Our first foster experience with Cassie was sweet, so I petitioned Patty to foster another Recycled Rott. She had a girl named Milkshake with some problems; mostly she had never been required to follow rules. Okay, behavior problems, that’s what I do for a living. I embraced the challenge.
Francine, one of the dedicated Recycled Rott volunteers, dropped Milkshake off at the kennel. A migraine prevented me from meeting Milkshake until the next morning.
The pudgy rottie did the front end bounce while barking like a maniac. Every dog passing her door caused the barking to intensify. She looked at the door to her kennel. She looked at the door to the yard. She ran into me without looking at me. Hmm.
My husband, Kirt, walks with Canadian crutches, canes that wrap around the wrist for stability. They were introduced in the yard, so she had the option to be farther away from him. Woo-woo-woo with a low crouch was her first response. The old pro (my husband) had her butt wagging in no time. She liked us, but never looked directly at us.
Introduction to the blonde boy came next. We took her to the three acre dog park where she began exploring. With this kind of space two dogs came go to neutral corners until they are ready to deal with each other. Milkshake sounded like the hound from hell. Her body slams sent him sailing. He gave her a demonstration of golden speed. Milkshake went into prey drive, but couldn’t catch him. Both dogs stopped near us, so we redirected her attention.
Milkshake wanted to play, but the line was thin between friendly contact and I’ll kick your ass mode. Shaker would race away looking over his shoulder to see if she’d follow. The four year old fat bitch did until exhausted, perfect.
We sat in front of the house petting the dogs. Milkshake fell in love with us quite easily, but still did not look directly at us. I am NOT talking about eye contact. Her low body posture around us quickly changed to jumping up. Milkshake came with two gears: hypercontrolled submissive and out of control happy.
Patty was right; no one had worked with her. When she crossed the annoyance line, corrections were harsh. If you’ve worked with dogs, you’ve seen this behavior.
At this point I had no idea what fun this was going to change. I’ve worked with people, who go home to do the work. I’ve taken in dogs for specific training, but never lived with a bad dog, a four year old crazy bitch to boot.
I want to thank Patty from Recylced Rotts for seeing the good in this girl. Your judgment with her was right on target.
Shaker and Milkshake, what are the chances of that?
"Shaker and Milkshake" sounds like it was meant to be.
ReplyDelete