Buddy’s Rehab 1 - How did I end up with Buddy?
- BuddysDream1@gmail.com
- Jun 26, 2022
- 9 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
A question people often ask is how I ended up with Buddy. So this seems to be a good place to start as I begin writing the rehab portion of his story…
During the Covid lockdown, when the dog “orphanages” were overcrowded, and I was stuck at home, I thought I would do something positive and offer to help. The orphanage had a dog who just was not doing well in the orphanage environment; they said he had a rough beginning and was fearful and had anxiety as a result. They had tried to place him but things didn’t work out because of the dogs fears. Being in the orphanage only intensified his fears (all the noise and commotion was just too much for the dog) so they said he just needed a quiet place where he could decompress and then they would be better able to adopt him out.
Since I had studied canine behavior as a hobby for over 20 years, and I had rehabilitated fearful dogs before, I said I would be willing to let the dog stay at my house for up to 2 months, and that I would work with him to help desensitize him to the things he feared. We had a very detailed discussion about the dogs behavior, and to summarize, I was told he was a level 1 biter (this means air snapping – no contact made – I will attach a bite scale at the end of this post), that he was toy guarding, and guarding his previous owner. I told them I would only work with level 1, that I had no experience with level 2 and above, and I stressed the importance of them telling me if there were any level 2 or higher bites - they said there weren’t. I told them I could help with the toy guarding, but they had to handle the people guarding; they said they would come to my house and work with him on the people guarding. I also stressed that I only had 2 months to donate, as I had to go back to work after that, which would mean I would be traveling. I made it CLEAR that I had no intention of adopting the dog; they understood and agreed to resume responsibility for the dog after that, but felt they would have him adopted out by then as they were actively searching for an appropriate home for him, so it wouldn’t be a problem.
I went to the orphanage to meet Buddy. He was very skittish, as I expected. I ignored him and waited for him to approach me. There was a worker in the room who had been taking care of him during his time at the orphanage, feeding and giving his medications, and he did go to her for pets, so that was a good sign that he had the ability to get comfortable with people after getting to know them. It took him quite a while to come to me, and when he finally did, he only stayed for a second and then ran away (he was afraid but was choosing flight instead of fight, so that was a good sign). He also wouldn’t take any treats from me (signs of fear and being “over threshold” – I’ll explain this in a future post). After a while I took him for a walk so that he could get to know me one on one. He seemed to enjoy the walks, but it was obvious he was not comfortable with me and he was very nervous. I visited the orphanage several times over the next week to take him for walks to allow him to get used to me a bit. My observation of him was that he was very afraid, but he was getting used to knowing that seeing me meant that he got to get away from the noise of the kennels and go on a walk.
The next thing I am going to tell you I did I DO NOT recommend you do unless you have extensively studied canine behavior and know how to read canine body language.
I needed to learn more about Buddy than I could learn from a walk, so I asked if I could sit in his kennel with him. When I got to his kennel, he was shivering and pacing back and forth. They told me that was what he did all day long. I sat on the floor outside the kennel for a while facing away from him and let him get used to me for a bit. When he seemed like he had calmed down a bit, I entered the kennel, sat on the floor in the corner, and made sure that for most of the time I was looking down. I needed to be completely non-threatening to the dog. I was very careful not to look directly at Buddy (although I was paying attention to his body language from the corner of my eye to ensure I was safe). I just sat there for 2 hours and waited for him to come to me. For a long time he was pacing, and when he would stop he kept his back to me – which told me he was uncomfortable with me being there, but he never got aggressive with me, which was a good sign. So I just continued to sit there, ignoring him, and after about an hour and a half he came up to me. Eventually, he let me pet his back and he seemed to like it. When I stopped petting, he actually asked for more petting. This was a very good sign. It didn’t mean we were best friends, far from it, but it told me he was capable of, and actually wanted, to be able to interact with people and trust. He was just too afraid to know who he could trust.
Based on this, and my discussions with the orphanage, I agreed to take Buddy home for up to 2 months. Our agreement was that I would give him a quiet place to relax and decompress, work on desensitizing him to his fears, work on correcting the toy guarding, and the orphanage would come to my house to work on the people guarding. The orphanage said they had a lot of inquiries for Buddy from potential adopters, so they would find an appropriate home for him and I would help with the transition from my home to the new adopters to make it as easy as possible for Buddy. I also offered to make rehab videos to give to the adopters, this would allow them to see the rehab exercises I had done with Buddy so they could continue Buddy’s rehab. I also offered to be available to the adopters to answer any questions and give them the help they needed after the adoption to ensure it was successful. This was the plan and agreement.
The orphanage agreed to this and told me they would contact me when it was time for me to pick Buddy up and bring him to my house.
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The Bite Scale
This is Dr. Ian Dunbar's bite scale. Dr. Dunbar is someone everyone who has a dog should get to know. He is THE leading authority on dog behavior and training. I recommend EVERYONE who has a dog visit the Dunbar Academy and take advantage of all the FREE information Dr. Dunbar has provided.
