[Chester1066]

Hi all, nice to meet you

1 year ago today I took a rescued dog from Romania, called Duke.
Duke is absolutely gorgeous, mixed breed, and is incredibly loving.
But he has several problems, some which have been overcome in the last year, with lots and lots of patience and time.
He was a quivering wreck to be honest, when we first got him. He didnt have a voice for 2 weeks..was silent, he just stood and watched life. He'd never been in a house before. He was scared of everything - light switches, the t.v, the computer, the kitchen cupboards - even his own dog bowls. It took him weeks before he would entertain the idea of sleeping on something soft. He didnt know what a ball was, any toys, he was scared of EVERYTHING.

Briefly, his background was apparently that he'd been a street pup, taken in by Romanian authorities and placed in Pascani kennels (state owned) which had a terrible reputation. Dogs eating other pups, underfed, kept in hideous conditions. He was rescued by Romanian charity and put in their kennels where he stayed until I took him. He is now approx 2 and half, but this can't be confirmed. He has only 1 ear and a scar across the side of his neck..no one can confirm what's happened here, although the vet said it looked as if it would have been ripped off by another dog.

I live on a busy main seafront road. It has taken a year for Duke to walk along this road without laying on the floor. He still isn't used to it.

The problems are a long list, but Im asking for some advice on some that have developed more recently!

I live in a biggish 2 bedroom flat. Dukes bed is in my bedroom which isnt ideal. We (when it was myself and my partner) used to have his bed in the front room/kitchen (all in one)..he wouldnt settle, some nights we would be up several times to settle him - he would pace, bark, bark at noises outside.. we tried baby gates so he could see us but couldnt get into the bedroom etc. Nothing worked.
He was in the front room for months, but it tooks its toll - we couldnt sleep, we were tired all day at work and consequently we took him into our bedroom. He settled immediately. We knew it wasn't the best idea but we were so tired and had dealt with so many different phases of his behaviour.

Now whats happened is that he will not come into the front room at all - one day he saw a flashing light outside (police car, or ambulance) and it really ahd an effect on him. So for approx 7 months he has entered the front room only occasionally - but never relaxed. He will run straight into my bedroom and stay there almost all day. The trouble is he is now starting to chew my possessions and his in the bedroom - BUT this only happens when im IN the flat. Not when im at work! When im in the flat in the front room or if i have anyone around (he is not comfortable with other people), i will go into the bedroom to check he is ok, and lately i find something chewn.
I realise he is trying to communicate with me - but as he won't come into the front room, im unable to socialise with him...

Has anyone experienced this? I know its quite specific and i know that has claimed the bedroom as his area, as he has started to growl and dart towards anyone else that enters that room, apart from my ex partner.

I will soon be moving house and living in a big house share with another dog that he knows and likes. Im worried it will happen there.

Please help!!! thanks and sorry for such a long post, he is SO complex!

[threenorns]

to me, sounds like he is withdrawing.

taking him into your bedroom was actually an excellent idea - dogs are pack animals and his instincts are closer to the wild than a normal family dog because he was isolated and kept in a state where he had to fend for himself during his formative years.

however, he is treating the bedroom like it is his personal den now - you need to regain mastery of the bedroom. one thing that might help is a crate - put a crate in the bedroom so he understands that THAT is his personal territory but only by your grace - the rest of the bedroom is yours.

have you tried umbilical training? basically, attach him to your waist with a leash so he has to go everywhere you go. it can be a nuisance, i'll admit: he'll be underfoot every time you turn around from doing dishes or have to go to the bathroom. this is a good way to a) introduce the idea of you as pack leader; b) get it through his head that when he's with you, everything is okay; and c) teach him that it's House Rules, not Dog Rules.

[Chester1066]

Hi, thanks for your reply.

Yes I feel that Duke is claiming the bedroom as his territory too.
I haven't tried using a crate, im not sure how I feel about them although I have read positive things. I've also never heard of Umbilical training..interesting concept and I can see how that might work - maybe I'll give that a go.
When me and my partner lived in this flat together, Duke didn't have a problem with coming in the front room. He can hear the traffic outside, but can't see it and hear people passing by, as it's a seafront there is no front garden, so noises appear very close. Its' really been since my partner left that he has claimed the bedroom and become adverse to coming into the living room. He will go in all the other rooms. Maybe the umbilical trick will work for this?

