Life with a dog with behavioural issues: Chace's story

I know there are a million blog posts about reactive dogs. About how hard it is, and how it makes things that people with non-reactive dogs take for granted sometimes impossible. 

I know that until you really have a reactive dog you really won't ever understand this. I know because that was me. 

Here's Chace's (and my) story. 

Brody with one of our National Paws 'N Music ribbons

Looking back now I shudder to think how many dogs my first lovely boy Brody caused stress and reactivity. He was an amazing boy, but somewhat socially awkward with dogs. He didn't really understand other dogs, and didn't really care! I often describe him as autistic - unaware of 'appropriate' dog social interaction, or the emotions of other dogs. At the beach, he would run away from our pack of dogs (when walking with dog training buddies) by himself in the other direction. He would rarely choose to interact with other dogs. He didn't really notice other dogs. One time at club we were playing around with a group and throwing his favorite toy. An older dog thought he got too close running towards his toy, and bit Brody's ear. Brody didn't even notice - got his toy, and ran back to me with blood running down his face. The odd time he did look at another dog it was like 'what is he doing?' even if that dog was giving him all the "F*** off' signals. He had absolutely no issues with any dog, person, or other things in his life. Everything was good, and he was happy in literally every situation

Chace is the top left pup

After a few years competing I decided that I needed a dog more physically suited for agility. Brody did agility for me, but only because I asked him to. Really his forte was tricks, and the work he did at school with me with my students. I ended up at a relatively close breeder of border collies looking at a beautiful litter of chocolate and chocolate merle border collies. An obedience friend visited with me, and after two visits I picked Chace.

I started my plan of basic puppy training for a performance dog, and socialization. I was really excited to start Chace off on the best possible track heading towards agility competition. A few short months after taking Chace home we did our first of many big road trips. We traveled with friends to the South Island, stayed at my parents for a while, and then I traveled with a different friend to the Wanaka Holiday Agility show. Whilst Chace was great at this stage with my friend's dogs, the agility show was really the first instance where warning bells started to ring. She had multiple incidences of showing discomfort meeting new dogs, and growled and snapped a few times. 

Kaia, Karisma, Chace and Brody in the South Island.

In the months following Chace's inability to handle close proximity to other dogs increased. Unfortunately as did her general anxiety, particularly in situations where a relatively novice trainer was trying to teach her foundation agility and obedience skills. Her resource guarding also increased over this period. Whilst she was always pretty good with my Brody, she started to guard food against him.

After 12 months her dog reactivity was at a point where I couldn't have her within a few meters of really any dog, other than Brody and the few dogs that we traveled with on that early South Island road trip. Unfortunately at this point as her agility training increased, so did her anxiety related to training and agility. She really struggled in any situation at all where she was 'wrong'. Because I was pretty new to agility, unfortunately, this happened often. I remember spending a good few months traveling a two-hour drive each way to an agility instructor and spending most of an hours lesson walk around a paddock trying to get close enough to grab her collar as she trotted away from me sniffing. Obviously, this was also super stressful for me, as well as her! This was my young agility prospect, and I felt like I couldn't teach her any 'difficult' skills like weave poles.

Despite these struggles and a few tears we started competing. Rally-O, and then agility. Competitions were incredibly stressful for me because I was constantly worrying about Chace, her reactions, and the space and dog's around her. I stopped competing in Rally-o shortly after Chace gaining her first few titles because it got to the point where I had to carry her into the building to get her past the dogs to get to the ring. It just wasn't fair on her. This was also when the questions about 'what happened to her'. People assumed she had had a huge traumatic event as a young dog. They really didn't understand my response of 'This is just what she's like, she's really scared of all dogs. '

During this time we were also working through general life (but unexpected) issues. Like head halter training, walking her at 10pm at night to avoid any dogs, and we started hunting for places where there were no other dogs for longer off lead walks. These are REALLY hard to find on the North Shore of Auckland. We continued to work through resource guarding and kept working on having her able to deal with being with a few selected dogs in closer proximity.

Chace was competing in agility, but we rapidly lost startlines (because there are a lot of dogs near the start line! That's pretty scary). She had some success, but lot's of stress also. We started some flygility training because she loved tennis balls. She picked up fly pretty quickly, and I started entering her in shows. Again this was extremely scary - she had to race another dog in another lane. I remember our first race, I had about 10 people lining her lane to ensure she couldn't leave, and the dog we were racing couldn't enter her lane.  I also moved her through spaces in shows with a head halter, and a 'Give me space'labeled vest.

After a few years of competition Chace progressed through the agility classes, and made up to flygility champion. This was a huge achievement for us both. Shortly after this we stopped fly training and competition because I had issues with the safety of the New Zealand fly boxes. Around this time we also changed agility handling systems to the Shape Up system. I think this was a huge point for us to reduce Chace's agility related stress. This system was clearer to Chace, and helped her confidence and speed.

