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Posted by Michelle
on October 21, 2009, 2:47 am
71.222.2.62
I have a 14month old South African Boerboel, neutered last week. We also have Bella, a 7 1/2yo, spayed, Boxer/Pit mix (she is the alpha in the dog pack), we also have Thor, a neutered 12yo GSD mix. We had Harley, a rottie mix that was put down due to liver cancer about 4 months ago. We also have 3 indoor cats that are declawed. Truman was well socialized as a pup, went to puppy classes, etc. Learned how to come, heal, sit, down and stay. I had some big plans with Truman during the summer with all sorts of training, hiking and basically just wanted to see what he liked best and go from there. Everything changed in March. My husband, Dan, was in a bad car accident that left him with a broken hip, pelvis, arm and shattered elbow. At that time, Thor and Harley went to a friend’s house and Truman and Bella went to a kennel. After 3 weeks of multiple surgeries and rehab, Dan came home in a wheelchair. Thor and Harley came home as well as Bella. Truman was sent to a Board and Train facility on Sauvie Island for 4 weeks. The main reason why, is that we were extremely afraid that Truman, due to his size and strength, could easily harm Dan and that was something we just could not take the chance. Got Truman back and I think the only thing he learned was to wait at the door until he was given the “OK” command to go through and he also learned to return to the owner when a whistle blew. The woman pretty much just reinforced what I had taught him. On the trainer’s recommendation, we had bought an electronic collar.
I should add that at home, Bella is the alpha b###h in which Truman just adores her. She would show her dominance by putting him to the ground, putting her front paws on his back while standing, etc. Thor and Harley were playmates and really couldn’t care less about Truman. Though once in a blue moon, Thor and Harley would put Truman in his place, only if they needed to.
At around 8-9 months, when puberty hit, he started to show some slight signs of dominance towards other male intact dogs. It really wasn’t something I was worried about. I would correct him and make sure he would focus on me instead of the dog. He also started to urinate on Bella when she would squat to either urinate or poop. And the humping, good Lord, the humping. Just continuous humping with Bella and trying to lick her rear. Ugh, just absolutely ridiculous. We would use the e-collar just to get him to stop bugging Bella. Bella would even retreat into Thor’s crate which was highly uncommon. He also started to bug the cats as well. Not chase them but just stick his nose in their face and nudge them around. If he didn’t stop, we would put him in his crate.
During the time that we got Truman back, Dan could not do anything with the dogs. Couldn’t walk them or feed them. Basically, I took over everything. Truman in the meantime, latched himself on me and I just didn’t see the signs.
Truman was shown in conformation through IABCA, in which he has his National and International puppy titles, and was shown in Rarities which he received 2 BIS, 1 RBIS and multiple BOB winners.
At a conformation show in July, Truman showed signs of aggression towards another male Boerboel. Every time Truman saw this dog, even if it was 40 yards away, Truman would hackle and growl. As usual, correction would be given and I would have him focus. In handling class, Truman started to growl regularly at other males. I would stand in front of him with bait and he would calm down and we would just carry on as usual. About 3 months ago, Truman attacked Thor. I basically tackled Truman to the ground to chill him out. Thor got a puncture wound by the eye. Thor never did anything to Truman, he was just standing next to me, and Truman walked up to him, growled and attacked. Dan and I realized that Truman did this because Thor was next to me. I brought Truman to the vet to discuss the issues. Truman even tried to attack a dog at the vet in the lobby. More or less this was a dog/dog aggression issue. Truman never attacked Thor after that and would even get very submissive to Thor. Since that time, Truman has been gradually chasing the cats. He also was itching like a SOB and was given an allergy test about 2 months ago. I found out that he is allergic to:
Chicken, turkey, brewers yeast, carrots, corn, eggs, rice, peas, cotton (not the trees, what we wear), human hair (yes my dog in allergic to me not the other way around) and an assortment of grasses, weeds, trees and fungi.
