When Neelah's carer Erin contacted me she was very worried about Neelah her 5 year old boxer who had issues that were "growing to the point when I lie awake at night thinking of what I am going to do with her and crying at the thought of having to re home her or have her put to sleep"
Erin and her sister Candice are very responsible and committed pet owners. Neelah was sourced from a reputable breeder and went to puppy preschool as well as obedience classes and was well socialised and cared for. How had it got to the stage where the issues were so serious?
Neelah's issues included:
- aggression towards children
- nuisance barking
- aggression towards strangers and visitors to the house
- food aggression
- aggression towards other dogs
- jumping up at humans
As a Dog Listener I have learned that any dog can develop issues if it's basic needs within the pack are not met. And this is where traditional training and many other training methods completely miss the point. Dogs work for the good of the pack are such conscientious workers. They will do the job to the death that they believe is theirs.
What we needed to do was show Neelah gently and kindly that it was not her job to keep the house and pack safe or to try to control what was going on in her environment.
The first consult aimed to start to work on Neelah's behaviour at home. We started working with her to show her that she did not need to be responsible for Erin and Candice. We were very lucky that a family friend was able to visit with her two year old son Pheonix and spent the majority of the time working with Neelah to show her that visiting children are not a danger or a threat to the pack. After a number of hours we had made some progress and Neelah was reacting less to Pheonix. Neelah was also behaving a lot more politely with all of us. We finished the consult and Neelah slept solidly for the rest of the afternoon.
I gave Erin and Candice an initial plan for the next two weeks or so. The following day Erin reported that Neelah was already showing signs of being calmer. Erin had managed to go to the movies and returned home to a dog that was much more settled than previously.
I'll be giving regular updates on Neelah's progress in the coming months.
