Dog Whisperer

We have a lovely little dog now about 1 year old.  He was a rescue dog from http://www.animalinneed.com/en/pedros-diary.html. He was found wandering the streets of La Linea when he was about 2 or 3 months old.  He is a wonderful, funny, playful little soul when he is in the house, but he dreadsgoing for a walk and actually does everything he can to avoid having his lead put on. He is scared of the wind, loud noises, motorbikes, street rubbish bins and Spanish voices terrify him. He also constantly crawls rather than walks and all the time is looking over his shoulder and skyward. When he goes back home he reverts back to his real self.

The thing is that when I bought him I was out of work, so there was always someone at home with him. Now I have found a job so neither me, nor my wife, will be with him for at least a couple of days a week, and when he is left on his wn he barks and cries so pitifully and has even learnt to climb gates, walls and fencing.

So, does anyone knw of a bona fide dog whisperer, or trainer, who can help us make him realise that he is not going to be abandoned ever again and that we will be returning me to him.  It's worrying us to death. Obviously it needs to be somewhere n the Manilva, Sabinillas, Duquessa area.

 Hi Orda

It sounds like a classic case of insecurity. I am no dog whisperer but I have trained many dogs in my time. The first step comes from both of you the owners. It sound like you feel sorry for him....do you transmit this to the dog by comforting him? He  is clealry scared of being outside of his security zone so he needs to increase his self confidence. Dogs are very clever and mechanical once they understand it is very quick to fix problems. They need to know very clearly what is correct behaviour and what is incorrect behaviour. It is relatively quick  but you need to spend many hours a day correcting behaviour very precisely so not to confuse him and bring him around. Does he play with other dogs? Do you live in a flat or a house with a garden? 

 Hi Ian. Yes we do pamper him because of what we think he must have gone through. There are no other dogs for him to play with, but he does see other dogs when we socialise at the local bar sometimes.  He seems to get on okay with them. we have 3 terraces in our town house and he has the free run of 2 of them. We are trying to leave him for short, then longer, periods, but he still barks and sometimes wees on the floor.  He has also bitten the walls to the stairs.

 If you want to make progress you must stop the pampering. When you pamper a dog when it is upset or distressed all you are doing is reinforcing its behaviour and making it even weaker in character. As you pamper it, it believes that is the correct behaviour and hence go on and on and it gets worse with time until it becomes a condition. The dog was far too young to have had a real trauma, we tend to create the traumas and accentuate them giving  a humane approach to the ordeal. Those were vital weeks when a dog is still learning from its mother and being abondonned wouldn't have had that guidance, but when you took it in I would imagine as most people do you felt sorry for it and tried to treat it like a child to make it feel safe and happy. Unfortunately dogs aren't like that. They need guidance and rules and need to know there place to be able to feel confident and happy. Until you takle the issue with his confidence and change the way you treat him you won't have much success. I am not saying be cold and indifferent I am saying that when he cries or cowers away or lowers his head, or puts his tail between his legs you need to mark that behaviour with a negative command or sound so he understands it is not good behaviour to feel or act like that. The barking, biting walls etc is all a result of this distress. You have to takle his self esteem first and then deal with the other issues, some will go away by themselves other you will ahve to work on. When you take him out for a walk make them short but be firm and strong, if you feel pity he will sense it and keep acting that way, he must feel that you are in charge and he can trust you. That is not through pampering but through leadership and routine. You must not treat him like a human, dogs live in the present, not the past or the future. If you are totally lost you should speak to your local vet, he/she should be able to put you in touch with a trainer or helper. In essence it is fairly simple to correct but it takes a lot of patience and a a lot of self control on behalf of the owners, the both of you.

 I would also suggest you make an effort to socialise him with other dogs, he will soon learn with them that being outside is a good thing and going for a walk is the highlight of the day! If you can even walk your dog sometimes or go out to the country with someone else who has a dog all this will help.