Let's return, for a moment, to this image:
It is inaccurate to say that Tucker enjoys the thought of eating people. In public places, he is actually very receptive to human contact. However, he feels extremely threatened by other dogs and does not understand how to play with them properly. He also lashes out at other dogs without a warning growl when he finds them to be too intrusive. This has led to many scary moments, a few nasty gashes in the faces of other dogs who didn't back off, and a $400 trip to the emergency room when I tried to break up a fight between him and another dog.
Today I watched a black lab play bow to a Weimaraner just before the two began to wrestle. Tucker was lying down near where I sat and also watched this exchange. He started to get up, butt-first, as if he would bow. Then he screamed bloody murder, ran to my side, and dropped his frisbee at my feet. This is not an isolated occurrence. Watching other dogs play together actually seems to upset him, and he becomes visibly uncomfortable when another dog comes near him.
Maybe he has impaired mirror neuron function. I don't know. I definitely think he has autism.
There was another dog at the park today whose demeanor is very similar to Tucker's. His name is Solomon, and he was adopted from the Humane Society where I worked this summer. He was my favorite dog in the facility during his time there, and after I took a moment to say hello to him, I wanted very desperately for he and Tucker to play together at the park. But no. They ignored each other completely, and that was the best I could have hoped for.
I don't know how to help Tucker. I don't know if he can be helped. I am reluctant to take him to the dog park even more often in the hopes of socializing him - every time we go, people and dogs want to meet him because he is beautiful and has mad frisbee skills, and it makes me nervous. The days when I took a book to the dog park with me ended when Tucker stopped being tiny and afraid of everything and began to be gigantic and unpredictable.
I have been considering putting him in a program for working dogs all year - he is fiercely loyal, affectionate, hard-working, and intelligent. I've been thinking much harder about it since that ill-fated night when I ended up in the emergency room. If anyone has any thoughts on how I should proceed, please share them in the comments. I welcome any input on how to improve this situation. Ugh.
This may sound crazy. It may be crazy. But it's a thought: doggy daycare.
ReplyDeleteYou know how Janey was all food aggressive and toy aggressive? That's mostly stopped since she started going to doggy daycare. She acted that way around Sara and I, in part, because we expected her to. Throwing her into an entirely new situation... definitely NOT her territory, filled with other dogs and their smells, a bunch of trained professionals keeping things under control, and without mom and dad around?
Yeah, she turned into the biggest scaredy-cat I've ever seen. The first several weeks, she would flee from the little dogs, sit in the corner and tremble. Other dogs - all of them fairly well socialized - interacted her in a safe, pack-like environment and brought her out of her shell. And by that I mean that Janey started acting like a dog, and stopped acting like a neurotic human.
It's still a problem occasionally at the dog park, but overall I would say her behavior has changed profoundly. Unfortunately, most dog daycare places don't accept dogs who have problems with other dogs. Killer caveat.
I'd have to agree and pull the Cesar idea that pack socialization might help Tucker. He's a working breed and probably doesn't know what to do with himself since he really doesn't know how to do that. I think giving him a 'job' or something productive to his dog mind could do wonders.
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