This is the story of a dog that came from a cruel background—from treatment that caused extreme fear —beyond what most of us will ever witness. But it’s also the story of two people who were determined to make the adoption of this extremely fearful dog work, especially in regards to integrating him with their resident dog. The fearful dog was seized from dog fighters. Both dogs in this story are pit bull mixes – a breed type that is greatly misunderstood and probably suffers more abuse and neglect in the US than any other breed type. But this couple knew better, and they invested the key ingredients to making any adoption work—patience and time.
If they could successfully integrate a dog with severe behavioral issues (extreme fear to the point of being almost non-functional) with their resident dog (and cats) and help him gain confidence so that he enjoys his life much more, imagine what other adopters of rescue dogs could do if they commit the time and patience needed to integrate their new dog into their family and home.

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Dogs’ tendency to behave like dogs has become frowned upon these days – it is not uncommon that their barking, chewing, chasing, digging, jumping, growling, snarling and biting is labeled “abnormal.” Dogs are suspected to have psychological problems when in fact their only problem is that we routinely assign thoughts and intentions to our dogs which exist in our imagination only. Australian dog Trainer Sylvie Martin of Crosspaws delivers another unflinchingly clear vision of how we humans can greatly increase our own happiness as well as our dogs’ by better understanding and respecting the nature of our furry friends rather than constantly projecting human intentions onto their behaviors, which only leads to conflict and stress for both parties.

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Dog-dog aggression is something many dog owners deal with. Dog trainer and trainer educator, Kristi Benson, has written an eye-opening and extremely informative blog post on how to approach dog-dog aggression, which often depends on the type of aggression. Sometimes, nothing needs to be done. In other contexts, dogs may need training and behavior modification using modern, humane methods. Fear is one common reason for dog-dog aggression, and Kristi explains why using techniques to scare or hurt dogs has no place in the training of dog-aggressive dogs. We have effective, humane methods for modifying dog behavior in the 21st Century. There is no place for yelling, shock collars, prong collars, choke collars, swatting, leash jerks, or collar pops. These outdated aggressive techniques can actually make dog-aggressive dogs more aggressive.

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Adopting? Fostering? A bit of preparation and some changes to your routine and house will set you and your new dog up for success, so you can focus on things that really matter. The things you wanted a dog for in the first place: taking pictures of him looking adorable while he sleeps or chewing on the squeaky squirrel toy, eating popcorn together on the couch watching Netflix, or kicking leaves in the park.

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