And for everyone in a profession that services dogs (dog trainers, "orphanages" that house and adopt out dogs, breeders, vets, vet technicians, groomers, etc.) you should be taking EVERY course Dr. Dunbar has to offer. You owe it to the dogs and owners to be properly educated in canine behavior and training. By virtue of what you do for a living, the public assumes you are knowledgeable in canine behavior, so you need to make sure you actually are! I have seen too many people in dog related professions mishandling dogs, thereby causing and escalating behavior problems. With great reach comes great responsibility.
You can access the Dunbar Academy here:
I have copied this directly from Dr. Dunbar's published scale...
"The Bite Scale - An Objective Assessment of the Severity of Dog Bites Based on Evaluation of Wound Pathology
This classification is intended for wounds inflicted on a person by a dog, not for wounds inflicted on one dog by another dog. Measurements are based on direct skin contact by the dog’s teeth. Bites that tear or puncture clothing or footwear should be considered as severe as those causing comparable damage to skin.
Level 1: Fearful, aggressive, or out-of-control behavior but no skin-contact by teeth.
Level 2: Skin-contact by teeth but no skin-puncture.
However, there may be skin nicks (less than one tenth of an inch deep) and slight bleeding caused by lateral movement of teeth against skin.
Level 3: One to four punctures from a single bite with no puncture deeper than half the length of the dog’s canine teeth. May have slight bruising or lacerations in a single direction, often caused by victim pulling hand away, owner pulling dog away, or gravity (little dog jumps, bites and drops to floor). Level 3b. Multiple Level 3a. bites.
Level 4: One to four punctures from a single bite with at least one puncture deeper than half the length of the dog’s canine teeth and considerable bruising around the wound (dog held on for a number of seconds and bore down), or lacerations in both directions (dog held on and shook its head from side to side).
Level 5: Multiple-bite incident with at least two Level 4 bites or multiple-attack incident with at least one Level 4 bite in each.
Level 6: Victim dead.
A dog’s previous behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. Dogs that have inflicted a serious bite may do so again and should be managed accordingly. Fortunately, Levels 1 and 2 comprise well over 99% of “dog bite” incidents. These dogs are unlikely to cause serious injury in the future and are wonderful candidates for immediate rehabilitation so they can learn to feel more comfortable around people.
The above list concerns unpleasant behavior and so, to add perspective:
Bite Scale Perspective:
Dogs can be dangerous. Dogs can and do kill people. However, it is exceedingly rare.
Dr. Ian Dunbar developed the Bite Scale to objectively assess the severity of dog bites. In doing so, he learned that it is very rare for a dog to bite a person hard enough to cause a serious injury. When Dr. Dunbar looked at the data collected by hospitals while treating “dog bite” incidents, he found that 92.4% of so-called “bites” were rated with an ISS (Injury Severity Score) of 0, while 7.5% were rated ISS=1, and less than 1% were ISS 2 or greater. At the time, the ISS was a scale from 0-16, with ISS 0 = No injury, 1-3 Minor injury, 4-7 = Moderate, 8-15= Serious, and 16 = Severe to Critical.
Levels 1 and 2 comprise well over 99% of dog incidents. These dog are not dangerous and are unlikely to cause a serious biting injury. Howeve, they are probably fearful, rambunctious, and/or out of control. Quickly resolve the problem with basic training, Classical Conditioning, progressive desensitization, handling and bite-inhibition exercises. Wonderful prognosis.
Level 3: These dogs probably have bite inhibition and are a little dangerous. Without treatment, other Level 3 bites will likely follow with a slow, albeit progressive, increase in severity, especially if the dog is stressed, frightened, cornered or manhandled etc. Employ the same treatment protocols as above, with additional attention to safety. Rigorous bite-inhibition exercises are essential. Treatment is both time-consuming and not without danger. Prognosis is fair to good, if you have owner compliance.
Level 4: These dogs have insufficient bite inhibition and are dangerous. The dog is a Level 4 biter and is likely to inflict an equivalent amount of damage WHEN it bites again. I recommend that the dog is confined indoors and never taken onto public property. The dog is extremely reactive and stressed around (some) people and so walks would probably not be much fun for the dog anyway. This dog should not remain in a home with children. Confining the dog to a fenced yard is not safe; the dog may not be able to get out but people (children) may be able to get in. Only work with the dog in exceptional circumstances with 100% owner compliance and a detailed management protocol that will ensure the dog will not injure anyone except the dog’s adult owners. Unfortunately, owner compliance is uncommon and teaching bite inhibition to an adult hard-biting dog is difficult and dangerous. The prognosis is poor.
Levels 5 and 6: The dog is extremely dangerous and mutilates. The dog is simply not safe around people. Euthanasia should be considered. It is very challenging to find a home for a dog that has maimed or killed a person and even then, these dogs will be required to live a solitary and confined life to ensure that they do not harm anyone else. The prognosis is dire."
Note: I only copied the portion that discusses bites to people, Dr. Dunbar also discusses dog to dog bites in his bite scale.
If you would like to get a FREE one month trial to Dr. Dunbar's "Top Dog Academy", click the button below and you will have access to ALL the courses and materials for FREE for one month, after which you can choose to cancel, or continue your subscription for only $20/month. Dr. Dunbar has also generously offered to donate half of what you might spend to help pay Buddy's rehabilitation costs.
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