Poor old Bertie!! Perhaps I should change his name to 'Dracula'!! He...We have had a couple of difficult days! Difficult but interesting because it gave me more insight into his previous life with another owner. I adopted him 8 months ago now. When I first adopted him, he was very aggressive, very hysterical and was prone to vivid nightmares... bit me three times in the first week. I simply didn't react. He would often wake hysterical in the night. Happily, we haven't seen any of that for about 2 months now until yesterday, thanks also to Noah's Ark Essences!! which are 'Magical'.
As I said before , my son came to visit from the UK. He is a tall man of rather solid build and has a certain air of authority about him. Probably to Bertie ,at 5 kilos, he seemed gigantic! For certain Bertie found him frightening and altogether too much. As my son entered the apartment, Bertie straight away sprayed the carpet!! I don't react to this. What is the point of punishing someone who's afraid?!! He did not attack outright but started to crawl along the ground with his head down whilst growling. He then came up to get on my lap and growled at me! I simply ignore this behaviour and since I have seen hardly any of it in the last two months, this way of dealing with it has proved right. Here we were though, right back to the beginning!
We decided to take the car and go walking with the dogs in the country, the idea being that this would distract Bertie. HA! Not a bit of it!! He started growling and 'attacking' an imaginary enemy on the floor at the back of the car. Poor Nanette was seated sedately as usual on the seat just above him. She finds these moods frightening. My son commented that he seemed to be attacking himself or acting out some imaginary situation as though he was being attacked. This all stopped once we were out of the car and walking.
The walk was more or less normal with Bertie off the lead and as adventurous and curious as ever. Back at the car, my son left to go back to where he was staying. Bertie's strange behaviour however, continued and went on through the evening and the night ( hysterics and nightmares ). Next morning ( that is , this morning ), I went to drink my cup of tea in bed, leaving the dogs in the lounge as usual. Bertie screamed hysterically and did not respond to the normal command 'Stop!' I decided to let him come with me! After some determined efforts to get under the covers ( which he was not allowed to do! ), he settled down. After that, we went out as usual and gradually during the day, it all fell away!. SO....What happened?
I think Bertie reflected back to my son and I the aggressive treatment he was subjected to by his previous owner. One could also see his jealousy....this poses an interesting question? Was Bertie's household one in which a male was jealous of someone's attention to Bertie and Mimi? because that was the scenario we saw being acted out by him.
I tackled the problems surrounding Nanette, which were much more intense and difficult, by observation of her behaviours and emotions, in which it was possible to gauge the type of personality of the previous owner from whom she was removed because of maltreatment. Working like this, it was possible to refrain from reactions, which in other circumstances would be considered ' normal'. For example, when a dog is aggressive towards one, the impulse is severe disapproval or impatience! My job....as I see it....is to hold open a psychological space for the 'dissolution' of emotional states which are not a part of a dog's psychology in the natural environment. This has worked beautifully for Nanette. You will see this as her story progresses.
It was and is now again, working for Bertie. He still has a long way to go but he has not been here long. It's a great joy when one sees the false ego type behaviour, which humans have adopted just fall off!! That is precisely what happens!!! Before I close, I must make clear that by 'not reacting' I don't mean 'dogs doing anything they like'!!! Oh No!!! We have discipline which consists of a minimum of commands given quietly, firmly and consistently and always expressed with the same words. This of course, gives dogs a feeling of security. Have a lovely evening all xx