some problems with my new JRT

[searer]

As you maybe remember from my other posts, at the end of October 2006 I adopted from a shelter a second dog, a neutered Jack Russell Terrier 3 years old. I have already a spayed JRT 7 year old female and two cats, an enormous Maine Coon male mix (he weighs about 8 kg and he’s big and muscular as a JRT) and a female tabby cat (not so big), both fixed.

The dogs and the cats are living together peacefully, in fact the new dog has really bonded with the tabby cat so that everytime we go for a walk she comes with us: as we live on island there is no car problem but walkies with two sociable dogs and a lively tabby cats are becoming a kind of tourist attraction…

The new dog’s problems are elsewhere and I will try to give all the background I have as I feel most of his troubles come from there and I don’t want to risk to worsen them, he has been through enough.

Piccolo (it means Small One, is the only name he would answer when he arrived and it has stuck) was rescued by an abusive situation and I learned the full horrific tale (but I know there are even worse ones) only some days after the adoption, when I phoned the surgeon that operated him for details on rehabilitation etc. I guess the shelter staff was overcome by the emotion to tell me everything, they were all crying seeing him going away.

The story is that he probably run away or was lost (the area he comes from is a mixture of old industrial plants, iron mines and old woods-think Appalachian and you are near-where hunting and unfortunately dogfighting are popular..) as a puppy, and was taken by an animal hoarder (a person with an history of mental illness) who kept him in his “farm”, a kind of a dilapidated building in the middle of an abandoned property, in a pack of about 50 dogs, most of them much bigger than him. These dogs were big guarding dogs left to fetch for themselves upon factories’closing, “leftovers” of dogfights, discarded hunting dogs, strays, pregnant bitches abandoned etc.. all “living” together roaming the fields and country roads and occasionally fed by this guy.

In addition to this, when he was about one year old or maybe earlier (the age at the time of the incident was guessed by the orthopedic surgeon from the X-rays), Piccolo was in a car accident and had the pelvis, left hip and femur broken. He was not taken to the vet nor cared for at all but left to fend for himself, first crawling and then hopping on three legs in constant pain, having to fight (and getting repeatedly bitten , he has many bite scars) for food with the bigger dogs more and more as the mental illness of the hoarder progressed and the feeding got more and more erratic.

As the whole pack was scavenging for food all the dogs, and particularly Piccolo that was able to move only very slowly, were beaten with sticksby the people they were stealing from (there were farms and houses nearby), shot at etc..Finally in June 2006 the guy was declared incompetent and taken to a mental hospital and animal rescueorganization took over: the pack was divided between shelters and Piccolo was taken in by a small shelter that works closely with a very good animal clinic and so it has “specialised” in rescueing the most difficult cases: they have mutilated, blind, deaf, sick or simply very old dogs.

At the end of June 2006 (it was a very hot month) Piccolo was about 3 years old, seriously dehidrated, undernourished, with a completely atrophied left posterior leg, open sores on the top of left posterior foot (from the urine dribbling over it everytime he peed), in constant pain and very fear aggressive from it, unable to eat or sleep properly and terribly scared from other male dogs, so that he was paired with a small quiet female dog to confort him.

After one month of recuperation, food etc..he was referred to a very good animal clinic, specialised in orthopedics, where at the end of August he was finally judged oparable: in one 4-hour session the femur was reset, he had an osteoctomy for the hip and was also neutered.
He is now free of pain and hops around on three feets even if he’s supposed (according to his surgeon) to recuperate full mobility in 6 months, if we can get the atrophied legs muscles right; he has also suggested long walks (but we have noted that if he walks more than 20 minutes afterward he is in pain) and a daily chondroithin supplement. when we go outside he wears a neoprene socks that has helped immensely his ulcerated foot to heal completely. We are also feeding him (and our othe dog) a certified natural food, 85 % biologically raised lamb or chicken with rice or potatoes, no conservants or additives (it actually smells good) and I/D dry kibble and he is much better, coat shiny, no more upset tummies etc..


We adopted him, after a successful meeting with my first dog, Ada, on neutral ground, on the 24th of October (with Ada having undergone an emergency spay just 15 days before) and everything has gone for the most part very well...

