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BitaTruble -> Dog: Insecure pet problem (8/28/2007 8:47:04 PM)
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Sorry for the length of this post, but I'm very concerned for my dog, Hobo.
The dog is a 4 year old male, fixed: part lab, part pit bull and maybe a few other breeds to boot, but mostly lab/pit. The vet recently pronounced him in perfect physical health aside from an unusual wear of his canines for his age. He doesn't have an ounce of flab on him and his coat gleams. His tail is almost always wagging. He appears to be very happy and content in the home and, except for sitting on the furniture and being in the kitchen, has free reign throughout the house. He's walked 3 to 4 times a day and goes on 2 - 3 car trips a week. His stool is healthy and free of parasites and he is current on all vaccinations.
Some background on him: We got him from the animal shelter the beginning of April and he had been there for 6 days after being dropped off by a family (with children) who owned him for 7 months. The family stated they gave him to the shelter because of a move to a non-pet apartment. His coat was dirty and he was flabby and out of shape when we got him. Prior to that, his previous owners only had him five months and gave a similiar reason for giving him up. As far as the shelter knows, he's never been with one family for longer than a year.
Himself and I believe that at some time during his life, he was hit or physically disciplined on the head, probably by a man, because of his flinch reflex when Himself goes to pat his head. He will cower when Himself is just being affectionate with him. We don't know for sure this happened or that it was a man, but it seems likely as this never happens when I pat him and he never cowers from me. He's also very, very protective of me and is only now getting used to Himself spanking me and .. um, stuff. [8D] Mostly he ignores our play now and is fine with it as long as he can watch. (Okay, so he's a perv dog.. what are ya gonna do?) I'm his main caregiver and have been since we got him.
Okay, so here's the problem. This dog hates to be left alone, even for a moment. He follows me everywhere, even into the bathroom and if he can't see either Himself or I, he starts to panic and cry. He has major abandonment issues and has not yet learned to trust that we will always be there for him and doesn't know that he has a home for life. We have tried to ween him off our presence bit by bit but the poor thing just cries and barks until he sees us again. We can't allow that to happen for hours at a time because we do have neighbors and it's not fair to them and it completely stresses the dog.
I am home all day long, so he is used to having me around. He's 'okay' (but not at his happiest) if Himself is there and will sit by the front window and await my return (from shopping etc) Also, he basically won't eat or even take a drink of water if one of us is not right by him and he won't go to bed by himself. While he's eating, he will constantly look up to make sure we are still in the room and if we leave the room, he'll leave his food behind to follow us. We tried to put his food out and leave him alone figuring when he got hungry enough, he'd go eat and the dog wouldn't eat for three days until we went to go stand by him. He'd rather starve than be left alone.
I've never had a dog who had issues this bad before and I'm wondering if this is something that will, eventually, ease up as he gains confidence and trust in us or is the poor thing scarred for life because of his past? There are going to be times where he's going to have to stay alone and I certainly don't want to make things harder on him than they have to be, but I'm truly at a loss as to what to do about it. (I suggested a companion dog, but Himself said no.) Himself and I don't believe it's safe to muzzle an animal without supervision and our vet confirmed this was not wise. So far, every time we've wanted to go out, we time it to coincide with his grooming schedule and that gives us 4 or 5 hours to be out and about while he's getting all gussied up. That's about every 3 weeks or so.
Any suggestions on what I can do with this animal to get him more secure? Has anyone who has been in a simliar situation found any solutions to make things less traumatic for their pet?
He's got a blanket which he adores and his favorite toys are his rope and his tennis ball so if there's a way I can utilize those in lessening his stress, I'm happy to do so. I'm willing to try anything short of allowing him to bark and cry thereby disturbing the neighbors and stressing him, so just leaving him to 'get over' it is going to have to be a very last resort and not one which I think is going to be effective with this animal who already has been abandoned so many times in his life.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Celeste
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