Chace at a NZDAC prizegiving 

At this point in her life my friend Emily and I had worked pretty hard to get Chace comfortable with Emily's two dogs Pepper and Folly. This meant that Chace now had a total of five dogs she could be on an off lead walk with, or in a room with. It was also a huge comfort for me because at this point I didn't feel like there was anyone else that could look after Chace. Mostly because my awesome agility friends all had dog's that Chace couldn't be in a room with. 

I also managed (another HUGE accomplishment for us!) to make up Chace to Agility Champion. I still to this day am just so proud that despite her issues she is made up to be a double champion.

The day Chace was made up to Agility Champion (and the resulting wetting!)

Not long after this, after a snap decision, I welcomed Deo to our little family. Deo was a small fox terrier cross, and in all honesty, the dog that Chace accepted, possibly even liked, the fastest. Yes the initial process on getting Deo settled in was tough. It involved well-planned meetings on neutral space, Deo on a lead and measured supervisions. There were crates, puppy pen, and barriers all around the house and the outside area had been deliberately fenced to have three separate areas so that Chace could be separated if needed. Apart from a few food guarding incidences Chace and Deo have rarely had any tense or snappy interactions. Deo was also the first dog that Chace actually played with. She played nicely with toys with him, even rolling on her back and letting him climb on her. 

Around this time I also really started getting hooked into canine fitness work. I started this because some of the tricks we had trained for Paws N Music, along with the physical strain of agility, meant that both Chace and Brody were seeing a chiropractor pretty regularly. We figured out that some of the tricks I had taught had impacted my dog's bodies. I started the fitness training to help with this, and teach the tricks in a safer way. What I didn't consider was the huge impact on Chace's physical and mental health. She didn't get as many off lead walks as I would like, as it was hard to find safe places for her to do this. Also the fitness work was super high in reinforcement, and really hard for her to do wrong in! To this day it's still one of her favorite things in the world to do. 

My Brody was chronically unwell. He had severe allergies, was epileptic, had a pneumothorax surgically repaired, and then got prostate cancer. Chace found Brody's death hard. This surprised me, because she never really liked him that much, and didn't really interact with him very much. Looking back now I know that as with most anxious individuals the change, along with me being emotional, was hard for her. 

Later Evo arrived on the scene. Evo took substantially longer for Chace to be ok with. It took three months for her to try to play with him, and around 6 months before I felt comfortable with them loose in a shared space. Evo is a very sensitive boy, and in all honesty my best dog in terms of being aware of, and reading other dogs. To this day he is very hyper-aware of Chace, and her mood. He often avoids eye gaze with her, and at times will not walk past her if space is tight. I wouldn't say that Chace likes him, but she tolerates him, and occasionally will attempt to play with him. 

Last year I got a kitten to help with the bird issue on my property. Chace was SO scared of Ammie, that she shook and wouldn't take food. I used a separate room with baby gates to keep Ammie separate from Chace, it took about 6 months for Chace to be able to function appropriately with Ammie in a room. She still struggles if Ammie strolls into our training shed while she's working for treats. 

More recently I decided to try behavioral medication. The decision to try this was because of Sarah Stremming, and her work. To say that Sarah's work has influenced me is an understatement - it has changed me as a trainer and dog owner. I wish I had tried the medication years ago. Her everyday stress and anxiety levels are just that bit lower. She's more relaxed around home, and sleeping better. She's actually sleeping on average two hours more a day! She was getting up at night and pacing. She's also better able to deal with other dog's on my property. She's still very dog reactive, but now her everyday anxiety levels are consistently lower. 

So now at seven and a half she's still competing in agility (she actually got a challenge at last weekends agility show!) but this year I'm starting her retirement process. I have already started reducing the number of show's she is entered in, and for the last two years, I have reduced the events that she is entered in at each show. She's the fittest physically (and mentally) that she has ever been, but the reality is that I want her to compete, if it was up to her I'm sure she wouldn't choose to do so because it's scary with the dogs. So we have a plan of other sports to continue to train and potentially compete in, but we are choosing things we can do away from other dogs. 

So that's kind of our story. 

Here's the extra tough stuff, the details of what life is like. 

