Horsefeathers! Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 Some of you remember that Pauly was having some "issues." He was a bit fearful and reacted aggressively to that fear. We've done a lotta lotta lotta work on "desensitizing" him to any triggers we can think of. Like when my ankle was broken, I worked a lot by poking, pushing, and "whacking" Pauly with the crutches as a game so that when it undoubtedly was going to happen that I accidentally whacked him with one (being so graceful on those crutches and all), Pauly wouldn't react by trying to eat me up. I'm glad I had the foresight to do that because I did indeed nail him with crutches several times and he didn't even seem to notice. Pauly is a different dog than he was even a year ago. I can lunge at him, raise my hands up over him in a "threatening" gesture, wave "threatening" objects at him and all sorts of other things that used to trigger bouts of fearful aggression. We've made these things "fun" so he isn't afraid, anymore, therefore he no longer lashes out. I'm surprised my neighbors haven't called animal control on me because it must look horrible, some of the things I do to Pauly. I mean, we've worked him out pretty good in an effort to desensitize him. The latest thing has been whacking him with a belt. He LOVES it. It's like "hey, that makes my butt feel all tingly... do it again!" We constantly work at making him feel that NO object is a threat to him and showing him he has nothing to fear. It's really working because I swear I could club him over the head with a baseball bat and, if it didn't knock him out, he'd come up laughing as long as I was smiling and "playing." Disclaimer: we have no intention of clubbing Pauly over the head with a baseball bat. One thing still bugs the crap out of him, though. Our grill. It's just a little gas powered grill, but he HATES it. Reckon he was run down by grills much in a past life? :-? We can push a bicycle past him, nothing. Any other object and he doesn't care. As soon as my husband gets this grill from our storage room and rolls it through the house to outside, Pauly goes into a frenzy and attacks it. I believe he means it. :o I reckon we'll work on desensitizing Pauly to a freakin' grill (what, pick it up and whack him with it? *snort*), but that sounds funny just in itself. A grill? He doesn't chase anything else on wheels that I've seen. :-? [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0YQANA14fezPb0rpcrDDOrOufmPnJXnT4oHPtaDGVr95tU1EBq6BaxgSDxmY1Z6p1K*HNETQmJkqNGy2ci6BmzZxA69AV3QU02*O68wmkvHNdw42r5bPWzePU64ckneXWvenQtTnKquXXnKuXQdsBUw/Pauly%20grill.jpg?dc=4675518976476838644[/img] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lokipups Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 [quote]The latest thing has been whacking him with a belt. He LOVES it. It's like "hey, that makes my butt feel all tingly... do it again!"[/quote] I don't think there's anything wrong with Pauly, he's just into S&M :lol: . Since you can't whack him over the noggin with the grill, does he like peanut butter? If he does, put a schmear or two of it on the grill (which I'm sure will just thrill your husband :P ), right on the front of it. See if that will help him make friends with the mean ol' nasty appliance :wink: . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kendalyn Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 It sounds like you guys have really come a long way with Pauly! Good for you :-) It's weird about the grill though. Maybe he's upset because he smells yummy things cooking on it and doesn't get any? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xavierandrea Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 It's great to hear that Pauly had came a long way.. ( even if he likes his butt wacked with a belt..) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen Bitch Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 Maybe this is Pauly's way of telling you that he is really interested in a raw diet? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crystal Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 I also thougth maybe it had to do with the smell of the grill. He knows there has been good food on that thing, he can smell it. He is attacking the grill in hopes that it will drop whatever that smell is so he can gobble it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtnek Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 that, or possibly he doesnt like the smell of the gas...their noses aremuch more sensitive than ours..he was a rescue right? maybe he remembers something bad about a grill, or the gas smell.... :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsefeathers! Posted April 21, 2005 Author Share Posted April 21, 2005 Loki, my husband letting Pauly lick peanut butter from his beloved grill is about as likely to happen as a Lawrence Welk spot in the Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame. He doesn't even let ME touch his grill (or kitchen, for that matter). :oops: It has to do with the grill actually moving. If my husband parks it anywhere in the house and leaves it, Pauly pays it no attention. The moment that grill moves, Pauly goes nuts. Makes you wonder what goes through that dog's head. [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0XAAAACYeCbw7l5zUo6ZUSodcJtv7RaJ7B*1ZKPgMc3!ZrUctbI4NtNSok*mq9i*kZ5OpMPWw202gAGBhXtX43r85P0VNxb2UDxjnrpZ29v6Fc2pH0Vu*3nRK9I9ZAAMQ7xxkDWy6I4g/crazyguy.gif?dc=4675403379470483734[/img] Corrie, a raw diet? So he's bitching at us for cooking the meat? :P I wondered if it might have something to do with the smell, but since he doesn't even seem interested in it unless it's moving, I just don't know what his problem is. When he goes after it, he generally seems to go directly for the tires. :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 Does he do the same thing around a stroller/wheelchair?? (Four wheels) It's possible the last person might've had a toddler or something and use to push the stoller into his legs. Or any other sort of 4 wheeled thing. My brother has a wheelchair and once he starts going on his own, he doesn't care what he runs into and it hurts getting hit in the back of the legs by one. Maybe you could find a neighbor or something that rides in a wheelchair and ask to take pauly for a walk next to them. I don't suggest a muzzle, but in case the dog freaks out the Halti works great cause if you see him going for the wheels and wanting to attack, you could just yank up on the leash and it will close his mouth immediatly. Or ask a neighbor to borrow a stoller and put one of his favorite toys in it to go for a walk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nadooshkinz Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 [quote name='Mei-Mei']Or maybe it's because the grill has four 'legs?' Could he think that the grill is some kind of dangerous metal beasty? :-?[/quote] Makes sense to me, especially since he barks when it moves, and the fact that it has food on it too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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