Gracie Update - Page 1

Some of you may recall that shortly after I adopted Gracie, I attempted to introduce her to my male GSD, Ranger, and she bit him on the hind leg. He, in turn, bit the lady holding him and things just kept going south from there... 

Here are the latest developments, which I've held back until now.

The lady who got bitten, as of early June, was still not able to work due to the injury to her left hand. She is now suing me.

On June 17, THREE MONTHS after the incident, Animal Control declared Gracie a 'dangerous dog' and slapped me with a muzzle order

I guess I should be glad it took so long, because during those 3 months, she was working towards her BH. However, if I'd seen this coming, I woud have made a more intensive effort to socialize her with other dogs.

Two weeks ago, there was a hearing re. the muzzle order, and I now finally have the results of that hearing. The order to muzzle has been extended for 6 months. During that time, they want me to continue to work with Gracie and get an obedience certificate of some sort for her. Then, in 6 month's time there will be a second hearing, and if they are satisfied with her progress, the order will be lifted.

Whew!

Okay, how do you find someone who will take a 'dangerous dog' into their OB class? (My schutzhund club promptly banned her from training!  Thanks, guys....NOT!)

Well, the good news is I HAVE found someone, and she has already evaluated Gracie, and said her obedience is very good. She  wlll be starting an advanced class with this lady next week!

I hope to have her pass the CGN before the 6 months is up! 

In the meantime her social skills have gone from this:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVF3kqVxGbo&feature=youtu.be

to this!   http://youtu.be/14vcyoG3GPQ

http://youtu.be/tIO9ubC3rCA


 

  The other day, she even allowed a boarder to sniff noses with her through the wire while she was eating!  Last March, she was so food aggressive with other dogs that she even went off on the dog across the aisle from her, because HE was eating and HER bowl was empty!

Gee, big surprise...starve a dog and they develop food aggression! 

Make them eat their words Gracie.  You will get the hang of it.

Just wanted to add that the intensity Gracie shows in the video taken in the shelter is NOT healthy. Two experts on dog behaviour immediately picked up on her body language, and told me 'you have BIG problems!'  She is showing signs of prey aggression, and that's evident even when she is sniffing noses through the wire with the other dogs in an apparently friendly manner. It's just TOO intense, TOO focused. She wants to GET to those other dogs, and when she does, they are going to be in trouble!

She is also very dominant, which doesn't help, either!

Her more relaxed demeanor in the other videos is a sign of how far she's come since then.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is prey aggression in this context? I always thought dog-dog aggression was labeled dog aggression for a reason and was not something related to prey drive, unless the dog is attacking dogs much smaller than it.

Glad to see she seems to be improving! That's really unfortunate that you are being sued. People are much too quick to do that these days.

What she shows IS prey aggression, even with large dogs. It is a silent type of aggression. There is no warning before the attack, which is exactly what happened when she bit Ranger. The dog does NOT appear aggressive to the untrained eye. The number one sign is the sort of focus you see in the first video: intense stare, hyper alert, then the dog may lower the body and begin to stalk. Then a sudden, quick, hard bite, and if the 'prey' is small, a quick shake to break the neck or spine. Because it comes from the most primitive part of the brain, it is very hard to interrupt the behaviour, and if it's gone too far, the dog may be deaf to any verbal corrections. We've been working a lot on 'watch me!' and also establishing me as She Who Must be Obeyed at All Costs (very important with a dominant dog!)

I will type more later, as I am going away tomorrow and must get to bed.  What surprised me is how few people recognize this type of aggression for what it is. Even VERY experienced schutzhund people have said "What do you mean, she's aggressive?? I don't see it at all!" 

There are MANY different types of aggression, and if you want a real education about them all, read Brenda Aloff's book on "Aggression in Dogs" It's been my main resource for working with her. It's an excellent book and goes into great detail about how to deal with each kind.

Well you can tell from the first video, she was very stressed. Licking her lips was the first sign. I'm not sure I agree with "prey aggression" I would just label a dog as either fear aggression or dominate aggression. We assume when dogs are wagging their tails they are happy but this can be far from the truth.

I'm really glad she is getting better. As someone who works for ortho hand specialists, permanent damage can occur from dog bites, as we get patients under this exact condition. But If I were you, I would send this womans films (xrays) to a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon and find out if she is really injured or milking her condition. We have those patients too.

I would go for actual obedience not just a CGC. And the more titles the better. I have a friend is a similar situation who obtained A LOT of working titles on her dog before going to court. It really helps.

Too bad for the schutzhund club. Doesnt say much about them.

Barb