You might have remembered that I was looking for a dog behaviorist for my small spaniel for dog on dog aggression about a month or two ago. Well, I found one. He was the greatest thing I've ever invested in. Right away he could see under the snarling and lunging and see what the real problem was. It turns out that my dog does NOT have "extreme aggression issues" as I had assumed. He is actually insecure around other dog hence he does "his thing" to drive away other dogs. He brought his two super trained border collies for Onyx to meet. Of course Onyx totally exploded. He just let go of the leash and let him put his "money where his mouth was." (Mind you he has been working with extreme aggression cases for over 30 years)Just as he expected his dog hunkered down, turned away, and pulled his teeth back, dog for "STOP This is not acceptable." Right away Onyx stopped in his tracks and walked away. After that he got along fine, he basically ignored the other dogs. Our behaviorist explained that he just couldn't follow through because he is a sensitive dog and it's not in his nature to be anti-social. Of course, he didn't sprinkle Onyx with "magic fairy" dust and "fix him." Onyx would still have reaction to every new dog so it was my job to meet as many as possible nice, calm dogs to slowly chip away at this reaction.
Now here's my problem. Living up north there are not many possibility's. I only have one friend who has a dog and is willing to help and her dog ran away before Onyx even got close. The majority of dogs are chained guard dogs. Due to lack of modern dog people, I guess you could say, most dogs are extremely afraid or extremely aggressive. I haven't seen one dog suitable yet. None of dogs up here are even remotely close to my behaviorists border collies who are super super trained and are practically therapy dogs for dogs trained since 8 weeks old. The only two possibility's are: one my old dog trainer, but is it professional to say "hey do you know any calm dog owners or could I
use your dogs?" Plus the dog park But I am afraid to use it. As I said most of the dogs there are dogs who probably get out once a year and are even more anti-social or pampered little dogs who's owners swoop them up while giving dirty looks and murmuring "It's okay little honey cutie puppy pudding pie" Ugh! And my behaviorist made it clear that although Onyx was fine with HIS dogs that with the wrong circumstances he would carry out his threat. And I certainly don't any trouble. There is the odd calm dog but what am
I going to say "Hi. Do you mind if I use your dog for a socialization exercise. By the way, he could possibly lunge and attack your precious dog, but don't worry he PROBABLY won't bite."
Please Help! It's already been 2 going on 3 weeks since I saw the Behaviorist and I still haven't found a suitable option. ANY advice is appreciated!
