The Hoods-Success Stories of the Behaviorally Challenged

We are taking on another Naughty Nellie soon. That's not her real name, but we will introduce her shortly. She has a bit of dog aggression. In fact, when I was evaluating her case, Leon was lying quietly beside me. The smallest movement of his paw brought about tantrums from this normally sweet girl. In talking to him, and amongst ourselves afterwords, we tried to remember the dogs who had come in and gone out a bit differently:

1) Devon-Re homed and working out in new home. Devon started with us in July of 2007. He came here for aggression towards humans (men generally) and aggression towards other dogs. His owner later decided another breed would work better. Thai Ridgeback's are a huge responsibility and are a bit more primitive than other breeds of dog. While his original owner thought he wanted something exotic and the responsibilities that go along with it, in the end this was not the appropriate dog.

Devon was trained but would always need that bit extra supervision that made life uncomfortable for his owner. They now own a much more typical dog.

Devon now lives with new owners, and a new sister named Bri!! He will compete in obedience at the end of this year or the beginning of the next year.

2) Hannah-Owners were considering euthanizing at one point, but couldn't bring themselves to do it. Hannah is the cute Springer girl in this picture with my Jack. She lived with her litter mate, Katie, for eight years when things started to change. Hannah's owners were at their wits end one day, when Katie was badly injured around the neck after a confrontation while the pet sitter was there. Hence, Hannah came in for training on October of 2006.


Their veterinarian diagnosed Hannah with "Rage Syndrome". Rage syndrome is an actual seizure like epilepsy and does not come at predictable moments. This same vet also refused to do blood work for Hannah that would show thyroid problems or look for additional health problems. He said "those don't cause bad behavior". That is true, but it can certainly bring down a dog's "patience threshold", and as you will read this "vet" was wrong on all counts.

During her stay and training, Hannah looked very flat. A new vet was found, and she suffered from an ear infection, several teeth that were infected and needed to be removed AND a bladder infection. While this didn't solve the training issues, a much chipper Hannah was ready to do some work.

Katie was here for the training, although not the problem. However, it was discovered that Katie had recently developed painful hips, as could be witnessed by her inability to jump on furniture anymore. Hannah used to play by jumping on her. Then Katie, thought to be the more submissive, would tell Hannah to back off, and chaos thereafter with Hannah "winning" the fight.

Therefore, obedience training program was followed so Hannah could be directed to come, go, sit, and stay when it looked like she was going to do this. Also, a "let's go" command was used to keep Hannah supervised people did not want to sit still in the house, and if it was preferred that she not be in her crate.

Hannah is now the class clown when she comes over for boarding. A dog that started out needing to be watched around any other dog (owners let her tell other dogs off because she was "dominant"), now is the regular entertainment around here. In fact she goes from dog to dog until they are all too pooped to play!!

Meanwhile, this little smart girl had me exhausted at the end of training. It is so hard to believe now what a hard time she put me through. Everything was an opportunity to challenge to her. She is probably one of the best and most liked dogs that come here now!!!

3) Ursa-Owners were considering euthanizing also. In April of 2005, Ursa was the first dog to make my hairs stand up on end! No amount of cookies was going to make her your friend.

However, a well devised obedience plan set into motion made this bad girl, good company for visiting children and family. Not that you would leave her alone unsupervised around those that she is not familiar with.

Ursa is a Great Pyrenees whose job it was to guard the chickens and her JRT friend, Wild Willie. Sometimes her guarding duties had gone a bit too far in the past, and anyway, it was more a protection of herself. (Ursa is really afraid of her own bark, you see).

A brief stay with the boys also brought her play drive out, and the realization that strange dogs are not always out to get her. Of course, this also relies on the owner/handler not putting their dogs in those situations for which they haven't been equipped to handle (or without guidance).

4) Zeek-Owners were considering re homing. In July of 2006, I met big old Zeek. Upon meeting him, I assumed that Zeek was going to be a pretty hard dog to train.


