@tanza - And yes Zande, I will send you the puppy information once we have names!
Happy Birthday Oakley
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Oakley and Aspen– sounds like a plan, Chealsie! I can understand your hesitation in getting another dog. It could be a big help—or it could make your situation even worse. There’s just no way to know.
It's amazing how different Bs can be. Spencer was a bit like Oakley, in that he was very well socialized from the beginning, but started liking other dogs less at maturity. He didn't have Oakley's fear aggression, but he preferred people to dogs. Ava is the complete opposite. She seems to prefer dogs to people and is happiest at doggie daycamp, where she can romp nonstop with any dog that will play with her.
Agilebasenji, Ava is Ava. She didn’t really outgrow any of her behaviors or health issues; I've just had to adapt and learn some calming signals of my own. Thanks for asking about her!
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Exactly, it could go either way…I think long term I could get him to adapt because I always get positive results from him with repeated exposure..like with the schnauzer puppy..we both thought in the beginning that it might not work for even walking them together but now she's my dog walker and walks Oakley with both her schnauzers..and while he sometimes snaps at the pup it hasn't been a bite, more like a warning to cut the puppy crap..his aggression with dogs was really an off guard over night thing...and I will say it's very difficult for me that I can't really trust Oakley in the company of dogs (especially) or people....the people part is because he's food aggressive and territorial (even food scraps in trash)...and it's constant supervision and assessing which situation are safe and which could cause a stir..he's a complicated and mixed bag...and the behaviorist think it all stems from fear aggression...he's more reactive because while he's fear aggressive he doesn't display fear in a visible manner often because for a fear based dog he has a very bold personality...all of this happened after the surgery, not sure why or what happened but I also can't go back and change anything. Hopefully, one by one and slowly he can make friends...you can tell he really wants the interaction but he can't judge a dogs intents up close so he reacts before they do....with those he's friends with he is still not uber tolerant but when annoyed its a snap rather than a 0-10 bite...I dream about him being able to go to a doggy daycare...if only he knew his life would be so much more fulfilling if he got along with dogs
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Yes, it really limits you when you can't trust their behavior around other dogs. The only time Spencer showed any snarkiness was when he was leashed and other male dogs would approach us– and that was only with me. Anybody else could walk him on-leash and he welcomed all dogs, no problem. But he resource guarded me. Does the behaviorist think resource guarding you is part of Oakley's problem? In their eyes, we're the most valuable resource of all!
Have you ever tried Oakley in doggy daycare? They could test him with other dogs first, with trained personnel right there and you not in sight. Is Oakley too nervous to try that? Maybe it would build his confidence, and he would grow to tolerate, then like it, over time. Even though, he'll probably always prefer to be with you. He's a mama's boy. And that's a very sweet thing.
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He does guard me, he tends to have less displacement behaviors when Diann walks him (my friend and dog walker)…he lives running in the dog park but it's always a point of nervousness for me which could be what causes some incidents...so I don't bring him in fairness to those whose dogs don't have a problem..most day area won't take oakleys because of his fear aggression because they don't want to risk a snark/bite..not that I blame them but I do suppose he would be better outside of my presence and for sure he would get acclimated and build confidence, it's just a matter of someone understanding him and working with us to help get Oakley controlled exposure (and that's not easy to get participants for
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He really doesn't show too much anxiety that I can translate to fear outwardly, he really pushes for an interaction (sometime too much so) but he is socially awkward in that dogs behaviors confuse him and/or he can't read them; I think if he had more adult memories built he would have some
To pull from but these days he can't tell if a dog wants to play, how to play, if they are being submissive or I'd they are challenging him...it's as if his puppy experiences are wiped and all he goes off of now is that "momma" doesn't let him see other dogs -
He is a mommas boy..lol, last time we went to the dog park was within the week after the behaviorist and she suggested he wear his gentle leader head halter and have a muzzle so I brought them..he was awkward and the other dogs drew attention to it so I took it off and he started running so the big dogs would chase him..he loved it, but then there was a min ion and he ran ahead and I ran after him and when I arrived it was a standoff..no fight..so for me..I'm nerve wracked..he wants it,like I said but knowing it's a hair trigger makes it unenjoyable and I feel irresponsible allowing it if he could cause a fight; perhaps in the future if we can gather some people to work with us one at a time to build friends and confidence for him
