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A dog that was previously abused is a challenge, but for many reasons the new owner does not expect what to expect, mainly because the new owner does not know what the dog has experienced in abuse during the dogs life up to now.
My experience was getting the dog off her previous owners and the dog seeming to be very scared, submissive and in need of love and attention.
What I got was a naughty dog who was rather sneaky and had/has issues but recognized that if she became mentally stronger and got over her issues the perks of being frightened are gone, meaning the dog does not get that sympathy anymore.
My dog is/was frightened of:
Long Sticks
Garden Hose
Thunder.
Fireworks.
Water.
Gunshots.
Her reaction to thunder and Fireworks are complete hysterical behaviour of which if she were not locked up she would seriously hurt herself.
One night I came home during a thunderstorm and the dog had somehow jumped a high fence and nearly strangled herself to death on the long lead that i had her on.
The previous owner described of how the dog put holes in the lower part of their house when a thunderstorm was in progress due to fear of the noise.
The rescue dog with issues must be chained up when no one is home so that the dog does not seriously hurt itself if something happens like a thunderstorm while the owner is away.
One day after having the dog a while it was one the doorstep shaking in terror, but nothing was wrong.
It occurred to me that the dog may have, with previous owners, put on the scared act to get in side, and got away with this.
In the beginning the dog got her own room, a special chair to sleep on. I took her for walks every day night.
Every time we went for a walk she wanted to go to the toilet everywhere including dumping big loads – my guess is that every day she would hold on to it all day until we went for a walk and then let go, sometimes after just going around the first corner, but she preferred to do it on other people’s front yards and not at home.
This was a big problem because cleaning up after her was not my idea of a calm enjoyable walk.
She also tried to attack every cat and dog she came across. A few people said to me, let her get to know other dogs and they would bring up their own dog, but all my dog wanted to do was attack their dog. So if a cat came out of a bush close by the dog would take off on her lead and try to attack it.
Some kittens on my back yard died, but I never saw the dog attack them and none of the dead animals was actually harmed, just dead, like of shock or something like that. So I was unable to confirm my dogs involvement or able to tell the dog off for it happening (I was unable to correct that behaviour).
One night I took the dog for a walk, and she loves walks, and there was a violent thunderstorm. The thunder struck and the dog stopped walking and listened, and then happily went on with her walk and ignored the thunder – yet at home she goes berserk and screams on her chain as if she were being attacked.
I had an issue and was not able to walk the dog for a few weeks, and the dog decided it seems to punish me for what she perceived as bad behavior, and every night for 5 nights in a row (I am a slow learner it seems) she dumped a huge load of her toilet on the carpet each night, and the next day i would have to clean it up with the dog watching approvingly. It just so happened that this behaviour coincided with her not going for walks.
I had no choice as she was ruining the carpet but to chain her up outside each night.
She stays outside now, but I have a dog kennel that is nice and cozy for her, and her chain is long enough for her to sleep in the greenhouse on cold nights, she also has a dog kennel in the garage for her when there are thunderstorms.
What people don’t understand is that people when abused can abuse others, and so can animals, or at least the animal can note that when he or she does things, humans will react in certain ways, meaning that the dog can expect certain perks from the humans reaction to the animal playing the victim (same as when a human plays the victim and people respond with love and sympathy).
What this means is that yes it is sad that the animal was abused in the past, but the animal learned a lot about sympathetic loving people and the animal can profit from this by pretending to remain a victim when the animal has actually gotten over the abuse possibly years before.
If you have one of these dogs you can find that they are very sensitive, scared of many things, and your job is to help the dog through its issues. The problem arises though that if your dog is verbal and loud, the neighbours can assume (especially if they don’t know that the dog has issues) that you are mistreating the dog. Sometimes I try to play fight with the dog and she lets out a scream of “I am being hurt” and so I back off and leave the dog alone.
Recently with weeks of fireworks being used in our town the dog would freak out each night and screaming on her chain as if she were being murdered, its a sight to experience believe me. Prior to this year no one interfered, but this year neighbours teenagers heard the dog freak out and they came over on to my section to calm the dog, and now my dog thinks that all she has to do is go completely berserk and the neighbours will visit her.
I have sat outside and observed her in the evenings, and she cocks her head and very carefully listens for any noise to give her the excuse to freak out, and as soon as she hears some distant noise she starts to scream and freak out as if murdered. Many times she loses the plot and there has been no noise, she just wants attention.
Because the owner is always aware of public opinions the owner fears getting labeled a violent bad animal owner and that is probably why these dogs go through many owners. Mine has had a lot. People have helped her, and finally gotten tired of trying and given her back to the dog pound or to other people.
I got my dog off a family that were very tired of the dogs issues and the damage she caused to their yard, and her seemingly inability to get over the past abuses that the dog had experienced, and also they were aware of her manipulation techniques.
And part of the reason is that she fakes a lot of her issues, and has found ways to get people to give her attention. She has learned the art of manipulation. My guess is that if she were on a farm and there were no neighbours to help her situation she would simply behave and be normal. But being a victim is more profitable.
One day I got another collar and put it on her when she was barking to see what she would do, and she immediately went quiet, and that told me that her previous owners had used bark collars on her to keep her quiet while they were away.
Years ago when I had a Great Dane the local Council and dog control threatened me and claimed that the neighbours had complained about the dog barking uncontrollably and I have never seen the dog do that, and the dog was an adult by this time. I was very doubtful about what the dog control officer said. But after we talked for a while and he told me what the neighbours had said and I realised that when I left the house the dog would lose the plot and Great Danes bark very loudly and he would let loose after he heard the family car leave, and when he heard the car come home he would stop barking, so if I were gone for an hour he would bark for an hour, but I would never hear the dog bark and the dog didn’t get told off by me.
I had no choice but to buy a no-bark-collar because there were times we had to leave the house without the dog.
After I got the collar and the Great Dane was forced to be quiet the council, animal control and my neighbours were happy.
At the moment my rescue dog (as they are called) keeps barking while I am out at work on security patrol so I once again have no choice but to get another no-bark collar, or there will be complaints, possibly fines or the dog put to sleep and killed.
Over the years she has become more stable and I can use the hose around her, walk with sticks, and as I mentioned earlier when it suits her on walks thunder does not bother her 🙂
She also gets on well with all the cats now, and there have been no cat/kitten deaths for years now, so she has changed, settled down, enjoys the cats company, calmed down, but she does know how to get attention, get sympathy, and make a lot of noise.
To those people who have never owned a dog that was previously abused you have no idea what the abuse was, how it really affected the dog, and whether the dog has learned to manipulate people due to the previous owners trying to help the suffering dog.
Helping such dogs is a very worthy wonderful thing to do, but it is wise to go into this with your eyes wide open and that other people may not understand what is going on with the dog and why the dog sometimes freaks out, and cannot be controlled – people tend to assume that the current owner is at fault for the dogs behaviour.
What your neighbours cannot comprehend what being the owner of a dog that was previously abused is like, and that makes it very easy for them to assume that the behaviour of the dog is current abuse and mistreatment.
After this one dies I doubt I will never have a dog that was abused again, it has been an eye opening experience and a chance to help a dog that was a victim that in the end nobody wanted, and the dogs life has been far better for it because she has had a stable home for about 5 years now, so for her it has worked out well.
It has been especially good that she has gotten over many of her past issues, and this makes her a more happier dog.
I hope that this article gives someone an idea about what it is like having an animal that has been previously abused. It is stressful, but also very rewarding, but do expect neighbours and some others to not understand.
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