NICK’S Story: p4p Humanitarians Helping Dogs with Assistance from The Dog Wizard

NICK

Do you guys remember the crazy German Shepherd that was attached to my shoulders in a “save me” hug at the Bark ‘N Bubbles Fundraiser back in October? You know, the one whose name is NICK that I have to admit is mine? Well, in November NICK wrote his own own ticket to The Dog Wizard in Charlotte, NC. He did not pass “Go” and he did not collect $200. What did he do? He mortified his humans.

Over Thanksgiving, Mark and I packed up the four-legged boys and took a time-out in Seabrook Island, SC.  The Island has a great Dog Beach and everyone there is dog friendly.  When you walk down the beach, you usually meet the dog first, and then the dog introduces you to their human.  We had a great week; NICK and MAX played tons of Frisbee, we took long walks on the beach, both on and off-leash, and we met tons of dog-friendly people, which was really great, especially for NICK.  

One of our last evenings there, we were playing Frisbee on the beach.  It was one of those crisp, cool, clear, windy evenings on the beach. The sun was setting and the beachcombers were taking their evening walks.  MAX and NICK were totally preoccupied with running and splashing into the ocean to retrieve their prized floppy discs until a tall man with a hat, glasses, a poofy windbreaker, and poofy pants came walking down the beach.  He and his wife walked past us about 20 ft up the beach.

 NICK’S eye caught the guy and what that dog saw, he did not like.  It was like a light switch went off in his brain.  NICK took off like a lightening bolt after the guy and my heart started racing.  I called after him, “NICK, COME!” He came back to me and rolled over on his back AFTER he ripped the guy’s pant’s leg and scared the living you know what out of him.  

Meanwhile, MAX, ever the comic relief, ran up to the man and tried his best to give him kisses.  It was like we had Jekyll and Hyde on the beach with us.  I don’t think the man knew what hit him and I cannot even begin to describe how quickly that switch clicked in NICK’S head.  The man was so scared that all he could say was “These are my favorite pants!” The entire episode happened in a blink.  My dog had a flashback and he was reacting to a situation in a very aggressive manner.  All I could think, was “Oh my gosh, we are going to have to put him down if we don’t fix this; it’s just a matter of time before he does some damage”. I cried for 12 hours, at least. We were extremely fortunate that this gentleman and his wife were dog lovers; they we the most understanding people in the entire world at that moment.  We got the guy’s address and sent him 3 pairs of pants!

NICK is a rescue; we took him in on Valentine’s Day 3 years ago.  My friend called me and told me that she found a Shepherd roaming around on her property.  Her neighbors were scared of him; one of the neighbors had even threatened to shoot him if he came back around his property.  My friend’s husband is very allergic to dogs so she could not keep him; she couldn’t even put him in her car.  Mark and I had no intention of having a third dog, but we agreed to pick this Shepherd up to see if we could find out where he came from.  My friend had gotten him to come into her back yard and she found the courage to give him a hot dog.  Well, that kept him around until we arrived at her house.  When we met NICK, he rolled over and tinkled on me.  He was emaciated; he had tons of tar in his coat; he was filthy; and he was terrified.  He had been traveling back and forth to my friend’s house for about 2 weeks.  

Needless to say, we took him with us.  We drove by the shelter to see if anyone had placed a missing dog report and we drove by the veterinarian to see if he had a microchip, but we came up empty handed.  Surely someone was looking for the little guy; he was gorgeous underneath all of that dirt.  So, we took him home and gave him a bath.  My “sweet”,  7- and 8-year old Golden Retrievers didn’t really know what to make of this skinny little dog with the funny looking ears. 

NICK paced and “talked” to us for 36 hours.  We called German Shepherd Rescue and asked them about the behavior because we were clueless; we were Golden Retriever “people”! I remember thinking, “What do we do with it?” We learned that this was “normal” behavior for a Shepherd, especially one who was scared out of his wits.  I remember talking to a very nice lady from Shepherd Rescue on the phone and I clearly remember her laughing and saying that we would fall in love with him over the weekend. She couldn’t have been more “right on” with that statement. I fell head over heels in love with him; we both did.  He was a scared little guy who needed to be loved; his eyes told his entire story; he was beaten….physically and emotionally.  On Monday morning, I called the nice lady from Shepherd Rescue and told her that we would be keeping him.  Our Valentine’s Day Rescue had us; hook, line, and sinker.    

