Tessa
Tessa came to me as a 'foster-dog' in October 1984. Her background was quite unclear but the home I collected her from was her 6th in just two years. Tessa was a pretty young black bitch with 4 white socks. Several people called me, informing me that they were willing to give her a permanent home. However, by then I had discovered Tessa's psychological problems and knew that it was unlikely that people would put up with her problems so I decided to keep her and work with her. Tessa had never been walked off the lead, her muscles were under developed and she was also underweight. These were physical problems which were easily remedied with plenty off the lead exercise and diet. However, it took me approx. 6 months for Tessa to look more like a Great Dane rather than a Greyhound. Dealing with her psychological problems was much more difficult. What really helped me to persevere, was that everyday a little progress was made and that Tessa grew in self confidence. |
When at first I took her home, she had stolen an open tin of food. Because of the danger an open tin represents, a friend tried to retrieve it. As soon as he approached Tessa, she started growling, showing her teeth and ready to attack; my friend stood behind a chair for protection and tried to retrieve the tin with a long object. It was then that I realised that we had serious problems.
The way I interpreted Tessa's reaction, was that she had never had anything 'to herself' and that whatever she could lay her paws on, she would 'defend'. A classic case of excessive object guarding and fearful aggression. The modern day behavioural books were probably not readily available then and I proceeded on the basis of what is now called positive reinforcement and desensitisation. To be quite honest, I would never have used those words then, but just wanted to teach her, that there was no need for her to 'guard things', that she was loved and that all her needs were going to be met.
My first job was to get Tessa out of the habit of getting into her aggressive fits. The way I did that was by de-sensitisation. If for example, she would run upstairs and 'take-over' my bed, I would talk to her very gently up to the point before she would start growling. I would then continue to talk to her gently till she let me come a little nearer to her. I would continue that process until she was quite happy for me to sit next to her and stroke her. I would stroke her and talk to her till I felt that she was ready to jump off the bed and follow me downstairs. The moment she jumped off the bed and followed me out of the bedroom, I would give her a treat and much encouragement. In the beginning, this process could easily take up to half an hour but was well worth the effort as gradually she had less and less 'aggressive fits'.
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Tessa was also highly intelligent,could open doors and jars and was an accomplished thief. She taught me to be extremely tidy in the kitchen so there was nothing left lying around for her to steal, or so I thought...She sometimes managed to steal cereal boxes from the top shelf (how I don't know), open them and spread the contents in the middle of the living room but as she grew more confident in her self and felt more secure in her home environment she abandoned all those tricks and happily settled down to a more acceptable type of behaviour.
Tessa had also some unhappy sound associations and although I was able to limit to a certain extend the damage done, I was never able to completely cure her of fear. The 'buzzer' noise in particular reduced her to a quivering wreck. Even after years of positive re-inforcement she was never really at ease with buzzer type sounds.
Including the first few difficult years we spent more than 8 happy years together. She always remained a great character, full of fun and very attached to 'her' armchair. I knew that the day she would refuse a chocolate biscuit, she would be ready to leave this physical life. She passed away in the Autumn of 1994.
The way I interpreted Tessa's reaction, was that she had never had anything 'to herself' and that whatever she could lay her paws on, she would 'defend'. A classic case of excessive object guarding and fearful aggression. The modern day behavioural books were probably not readily available then and I proceeded on the basis of what is now called positive reinforcement and desensitisation. To be quite honest, I would never have used those words then, but just wanted to teach her, that there was no need for her to 'guard things', that she was loved and that all her needs were going to be met.
My first job was to get Tessa out of the habit of getting into her aggressive fits. The way I did that was by de-sensitisation. If for example, she would run upstairs and 'take-over' my bed, I would talk to her very gently up to the point before she would start growling. I would then continue to talk to her gently till she let me come a little nearer to her. I would continue that process until she was quite happy for me to sit next to her and stroke her. I would stroke her and talk to her till I felt that she was ready to jump off the bed and follow me downstairs. The moment she jumped off the bed and followed me out of the bedroom, I would give her a treat and much encouragement. In the beginning, this process could easily take up to half an hour but was well worth the effort as gradually she had less and less 'aggressive fits'.
____________________________
Tessa was also highly intelligent,could open doors and jars and was an accomplished thief. She taught me to be extremely tidy in the kitchen so there was nothing left lying around for her to steal, or so I thought...She sometimes managed to steal cereal boxes from the top shelf (how I don't know), open them and spread the contents in the middle of the living room but as she grew more confident in her self and felt more secure in her home environment she abandoned all those tricks and happily settled down to a more acceptable type of behaviour.
Tessa had also some unhappy sound associations and although I was able to limit to a certain extend the damage done, I was never able to completely cure her of fear. The 'buzzer' noise in particular reduced her to a quivering wreck. Even after years of positive re-inforcement she was never really at ease with buzzer type sounds.
Including the first few difficult years we spent more than 8 happy years together. She always remained a great character, full of fun and very attached to 'her' armchair. I knew that the day she would refuse a chocolate biscuit, she would be ready to leave this physical life. She passed away in the Autumn of 1994.