Diary of a Broken Dog

Jax is a 7 month old border collie who is a ward of the Poweshiek Animal League Shelter. For most of his life he has lived confined in a crate. His previous owners claim that he is hyperactive. He was adopted once for a very short time, and was returned because of aggression and biting - he attacked a veterinarian who then recommended the dog be euthanized. Because of his bite history he was not accepted into a Border Collie Rescue group. At the PALS shelter he tried to bite at least two of the volunteers.

I didn't know any of this when I met Jax. The dog I met was a very sweet, submissive puppy, whom I had to coax out of his crate. When he finally was brave enough to venture out, he sidled up to me nose down, ears pinned back, with his tail brushing the floor between his legs, and rolled over, exposing his belly. On walks he lunged on the leash, tail down, panting, panicking at every sound, every rustle of a leaf, at the sight of cows, at the other dogs. Occasionally he would stop walking, sit, lean against my leg and point his nose toward my face with the most pleading expression in his eyes. I thought, "this is one scared puppy."

When I learned that Jax might be euthanized, I protested. I was not impressed by the pronouncement that a 7 month old border collie is hyperactive. To me, that's redundant. Border collies are one of the most active breeds of dogs, bred for stamina and agility and energy. One source I read described them as "high voltage." And a 7 month old puppy of almost any breed of canine is going to be active both because it is young and because it is canine. If you don't want an active, energetic pet, then don't buy a young dog. Get a turtle.
Or if you just want something that looks cute, then get a frickin' plush toy, but don't force your unrealistic wants on a living being.

As far as being aggressive - I confess I had only dealt with Jax three or four times, but I hadn't seen anything I'd label aggressive. Mark German, Arizona dog whisperer, told me that people are way too quick to label a dog aggressive, and it's unfair to the dog, because many of them end up dead as a result of one person's erroneous opinion. Dogs that look like they're acting aggressively are often in reality trying to defend themselves because they are afraid, he said, and it's up to humans to correct that behavior, to let the dog know it doesn't need to be afraid, that it can depend on a human pack leader for protection. Shelter dogs don't usually have a pack leader - they live in separate quarters, not in a pack, and I suspect many of them often feel threatened by the situation they're in, so they act out. Jax certainly was living in a state of fear. If he was biting, I wondered, could it be because he is afraid and trying to protect himself? I was told that his biting didn't resemble fear-biting, but was unpredictable and "mean".

I was distressed for this pup. He'd had a rough start and was coping in the only way he knew how, and that coping behavior was leading him toward death. On Tuesday, July 29, I took Jax from the shelter and brought him home. Though my skills and education about rehabilitating a damaged dog are limited, I thought I'd give him a chance.

For the next several posts, this blog will consist of a journal about my experiences working with this dog. May we all learn something, and may Jax learn to be whole again.