I had to laugh at that later. What a sweety, and when you meet him, he knows you and you have a friend for life. However, that isn't very comforting as a stranger, and having this big red Rhodesian Ridgeback charge at you when you come to the front door.

There was also dog fights over food in this three dog home. Zeek's enthusiasm to get into Gus's (see below) bowl sparked fights. It was thought by the owners that Zeek was initiating this. Although Gus would come in for training, he wasn't there when Zeek initially came.

After teaching Zeek that other dog's food was off limits, and feeding him along with my own crew, I did not see any open hostility or even guarding coming from Zeek. He just wanted to get into other's food bowls, and when told this was a "no no" he was fine with it. He did tend to eat in a hurry, as if worried another would take his food.

Gus received private obedience lessons at home, to station him before and after feedings. Zeek was no longer allowed to just plow into any dog's bowl. He had also learned how to sit politely or go to place as his owners greeted their guests at the door. Zeek was about the easiest dog with "aggression issues" that I have ever had the pleasure of training.


5) Gus-Always thought of as "the puppy" probably forever LOL. Gus came for boarding in the summer of 2007, with the mandate that he receive training to be manageable while here. Why?


Gus has a slight problem with other dogs. As he has been coddled as "the puppy" his whole life, combined with a lack of training, came the lack of socialization. This is a nasty circle to get in, especially for such a fun loving dog.

When Gus came, (on leash of course) he attempted to try and go after any dog he saw. Luckily my crew is trained and easily stationed as we got the little trouble maker inside.

This was only a week that Gus was staying with us. Within days, he was on the beach with us and playing not only with my dogs, but with other strange dogs and having a grand old time. AT home, Gus's life remains lovely with his three friends, but they still don't take him out enough for him to enjoy the company of strange dogs (under guidance and supervision, of course).

The main success is that Gus and Zeek still remain at home, and now get along harmoniously with or without food and toys around.

6) Moose-Owners still considering re homing, but he's still there. In the frigid month of January 2007, I met Moose who was a lot worse than Ursa.


This was just a seven month old pup, displaying really serious territorial aggression. He would have this fixed owl eyes before he went for you. He was also not such a fan of the traditional training collars. It wasn't just that he did not want to work on them, he actually hated them, or that is how it seemed.

Hence it was one of those times that rather than fight against this hatred of a metal training collar, we switched to the e-collar. You always wonder how the dog is going to react to any training equipment, and most times they are accepting. Luckily, Moose was accepting of the electronic collar, and quickly started learning his obedience lessons.

However, his family comes from the military, and has small toddlers about. Small toddlers that he is especially protective of. This makes Moose not the best dog for this family. I think he is still looking for, but may have found, a new home.

There he is lying pleasantly on our porch during a boarding visit. He is a very nice dog, for someone who will work with him. Incredibly athletic and loving to his "people".

And yes, I follow up about once a month with his owners to see the situation. Last I heard they were being stationed in Ohio, and may have had someone interested in Moose.

7) Willie came to us in September of 2007 for private lessons with his owner.


Willie did not like for his owners to have company, whether they were known family, friends or strangers!! He had a bit of a bite history.

However, the thing that made his owners sit up and take notice was when the brother in law refused to come over because of Willie. Best guess at Willie's breed is a Portuguese Water Dog/Airedale mix.

Willie's female owner had an injury to her brain awhile back, and so the hardest part was getting the directions and commands so that they were more natural to her.

Willie has hosted a couple of holiday parties since then, and has been a great hit and gotten many compliments on his mannerliness.

8) Cerber was mostly a walking client. I started looking after him in September of 2006.


He was a bit too much for the dog walkers in the area. At six months old, Cerber had been in recovery for surgeries most of the time. In fact, in the very beginning, we didn't do all that much of a walk. It was more of a popping in and out for bathroom, and then back in his pen.

