Mandy is traveling in today six hours from her home further north. I was thinking that she was an unusual case, but then realized the problem that she has is one that we have dealt with before.
Every now and again, we are fortunate enough to know a rescue's history. Mandy was observed before ending up in the hands of a rescue organization, tied very frequently in the front yard or to the garage on a short leash. One of the volunteers dropped by to have a chat with the owner. Apparently the dog, Mandy, was a pawn in divorce proceedings.
I am sure that we have all been tempted to "liberate" a dog from their home, but most of us don't knowing it's against the law. One day this volunteer passed by, checked on Mandy, and found the owner had moved and abandoned the home (and Mandy!!! tied to the garage). Now the rescue could legally step in and liberate Mandy. Mandy was taken care of during the puppy whelping, and the puppies found good homes. Mandy found a good home as well.
However, the owner has had a problem with the aggression brought on apparently by leashes. As one might imagine, confinement is a source of trauma for Mandy. Recently we also had a case where touching had become a negative for a dog due to his (Hoobie's) medical issues. Sometimes, we are unaware of where the trauma came from, or if it's something that came with the dog's personal makeup or lack of socialization. Every now and again, we are lucky that a good history file came along with the dog.
So now we know that, we need to make this "negative" into a "positive" for the dog. We are meeting Mandy for the first time this afternoon (written on 5/18/2010), and she will be staying with us for two weeks. It's our goal to get a go forward plan in action for Mandy's dedicated and loving owner. The interesting thing about this case is she gets aggressive to other dogs with their leashes on!!! Normally when you hear the expression "leash aggression" you are thinking of a dog that is mouthing and biting at their leash (and possibly anything that gets in their way) OR a dog that gets aggressive when the leash is on (normally by the reliance on holding the dog back and thereby cueing resistance instead of compliance). So Mandy is different in that this a slightly different than normal leash aggression (this is under observation).
The same week we were talking to Mandy's owner, another call came in for a German Shepherd girl, who is 15 weeks old, and being aggressive to dogs. In fact, the reason I got the call is
Zoey bit a former client's dog, and happens to be her neighbor!! Zoey's bite on Frankie, was more of a resource-guarding thing (stick). Zoey actually shows signs of being a bit fearful of new people and dogs, but does warm up quickly to humans (ME). Before we start introducing Zoey to the training pack, we are going to be working on a few skills in a non-distracting environment. Once she gets those down, it will be time to bring her around (at least) my dog, Leon, while training her.
We have another GSD girl training here for a similar problem, but an opposite intent.
Bristol LOVES LOVES everything. She loves everything so much, that she is quite willing to drag her handler in front of traffic, across the parking lot, so the recipient of her love and devotion (which could be anything) will get what they desperately need. What Bristol doesn't understand though, is she looks like an aggressive GSD when she does this (number one), and that not everything in the world is desperately wishing for Bristol's attention (number two).
Bristol is just a total sweetie though. She is a bit stubborn for her owners, so she is doing a little finishing work here. Every now and again we get a dog here whose friendliness we love, but we need to train them to greet just a tad (or in Bristol's case a lot) more calmly. She can do this with humans now, and we are finishing up her work on greeting dogs calmly rather than dragging her owners over to meet her new friends LOL. Luckily, this is not a dog where aggression is at all an issue.
During this busy week, we have been sick with a really nasty spring cold, which has caused our writing to get a bit behind.
http://www.mannerlymutts.com/
http://mainepets.mainetoday.com/
http://www.dognewsisgoodnews.com/
Mandy is an adorable lab/golden/hound mix that was rescued from an unfortunate family situation. Mandy came in with what the owner felt was leash aggression. The actual problem appears to be an over reaction to dogs who tell her to back off. Mandy gets so worked up wanting to play, and then her defense drive kicks in if a dog says "uh no, I don't really know you that well". This is because Mandy goes full tilt boogey into a reactive greeting. She is really a very easy dog. This is a dog that has shown a few aggressive behaviors, but mostly reactive behaviors. Mandy is going to be returned home to a more active and free life, and with much more trust in her handlers:) She goes home at the end of next week, and her owner is traveling down from Canada to do a few days of training with us. Mandy's owner had been working it her on socialization at home, but found the very strong Mandy too physically taxing to continue doing it her self and be safe. Mandy was very close to being returned to the rescue before her owner finding Mannerly Mutts. This would have been a real shame, because ultimately dog and owner will be fine together, and they both love each other. 
