Need Help with a Rescued Dog Please!

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#1
I am new to the forum and am glad I found all of you. I will need to share my story and hope to get some feedback. I was unsure of what area to post in as this situation involves several issues.

A few days ago, a precious little hound dog showed up at our house. We fed him, looked for his owner to no avail. The dog is afraid of people, so we didn't push him, but he finally got to where if we sat down about a foot from his bowl, he would eat and we would talk to him.

Yesterday I went outside to tell our trash man to be careful when entering the fence to dump the trash as we didn't want the dog to run off. Well, the trash man was next door and called me over. There was our dog jumping all over him and licking him. The happiest I've seen him. I asked if it was his dog and he replied yes. He said he "got lost" when they were hunting 3 weeks ago and I found it very odd that the dog made it across a busy highway and to our house. After speaking with the man a bit I learned he didn't want the dog, in fact, he said he was going to let him go in the woods! I understand some hunters around here do that so they don't have to continue feeding the dogs. I also noticed that the dog had been shot in the neck twice. The owner advised me he wasn't in pain, or he would be yelping. At this point I was getting angry. I asked if he had ever had any vet care to which he replied no. I told him we would gladly take the dog and give him a new home. We were able to pick him up and he's at the vet now. He has heartworms which we are having the vet treat, they bathed him and treated him for hookworms and thank God, he will recover from the gunshot wounds. They will neuter him after heartworms are gone. I must say I was sickened when I saw that dog jumping all over his owner, so happy to see him, then the owner just turn him away. I'm hoping he makes it through the heartworm treatment as we have gotten very attached to him in only 3 days. I'm an animal lover. I love animals of all kinds. I just for the life of me can't understand how someone could be so cruel. We have reported him to the vet and the local authorities. Ok, now for my questions. Obviously this dog has never had toys, loving care, etc. I'm making a list of things to get for him as he will be an outside dog (we have over an acre fenced) as I'm sure being a hunting dog, will not be happy indoors. We're getting him a nice dog house and will put it on our back covered porch. I know nothing about hound dogs. Do they play with toys? I know the basics he will need, but really want to give this poor baby a happy life. My feelings are the gunshot wounds were inflicted by the dogs owner, then to see that little dog just run up to the owner with no ill feelings just broke my heart. I can't save all animals, but hopefully this one we can. I was told he's a Blue Tick Beagle. Does anyone know? Thanks for letting me vent!

 
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j0equ1nn

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#2
Hi, I'm surprised nobody has gotten back to you. Maybe if you were more specific with your issues? I took in a dog about a month ago and have found this forum really helpful. I am not a dog trainer, just someone who has trained dogs who is still learning some things. But for one thing, I'm pretty sure all dogs like playing with toys (at least, I don't think there's a particular breed who doesn't). With my dog I found that he gets kind of crazy if he's given anything made from animal parts. This includes bones, rawhide, pig ears. I'd also tried feeding him some raw meat that comes frozen at the pet store and it as well made him nervous and aggressive. I'm learning, from this forum as well as from my experience with my dog, that the best way to deal with a dog who has a shady past and gets nervous around people, is just a lot of positive reinforcement. The only discipline he really needs most of the time is to just be told not to do something, or maybe ignored, never yelled at. It's good to give him treats a lot at times when he might be uncomfortable, in a non-confrontational way - you can just toss them toward him. But really I'm no expect, I just noticed that nobody had responded to you and I thought that was weird, so figured I'd give it a shot.
 
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#3
Hi!
He sure looks like a beagle. What an awful story. I hope that he has settled in some by now.
The most wonderful thing about dogs is that they live in the moment. I'm sure by now he looks to you as his family.
Many hunters don't allow their dogs toys. It builds prey drive and they don't want the dog to kill the prey like they would "kill" the toy. (or so they say). I train but not for hunting.
Beagles are not retrievers per say. But I have worked with plenty of hunting dogs turned pets. The biggest concern would be training to build a better relationship with him and being sure that he is secure in your yard. He will wonder.
So let us know! How is he doing?

Lisa
 

~Tucker&Me~

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#4
I'm learning, from this forum as well as from my experience with my dog, that the best way to deal with a dog who has a shady past and gets nervous around people, is just a lot of positive reinforcement.
I agree with this :)

Also, just because he was previously a hunting dog doesn't mean he cannot learn to live in a house and ENJOY living in a house. Before you make the decision to keep him outside, I encourage you to try to help him adjust to living in your home. The members here would probably be happy to give you advice about how to do this if you have questions.

Since he is on the nervous side, j0equ1nn hit the nail on the head - this dog needs lots of positive interactions with you. Don't push him if he is uncomfortable, but reward reward reward when he does something 'brave' like greeting a new person or approaching you guys for petting. Also be careful not to baby-talk or coddle him when he is acting fearful because the last thing you want to do is reinforce his anxious behaviour. In a situation where he is nervous, make sure he isn't being pushed to do something he doesn't want to do and be mindful of YOUR behaviour. Make sure you act calmly and confidently, because you want this dog to see that you don't think there is anything to worry about. If he is doing something you don't like (chewing an inappropriate item, digging, barking, etc.), I would encourage you to divert his attention rather than punish him. We want to teach this dog that you are really fun and awesome to be around, not the person who dishes out punishment. Also, since he is so nervous, punishing him could make his anxiety worse. REDIRECTING this dog's attention and rewarding an alternate, preferred behaviour is going to be key. The idea behind redirecting is that instead of saying "no" and telling the dog what he is doing is bad and that you are threatening him, we want to get his attention (I make a clicking sound with my tongue) and essentially say "nice try but I want you to do this instead" by providing him with an alternative behaviour he can do, for example, giving him a food-stuffed kong to chew on.

Honestly, the best thing I think you can do to improve the relationship between you and this dog is to give clicker training a try. It really does wonders for building a great relationship and challenges the dog to think in a non-confrontational, fun way. I clicker trained an anxiety-prone foster dog a while back and it did wonders for his confidence.

You are a kind person for taking this poor guy in, and I bet you will have a friend for life out of it :)
 

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