SAM and NICK

We took NICK to Obedience classes; he was super smart but he was really scared of people and dogs.  He gained confidence around our younger Golden, SAM.  NICK loved SAM because SAM would play with him and because SAM was the most confident dog in the world.  And, then, SAM died.  We lost him to leukemia in June 2011.  NICK was, once again, terrified.  The first wacky thing he did? He urinated on a mattress the day SAM died.  He would pee and poop in the house because he was too scared to go out of the dog door by himself.  He had always followed SAM. He started spending time in a closet in the basement; he was grieving and he was scared.  

We started noticing changes in his behavior immediately.  He had always been a little territorial but after SAM died, NICK took “territorial” to a new level.  The only places he truly felt safe were “his” home and “his” cars so those places became extremely important to him.  It was as if NICK had 2 completely different personalities.  With us, he was this lovable, cuddly, loyal companion who we continued to see as a scared, beaten, rescue, but, with strangers who approached his property, he was like a little “Devil Dog”.  Our postman thought he was going to come through the sliding glass door; the guys who help us with the lawn would jump the fence if NICK came running out before I had a chance to close the dog door; and the UPS guy started throwing packages from the sidewalk to the front porch.  Who could blame him? Up until our trip to Seabrook, NICK had only displayed the “Devil Dog” behaviors on his own property; never out in public.  When we took him to PetSmart, or to Obedience classes, or even on the trail for a walk, he would shake in his own skin.  I think this is why “the incident” took us by surprise; we were no where near our home.

The Dog Wizard dog training school in Charlotte, NC offered us another tool, in terms of helping us gain confidence in our handling skills and NICK’S obedience skills, and, much to our surprise, to help NICK gain his own confidence.  We had attempted to train NICK with positive reinforcement techniques, but when he was scared, he could not hear us at all.  His adrenaline would get the best of him and he would get caught in his own mind.  

NICK'S First Outing in Charlotte

During our first visit to The Dog Wizard dog training school, NICK was assessed by a group of trainers.  It was like being at a teaching hospital; they had interns! The head trainer, Jake, sat down with us and we had a very long discussion about NICK and his behaviors.  Jake was actually excited about training our dog.  In fact, we learned that Jake “loves” training dogs who react aggressively to scary situations.  We decided that NICK had a really good heart, but his brain was a “hot mess”.  Of course, this assessment reminded me of some of my favorite paws4vets clients; you know who you are! Our sweet boy had his own doggie PTSD.  We have no idea what happened to NICK during his first year of life. Sometimes I wish that he could tell me what happened to him and other times, I am grateful that I do not know the details.  All I know, is that whatever happened to NICK during his first year, haunts him.  

We took NICK into the training facility at The Dog Wizard after our lengthy discussion while Jake continued to assure us that there was hope for our dog. The training facility in Charlotte is amazing.  We watched NICK interact with the other trainers and their dogs.  I was totally holding my breath; I really didn’t know how he would react. Introductions went better than I thought they would. NICK curled his lip up when meeting a couple of the dogs, but Jake said that he was just letting the other dogs know that he was nervous and to back off.  He did really well with all of the trainers.  We got a tour of the facility as we continued our conversation about NICK’S idiosyncrasies.  Jake continued to assure us that NICK was trainable.  NICK would be living with Jake, his fiancee, and their 2 female black Labs for 2 weeks and with 2 of the other male trainers and their dogs for 1 week. I made Jake promise me to tell his fiancee not to leave her shoes out. I apologized in advance for any damage he might cause and I said a little prayer for all of the dogs that NICK would be living with.  He was unpredictable.  When we left NICK that day, he jumped, and pawed, and paced, and nipped at us to stay.  He cried and started “talking”.  I felt so sad leaving him  but I knew that it was for his own good.  

That night, Jake called us with an update.  He also had a question for us, “Can NICK sleep in the bed?” We replied with a photo of our spoiled German Shepherd sprawled across our bed with a text that stated that we had no problem with that.  It was very comforting to know that he was settling in for the night, albeit scared.  Over the course of the next 3 weeks, NICK was trained on a remote training collar.  He learned commands that would save him from himself; “HERE”, “KENNEL”, “OFF”, “SIT”, “DOWN”, and “HEEL”.  I am ecstatic to report that, today, he is able to execute those commands in any given situation 110% of the time.  NICK went to and from work with his trainers, he gained confidence from their well-adjusted dogs, and he practiced 24/7.  He gained confidence in himself when he performed a command correctly.  He was praised by his trainers. They took him to the Epicenter in downtown Charlotte, various stores, parks, and trails.  This was his desensitization training.

