Far too many times when people contact me, they are looking for a quick fix. Often times they know that there is an issue, even a large one. They know they have work to do. They start with the best of intentions but the long term follow through can be lacking. Commonly people start well, change begins but then they relax and regression occurs. Serious behavior modification takes time and work. Quick fixes rarely occur. To use a runnng analogy, true behavior modification is not a 50 yard sprint, it is a marathon. You will experience highs and lows. It will test your patience and metal. There will be many times you think it would be easier to just give up. A lot do. However, slow and steady, sticking to a well laid plan will get you where you want to be.
When I am asked to deal with clients like Melissa, I try to express to them the importance of this concept. When the client understands and follows through, beautiful things occur.
When I first met Butters, she was a mess. Melissa had consulted wtih other trainers, had some plans to try to address the behaviour but the plans were disjointed. Butters was also taking some pretty high doses of medication and she was not getting any better.
We sat down and developed a plan which focused on counterconditioning and desensitization. I also recommended she discuss the medicatoin with her vet and between the three of us, look at the options. Between the private work, class, and the walks, I felt we could make progress. Thankfully Melissa was in this for the long haul.
She started the group walks, not without challenge, enrolled in class and continued with the plan. Butters has made huge progress. She has made friends with dogs and humans. She can be handled by myself and the members of the training team. She is learning other coping strategies. Rather than lunging at dogs and humans every time they pass, she now often tucks in with other people and their dogs. Her confidence is starting to really grow. We have reduced the levels of her medication in consultation with her veterinarian and plan a further reduction as more change occurs. We are now four months into the plan and we are both looking to the next six months and then the following six.
Here is their story from Melissa
Where to begin…
Lets start with the fact that I am in disbelief that I am actually writing a success story about my Butterscotch!
After a very intense couple of years with medical issues surrounding my mom I asked if we could get another dog and of course at first she said no. We already had our now 15 year old poodle terrier named Biscuit and we were still figuring out how to live this new life that my mothers’ medical issues had given us.
After a bit of coaxing and showing that sweet little puppy to my mom she agreed and I contacted the breeder right away, as Butterscotch was the only puppy of her litter left. I was informed that there was another puppy flying to Newfoundland as well so the sisters could fly together. I will never forget when she arrived just after 1230 AM on March 20th, 2015.
She was a feisty little thing walking all over her sister trying to get all the attention from the people outside the cage. We took Butterscotch home and introduced her to Biscuit, of course being so old Biscuit was not a fan of her playfulness but he accepted her and all was well. Butterscotch was a normal developing puppy, smart, playful, nipping at times but nothing that we had not seen with Biscuit.
Then came that dreadful day I will regret for the rest of my life when I brought both Biscuit and Butterscotch to the dog park. They were running around playing, everything was fine until these two little children no more then eight started running around the dog park and laughing as all the dogs chased them. Well to my seven month old puppy they were play toys, and she proceeded to bark at them and jump (in a playful matter back and forth). The parent of these children was not impressed with my puppy or me and told me to control her. I proceeded to politely remind the woman that it was a DOG park and the park for children was just down the path. The woman ignored me and proceeded to walk right up to Butterscotch and continuously pushed her hands into “Butters” face. I warned her that she should stop she was scaring my dog and before I could get close enough to take Butterscotch out of the situation the woman turn around quickly and Butterscotch nipped the back of her leg Before I knew it the woman was swinging her foot at my poor little puppy and screaming at her and me saying, “it better have all its shots”. Butterscotch was so overwhelmed with the whole situation she was just running wild and I could not catch her, once I did I took her and Biscuit and bolted out of that park and we have never set foot in another dog park again. I thought she would shake it off but boy was I wrong!
Butterscotch became fearful of EVERYTHING that moved and made noise. She began to lunge and nip at any person, I could no longer walk her, I had to hide in a room with her if someone came to our house; we were completely isolated and all I could think about was the turmoil I had caused this sweet, innocent puppy by bringing her to the dog park.
I am very open about my struggles with various mental illnesses and in some ways I believe I was blessed with Butterscotch for a reason. Yes I got, and at times still get very frustrated with her when she acts out but I also completely understand the fear and turmoil this poor dog must feel. Suffering from anxiety myself gives me a view point some people might not have.
We went through different trainers, different techniques, bought all the equipment under the sun to try and help Butterscotch, and while she appeared to make slight progress she very quickly regressed back. We were at our wits end.
