for me personally as I get to meet Doby again after quite a while. It was an early morning meeting with him, amidst some tension and fear from the family as there had been unfortunate instances of biting before and recently as it seemed that Doby's temperament was a bit unpredictable.
So naturally, the family was concerned about us handling him as they had our welfare in mind, having suffered some bites from their very own pet of about 4 years.
The Doby I met today was young, vivacious, alert, full of energy. Raring to go.
The family's fear rubbed off a teeny bit on me as I find myself being more cautious in the beginning with him. However, after a few minutes of fast walk, with him pulling (more out of eagerness than lack of manners), and asking him to wait if he pulled too strongly, praising him when he walked well - he was looking just like any other perfectly normal, young local dog. It is a pretty normal case of pent-up energy with other social misinterpretations that sort of relegated him as being an 'aggressive dog'. From my time with him today, I would not agree. Though I would not invalidate the caregivers' feedback and shared observations about Doby, as they had firsthand experiences of his seeming unpredictability and have been putting in effort for the past years in having him go for obedience training and adjusting their lifestyle to try and fit him into their family structure.
Doby was eager on his walk. His pulling and lunging at other dogs and edginess at the vet clinic I can understand. He was good in the car, alertly scrutinizing the moving scenes and lying down when he was tired. At one time, on his way back home, he was getting more comfortable with me to lie close with his body against my leg. Earlier on, he would keep his distance.
Did a blood test on him to rule out possibility of hyperthyroidism (where dogs may show signs of hyperactivity, nervousness, irritability), as advised by A, which is not that common as also he doesn't display other symptoms related to that condition but we got him the blood test to completely rule that out for peace of mind, and a confirmation that it is simply a case of lack of walks, social activities and pent-up energy. Also had his vax up to date. We'll get the blood test results on Monday.
Meanwhile, as his current caregiver cannot handle him anymore due to family commitments and a general sense of fear in the family that does not work out well both ways for humans and dog and a young baby, it is best for both parties that we find a new foster/home for Doby as soon as possible.
He is a good, loyal boy who simply needs a family who's familiar with local breeds/big dogs and is able to give him long walks everyday and lots of social interaction to boost his confidence and downplay his over-eager lunge-greetings to other animals,. A family who is calm and assertive to show him that his human is his pack leader, and he can trust his pack leader's steadiness and calm regularity. A family who is gentle and patient to give him time to relearn his place in his pack and be reassured that he does not need to be on high alert all the times, that he can relax and be a happy family friend.
In my personal opinion, Doby will offer his new family many good memories of the simple, honest, steadfast human-dog relationship.
Email us at projectjkteam@yahoo.com.sg for more info. Thank you.
So naturally, the family was concerned about us handling him as they had our welfare in mind, having suffered some bites from their very own pet of about 4 years.
The Doby I met today was young, vivacious, alert, full of energy. Raring to go.
The family's fear rubbed off a teeny bit on me as I find myself being more cautious in the beginning with him. However, after a few minutes of fast walk, with him pulling (more out of eagerness than lack of manners), and asking him to wait if he pulled too strongly, praising him when he walked well - he was looking just like any other perfectly normal, young local dog. It is a pretty normal case of pent-up energy with other social misinterpretations that sort of relegated him as being an 'aggressive dog'. From my time with him today, I would not agree. Though I would not invalidate the caregivers' feedback and shared observations about Doby, as they had firsthand experiences of his seeming unpredictability and have been putting in effort for the past years in having him go for obedience training and adjusting their lifestyle to try and fit him into their family structure.
Doby was eager on his walk. His pulling and lunging at other dogs and edginess at the vet clinic I can understand. He was good in the car, alertly scrutinizing the moving scenes and lying down when he was tired. At one time, on his way back home, he was getting more comfortable with me to lie close with his body against my leg. Earlier on, he would keep his distance.
Did a blood test on him to rule out possibility of hyperthyroidism (where dogs may show signs of hyperactivity, nervousness, irritability), as advised by A, which is not that common as also he doesn't display other symptoms related to that condition but we got him the blood test to completely rule that out for peace of mind, and a confirmation that it is simply a case of lack of walks, social activities and pent-up energy. Also had his vax up to date. We'll get the blood test results on Monday.
Meanwhile, as his current caregiver cannot handle him anymore due to family commitments and a general sense of fear in the family that does not work out well both ways for humans and dog and a young baby, it is best for both parties that we find a new foster/home for Doby as soon as possible.
He is a good, loyal boy who simply needs a family who's familiar with local breeds/big dogs and is able to give him long walks everyday and lots of social interaction to boost his confidence and downplay his over-eager lunge-greetings to other animals,. A family who is calm and assertive to show him that his human is his pack leader, and he can trust his pack leader's steadiness and calm regularity. A family who is gentle and patient to give him time to relearn his place in his pack and be reassured that he does not need to be on high alert all the times, that he can relax and be a happy family friend.
In my personal opinion, Doby will offer his new family many good memories of the simple, honest, steadfast human-dog relationship.
Email us at projectjkteam@yahoo.com.sg for more info. Thank you.
1 comment:
Negative for thyroid test. It's more of a socialisation issue for Doby -- than health! =)
Thank goodness.
KZ
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