Many thanks

[CorkyMax]

Not giving you any answers as to how to stop the behavior but I wonder since your partner is no longer there anymore--This has made Duke even more insecure as Maybe he feels like he is going to be abandoned again and has retreated to his safe place. He may think you are going to leave him next!

[threenorns]

yes - it would. it's interesting that it's since your partner left that he's become like this. was your partner, forgive my asking a personal question, a dominant type? "my way or the highway" kinda thing?

if so, and if you're a milder, gentler, easy-going type, it could be your dog feels that he needs to become the Man of the House (so to speak) in the absence of the firm leadership that was there before.

doesn't mean you have to become something you're not - it means he needs to learn that there is a new leader in the house who has a different way of doing things

crate training is excellent. dogs are hardwired to seek out tiny spaces like the den wolves have their babies in. the crate must never be used as punishment - when he gets fractious, he isn't punished, he's taught "you need some me time - go to your room and chill". that also means that when he goes to his crate, unless it's very important, it means he is left alone - if children come over, they must be taught iron-clad that if the dog goes to his room, they turn around and come back (trying to climb in with the dog could very definitely lead to Bad Things happening). thus the crate become the dog's safety net - when he's feeling overwhelmed, he knows he has a place he can go where he is absolutely safe.

[Chester1066]

Oooh just posted long reply and it got lost!

Thanks both of you for your replies.

Yes, my partner (we are both female) is definitely more dominant with him - not in an aggressive way, but I tend to be gentle with him in every sense - playing with him etc. Whereas she won't "pander" to him.
I would say his behaviour HAS changed since she left, although his behaviour changes so frequently its hard to pinpoint. I feel like he is living his previous months/years now, because perhaps he didnt get the opportunity to since being in kennels for so long? He's gone through so many different changes in the last year.

The crate idea seems more appealing now - i think what it is for me, is shutting the door - do you have to? I don't like that idea. Perhaps it could be open? Duke does prefer smaller spaces. He will climb under my bed to be safe. In fact, another one of the problems (more recently, and again since my partner left) is that he will climb under the bed for a lot of the day. He wakes me in the morning by pushing his nose on my face, i get up let him out in the garden (on my days off), get back in bed and he practically won't leave me alone until i get out of bed. Once i get up, he climbs under my bed and will stay there for hours. As soon as im up he knows its ready to start the day, i will take him for a walk etc - he will not get out from under the bed. Today in fact, his walk was delayed by 2 hours and nearly didnt happen at all because i couldn't get to him.
!!

[threenorns]

ABSOLUTELY your dog will love a crate - that's what he's looking for when he hides under the bed - a den.

during the day, you would leave the door to the crate open. the only time you would close it is, for example, if you have guests over that are not dog-sympathetic (very young children who haven't been taught how to greet dogs properly, for example) or you have to go out for a while.

he would not feel "imprisoned" by having the door closed - he'd feel safe and secure and would basically sleep away.

the crate must be large enough for him to walk in, turn around, and lie down - any bigger and it defeats the purpose of a nice snug little hidey-hole. put a cushion or mat on the bottom if it's a wire crate to protect him from pressure sores and then pitch a blanket over top to give him that "snug mountain cave den" feeling.

you do need to step up on the leadership, however. when you are walking him, make sure you control every aspect of the walk - umbilical training would help with this, too. when he pulls to go somewhere, walk in the opposite direction. when he is walking nicely, turn around and go back to what was so interesting. keep doing this - maybe for weeks! - until he really learns that he will get to place he finds interesting but in YOUR time, not in his.

being the leader or dominant one doesn't mean you have to be harsh and mean and yelling - it means you have to be smarter than him. you have to build his confidence in you as a leader - and then he can relax because he knows his place and he knows you've got his back.

oh - yes - you would close the door to the crate at night, too, and then you wouldn't have to dive under the bed to drag him out.

[doublej]

It seems like you have a good idea of how you are going to tackle this problem, but I just wanted to throw in my two cents. You described your partner as more dominant and I'm assuming that your dog saw her as the pack leader. Since she is now gone he is probably very confused and insecure since he feels he has no leader. I think the post about umbilical training is an excellent idea. You don't say in your post, but I wondered how you handle his fears. With dogs babying them or loving all over them when they are afraid is the worst thing you can do. It reinforces their fears because they see your "babying" them as a weakness. Instead you should act confident and show him that there is nothing to be afraid of.

Bless you for all you are doing for this dog. It sounds like he had a hard life and you sound quite dedicated to him. Best of luck!