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Progress or Regress??

Well, today we had a little bit of progress…  I think. 

There are some of you out there who, once you read what I am about to type, will think that this is regression, but in our family, it is progress.  Rusty is a very well trained dog.  Sometimes, too well trained. 

Now, we know that a dog is, in fact, just that.  But we still consider him a member of our family.  And once in awhile he deserves to be cuddled comfortably…  On the couch. 

Up until today, Rusty would not get up on the couch.  My husband once pulled him up here the first day Rusty was home, but since then the dog will not get up here. 

Today that changed.  Rusty came up here on the couch with us and cuddled.  He got coddled, pet, and loved on.  And when the novelty wore out for us, we told him to get down, and he did.  I think he just enjoyed the brief special treatment.

On a more somber note…  I am not so happy about the 4th and the fireworks coming up…  Remember, Rusty’s afraid of thunder…  Turns out, fireworks, too. 

J gave Rusty a really good grooming today.  He got trimmed up, nails cut, shampooed and conditioned.  {His long fur is nice and soft!!}  Afterwards, I took Rusty for a nice walk.  During this walk, someone waaaay down the street must have lit off a firework or two, something rather small, and Rusty freaked.  He barked. 

I have got to help him get over this fear.  I really do.  This poor dog has got to learn that the world is wondrous, not to be feared…  I just wish i could make him see.  Sometimes, I guess it’s just easier to be a mom to human kiddo’s than it is to be a doggie mom… 

 

Stormy Weather

Today we had some very bad storms.  High winds, whipping rain, loud thunder; the works.  When I picked Rusty up from his original owner I was told he was afraid of storms…  I never would’ve imagined…

This poor dog.  I have no idea how it could be possible that this dog could be so fearful of something so natural…

The storm clouds blew in somewhat fast.  The boys and I {Rusty included} were outside playing.  Rusty looked up and immediately his attitude changed.  He hid in the garage.  He didn’t want to come out.  I tried treats, catch, everything.  I wasn’t really paying much attention to the clouds at that point, just kind of playing with the kids…  Then our neighbor tells me that it is going to start storming soon.  Rusty had finally come out of the garage to see who I was talking to…

No sooner than we finish that conversation does it start to rain.  Not really rain, but a few drops here and there.  Rusty runs back into the garage.  I get the boys together, and try to coax Rusty out of the garage.  No dice.  There’s no thunder, no lightning, it’s not even really raining all that hard.  It’s just a few drops out of the sky…  I’m closing the garage, and Rusty FINALLY decides to come out. 

 

We get inside the house with seconds to spare.  It starts to downpour.  He runs inside, runs upstairs, and hides.  It thunders.  I hear him bark.  Then he runs down here, all around our somewhat small house…  He’s shaking…  I sit down, pet him, massage him behind the ears… 

The wind starts, the rain starts going sideways.  The storm is now in full swing and dear Rusty is now freaking out.  Thankfully he has control of his facilities {if you know what I mean} but other than that the poor dog is really scared.  All I could think of to do was just give him lots of attention and love…  It was all I could do. 

Thankfully, the severe weather passed fairly quickly.  As I write this entry we are currently having another very mellow storm…  More of a peaceful, restful thunder in the sky type storm.  The husband came home this evening and is upstairs sleeping with the oldest boy; Rusty’s up there with them.  The night’s lazy thunder has only really seemed to bother him once…  At least he’s only barked once.  Maybe the male presence of my bearish husband makes a big difference…

The day’s events do have me thinking, though.  Why, on earth, would such a sweet dog be so afraid of thunder?  English Setter’s are usually NOT fearful breeds.  When I looked up what I like to call “doggy storm phobia” the typical breeds that suffer are definitely NOT setters; they are Collies, Beagles, Basset Hounds, and German Shepherds. 

I did come across a study that stated that dogs that were in shelters and had been rescued had a predisposition for the phobia.  Here’s what it said:

An article in the July/August 2001 issue of the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association showed that rescued dogs–dogs adopted from shelters or rescue organizations–may also be more likely to develop storm phobias. The article suggested that these dogs are more likely to have had unpleasant, scary experiences prior to being adopted. They may have been abused or abandoned by a former owner, or they may not have been well socialized or exposed to a wide variety of sights and sounds. These kinds of early-life experiences can make dogs more anxious and prone to all kinds of phobias.

~ http://www.petcaretips.net/dog_afraid_of_storms.html

I’d be willing to bet that Rusty was NOT abused by his former owner.  They are good people; very loving, caring, wonderful people.  The parallel I noticed was that Rusty was in his cage a lot, and rescued dogs are, too.  Also, the fact that Rusty did spend so much time being crated could have caused his intense fear of storms and the world in general.  He didn’t get to experience much.  He didn’t get to see as much as he should have…

So, after a fun filled, problem filled, stormy day, here I am.  Researching, trying to find ideas.  So far all I’ve been able to come up with is “medicate your dog,” or “don’t bother them or try to comfort them,” and I’m sorry, but neither one makes a lick of sense to me.  If you love your pet, you can’t just let them be, and medicate a dog??  Are you serious?? 