• Chace has many everyday things that make her anxious. To the point where normal functioning is not possible. These include slippery floors, being high up with glass to the floor, shaking a plastic bag near her, and motorbikes. 
• Chace is extremely scared of farm animals. Chickens, sheep, cows, pigs. She screams, shakes, reacts, and won't even take food in close proximity. 
• Chace cant be in most public place's where there are dogs. Because the reality is that most people cant recall their dogs. Chace will react to 100% of new dogs that come into her space. She gives all the 'go away' signs in the world, but these can be in rapid succession (like seconds). If the dog keeps coming towards her, particularly with eye contact, she will growl and lunge towards the dog, and attempt to bite. When she get's into this state she's too scared and emotion filled to turn her head away from the dog. This means that I honestly don't walk her in public as much as I would like. She doesn't get street walks. She doesn't come to the beach on the weekend with the other dogs. Instead, we drive trying to find places with no other dogs. She's muzzle trained and now wears a muzzle if I'm not sure if we might encounter other dogs unexpectantly. 
• Chace still resources guards against most other animals. This means that I have to watch her around every dog (I'm even careful with Deo and Evo still), cats, farm animals. She will snap and lunge to keep her treats to herself. 
• When any dog's visit the property Chace has to be physically separated from them. We have three separate yard areas (two large fenced areas, and four separately fenced kennels and runs), and multiple gates in the house. 
• At agility shows, I try to reduce her interaction with any dogs as much as possible. This means I consciously choose to reduce her opportunity to sniff around the ring and acclimatize to the environment. It also means that our warm-up opportunities are reduced. I often cannot get near the equipment in warm-up areas due to the number (or control of) the dogs in that space. 
• In agility every dog within close proximity or dog that catches Chace eye gaze adds a step to her stress levels. Once she reaches her maximum she cannot function. This means I'm trying hard to avoid getting in close proximity to any dog, or any dog looking at her. This makes moving her towards a ring very stressful for me, and logistically difficult. I generally check her in, tell the call steward that she needs space from dogs, and where I will be standing. I always have to take the long route around the rings to get to the ring. Then I usually have to stand really far away, and run in from a different direction. I have to tell the person after me to hold off starting. 
• I've had multiple incidents with people (despite them knowing me and Chace, or even me talking to them before the ring) standing with dogs on the startline when it's our turn, or hanging out gossiping to another person, with their dog. On our treats and lead. I've had to yell at Chace to pull her back, and ask the person to move. It just makes me so sad because it's just not fair on her! What people don't realise is that this one little thing will not only blow our run, but sometimes the whole day or weekend. 
• I try really hard to make a point of chatting to anyone I don't recognise, if they are standing in close proximity to where I have to move Chace through. I do this for THEIR dog's sake, because it's not their dog's fault Chace cant handle this. However, the looks of disgust and annoyance I get from some people can be soul destroying. I know they just don't understand (because look at her she 'looks fine'), but it feels like crap. 
• Because of the associated dog stress at agility competitions, Chace has never once gone at full speed in the ring. Every small stress episode exhibits as stress in the ring, as slowing down, sniffing, taking off course obstacles, or stopping on obstacles. It's very frustrating that Chace has never once competed at the speed of which she is capable. 
• At home I'm constantly keeping half an eye on her. When people visit (in case she decides to resource guard the person against the other dogs). When she's grumpy and Deo or Evo accidentally step on her. When she decides to sleep in my room instead of the couch, where the boys sleep. Because her default is to react. 

Why? 

The reality is that Chace had NO negative interactions with dog's through her first year of life, other than those where she reacted towards another dog. She didn't have any dog's attack her or another hugely traumatic event. She was socialized much better than Brody ever was, and to the best of my knowledge at that time. I didn't use punishment (best that I was aware of!) in training.  

Having met two littermates of Chace, I believe that the females in this litter were all very anxious. One was also dog reactive and described as being very timid in training. She was intended to be a competitive obedience dog, but never ended up being able to compete. Another female littermate was owned by a person working for a local hydrotherapist, and at three had never had a bath due to high anxiety around water. The one male puppy in the litter competes in agility, and is not dog reactive, and does not seem highly anxious. 

The reading and research I have found seem's to suggest that genetically inherited anxiety often becomes very evident as dogs become physically mature. I know that Chace's anxiety and reactivity become most evident between 9-12 months. 

So given what I know now, would I still have taken Chace? 

Of course, I would never trade in Chace for anything. She is an amazing girl who has taught me so much as a trainer. I adore her cute head tilts, perfectly folded ears, and ability to pose for photos. She's amazing working for the kids at school (even when she escapes to eat the food crumbs on the ground), a spectacular consistent demo dog, and a beautiful performer. She adores 'her people' and squeals in happiness when she see's them. She's smart, forgiving when shaping new behaviors, and does the cutest wee growl when she's happy. 

However I now take a much bigger interest in the behavioral traits, and temperament of lines of dog's I am considering a pup from. For me it's as important as structure, and more important than the competitive success of a line, looks, and 'drive'. 

I've become a better trainer, a better observer of behavior. I've started to learn about consent in dog training, and cooperative care.  Whilst Chace is hard work, I will forever be thankful for her gift. And also that she ended up with me, and not someone else who may not have been prepared to do what she needed. 

FG CH AG CH WEYAHEAD CHACE 'N' CHOCOLATE ADXG JDX JAX SNX RN

National agility and Paws N Music place getter

Expert Trick Dog

Superstar