dog, even if the dog is pushing for advancement, take it slow and slowly build on any small steps achieved. I have a dog that had a traumatic bad experience during a fear stage as a young dog. She started to overcome it and one little thing happened that should have been a minor oops, but with her history, it was devastating. Was fine in life, but forget working. I love the dog and really wanted to give it my all. Three months ago I was ready to give up as I thought it would never happen. I had gone to 6 or 7 different trainers, all of which said I was wasting my time. I thought of one last thing to try before giving up. Low and behold, the difference was incredible. Her obedience tonight was awesome...I left the field calling her my super star. Her progress in protection has been slower, but it is still coming. She may never be great, she may never achieve a schutzhund title that was always my hopes and dreams for her, but I have learned so much from her in the process and have enjoyed every moment of it. For me it has been worth it because I adore this dog and felt responsible for her issues. At this point, there is no doubt in my mind she will get her Bh, something I would have told you 3 months ago wasn't possible. Beyond that, I still don't know. But I will say that I have enjoyed this more than the regional and nationals I have done. Most still don't understand my determination with her when I have 4 other very nice top level dogs also, but sometimes it is the lesser things that give you more. If the owner of the dog feels for it the way I do for mine, then absolutely it is worth trying. I hope this helps.

I think most dogs can recover.  It's not a matter of it being a SchH dog.  A dog is a dog and can be traumatized anywhere in any situation.  It is whether the dog can recover.  It is certainly worth a try and if it can't compete atleast someone is giving this dog an opportunity to be "free" and "clear" minded. 
I second what Slamdunc and k9queen said. 
Good luck with the dog and I hope he recovers and can enjoy a stressless life on the field (whether SchH, Obed., Agility, ect.) 

I totally agree with what everyone has said to you...but my feelings are that as a Handler/Trainer all I ever try to do with any dog is to "Make them Better" then they were...How big or small this might be is out of our hands most of the time...
I also think that the owner of this dog made a mistake in putting the dog up for 2 years...I think you should meet adversity head on...And if something happened on the Training Field and say it happened in Protection...I can understand holding off on doing Protection for a short period of time...I mean like a few weeks...maybe...But in saying that they should have returned the dog to the field the next week or training session and done something...Do some obedience or maybe just take them back out onto the field and play some ball with them...
You must build their confidence at whatever stage they're at...Every dog has ups and downs when it comes to training...and it's our responsibility as owners/handlers/trainers to keep working with them at what stage they're at and continue to build their confidence...
I understand wanting to put your dog up for a period after a "negative experience"...but we're doing them a dis-service by doing so...I think that if we'd look at dog training in the same way we'd look at what would you do if this were your child instead of your dog...What would you do...And then that's the answer you should go with...
I hope you wouldn't give up on your child if something would happen like a bad experience...So DON'T give up on your dog...Putting them up really doesn't do any good...because...Do you think that they won't remeber the incident? I think they will certainly remember...so the only way to approach this is to Meet It Head ON...!

~Bob~

you know there are good caring people when they take a stab at answering a question that NO BODY could ever answer. 

Anyone care to guess how many hairs are on my dog at this second?

First, if it is about the dog, then you can't protect the owner from being embarrassed.  The dog will never know.

Jacko, 
A question was asked, possible solutions were answered.  Every question has an answer.  That's why it's a question. 
If you live in America, then there's this thing called Amendments...like the 5th.
So, who really cares what the trauma was....the OP'er didn't ask how to fix said problem, it was just asked if a dog can recover from trauma on the field.