Now for the problems:

- Separation anxiety: from the beginning Piccolo has bonded with me, (when we went to the shelter to take him home he recognised me immediately, followed me on the car , let me put on his dog safety harness and went promptly to sleep snuggling near me on the back seat.. He has trusted me absolutely from the very first day: if I am near and I encourage him he goes on the boats (most dogs born on the island are wary on them), let himself to be cooed and petted by big groups of tourists (oohh look TWO Jack Russells!!!) and let me clean and handle him everyway: the day after hi arrival I had to give him a bath (he was dirty and stinking) and he just leaned on me, letting me to soap him twice without even moving or getting tense but keeping still and relaxed under the hand shower and then the hair dryer. He was starved for touch and physical contact and now that he has discovered petting, and attention and love, it is never enough for him, he is not pushy in his requests but he is happy only when he’s near me or my husband (that in the meantime has slowly gained his trust hand feeding him, taking him out, brushing him etc..and now can take him out for walks) so he NEVER relaxes for fear to be left behind and follows me constantly, even from the armchair to the couch, and cries like a puppy if I have to go out without him: in the last two months we have been able to arrange our schedules so to never leave him home alone (with the other dog) but now my husband and me are running out of “deconditioning” time as we have a new series of work and medical appointments (where we have to go together) coming and we know that we will have to leave him alone sometimes: we understand he’s suffering of separation anxiety and we have tried to leave him always with our stepson (that is 21, lives with us, is very good with dogs and that our other dog adores) but he cries unconsolably and growl if my stepson tries to distract him: he just sit pathetically in front of the door waiting for us: do you have any suggestions for this ? I don’t want to traumatise him further or damage again is trust in humans but we REALLY need to be able to leave him home at least twice a week for a couple of hours and I must be ot of town for two nights by the end of the month for an hospital stay. We have tried Kongs and our other dog and even the cats go sitting near him but he just whines and scratches the door.

- Fear aggression: he has learned to walk on leash properly (and it is wndrful considering that till 4 months ago he has never had even a collar on), does not pull on normal itinieraries, pulls a bit when is on new ground and gets very excited about smells and /or people but the real problem is that he goes in a panic when he sees another dog, even if he’s small or a female, he barks and lunges but is not aggression because if I do an U-turn and walk away he follows me without hesitation and if I take him up under my arm it will stop barking, it si plain fear he is really scared and shakes and it is nervous for about 30 minutes after each encounter. Las week we met a big rottie (there was no way to avoid him) and he just peed on himself. This situation is not getting any better even now that I let my other dog, that is very sociable, to go greeting every neighbours’ dog we meet so he can see that at least THOSE dogs are not aggressive. I don’t want to make him a social butterfly but he gets a shock pratically at every walk so his fear get reinforced. I would like to find a solution (U turns do not work because we are on a small island so I eventually run out of roads to turn and Sits don’t either because he can’t properly sit due to his wobbly leg)

- Sibling relations: the dogs are not jealous of each other, they are not fighting for food (he lets her to lick his dish) or toys (she lets him to steal her ropebones) but he can’t play, he doesn’t know how (it is sad to see) and she will put a toy in front of him and he just sniffs it and leavse it, she looks at me like why he is not doing anything ? again when we go for walks, he walks by himself (on his leash of course) without even looking at her, he just acknowledges the cat because she will not let him pass without at least a sniff or a lick. My other dog is very sociable, she has never met a dog she did not liked and was liked by return and she‘s visibly perplexed by the whole situation . Can I improve it or it is better if I leave it alone ? and it is okay if I go out alone with each dog so they get individual attention or i risk to create competition ?

- Last but not least, Housetraining or better Garden Training : house training has been very successful: for the first two nights at home he slept in the small bathroom-laundry room we had prepared for him (for house training) but as by the third, as he started to whine when we put him in the laundry room, we moved his special orthopedic cushion in our bedroom (where all the other animals sleep), right on our bedside and he has been sleeping there ever since and there have been only two accidents, both due to my slowness in getting dressed at four o’clock in the morning with a dog crying because he has diarrhea and wants to go out .In fact I suspect he must have been housetrained as puppy in his first home because it is too good. The problem is that he pees or goes potty only when we take him for a walk outside the house (4 times a day, 20 minutes walks) but never in the garden: he has learned (from the other dog and from the cats) to use the dog’s door but he won’t pee in the garden, not even when it rains and he’s clearly reluctant to go out. He enjoys staying in the garden but only if I am with him but he does not “use” it even in my presence. We have a walled garden, closed and totally secure so I would like for him to learn to go out at will and to do his business there at least late in the night (it is getting pretty cold for nightime walkies): any idea how to encourage him, besides praising him everytime he pees (I am already doing it but he does not pee in the garden so I have no occasion to praise him !!) ?