I switched him to a raw food diet. I should also mention that I have not been able to get Truman to gain any weight. He has stuck around 90-95# which is underweight.
While at a handling class that was outdoors by a dog park, Truman tried to attack a dog through the fence. I would then take Truman with me after class and go by the fence. I would make Truman focus on me and praise with lots of treats, etc. when a dog would approach on the other side of the fence. He was getting really good at focusing on me completely ignoring the dogs. I thought we had a breakthrough! Though there were a couple of times when someone would let their dog off leash out of the car and would approach us with me yelling, “not friendly”. Luckily their dogs would listen.
Last week, my father in law came to visit from Chicago on Saturday. Within 2 hours of being in our house, Truman attacked Thor. It was absolutely horrifying. Truman wanted Thor dead, bottom line. Every time Thor would come near me, Truman would attack him. Did I mention that Thor is 12, going blind, deaf, and just wants to live the rest of his life doing nothing? Which is what I intend for him to do! We would place Truman in his crate so everyone would just chill out and figure out wtf is going on. Dan would take Truman out of the crate to let him outside and he would pull with all his might just to get at Thor. It was absolutely insane. Throughout the night, Truman would jump the gate and would start growling at Thor. On Sunday, Truman attacked Thor again, but this time it was just so unprovoked, and extremely hard to get Truman off of Thor. Dan practically tackled Truman, I got bit in the knee and Dan was actually lying on Truman. Truman was lifting Dan (all 215#) up off the floor to still get at Thor. Poor Thor was literally shaking and just couldn’t understand why this was happening. (Did I also mention that our 3 1/2yo daughter got to witness everything?) Fiona was so distraught, I had to calm her down, Dan’s dad was like… wtf?!?! With all that had happened, we decided that we would put Truman down. I called the vet and he would meet us at 4pm. I couldn’t even go in the house. I couldn’t look at Truman knowing he’d be dead in 4 hours.
Right before we left, Dan and I decided that we would not put him down. We wanted to try and see if we could help Truman and figure out a solution. We went to the vet anyways and told him what we wanted. We put him on Xanax to calm down Truman. Dan’s dad decided to stay at a hotel for the 10 days he was here. We also got him neutered the following Weds. Truman and Thor are not allowed to be out together. Thor is either gated in the bedroom or in his crate while Truman is out. Or Truman is crated while Thor is out. Truman still growls and hackles at Thor. I also caught Truman going after one of our cats on Sunday. Mouth open and all. I was not too happy about that and is quite unacceptable in my book since the cats are declawed. On Monday, I took Truman to Thor’s dermatologist. He tested positive for a staph infection on his back and groin and yeast on his feet, legs and ears. Oh the joy… He is now on Cephalexin and Ketoconazole. Tuesday, I had a blood test done to see if there are any underlying causes and should get the results on Weds. I have been putting Truman on a leash inside the house while Thor is out. I make Truman focus on me, have lots of treats. Though Truman doesn’t seem too interested, he’ll take the treats and will then stare at Thor.
We have found 2 behaviorists that we would like to talk to. It is getting out of hand and is quite emotional for everyone. Thor deserves to live out his life in peace and not to be crated half the time due to Truman’s behavior. All of my dogs have been male up until I met Dan and I have never had dominance issues. Everyone has either been bought or adopted when they were puppies and all of the dogs have been raised the same and have lived a happy life.
Last week, I took Fiona and my Father in law to an IABCA show. I met the most gorgeous male Boerboel there. When I saw and interacted with that dog, that is the dog I expected in my life. I cried knowing that Truman will never ever be like that. I don’t know how long we should try to fix the situation or if it will ever be fixed. I have come to the realization that Truman is a liability. Fiona has never been in close vicinity of when Truman got into his fights and the thought of her getting caught in the middle of it is unimaginable. I am writing this to ask for anyone’s thoughts, opinions, ideas or whatever. I appreciate your time reading this.
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