Remy is sweet boy who is good with children and loves to roll in the grass! While Remy has made great progress in our home, Remy finds it difficult to overcome small environmental changes. For example, when a new dog comes into our home, which occurs often for training or evaluation, Remy will often bite without warning when you try to pet him. Why? Remy had obviously been physically harassed and picked on by another dog over a long period of time. While respectful of my own dogs, he becomes very reactive when new dogs are around. He will often react to our petting with a very hard bite not knowing if our hand is a hand or a dog. His relentless fear of being attacked causes him to bite hard without any warning. Most dogs would growl, then snap then bite, but this hadn’t worked for Remy in the past. So his defense mechanism goes straight to a bite. The fact that Remy can’t hear well makes it more difficult for him to relax. Placing Remy in a quiet home with no other dogs and an experienced dog handler will be challenging. Remember, Remy has severe food guarding issues as well, so you must keep your hands clear of his food bowl at all times whether another dog is around or not. Remy has learned to take a treat out of your hand with no problems. Remy is not a bad dog, but he does have fearful habits due to years of abuse.

What can we learn from Remy? If you live in a house hold with more than one dog, please do not allow one dog to physically bully the others. While the dogs can and will determine who is the alpha dog, it is your job to remind each one that YOU are in charge and to protect the weaker ones. Simply make your dogs learn that wonderful things happen when we are all together! I always make sure my dogs have a positive association to each other! I want my dogs to say “Wow, when ever Annie and I are together, Mom gives us treats and affection!” rather than “every time Annie comes near me I get in trouble, therefore I have a negative association to Annie.

Judy