Training a difficult dog when you're not a pro

 

Training a difficult dog is not for the faint of heart

Training a difficult dog was not exactly a goal we had when Lincoln came into our lives. My husband had talked for quite a while about getting a Malinois because he’d always thought they were really cool, smart dogs. As I researched and learned a bit about the breed, I quickly realized that they are not the easiest of breeds to live with when you don’t know professional-level training.

For those who aren’t familiar, the Malinois breed is a herding breed that has become very popular in police and military work for their intelligence, bravery, and work ethic. While these are noble qualities, the dog with these characteristics needs to have a competent trainer that provides high-intensity activities that this working breed needs. Read this post from AKC for more about the breed.

Deciding to take on a difficult dog

Eventually, the right set of circumstances came together. We studied the breed for a while, we worked with some training styles, and a dog available at our local rescue came to our attention. For better or worse, we decided to try to help him. We believed that he would be a lot of dog and too much to handle for many people. We adopted him, believing that we could step up our game and give him a good home.

Lincoln came to us with lots of issues. Since he was found wandering the streets, we don’t know much about him or what he’s been through. As sweet as he was, we were sure that he had some baggage. I would imagine any dog that wanders loose for an extended period of time has that.

Not only did he have emotional issues, but physical issues, as well. He was sensitive to fat in his diet and would have extreme vomiting and diarrhea if he had very much fat in his diet. Lincoln also had what appeared to be hip and spine issues that were causing him problems. He didn’t want to run and moved very stiffly.

Considering the effect of these health issues, if we were going to be successful at training a difficult dog such as Lincoln, we would need to address them if he would be comfortable. Being a happy and cooperative member of a family is hard enough without added discomforts. We wanted to give him his best shot. Read We have a difficult dog for more about Lincoln’s history.

Recognizing that there’s a problem

Considering his history, Lincoln needed several visits with vets to sort out, diagnose, and treat his health issues. The first one we went to had a malinois and had no trouble working with him, even drawing blood without muzzling. She got down on the ground with him and let him get to know her a bit first. And she let him stay in the room with me.

Shortly after that, she moved, meaning we needed to find another vet. Each visit resulted in Lincoln’s behavior escalating. Instead of just being a little tense, he got more and more nervous and fearful. His apparent aggression scared the vet staff, and they tried various ways of taking control, including forced muzzling and large amounts of sedation.

As the situation got progressively worse, we tried various vets and approaches to no avail. While only one vet actually said it, Lincoln is not welcome back at any of these clinics. I understand their concerns and absolutely don’t want anyone bit or otherwise hurt. However, we have a big problem since Lincoln still has issues, but we can’t find anyone who wants to help us with them.

What are the options?

Finding ourselves at an impasse, we started considering what our available options were. How could we help Lincoln?

1. We could do nothing. Not take him to the vet. Live with the situation as best we could. Wait for something, possibly bad, to happen. This didn’t sound very hopeful. I doubted it would be one that we’d feel good about.

2. We could look for a trainer to help us work with him. Although none of them seem to be familiar with the Malinois breed, we have talked to a few trainers, and their suggestions seemed like they were straight out of a textbook. Since we don’t have a textbook type of situation, we were concerned that we’d only make the problem worse.

3. We could try to find another vet. Having tried the services of five vets in our area, this didn’t seem to be a successful approach, at least not without making other changes as well.

4. I could learn some alternative approaches to help him with his discomfort and emotional issues. I have learned Reiki and am learning about crystals, TTouch, and other techniques. Some of these are helping, but there is a large learning curve. I’m hopeful that I will help, although none of these addresses the situation completely.

5. We could talk to a behaviorist. I contacted one that was only a few hours' drive away and started working with them. Unfortunately, I’m not sure this is going to work. They want to diagnose and treat any health issues to have Lincoln in his best frame of mind, for starters. While that is what we’d like as well, Lincoln has to tolerate the vet first. Training a difficult dog such as Lincoln has to come before going to the vet if possible. It’s a chicken/egg scenario.

6. We could talk to an animal communicator. I have talked to a couple of them now. The first one gave us some insight but was unfamiliar with the breed. The second one gave us insight and was also a dog trainer that’s familiar with the Malinois breed and Reiki, TTouch, and other modes of healing.

Where we’re at in the journey

Training a difficult dog has been a challenging situation. My husband and I are working on our training techniques. We read books, discuss options, and keep each other on track so that we’re consistent with Lincoln, as well as our other dogs. The situation we’re in is complicated. We have five other dogs in addition to Lincoln. We aren’t as skilled at training as we hope to become. Slowly, the more we work on it, things are getting better.

Managing Lincoln’s health and other issues have required us to consider many strategies that we might not have otherwise considered. As we become more familiar with each of them, our ability to improve, the situation grows.

So far, we’ve been able to avoid vet visits. Until we have a better handle on the situation, we won’t take him in unless the need is great enough to warrant the possible trauma that could be involved. Hopefully, we’ll have enough experience and knowledge under our belts that when we DO need to make a vet trip, things will go much better.

Why it’s worth it

Although we definitely weren’t ready to take on a challenge such as this, we are learning and getting better. And as we get better, we can see the results of training a difficult dog such as Lincoln. He is becoming more and more confident in himself and us.

Have you found yourself in a situation that challenged you to grow with your dog? Tell me about it in the comments below.