My dog smells awful. Even when we bathe her, we only get 48 hours, tops, of the dog not smelling. Then like some sort of magic, the dog begins to take on an odor. Within seven days after the bath, the dog is back to being the little gray bag of stinkiness.
And we love her.
She’s great with people and kids, but she cannot be around other dogs because she wants to rip their faces off. Sure, you could say it’s a little dog thing, but when we our neighbor watches the dog and walks her, the dog is just a pure, wonderful angel from heaven. The neighbor won’t say it, but the issue is us. If the dog is only aggressive when she is around us, then we must be the cause. It’s beyond annoying because she’s such a good dog with people…
But we love the dog.
The dog is sleeping at the end of the bed as I write this. Every now and then, she’ll open an eye and look at me, only to go back to sleep. Most days, the dog is with my wife, under her feet and desk. The dog has imprinted on my wife, clearly thinks she’s the Alpha around here, not that I would completely disagree with that. So, when the dog follows me around, either the wife is gone, or… Actually, I’m not sure why the dog is with me today. Perhaps that dog wanted to sleep on the bed, and I just happen to be here.
She looks like a puppy, but she isn’t. She’s a rescue from a puppy-mill, and she already had at least one litter by the time we adopted, and got her fixed. She is a smaller dog, which works great with our tiny Manhattan apartment. She likes to nap, as she will do with anyone who sits on the couch long enough. She’s playful, sweet with kids, and if you are a man, she is a huge flirt. She’s so friendly, that if were to get mugged while walking her, she most likely would roll over and show her belly to the mugger.
That’s our dog.
Oh, and our dog is a complete terror whenever she gets near another dog. I’m talking about growling, and barking, and jumping, and pulling at her leash. She’s gotten worked up to the point that she’s even bitten my hand when I tried to calm her down. Her behavior around other dogs is so bad, that on walks, other people with dogs know who she is, and they try to avoid her.
It’s really annoying, and potentially a huge problem if she bites another dog, which makes it all the more frustrating because of how sweet she is with people and kids.
The odd thing is that when we take her to the groomers and vet, which we warn them about her behavior, they always tell us how sweet she is with them and other dogs… when we’re not around. It’s a fabulous backhanded compliment as the implication is that WE are the problem, not her.
The only explanation for her behavior I have received is that she is being protective of us, possible due to some abuse or situation from her past. That in Hattie’s mind, she is only doing her job of keeping us safe. I want to believe that’s true, as that sounds really nice, and explains why she’s cool when we aren’t around. Either way, this behavior cannot continue, as we would like to kid to start taking Hattie for walks, but we can’t do that if her behavior is so unpredictable.
This summer, the kid and I decided that we would try and socialize Hattie by taking her to our local dog run in the park, which has a small pen next to the main fenced area. My thought here was that we would take her to the small pen each day for 15 to 30 minutes, so Hattie could get used to being near other dogs, and hopefully see that there is no threat. I don’t know if this is a good idea, as I just made it up, and isn’t some advice I received from an expert. So success is not guaranteed.
We have been doing this dog run thing for two weeks now, and we’ll be doing it today. As of this moment, we have not seen any improvement. Hattie goes up to the fence, and other dogs come over. It looks like it will be a big sniff fest, but then Hattie goes nuts and starts barking. The other dogs walk away, leaving Hattie barking, alone at the fence. I am sure this behavior will repeat today.
Sadly, the thought has already crossed my mind, which is “How long do I have to keep doing this?” At what point should I expect results, and at what point is it apparent that positive results will not be forthcoming?
I know that the answer is a shrug and a smile. Only time will tell.
(And… don’t forget to kick a like, or a share my way. A comment would be cool, too.)
