A Forever Home for Nicky

Hard to believe this cute little dog could have fear aggression. I knew when I adopted Nicky he had trust issue's. He was abandoned, severely neglected and judging by his behavior, abused as well. He was curious about humans but if a person moved to fast to pet him, he would lunge at them. Some people he took to right away, more so men than women, and some he didn't like at all. He also has this talking growl that tends to make people nervous. In those cases, I would tell them not to pet him.

Shortly after he came home with me I tried to clean his ears. Karen at animal control had tried but barely avoided getting bit. I did get bit on more than one occasion. Nicky acted like he had never been taken care of in any way. I had to muzzle him to dry him off with a towel when it rained. If I had anything in my hands at all and went near him he would start growling at me, that included food. If I had to pick him up, he growled. Sometimes taking him out before bed was a challenge. He would give me this crazy look and growl at me. As his coat started growing out he wouldn't even let me use a brush on him. One day I got a call at work from my Dad. He was furious, he had stopped at my house and when he went up to Nicky to pet him, Nicky jumped up and bit my Dad on his thumb and drew blood. Oh.. was my Dad pissed. He told me Nicky was dangerous and that he would rip my throat out in the middle of the night. That was dumb, but it planted doubts about Nicky's stability in my mind. Not that I would have ever given him up. By this time in spite of his aggression problems we were bonded and he obviously loved me and I loved him. He had many great qualities. Love just wasn't going to be enough to win him over.

I started doing my research on the internet about his many problems. I bought training books and tried several different things and I didn't seem to get anywhere. I tried that positive training thing but I could not use food because he had food aggression also. I was doing everything wrong, and going in too many different directions.

Then one day I saw a TV commercial for "The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan" and I thought, well, I'll have to check this out. I started watching the show and the light bulb went on. I was the one who needed the training and Nicky needed to be rehabilitated. Yeah...things were finally making sense to me and I knew there was hope of change. I started seeing things through his eyes.

Today I couldn't ask for a better dog than Nicky. I respect him and he respects me. I not only clean his ears, I bath him and give him his haircuts. He will come right up to me when I need to brush him. I even got him to love it when I use the hair dryer on him. I can even clip his nails. He never growls at me anymore. He still has issue's with stranger's but I have learned to read him and I can tell when he wants to get to know someone and when he doesn't. People who want to pet Nicky have to follow the rules. No look, no touch, no talk. That is what makes Nicky more comfortable. He is such a little guy, who knows how long he had to fend for himself. Of course, he defended himself against anything or anyone who he felt threatened him. By being his leader I have taken a lot of weight off his shoulders and he is a happier pooch. Now I am able to use a lot of training methods with him. He may never be perfect but neither will I. We are both a work in progress. My experiences with Nicky have made me love animals even more than I already did.

It took about a year but my Dad now pets Nicky.