Electrical stimulation delivered through the remote training collar is intended to distract the dog by delivering an unpleasant but harmless electrical sensation.  I held the collar in my hand and zapped myself. On a lower setting, the impulse feels like e-stim that I receive on my back in the physical therapist’s office; not bad.  On the higher setting, the impulse is unpleasant, but it doesn’t hurt.  The premise of an electronic collar is that the stimulation serves as a distraction that NICK will find undesirable. By obeying obedience commands or by stopping an undesired behavior, he quickly learned to avoid the unpleasant stimulus.  So, I have to look at it like this; NICK has a choice to do the right thing and, fortunately, NICK is choosing wisely.   The remote trainer is another tool in a dog trainer’s tool box.  Dogs are not cut from the same mold and they most certainly have different experiences throughout their life that shape their view of the world.  I can tell you that NICK is a happier dog; he is more confident, and I am more confident in my handling skills after our experience at The Dog Wizard.  When we picked him up, Jake had NICK in a “SIT/STAY” on top of a noisy air conditioner and he didn’t budge until Jake called him, even with mom and dad in the room.  When he was released from his “SIT”, NICK showed us that he had made both human and canine friends during his time in Charlotte.  He was so happy and he was so well-adjusted.  We took a different dog home with us.  I am telling you guys about The Dog Wizard because paws4people is in the process of forming a partnership with them.  I think that this “marriage” of training techniques will benefit so many humans and dogs.  Everyone’s tool box will be enhanced.  paws4people trainers will learn about remote training collar techniques and The Dog Wizard trainers will learn all about positive reinforcement techniques and everything in between.  For those of us who come from a positive reinforcement background, the remote trainer can be a difficult “sell” for us, but I have to say that the results speak for themselves.  

I took NICK to my parent’s house after I picked him up from The Dog Wizard “boot camp”.  They couldn’t get over the difference in his behavior, not to mention his stellar obedience skills as he heeled off-leash in their back yard with the neighborhood dogs barking at him.  I told my dad that I hated pushing the button on the remote training collar when I needed to correct him and my dad totally put the situation into perspective for me.  He said, “Allison, it is better than having to put him down because he bites someone. He is a really lucky dog.”  

NICK Behaving

NICK’S luck did not stop there.  I should have prefaced this post with the fact that we sent NICK to The Dog Wizard because Terry and Kyria had so many great thing to say about the facility and the owners, Gretchen and Jake.  When we got back to Northern Virgina, Terry and I got together for one of our infamous lunch meetings.  I told him that I wanted to “show off” NICK’S skills before we headed into the restaurant. That Terry is always full of surprises.  He posed the question, “Do you have an in-training vest for him?” Terry totally caught me off guard; my draw dropped.  I gathered myself and told him that I would never, ever think of asking him if I could put a p4p vest on NICK, I mean, NICK ripped a guys pants! Terry said, “Well, he hasn’t been after anyone since his training, right?” Once again, I got it together and said, “No, he is a completely different dog.”  We put an in-training vest on NICK that day and marched him into Jasmine Restaurant in Leesburg for our lunch meeting.  That was NICK’S first outing to a restaurant in his life and I have to tell you that he behaved as if he had been going to restaurants for years.  I was pretty giddy.  He did such a beautiful job; I was so proud of him.  The only thing I had trouble with and didn’t really think about was getting him up and leaving the restaurant.  NICK came out from under the table and did a giant shake. Oh my; hair flew everywhere! Oops! Needless to say, I picked up a tip from Terry.

Since our first outing at Jasmine, NICK has been to the Dulles Town Center Mall; he was particularly interested in looking at shoes in Nordstroms. He has made numerous trips to the Leesburg Outlets, Home Depot, PetSmart, and Petco. He has been running off leash in the Smith Mountain Lake State Park this weekend.  Every time I call him, he comes and he is so proud of himself when he does so.  He is still

nervous around crowds of people but he is able to hold “it’ together as long as he is given a command to think about.  Jake told us that he was like a chain smoker……he has no idea what to do with his “hands” when he doesn’t have a cigarette in them so you have to give him something to do; he needs to be told what to do and he likes that. I feel extremely fortunate to be able to take NICK to so many different places with his p4p in-training vest on.

A trip to Home Depot

Terry and Kyria recognize that NICK will only improve with more exposure to different people and places.  How fortunate can one dog be? How fortunate can one human be? Our Mission Statement may state that we Help Humanity with Dogs but when I sit back and think about TAZIE, NICK, and all of the dogs that paws4people has rescued, I can’t help but to think that paws4people is also helping dogs with their humanity (definition: the quality of being humane; kindness; benevolence).  

Look for us in Wilmington; I’m pretty sure that NICK will be one of the only dogs in the room with ears sticking straight up in the air.