Cerber had been purchased due to the owners' desire to do Schutzhund. They therefore searched for a SchIII lines dog. Since they had never done the sport for anything other than socializing, they had no idea the training requirements of a dog with a confident attitude.

Now you combine that with being in pain for a good amount of your beginning life AND not being socialized, it just spells trouble. I have consulted with them for free, and they paid for a couple of lessons too. We became friends, and I totally love Cerber so it was about more than business.

Unfortunately my friends have moved away from me, and I am not accessible to them for one on one training anymore. It was with them in mind that I posted my list of qualities that one should look for in a dog trainer.

9) Fergus (no picture) He is a Cairn Terrier of a black peppered color, and the only one in the bunch that has the distinction of having bit me. His owner had lessons with me not because he was aggressive, but just regular old obedience lessons in March 2005. However, the one time Fergus would make a stink is if he was asked to do anything. You know like "come so you don't get hit by the car coming down the road". They had a great place to walk him in the morning, but no commands. He was tough, but we got him there.

He was actually found as a stray in New York City. When his new owners picked him up, they were told he was three, but it became very apparent that he was much older and just a bit set in his ways. I bet someone in NY City was and is missing him:( He has a great new home now, and a friend.....

I actually bumped into him at my old vet's office awhile back. Everyone looked a little disheveled. Come to find out, he has a bit of a reputation there!! I should have told them about the penlight. That may have distracted him during the taking of blood and shots.

10) Bridget (no picture) Bridget (aka Marylin Monroe) was a blond Cairn Terrier who was purchased by the same owners as Fergus later on in 2005. She tried to bully the human owners. Interestingly enough, just given some guidance and commands, she was by far the least aggressive of the two. However, she did need the guidance that obedience training can be.

11) Hershey (no picture) Very cute Daschund client in 2004. He was long haired with big brown eyes. I think he may have been my very first training client on my own, but I am not absolutely sure. The male owner in the house used to reward Hershey for going after a certain other apartment tenant that he did not like. This combined with the fact that Hershey almost never left the apartment not even to go to the bathroom did not create very socialized dogs. They had two other Yorkies as well. Very sweet dogs, but not very socialized.

We taught Hershey to sit and wait at the door. I also brought in my "friendly stranger" aka the husband to help him get used to strangers coming in the door. I did wish Hershey could have a better life with more opportunities for outside play when I left:( It's sometimes hard leaving the dog there, even though their owners do truly love them. They just may have certain problems of their own to deal with.

12) Izzy (no picture) First more than once a week dog client that was trained by me, and not by her owner. Izzy was actually a great girl, and a King Charles Spaniel. She weighed all of eight pounds when she grew up. However, she was a bit spirited, and she terrified her owners when she decided something was hers. As a result, everything did become hers LOL.

Her owners were able to use the commands, but still shrunk from her when she would have a tantrum. The best that I could get them to do, was put a pillow in between them when she would get like this. Izzy never got like this with me, because she knew the rules. Also, because I would just pick her up in the air in front of me if she tried it. Luckily there is not much damage little Izzy can do, or wants to do quite frankly.

Her owners love and adore her, and continue to let her get away with murder. I have advised them on against ever getting anything bigger, and they understand!!

13) Our Own, Jackie-Happily remaining in his home as our demo dog and competition obedience dog. I did post his story earlier.














14) Our Own Neptune-Lived with us for seven years before a reaction to a drug for his heart condition caused his death. The good news is, due to the early diagnosis of his condition, he lived for two years with us additionally, that we probably would not have enjoyed without the treatment.

Neptune's story has been posted as well.

Need your dog trained? Visit the http://www.mannerlymutts.com services page. Or contact me at 207-361-4395 in York Maine. Ask for Robin Rubin, Dog Trainer.

Say no to HSUS, PETA, No Shock Collar Coalition (NSCC) or Truly Dog Friendly Organization (TDF). Articles and information on why I do not support these organizations is on here and here.