Thursday, August 11, 2011

Thundershirts and doggy diapers

I am learning more and more about Bubby's personality and quirks - what he can handle - what he can't, things that he's afraid of and how he reacts to them - it's all very interesting.
I've had him for 2 months now, and I've pretty much settled on what I think his background "story" is - at least one that pleases me and answers the questions that I have - I don't know if his rescuer would agree with me - but it's what I've cobbled together from what she said, and what I've figured out from Kijiji postings that his puppymill operator has made in the last little while -
It seems like Bubby spent the first 6 months of his life at his "breeder" - which I am henceforth going to call a puppymill - because it is very obvious that he has had no human socialization whatsoever - and that's where almost all his problems and quirks are stemming from. He is deathly afraid of humans and gets overstimulated really quickly - and when he passes his threshold - he lunges out will bite, and it's a pretty hard bite.
So he spent his first six months at the puppymill - completely missing every kind of human socialization that he needed to be a normal dog - but luckily he was around other dogs - so his dog/dog skills are awesome.

At 6 months - he was purchased - probably for a cut price - because when I contacted the puppymill he came from a couple weeks ago when he was advertising on kijiji for puppies - the puppies were $800 - but he had some dogs left over still from a breeding last November - and he was selling them for $400. I can only imagine how damaged those dogs are now.

So at 6 months - Bubby was adopted by a family - and they thought they were getting a normal dog - but I guess he only bonded with the wife - and there were also children involved - and any children that Bubby has come into contact since I've had him - he almost immediately attacks - so he probably did the same thing to this family.
Atlantic Small Dog Rescue said the husband told the puppymill "I was told you were selling me a family dog - this isn't a family dog" - and the puppymill offered to take Bubby back and give them another dog - but for some reason they didn't do that - and they instead dumped him at a campground in Truro - and that's how Altantic Small Dog Rescue got involved - and then I adopted him.
So where do the thundershirts and doggy diapers come in?

They are what I bought today - although the doggy diapers are too small - his penis sticks out the top - so they are no usew hatsoever.

But 2 months after I got him - he's still peeing and pooping wherever he feels like. It could be indoors, it could be outdoors - if he wants to go - he'll go. He could be laying next to me on the bed - and he'll stand up - and just start peeing - right next to me. He'll walk right through his poop - it's all typical behaviour for former puppy mill dogs - and I am struggling with it currently.

If you keep track of myy photos - the background of my house has changed in the last couple of months - I have thrown out my couch, all my carpets, I've bought a new bed, every room has a baby gate on it, every dog bed that I had for Charlie and Daisy has been thrown in the garbage - all because Bubby has peed on everything.
I have great hopes for the thundershirt - I'm hoping that it will calm him down in stressful situations around humans - I'm going to try it out tomorrow night -
We are going to dinner at my sister's house and there are going to be 5 humans there - and I have a very dog-intolerant family - so if he tries to bite anyone - there will be shrieking and freaking out and very bad energy in the room - it won't be pleasant.

I hope that it operates as advertised. We've got about 18-20 years ahead of us and the world needs to have a people friendly Bubby - he is too beautiful to keep in private. I hope he and I can figure things out.




2 comments:

  1. I love that you love this dog so much, despite his habits that are unpleasing to humans. So often these quirks and problems occur in a dog because of what we as humans do to them, however we go and just blame the dog,abandon it, euthanize it, or treat it badly...when if they had of just been treated well during their previous life they would likely be fine. It's so lovely that you are finding ways to deal with the things that make Bubby "difficult" as you see the wonderful dog he has inside him, that comes out in various situations :) He is so lucky to have been taken home by you.

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  2. Anonymous7:51 PM

    Joan,
    My sister bought a thundershirt a few months ago for her "Jug". She's convinced that it is a gift sent from heaven!!! He is now calm and relaxed in the car, during thunderstorms, and she also uses it in new situations that he would normally react very poorly to. She was skeptical about how good it could possibly be, but thought it was worth a try...she's so glad she did!! I hope little Bubba likes it just as much!

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