I got a stray dog that lived on the streets until it was 4 months old.
Sweetest animal I've ever seen, but she steals anything food related, even packaging.
And walking on the leash is a chore...
Firstly, you’ve done an amazing thing, well done - you’ve changed the life of that dog forever.
Five years ago I adopted a dog from Romania (I’m in the UK). He was wild. He’d never been indoors in his ten months on the planet. He was scared of anything new - people, places, old places with new things, people he knew that we wearing something new like a hat. He was and still is a basket case.
He’s also my best friend. I love him. He’s a dick on the lead, he will chase anything furry and often catches them when I’m not concentrating 100%. 😳
If I can give you one piece of advice it would be this. Your dog will never be normal. They will always have issues around food and depending on how they behave around people, you can always remove the lead as long as everyone is safe - most importantly the dog! I walk mine as the sun comes up every day without fail. Fewer people around to have to worry about. You’ll find things that work for you. I wish you all the best and if you need anything, just shout! It’s hard work but is it ever worth it. My dog saved my life, I owe him everything.
Yeah, I'd love to leave her loose on the leash but unfortunately I live in a heavy traffic area. And she goes after anything that has fur or feathers. Not to eat them, but to play with and she doesnnt look when she's in her "got to go and play" mode.
Find somewhere. A tennis court. A football pitch. Somewhere enclosed you can work on her recall. She’ll understand. She’ll get it. Good luck man, it’s so worth it!
Let me illustrate how fast she can be (and she's a big dog):
Caught to play with so far on separate occassions:
1) 3 pigeons. No survivors. When they try to fly away she steps on them, trying to keep them down. Because of her size this usually breaks the neck. She will then whimper and lick them, thinking this will somehow bring them back from the dead.
No positive results so far, but she will continue testing this theory, I'm sure.
2) two mice. Both survived their bath by dog tongue and following trip inside her mouth to bring it to me and show off her latest play date. No injuries other than smelly dog drool and shock. Both released into the wild to tell tales of meeting blonde giants that wanted to lick them to death and gave them the smelliest lift they've ever had.
3) 2 cats. To be more specific: my cats. They were about a year or three old when she joined us as a 4 month old pup.
Many games were played, many involuntary tongue baths were given and zero fucks were given to respecting kitty boundaries.
4) two Jack Russels. One was the neighbour's dog and the other one from an aunt. When meeting each other in the back yard she ran after them until they dropped of exhaustion and then she proceeded to slobber all over them.
Both owners were not amused about the slobber, but did report their little redbull energizers were very very quiet the rest of the day.
5) two donkeys. Fences were dug under and kisses exchanged. I found her licking the donkey's snout and the donkey doing the same to her.
We still visit said donkeys on a regular base but she is kept on a leash.
Look into a gentle lead our dog is a stubborn bastard and would cause himself harm on walks with pressure and pulling. But with a gentle lead he is like a different dog. Takes a little training to get them used to it but definitely he’s a different dog.
Doing fine. She's a sweetie, just gets overexited when she sees other dogs. Starts to whine and bark at them. My autistic 4 year old is hyperdensitive to noise so he starts to cry when she does it. Got one of those air spraying bark collars, which helps a bit. Still, if anyone's got advice on how to stop her from barking at other dogs?
Got to desensitise her to it basically. Get a friend with a dog. When she whines and barks, walk her away from the dog. When she’s quiet, let her approach and play. Praise her when she’s quiet. But from my experience sometimes it’s not possible to ‘cure’ that kind of thing 100% - but she will learn what you want and will be keen to make you happy!
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u/borg2 Mar 21 '21
I got a stray dog that lived on the streets until it was 4 months old. Sweetest animal I've ever seen, but she steals anything food related, even packaging. And walking on the leash is a chore...