Sorry for the long post but I did want to put all the information I have so thanks for the patience

[Doglover1988]

What a sad story. I'm glad he found a good home with a very compasionate person. I am unsure of his behavioral problems though but i'm sure other people can help you out with that. Do you have any pics of your Jrts?

[rmci]

How's it coming with Piccolo? Any luck with his issues?

[calgal]

Don't expect expect Piccolo to ever be a well adjusted normal dog. He never will be. You may just have to find someone who can come to the house and take care of him when you and your husband have to be gone at the same time. As for teaching him to potty in the garden, my suggestion would be to bring home some of his poop when your out walking and put it in an area in the garden that you want him to go. He may learn then that it's ok. I wish you all the luck in the world with this special boy, and bless you for taking him in and giving him such a wonderful loving home. Please keep us posted on his progress.

[searer]

I would like to update you on the extraordinary changes in Piccolo in just a month but first of all, I wish to thank you all for the encouragement and the advise. January has been such an hectic and busy month that I did not have really time to sit down and write.

I decided to contact some vets and behaviourists that had already worked with severely traumatised dogs. As they are few here in Italy, they were all booked solid or geographically impossible but at least I was able to get good solid advice by phone interview and email.

In fact I was able to reach via email a vet in Southern Italy ( I live in the North so it is just not feasible to visit) that cure and rehabilitate ex fighting dogs and he has given me the biggest help in just two emails.

He has advised me to introduce more daily routines for the dogs, beside the usual 4 walks a day and two meals, fixed playtimes twice a day, encouraging me to get Piccolo's bed right near mine and establishing a waking up (I roll up the blinds, the dog can jump uon the bed and I stroke both, then we all go in the kitchen for breakfast, they get a bit of kibble, they go out in the garden to pee and then come back to nap in the kitchen while i take my tea) and bedtime (the dogs go in their beds, i cover them with blankets, the light goes off) rituals to mark the beginning and ending of each day.

Such simple routines have had dramatic effects in less than two weeks: after just 4 days of fixed playtimes, seeing my other dog enjoyng herself immensely, Piccolo has jumped in, at first tentatively, just stealing toys with me having to take them back opening his mouth but later on running after them, learning to fetch and leave when i put my hand under his mouth, and then playing with my other dog. Now they play and nap together and they are a joy to see.

He is so much more relaxed and we have seen also a marked improvement of the separation anxiety: if all the walks, play, meals, waking and going to bed routines are respected, Piccolo can manage absences up to four hours ( we have found him curled on the sofa with the cats and the other dog) and when I was hospitalised for 5 days he was perfectly good and well with my stepson. So we have practically solved all the in-house problem.

This vet also advised me about Piccolo's fear aggression towards other dogs (once he had in his care a small dog that was used as fighting dogs'bait so he knows quite a bit about it): he has told me to not indulge him cooing or so but if he get too scared and loses control completely, just take him up in my arms (fortunately I can, he's just 8 kg), I just put him under my arm as a package, so that he can continue to experience the situation from a "protected" position and learn that not all the other dogs are aggressive or dangerous.

It really works: the moment we take him up he stops barking and shaking and start to observe carefully what happens and he's already much less reactive, we can now go walking and chance encounters with other dogs do not became huge fits, most of the time he just goes mmmh grrr but you see his heart is not in it. If the other dog comes near, the moment I see Piccolo getting too agitated, I take him up, matter of fact, I just swoop him up and he immediately stops barking and inclines his head (typical JRT posture) to watch the other dogs carefully. I let my other dog interact with the "stranger" to show him that there is nothing to fear and much to gain to be friendly.

I am also using bribes, with every new dog, reduced calories treats magically appear.
Last week we met a big Terranova who just ignored him and he just barked once, I took Piccolo up, but he was so absolutely fascinated by the majestic dog that I could put him down after a moment and he just sat there watching.

He is becaming such a good little dog, he's so friendly that here on the island everybody stops to pet him and after he gets petted (usually by kind old ladies, complimenting him etc..) he just goes jumping with the sheer joy of it ad the moment he's back home he rolls on the carpet to get a belly rub...We have sent photoes to the people of the shelter that rescued him and they have responded that he does not seem the same dog.. We are so happy to have him.

I hope that his story can encourage people to take even "difficult" dogs, with proper care they can became a joy to live with.