So on with the reeducation…  We forage ahead.  Our love for our Rusty carries us on, it binds us to our sweet, sweet Setter… 

Meet Rusty….

Meet Rusty, the newest member of our family. 

 Rusty is a 4 year old English Setter.  We got him from a friend on the 22nd on June {08}, and let me tell you, he is a GREAT dog.  We are completely in love… 

So, why, do you ask, is this blog titled “Reeducating Rusty??”  Let me explain. 

First let me give you a little bit of insight into my family..  I am a trucker’s wife.  I have another blog on here about that subject in itself…  http://mamaerin.wordpress.com/ . I have two young boys born 12/04 and 08/07…  At the time of this publishing they are roughly 3 and a half and 10 months…  With them alone I have my hands full. 

My husband and I bought our first house last year.  We were given a puppy; a chocolate lab.  A friend’s dog had babies and we were deemed a good home so we were given a puppy. 

We were given Hershey about three days after we moved into this new house.  I was pregnant with M, our youngest, at the time, and the house needed some remodeling.  I’ve never had a puppy before and was relying on my husband to teach me how to teach her.  I tried, and for my first time I didn’t do so bad; considering I was also raising two little boys attachment parenting style {if you are unfamiliar with that type of parenting style, this blog gives a superb definition of the term…  kudos!  http://www.apparenting.com/what_is_attachment_parenting.html } …

Long story short, my poor baby Hershey got aggressive.  It wasn’t totally my fault {at 10 weeks old, when she was in the back yard the Electric/Gas company guy both maced and beat her…  She was small then…  And I was home.. }, but she got aggressive nonetheless.  She attacked me and with lots of tears and much regret we had to re-home our one year old dog.  G, our oldest, told everyone who would listen how Hershey attacked and bit his mommy.  It really made him sad and I am really sorry he had to see it. 

Anyhow, on to Rusty.  The day we surrendered Hershey to her new owners {we found someone to take her into their home and reeducate her} I posted to a wonderful moms group that I am a member of how sad and broken up I was about losing Hershey.  Our house was so empty without a dog. 

The next day, Father’s day actually, I got an email from my friend.  It read something like this.  “Hi.  I read your post about having to get rid of Hershey.  I’m so sorry to hear that.  I don’t know what kind of dog you are looking for to replace her, but we have a dog we are looking to re-home…  He is a purebred English Setter from a hunting line, although we have never taught him to hunt.  He’s sweet and great with kids and animals.  He’s in good health.”  She goes on to tell me more about him and how great he is { and he is fantastic!}…  Then she tells me why she wants to re-home him…  “I feel bad because Rusty just doesn’tget the attention he deserves here.  He spends a lot of time in his crate here because my husband just isn’t a dog person…”  {These are not actual quotes, just summations…}

So I called up my husband who is miles away..  He says we can take Rusty!  I was bursting with joy!  We’re getting another dog!!  Yay!! 

I find out some thing about Rusty in the course of the next few days…  First, he was crated a lot more than I think they wanted to admit.  I love my friend…  But…  Second, this poor animal is very, very fearful.  I don’t understand it.  I’ve done some research on English Setters, and come up with nothing but this: 

Temperament
Gentle, affectionate, friendly, without shyness, fear or viciousness. 
~AKC  http://www.akc.org/breeds/english_setter/

English Setters are great family dogs.  And Rusty is a PERFECT FIT for our family.  But we do need to break him out of his shell.  He is very fearful.  He is TOO WELL BEHAVED.  Call me weird, but I like a doggie kiss now and then; Rusty won’t lick.  He wants to, you can tell he’s holding back, but he won’t.  His first day here I even put steak juice on my hand and he refused to lick it off!! 

Rusty is very loving.  He SOAKS up all the attention he is given here.  He is at my feet lying on my left foot as I type.  We love that in this house.  But all the time he spent in his crate before he needs to get used to being active again; he has two little boys that are gonna keep him on his toes!! 

We already seem to hold a special place in dear Rusty’s heart.  He is already guarding us.  He went NUTS when my father came over the other day and came up to the gate while we were in the back yard.  He wouldn’t let him near!! 

My goals with Rusty are this:

• GET HIM TO GIVE KISSES!!
• Break him out of his shell…  He is so reserved…
• Make him less fearful…  Teach him that the world is amazing, not to be feared!
• Get him back in shape!
• Get rid of the evil crate!  If I have it my way he will never have to endure that thing again…
• Get him to walk better on a leash…  Yes, he’s good at it, but with a prong collar… {ouch!}  I want him to stop pulling and just learn to walk briskly and calmly…  Enjoy it!

 I think, after awhile, we can do this.  I know that Rusty will always love our family.  I know that the family that had Rusty before us loved him, too, and also had the best and greatest of intentions.  These are things that I know. 

I hope that I can change the things that I set out to change.  I hope that my family and I can help Rusty to break out of his shell.  My family and I can be pretty persuasive when we put our minds to it, ya know.