Advice for a novice dog sister? Sorry, this is very long, but I just want the best for my new brother, your time and advice is appreciated, thank you.
My parents/mom have had 3 dogs so far. The first was a 12 year old chocolate lab, Charlie. Neglected, emaciated from an animal hoarding situation, adopted and brought back to good health, died in his sleep a few years later. The 2nd was a german shepard/chihuahua mix (we think - german shepard coloring and coat, chihuahua face and ears, smallish terrier size about) named Sparky. He was a great brother, just an awesome dog, but he got very ill and wasn't going to get better so we put him down to save him from suffering (since he wouldn't get better even if we found out what exactly was wrong with him, he was in pain, it sucked, but it was what had to be done)
So, now to the current dog and the reason for my post here. He's a 6-7 year old miniature pincher/chihuahua mix (looks like a min pin with some chihuahua features- his tail and ears mostly) The shelter/humane society in the neighboring town told us he was good with other dogs, didn't know how he was with cats, that his name was Minor, and that his family gave him up because they couldn't care for him anymore after him being moved around from family member to family member. However, our vet, thinks the shelter's claims may not be all that accurate, since his records showed him getting the same vaccination a few months apart. Our vet thinks he was probably adopted from the shelter and brought back, but they didn't tell us that. He doesn't answer to any name we can tell, but he is starting to answer to Red, which is what we've been calling him.
First, I will say, my mom is NOT giving Red away. This dog has found his forever home and we will just adapt to him whatever we have to do.
We got him the 10th of this month. I've taken him for a 1.5 mile walk everyday except last wednesday, the 25th (because i had 2 teeth pulled out and bone graft put in i'm still in a bit of pain/discomfort, but i've take him on his walks thurs and fri and plan to go everyday going forward too, as long as nothing happens to me to prevent me) I do have massive guilt about missing taking him on Wed because that day he got out under the new fence (that has been remedied, and fence was totally inspected and no other possible breech areas found) anyway- when he got out he went after the duck that lived around my parents place (we care for the duck as well- plus feed wild geese, fish in the pond and 5 cats that live with my parents too) he ripped feathers out of the duck, i guess the duck was bleeding a bit but he got away. we haven't found any signs of him though, so yes- i'm pretty worried about my duck friend, we don't know if he's ok or dead/dying and i just hope he comes back and is ok. but i will always feel like it's my fault for not taking the dog for a walk that day.
On the walks, i've observed Red, he seems excited by other dogs, *maybe* wanting to play with them, but he strains at the harness and sometimes barks and growls/snarls. sometimes this is with wagging tail, sometimes not. (but even if he's wagging and seems excited and wanting to meet the dog, he's still kind of growling so i'm not sure how to read him) When it's people we encounter it's either he ignores them or he is straining at the harness and barking/growling. 2 times (in the beginning) i let him go up to a willing individual and both times he nipped at them (but thankfully didn't bite because they moved or i got him back) so i've warned everyone since that he nips without warning so everyone since hasn't offered their hands to him.
My mom thinks he was maybe abused (probably by a man) because he pooped on the floor one morning because my mom was too slow getting him outside and she said when she went to clean it up Red was cowering and it was so pitiful to watch. she said she told him it was her fault and it was ok and (obviously) didn't scold or abuse him at all, but the way she told me he acted it mustve been quite pronounced that he expected pain or the like. We think it was maybe a man who abused him mostly because he seems to react more to strange men then women so far, with barking and seems like aggression. But it was a man first and 2nd a woman who he tried to nip at on walks. and i would say about 2/3rds guys and 1/3rd women he seems to show aggression for on walks and the other way around for ignoring. (ignoring more women/children/dogs than men or men/dogs men/children) Also he has barked a few times at my dad kind of like he was a stranger he has to protect my mom and/or me from, but my dad has treats with him so Red does take the treat from people and he's getting somewhat used to my dad.
