Nigel Update October 2009

As many of you watching this know, I adopted a young dog almost a year ago that had HUGE problems.

He was fearful aggressive toward people AND dogs

He was terrified of new situations, so much so that he was completely antisocial.

His problems were such that the animal shelter deemed him a lost cause and suggested that he be euthanized.

Happily, those who knew Nigel in those days wouldn't even recognize him now.

I originally contacted Nigel's foster mom through petfinder.com
To say the least, she wasn't impressed that a 19 year old girl was inquiring about a dog like Nigel and initially turned me away. But after I described my experience with fearful and aggressive dogs, she took me into consideration.

My first meeting with Nigel, to say the least, was not love at first sight. Nigel made several attempts to bite me and flee, but I stuck with him and brought him home anyway.

The first two months were critical. My goal was not to get Nigel to LIKE me, but to get him to respect and trust me. Each day required new exercises and techniques, initiated "bootcamp style." Nigel needed tough love more than anything else, and that's exactly what he got.

Three months in, Nigel would tentatively walk on a leash with me and slowly began to trust me.

After four months, Nigel spent at least two hours a day on a treadmill and another 30 mins on a walk with the other two dogs in my pack to drain his excess nervous energy and make it easier for him to relax.

Of course, we experienced many setbacks. Nigel attacked my Pitbull mix, Cheyanne, several times, as well as my Australian Cattle Dog mix, Jack, and several other dogs I introduced him to. But each time Nigel made a mistake, he was consistently corrected, and he gradually began to improve his social skills.

Here is Nigel now, in October of 2009

Nigel hasn't made any attempts to bite in several months. Sometimes he growls but is easily corrected.

He has learned to trust at least 4 people, including myself. He's starting to tolerate and even enjoy affection from strangers.

He is now curious rather than fearful of new situations, so much so that he sometimes gets overconfident and gets himself into trouble, but even that is healthier than being nervous all the time, like he was before.



Nigel's attitude toward other dogs has also improved greatly. He now has many dog friends that he loves to play with

Nigel still has a long way to go, but I'm excited to see what the future holds for him.

People have asked me why I adopted Nigel. Why not get a puppy?

To be honest, I didn't really want Nigel until his foster mom told me that the animal shelter had planned on euthanizing him, and if not for her intervention he would have been; as that was the only alternative they saw for him if someone couldn't help him.

My reasoning is that, because people are responsible for messing dogs up, they should also be the ones responsible for taking the time to fix them.

Even though Nigel's behavior problems were originally so severe that few people thought there was any hope of helping him, he has come such a long way that he is nearly what people would call a "normal" dog. If there is hope for Nigel, there is hope for any dog!

One of the reasons dogs like Nigel are euthanized every day are because of an overflow at shelters. Please consider adopting your next dog from a shelter. Every dog adopted out, and every donation made; makes room, time, and money available for severe cases like Nigel.

Thanks for watching this update on Nigel, I hope you've enjoyed seeing how far he has come as much as I have.

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Music:
Madam De Pompador
Song of Freedom
Copyright BBC Doctor Who

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Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Nigel
• American Hairless Terrier
• bald rat terrier
• Macleod
• Hairlessrodentqueen
• Ridley
• Chupacabra
• ChupaNigel

[ZYVZX]

you are a good person, and you have a great dog pack/family.

[HairlessRodentQueen]

Thanks :) dont know about me, but yeah, my pack is awesome :D

[MasterOfTheMidgets]

Thats great. You've done so well with him ; )

[HairlessRodentQueen]

Yeah, I'm really proud of him :)

[etalucammi83]

What a nice story.Bless you

[HairlessRodentQueen]

Thanks :)

[Victoria12stoner]

precioso perrito!!