One Year With Chopper the Wonder Dog

I got Chopper on August 28, 2005 from a kind family that felt he wasn't getting enough attention. He's white except for some brown patches on his face and ears. His tail curls up over his back. He's a mixed breed, thought to be part Jack Russell but he's much taller than a JR. He was about 1 1/2 years old when I got him, recently neutered, and sorry to leave the 4 young children he lived with. In his first 24 hours with us he went to the vet to get his shots. In spite of that, he's managed to adjust pretty well to life with a middle-aged couple. At home, Chopper is a dream dog. He doesn't chew the wrong things, he's only peed in the house when we've failed to heed the warning signs, doesn't bark much, is gentle, loving and playful.

But out in the back yard, it was a different story. Buddy, the blue heeler next door, has serious fence aggression issues. He was aggressive towards Chopper, and Chopper was aggressive right back. They began fence fighting.

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Out on a leash, any dog barking at Chopper from behind a fence enraged him. It was shocking to see this sweet gentle dog turn into a snarling, lunging terror, even snapping at me as I dragged him away from the other animal. Sometimes, Chopper would simply see another dog and become very upset. Not showing aggression but whining, barking, jumping into the air, running wildly in circles until he completely wrapped himself around my legs, chewing on his leash. The other dog could be blocks away or close by. Chopper would stay upset for a time after the other dog was out of sight. Even more alarming were a few relatively rare incidents where Chopper initiated the aggression, barking and growling at other dogs that were calmly walking with their owners, showing no aggression whatsoever. After such incidents, Chopper sometimes lunged and barked at people that we passed on the street. I believe this is what's called "redirecting" where the dog is angry or upset about something and redirects that emotion elsewhere.

When upset, he'd try to chew through his leash, which was frightening because we discovered the hard way that he could chew through the sturdiest nylon leash in under a minute.

Generally, he was ok if a loose dog ran up to him. I read that leashes interfere with the body language dogs use to communicate with each other so I wasn't too surprised that Chopper more often had problems with dogs on leashes than dogs off leash. I wondered if we'd be able to have Chopper around people or dogs. He didn't always have problems but I felt I couldn't take any chances. He may be only 25 lbs, but I take aggression by any dog of any size very seriously.

We put in a inner fence about 5 feet from our regular backyard fence. That stopped Chopper from fence fighting. Surprisingly, we were able to remove the fence after a few weeks. They occasionally have a barking argument but they don't fight anymore.

I stopped walking Chopper around our neighborhood because I wanted to keep him out of situations that would press his buttons. Instead, I drove him to Mare Island in Vallejo. There are a number of lovely old mansions along Walnut Ave, once used by high ranking Navel officers where Mare Island was a navel base. It's quiet with lots of interesting places to walk. We often see people at a distance and we rarely see other dogs. I've was very concerned that once my husband, who has been looking for a job, goes back to work, Chopper would be alone at home all day. It was my dearest wish for him that he go to doggie daycare and spend the day playing with other dogs.

Over the past year, I've worked on basic training. Chopper learns very quickly and is good at obedience when there are no distractions and can usually follow instructions to a degree when there are distractions. He learned very quickly to ride in a wire crate in the car (which I got because he chewed through his nylon doggie seatbelt.) I use a Gentle Leader head coller which helps keep him from pulling on the leash. I got a cable leash that Chopper cannot chew through. That cable leash has given me confidence when I walk Chopper because I know that no matter how excited or upset he might become, there's no way he can get away from me. I think Chopper senses I'm calm and confident in stressful situations and that in turn has a calming effect on him. He gets lots of cheese and Natural Balance doggie treats because I want to make training as much fun as possible. Or if I can't make it fun, I can at least make it worthwhile with treats and belly rubs.

Recently, we've noticed a change in Chopper. He's a little less reactive towards other dogs and the only time he barks aggressively at a person is when a stranger comes to the door.

I work in San Rafael and if Bob goes back to work, I wanted Chopper to go to doggie daycare. It was kind of scary, but I decided Chopper had progressed enought that it was time to see if he could succeed in doggie daycare. I called Planet Canine in San Rafael and gave them Chopper's history, and was very honest about my concerns as well as his progress. Planet Canine agreed to give Chopper a try. Bob dropped Chopper off but stayed in town in case they should call and want him to pick Chopper up. Much to my tremendous relief, Chopper stayed there and did very well. The folks at Planet Canine said he would be welcome to come back. I'm very proud of Chopper and his progress. Chopper won't have to stay home alone when Bob goes back to work and I hope that spending several days a week playing with other dogs will help him learn to be calm around dogs in all situations.