We never leave the dogs my parents have alone. Once they've adopted a dog he is with someone 24/7. If my parents want to go anywhere it's arranged that I watch him and most of the time it's either me or mom or both of us with him, but my dad has been able to watch him once so far no problems. (we have to watch him because of the 5 cats. he would chase them and try to nip at them, we discovered early and since the duck incident we're doubly sure he has to be kept away from the cats or at least not allowed free reign to chase them down and possibly hurt them) he does have free reign in his fenced yard (quite large area) and he enjoys running around there and playing, and we watch him outside and all, the cats stay away on their own plus our cats are mostly cool and chill so not especially bothered by the dog because we're conscious of it all or whatever.
ok, sorry for the long reading. to the point of this post: i would appreciate any advice from more experienced peoples, my family and i just want the best for all the animals we care for.
Should we try to socialize Red with other dogs? How might we go about this to keep Red and the other dog/s safe?
on the walk yesterday, for example, we had 2 dog encounters. the first was a boxer (maybe? maybe not, but about that size of a dog anyway for sure- my memory isn't the best tbh so it couldve been a completely different dog, but still about that size lol) both dogs just stopped walking. the other lady moved a few feet away after a minute and i started trying to walk Red past them, while talking with the lady a bit (explaining about Red, how we didn't know him, i think he gets excited by other dogs, but might seem aggressive, not sure if aggression is what Red is going for or not, etc) and Red starts doing the growling/straining/barking thing (no tail wag) and the poor boxer is just kind of scared and stuff and we get past eachother and go on our way. the 2nd dog encounter was a little different. this pit bull just stops and is staring. Red stops too, but i can tell by body language of other lady that this is a need to get Red passed where they are kind of situation so i encourage him forward with a good hold on his leash and i keep me between Red and them. The lady crouches in front of the pit bull and holds her head weird saying over and over, "good girl, you're a good girl" etc and i can tell the poor pitbull is just terrified. where she stopped and with the lady and me and Red, only enough space for me between the 2 dogs while we're walking past. he strained against his harness a bit (i had a really good hold on it though, but it was enough that i could tell that some of the walk past the dog he wasn't straining against the harness though) and he barked/quietly growled a little, but nothing like the first dog, and he cooperated in walking past pretty fast so it really seemed like better behaviour on his part was my impression.... (like he's not a monster kind of thing. i can't watch the surveillance where he attacked the duck though, i just don't want that in my head, but ... the pitbull was obviously terrified for whatever reason and he wasn't as aggressive and posturing as he might have been in another situation kind of thing if that makes sense)
He also seems pretty anxious for a dog. doesn't seem to like car rides at all, though I think he's getting used to them a little, especially since we always all come back home, that seems to calm him. on the very short daily rides to the park for the daily walk he seems fine though, but like i said- very short ride to a walk he really seems to enjoy/need
Does anyone have any advice for ways to make Red's life more fulfilling, happier, etc? (my parents are disabled, i'm very fat so i can walk him, but unfortunately can't run or jog and i think he wouldn't mind a run or jog, but i tried to find people to take him however how he reacts to other people makes me wonder if he would submit to running with someone else anyway, idk) Admittedly we're novice dog owners/carers but we are willing and able to do some things to try to give him best life we can. He's bonded with my mom already and adores her, sleeps with her all night and spends most of his time with her, and he likes me pretty well because we do the walk he loves/needs so i think that's a big part of it lol and he seems to mostly like dad ok. i get that sometimes the barking and stuff is him "protecting" me and/or mom, and that's in him, his breed, his size, etc. Like i've said, we just want the best for him though, so if there are things we should be doing or not doing i need to know. Is it better to try to keep him away from people or to try to be around more people? stuff like that.
I'll quit making this longer now, if there are any questions i'll answer and any advice is much appreciated, and thank you so much for reading this and if you respond, thank you so much for that too.
Submitted September 28, 2019 at 06:32AM by PlatypiFreakMeOut
via reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/DOG/comments/dafdv4/advice_for_a_novice_dog_sister_sorry_this_is_very/?utm_source=ifttt
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