Dog Community

Re-training after major surgery

Posted : 11/28/2009 1:16:21 PM

Ok, I need some major help. Here's a little background. I work in a adoptoin center and I got my shiba from a puppy mill that was being shut down (the guy ended up in jail and lost his land YAY!!!). He was a puppy when I got him. We've been fighting allergies since he was about 8 months old, but, we put that on the "back burner" due to his knees. He was diagnosed at a 1 1/2 years old with luxating patella in both back legs. Class 4.5 out of 5 on the right and class 5 out of 5 on the left. Anyway, he was in surgery with in a month of diagnose. It took about 10 months and 3 surgerys to finally fix the problem. As any shiba owner knows, they have a very wild personality. Before the surgerys he was great with other dogs, good with strangers, even kids. After the surgerys and being out of comission for almost a year, he has taken up the mind set of "I'm going to hurt you before you hurt me." He is very timid around new people, and doesn't give any dog a chance to get near him. He starts growling and if the other dog feeds in to it he started bearing teeth and escalates from there. If how ever the other dog doesn't respond at all, just ignores him, he's all bark and no bit and will even start playing with the other dog once he gets to know them. He's turned into a very insecure dog.

After the knees got settled, we went back to working on the allergies (it's very expensive and we had to move slow), and now was turning 3, they got 100% worse to the point where he has to wear an ecollar 24/7. So he's just misserable. And training has become very difficult when you can't even give your dog a treat and he hates his hypoallergenic dog food. We've just started allergie shots, which can take up to 6 months to a year to work, so we're slowy getting the allergies under control.

He's now 4 years old and now that we're just getting the allergies undercontrol, his left knee needs another surgery. It's popping in and out again and had turned into a class 2 luxating patella, on it's way to a class 3 (that knee gave us so much trouble the first and second time). My vet want's to wait a month or two and wait for the allergies shot to work more before we lay him up again. My consurn is that he hasn't really recovered emotionally from the last time, and he will regress more into instinct and become more wild.

HELP ME HELP HIM!!

calliecritturs

Posted : 11/28/2009 10:23:10 PM

You are writing the story of exactly why I've never treated allergies with pharmaceuticals. The fact that you have to deny them any sort of relief all the time you are trying to re-program the immune system just seems so counter-productive to me. I have found Billy's allergies have responded SO well to homeopathy it's incredible.

In honesty that would be my only suggestion and I understand it's probably not a welcome one after all the time you've put into it.

I tend to use just plain real food as treats. I home cook for all four of mine -- I learned a long time ago that the only real elmination diet is home cooked and done with just plain real food in 2 ingredients.

I would have approached the surgeries a bit differently -- I always encourage my vets to bond with my dogs -- in fact, I took them all for a visit to the new vet working with my regular vet on Friday. Only Billy really needed to go, but it was an opportunity to have her meet all of them and get in a bit of positive bonding time. I will bring bits of food (I've been known to hand a vet bits of steak or veggies -- whatever it takes) to give the dog after/during the exam.

Probably at this point you need to us e something like Hylands Calms and valerian root to help calm the dog down before you visit the vet -- just so you CAN approach it on a positive note.

espencer

Posted : 11/28/2009 10:47:32 PM

Also it would be a good idea to check YOUR level of stress regarding this whole thing. The dog might be picking it up himself from you. It's human to be worried about him, but when it's just too often and without stop then the dog might feel overwhelmed.

Itchypuppy

Posted : 11/29/2009 9:35:17 AM

Ok, I don't even want to get into how to treat allergies. I work in a organic/holistinc pet small pet store and work for my vet, I'm his tech. Trust me I've tried it all. He's an idea on how bad his allergies are, steroid (I hate using them, but I tried to give him some relief with them) don't even work, period, not going into it any further.

Please I need help with training, I know I screwed up around the time he got his knees done by not continuing to socialize him, but I need help getting back on track. His allergies are becoming very controlled and he can spend most of the time while I'm watching him with out an ecollar, I just don't trust him on his own yet, BUT I don't want to get into that. Please any help with retraining would be appreachated. THANKS.

spiritdogs

Posted : 11/29/2009 10:24:22 AM

I suspect that your dog may not have been adequately socialized early on, before you even got him. The critical period for that is between age 8-12 weeks, 16 weeks at the outside, and dogs that don't get that experience may always be handicapped by it. However, your immediate problem is that you need to do things to minimize stress, and reduce the likelihood of aggression. I highly recommend "Click to Calm - by Emma Parsons as a good training protocol for such dogs. However, I think you will need more, namely, desensitization and counter-conditioning exercises.

Most of this problem is the result of fear or pain. After all, this poor pup has been through a lot. However, if your dog is aggressive, you should probably do the rehab under the guidance of a D.V.M. or Ph.D. behaviorist, or one who can work with your own vet in case the dog also needs medication to help initially. Try the Animal Behavior Society or IAABC for a listing.

Here are some articles you may want to read:

http://aggressivebehaviorsindogs.com/content/blogcategory/26/44/

http://www.aspcabehavior.org/articles/14/Desensitization-and-Counterconditioning.aspx

If you want to try not using the Elizabethan collar, in the name of maneuverability, you could try a Bite Not Collar