Then came the move…
Due to my mothers worsening condition we needed to move to a one level place, and so we bought a condo. I don’t know if Butterscotch had separation anxiety before and we just didn’t hear her barking because we lived in a two-story house, or if the move set her off but we were unable to go ANYWHERE. Even to bring out the garbage without Butterscotch going crazy, barking, yelping, climbing the door. You name it, she does it! That’s when we said we had to do something because she was in all ways ruling our lives!
I contacted Ken back at the end of August and explained our situation and the degree of aggression Butterscotch had. On August 29th, 2015 our doorbell rang and of course Butterscotch started to bark. I applied her cloth muzzle I had purchased a few weeks earlier and made Ken wait outside the door because she was going “crazy”. I opened the door and poor Ken never even got his two feet in before Butterscotch made the lunge at him. She was barking, scratching, lunging and I couldn’t get her attention at all. I remember inviting Ken in thinking, “He must think I am out to lunch to have this dog acting like this”.
Ken sat on the couch and I sat in a chair across from him Butterscotch at my side, during the one on one Butterscotch settled to the point where she could sit down and then BAM! Ken uncrossed his legs and she lost her mind barking, growling, lunging at him! I remember Ken leaving me with two pages of notes and as he left Butterscotch continued to bark and growl and all I thought was, “ this is never going to work!”.
Remember Butterscotch had not been walked in over 8 months because my fear that she would attack someone. Well Ken wanted me to go buy a basket muzzle, get out walking and start working through some o the exercises we discussed.
I thought he was nuts!!
But I listened and went and bought the muzzle. My first walk by myself she was HORRIBLE she lunged at every moving object on the road, almost getting run over at one point because I lost control of her leash. We continued the work.
When Ken said okay time to come to the group walks I was baffled. Again I listened and showed up to Mundy Pond, Butterscotch was barking in the car when we arrived, I was armed with treats and her muzzle, but as soon as we got out of the car I regretted my decision.
I remember meeting Lesley and asking her if Ken was there yet ( I would later find out Ken is not normally on time) and she told me her story about Leo, I didn’t believe that that well behaved Dane was once at times uncontrollable. When Ken got there all the dogs greeted him, all the dogs except Butterscotch that is. She once again tried to attack him! We went on the walk and she was hard to control, she was lunging and jumping at people, like a little acrobat she would boomerang off people and bark and jump at them again and bounce off them and it was a continuous cycle. I left that walk thinking, “What have I gotten myself into”. Yet we contnued our work.
Then came level one obedience.
I remember walking in Butterscotch lunged and barked at Ken, and the two assistants in the class, and Ken cleared a path for her to enter the room. Everyone was nicely warned to keep their distance. Any movement at all set her off. When we thought she was making progress she quickly switched and would go into attack mode again. Yet we continued our work.
Half way through obedience classes and continuing on the walks we started to see progress. Ken took Butterscotch on her leash during one class and he did all the commands with her and then proceeded to take her a sit her in the middle of the room with him. By the end of the class she was sitting in his lap!
It was a miracle!
After that Butterscotch looked to Ken for affection every class and during the sixth week Ken was able to remove that muzzle from “Butters” face and interact with her along with Chelsey. I got in the car after that class and cried, I remember calling my mom telling her she would not believe what had happened and I don’t think she really did until the pictures showed up!
We continued doing the weekend walks and also doing evening training walks. Butterscotch no longer was lunging at Ken, and was beginning to calm A LOT quicker when she would get worked up.
She found her friends in Mace, Leo, Dakota, and Kobe and now on the walks she looks for them and is most comfortable around them. At first their owners could not go near Butterscotch as she would be very aggressive towards them and now she looks at them for cuddles, and leans up against their legs if they are not paying attention to her, she will even let them give her treats through her muzzle.
During walks when she starts to go “squirrelly” she looks for Susan right away and she will try and bounce off her a few times but quickly calms down with a slight touch of her leash by Susan. Two months ago Susan would not have been able to get close enough to touch her leash!
Does Butterscotch still have a looooonnnngggg way to go? Absolutely! But the progress she has made since September 5th is unbelievable. I never thought we would ever talk about lowering her antianxiety medication but two and half weeks ago we began to taper her medication and we hope to be able to continue to do that! I would have never thought in a million years that my mini doodle would ever be able to walk in the Downtown Santa Claus Parade, but guess who did it today? That’s right we did and she didn’t lunge at one person or bark at all during the parade!
Butterscotch is a very loveable dog whom has gotten me through some very tough times with her spunky little personality and I am so glad that others are starting to see that side of her! So many people have told me to give up on her and just give her away, that she is too much work, or too hard to handle but I could never do that because we are not “giveruppers”! I cannot wait to see what this next year will hold for Butterscotch, the sky is the limit for this doodle!
