An online consultation all the way to New South Wales, Australia.
One day, soon after they got him, a truck passed them and blew it’s horn. He attacked the lady beside him as she tried to get out of the cab.
Holden is now two years old.
He attacked and bit a visitor
A few nights prior to our session they had a visitor (who was a truck driver). Seemingly out of the blue Holden attacked the man. He had never been aggressive to anyone before.
Death sentence
Where they live, if Holden bites again, it could be an immediate death sentence for him.
Diesel, trucks, pipes…
The things Holden is particularly scared of undoubtedly bring up panic memories. Memories of his first few impressionable months, ending at the truck stop.
The smell of diesel. Hoses and pipes – perhaps pipes reminded him of trucks being refuelled?
If the man moves their black irrigation pipe Holden panics. He shakes all over, rolls on his back and pees himself. When they start the water pump he goes ballistic and attacks the it. He react as soon as the man walks in the direction of the pump.
He has big fears when he’s in their ute. It’s not actually of being in the vehicle but of things that happen outside it.
Things brushing against the ute as they drive past
Holden panics if anything touches the side like a tree branch or bush. He is terrified of travelling roads that are overhung by trees. They live in a bushy area and even their driveway is lined with gum trees.
Due to his early life, Holden is conditioned to be scared of certain things. He now needs some serious counter-conditioning.
Trigger stacking
Fears and arousal build up. When he bit the diesel-smelling trucker it will have been near the end of his visit. Various things had been happening, probably from the start of the day. As he ate, Holden had been on the couch, still, watching him.
The final straw was when the man stood up and approached the lady holding his plate. The dog sprang at him and bit him.
It’s not about changing what he does. It’s about changing how he feels.
We looked at things one at a time.
We start working with each thing at a level or distance he can cope, and from there make good things happen.
Examples of things to work on:
Smell of diesel
Pipes and pump
Pulling a chord to start the pump ‘he just goes mad’: As soon as he sees the man walking towards the pump he starts barking. So now lace the area while Holden is somewhere else. When he next goes near to the pump he finds food!
The man can then wander around, not too close to the pump. Each time the dog looks at it, ‘yes’ and feed. If he barks he needs to increase distance. Soon he can stand still near the pump, then later just touching the pump, feeding the dog all the time.
Trees and branches
The trees: start by slowly driving down tree lined roads, being careful not to touch the truck. Then brushing past twigs, branches or bushes using the ‘yes’ and the feeding technique. This could take time.
On days when he’s not been too aroused it will work a lot better.
Passing trucks
He’s calmer in his cage in the back of the ute, so that’s where they will start working. Initially at a distance from the road. Then gradually get nearer….. always having the trucks triggering food.
The trucker visitor
If he visits again, they have work to do.
They will work on the smell of diesel on clothes, desensitise to the man himself and use management. This will probably be to have Holden tied to his waist all the time. They must be kind, encouraging and use food.
Critters
They have little birds and bats actually in the house that get him very worked up. Also a marsupial mice called an antichinus that he wants to hunt out (I’ve never heard of that before). Too much arousal like this won’t help their end goal of decreasing Holden’s fears.
I suggest they try the ball – he sees the bat, bird or goes after an animal, they immediately roll him a ball to chase instead.
They usually accompany him beyond their closed veranda. They don’t want him chasing rounding up the kangaroos or harassing koalas. If he sees a wallaby they may have trouble getting him back!
What a great life he now has with plenty of space and love. Perhaps he needs a job to do.
