Pepper

She is a sweet black lab mix. She is very young (less than a year old when I first met her) and was rescued by my client, Reggie. Reggie is a wonderful & courageous woman who decided to take this dog in, even though she was told Pepper would be a handful.

Boy, they weren't kidding. When I first went to Reggie's for our first meeting, she showed me where Pepper was staying until she could get some control. She had her very own room (it is her den area), a roofed in porch that is connected to the den and a doggy door that led outside to the pool. She completely ruined that side of the house. You would not believe the destruction! Not only that, Pepper was right in the middle of it barking, whining, and jumping uncontrollably. The only way we could interact with her was through the half door between the kitchen and den. Reggie had not been able to go in there because the dog was WAY too strong for her. She showed me her pepper wounds...bloody scabs all the way up both of her arms.

Pepper would grab on to things and not let go at all, once she even tore Reggie’s clothes right off her back. Not surprisingly, she started to be afraid to even interact with Pepper. If you ever want to see what anxiety is, there you go. This is probably the most extreme case I have ever seen. I felt terrible for her, Pepper and for her house. Reggie cried a few times because she felt like a prisoner in her own home. She couldn't ever leave Pepper alone and she couldn't enter that part of the house at all anymore. All the while, she refused to give up on her.

So, I have now dedicated myself to Reggie. She has a really good heart and she really wants to make this work with Pepper. The good thing is that it's only anxiety (just a TON of it), Pepper is not aggressive, the scabs are from jumping and mouthing-there is a difference.

We have had several lessons where we have only concentrated on one command, it’s tedious, but it’s working! I introduced the crate to Reggie for when she can't watch her. This is also so she can use the room again. I instructed her to leash Pepper any time she isn't in the crate. This has calmed her down because she is starting to feel controlled and not so anxietal. We taught her to sit, down and STAY (which is really important).

I go there once every week, and sometimes I will just take the dog myself and give her a good walk to tire her out for Reggie. I have grown close to both of them, and admire Reggie for her courage and dedication. She takes care of her 87 year old mom who is undergoing cancer treatment, so she has a lot going on, I hope I am at least making the dog problem easier on her.

Whenever you have a dog that has a ton of anxiety, you really need to give him direction. Anxiety is like a panic attack of the unknown...they just literally panic for something that isn't happening. Dogs like to feel controlled, it’s true, and they need a leader. Your job IS to be the leader; otherwise, you will have problems like Reggie had.

Tags: anxiety, rescue dog, dog training, leader