Help with dog advice!

mangotango

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Aug 16, 2011
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I live in Punta Cana and have a 1year old rescue dog. I recently left town for a few weeks and she stayed at the vet for the first weekend, then was picked up by some friends that have watched her before. They said that she is no longer the same dog and has come back very aggressive. They also said that she has snapped at a few people, has been pacing around and is aggressive. Has anyone heard of this happening before? I'm very worried because I am not in the country right now. Can anyone suggest someone that could help with this. I really do not want to have an aggressive dog because I have her around children regularly, and she has always been so sweet and gentle before....any advice would be appreciated!!!
 

Anastacio

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Feb 22, 2010
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It is a rescue dog, in its mind being dumped,,,,AGAIN. Think if you have the support network with someone who sees her regularly so it doesn't need to go back to a caged life, even for an hour, that is terrifying for a dog who has been in a bad situation before.
What exactly do you expect someone to do? Help? Help how?

Yes I have heard of it before, the spirit gets broken when they don't know what is going on. Especially at that age.
 

william webster

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Jan 16, 2009
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Rescue dogs take special care..... you will never know the true background and therefore have a hard time predicting and relying on their behaviour.

I find this to be especially true in RD where the "dog culture" is different than I am used to.

I am sure there are success stories - and we hear about those.
We do not often hear about what you are experirncing.

I suspect you are not in the minority.....

Has the dog been with these children already..... ?
Be careful.... and good luck
 

mangotango

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Aug 16, 2011
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Well I rescued her when she was very young (1 month old) and she has stayed with the family before when I have been gone. She was at the vet from Saturday afternoon until Monday morning, when the friends went to pick her up. Unfortunately I had no way around it, as my friends were not able to take her until the monday, and I had to leave the country for my job.

I was just hoping someone might be able to offer some advice for my friends who are watching her...or for me. I'm not sure how bad it really is because I am still out of the country, but if it is as bad as the family is saying, I am wondering if there is anyone who might know how to deal with this...

Someone suggested that she might have been handled roughly at the vets. When my friends went to pick her up, her brand new harness was broken.
 

Acira

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Sep 20, 2009
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First thing I would do is ask the vet what happened there, how the dog behaved there.

Many dogs who are dumped and dumped and dumped again do not develop aggresive behaviour, they tend more to develop an uninterested behaviour, they don't play, they are bad eaters and sleep most of the time.

So something must have happened at the vet, maybe a small thing that triggered maybe a trauma from the day's she was a street dog. Do not forget that from the second week when they start to open their eyes until they are 8 to 10 weeks old, all imprints (positive and negative) are crucial for his/her further life. A second stage is when they are around 8 to 9 months old in generally.

Acira
 

mangotango

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Aug 16, 2011
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She has never really been dumped though...Again, she was very small and young when I found her (1 month at the most). She has been left once before with the same family, who has dogs of their own and provides a loving home for her. So far, all I can get out of the vet was that she didn't have fun and wasn't happy there. I don't imagine she had too much trauma as a street dog because she was so young, and even though she was abandoned by her mom, a man was feeding her regularly. I'm really worried about her, especially since I am still out of the country.....
 

Anastacio

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Which vets? The Vets here don't need to be qualified to practice. I remember having a huge bust up with the owner of the pet shop in Jarabacoa at the conditions he was keeping the animals in while claiming to be a fully qualified and registered vet. I've seen him handle dogs and it was as though they were already dead meat. Infact we were very close to coming to physical confrontation over a few things.
Be careful here where you take the dog, for any kind of attention, most google their way through issues with dogs like the rest of us.
It will be freaked out if it has had a bad experience with them. Along with there possibly being mental separation issues going back to being taken from its mother so young, 1 month is very early and there could be development issues. Nothing anyone can do, you know all the dog wants is to see you again, get its security back. Good luck to the little fella.

What kind is it, big small? B careful if it has kids around her and she is being unpredictable.

Another issue is it could be your friends hinting on for you to get a shift on returning as they no longer want the responsibilty. Maybe to much for them this time and they don't want to say.
 

Acira

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Trauma and trauma are two, our rescued aussie was very traumatized when we got him, took us two full years to win his confidence. Did his trauma was that bad? Can't say. The only thing I know for sure is that he could have been "punished" very softly at just the wrong moment in his life. Also he was a show dog so was forced to stand on 4 blocks of wood at the age of 6 weeks, could also give a trauma. He has a long scar on his back like from a whip, could also be a trauma. Bottom line is, you don't know the history.

I too rescued a 4 weeks old puppy from the street, never thought she would survive but she is thriving now and she is a very spicy little monster who needs some times a reminder that she is only 10 weeks old and does not need to act as she is lion but she shows no signs of aggression.

I repeat again, dogs with aggression have deeper laying problems, if it happened suddenly, it could also be a medical problem.

Or like Anastacio said, maybe your friends are not willing to take care of her anymore, can be that she is not aggressive but just naughty and a bit to much to handle for them.
 

BigDaddy

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Jan 16, 2005
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I have seen dogs who get attacked by other dogs or people for no reason just loose it and get scared seemly with out reason; get aggressive. You need to take time and socialize him around people and other dogs. If he begins to calm down you will know it happened at the vets office.
 

nsgirl

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Nov 4, 2008
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This sounds alot like what happened with my dog. We went away for the weekend and left him with friends. When we came home he wasn`t the same, he was nervous and snapped at several people. A few weeks later he attacked me full on....It was horrible. I spoke with my vet and he said that because my dog wasn`t regularly around other dogs at my home and my friend had 3 dogs, one being a large sheppard whom my dog did not care for, that he had developed a pack instinct and was trying to prove that he was the dominant member of our household. He suggested that I keep the dog on a short leash by my side for several weeks and be very dominant over him. He said that this would let him know that I was the boss....I wasn`t comfortable with this as he had really come after me and I also had small children in the house. We ended up giving him away to friends who thought they could deal with him. He was good with them for a month or so but then he turned on them and they decided to put him down. I`m not sure if the vet was right or not but I know that this dog was a great dog before we went away and he came back vicious....It was heartbreaking for us and I was timid around dogs for a long time after that.
 

jrjrth

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Mar 24, 2011
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~Has the dog received a Rabbies vaccination? Aggressive behavior can be contributed to rabbies, along with numerous other signs....