Helping a Former Puppy Mill Dog Learn to Trust Human Males

4 year-old Coton de Tulear Bentley is a former puppy mill dog adopted through Little White Dog Rescue in Omaha. His guardians reached out to schedule a dog behavior training session with me to address his habit of growling at the husband. This behavior started a couple of weeks after he settled into his new home.

Working with a Former Puppy Mill Dog

When we arrived for the session, Bentley did not even get up out of the chair he was sitting in away from the door. No barking, no curiosity, nada. When I entered the room and he saw me, he let out a soft growl but didn’t display any confrontational or aggressive body language. This is not an uncommon behavior for a former puppy mill dog.

I sat down on the couch to talk with his new guardians about the situation and understand his daily routine. Normally, I use this time to observe the dog and see how they interact with their guardians. However, during the initial part of the consultation, Bentley stayed still on the chair next to his guardian. He watched quietly without moving.

We went over marker words, hand targeting, some enrichment and exercise tips and the importance of celebrating desired behaviors (petting and giving attention when your dog offers behavor you like – without you asking for them first).

After about 10 minutes, I asked the guardian to place Bentley on the floor to see how he would act so I could get a feel for his self-esteem, energy, and personality. But once he was on the floor, Bentley immediately went into flight mode, scurrying to the far side of the room and hunkering down.

Sadly, former puppy mill dogs spent most of their life in a kennel without positive human interaction. After they’re rescued and rehabilitated, encountering new people can still be overwhelming for them. As a result its importnat you have a lot of patience, give space and exclusivly use positive reinformcement for the behavior modificaiton.

Because Bentley seemed so uncomfortable, I changed my body posture to help him feel more relaxed. I did this by grabbing a seat on the floor, positioning him behind me and on my side. I did this because to our canine friends, a front faceing position is considered confrontational.

I went over some cut off signals as well as some calming signals; these are both ways dogs communicate how they feel to us. I shared a number of tips to help the humans better understand what Bentley is saying and feeling. This is important when you have a dog who is fearful about interactions, noises, etc. Helping people understand cut off and calming signals can go a long ways when you want to help a former puppy mill dog.

If you are looking for more information on the Calming Signals dogs use that I referenced in the above video, I recommend Turid Rugaas’ Book; On Talking Terms with Dogs – Calming Signals.

Former Puppy Mill Dog Behavior Problems

As we kept discussing the situation, I began to consider that Bentley might be feeling confused. His growling wasn’t constant, but his tendency to flee suggested he may have a negative perception of men, possibly due to past negative experiences with a male at the puppy mill. I knew I needed to show them how to teach your dog to get over fears and phobias.

The family member that Bentley liked to occasionally growl at had been attempting to do a number of things to bond with the dog. Several of them were things that I would recommend, however there were a few minor adjustments that were needed to them. I shared a number of tips that positive dog trainers like me prefer to use.

First off, I advised the guardian to avoid looking at, trying to engage or pet the dog. If a dog is in a fearful state or has a negative perception of you, the best thing you can do is ignore them completely. The more you try to interact with them before they trusts you, the more exasperated the situation becomes.

When you are training your dog, you need to watch for signals the dog is uncomfortable like avoiding eye contact, not engaging, stiff body, hunched over posture, etc. I have found a dog learns when these signals dont work, they can offer fearful and aggressive behaviors like growling, nipping and excessive barking.

If the guardian continues to ignore the dog and stops trying to engage with him, this will help Bentley to start to feel more comfortable around him. Once the dog feels like the human is not interested in him, there should be a reduction in the engagement of his flight response.

After a few minutes, Bentley realized that the guardian wasn’t attempting to touch or engage with him. As he reached this understanding, his body visibly relaxed, and he eventually even laid down calmly at the guardian’s feet. Helping a dog feel relaxed and comfortable are important factors when training your dog.

Simply spending time near this guardian in a similar fashion will help Bentley develop trust. After all, the human isn’t doing anything to the dog and nothing bad is happening. Eventually this will lead to Bentley relaxing more and more until he no longer feels the need to flee.

How to Rehabilitate a Former Puppy Mill Dog

In additon to giving space, there are many other ways to hep fearful dogs. I like to use treats. Obviously most dogs like treats, but if a dog wont eat a treat you know they like, this can help us recognize the dog is in a situation, that is more than the dog can handle. When this happens, I try to make things easier by slowing down the speed, increasing distance or turning down the volume. Sometime I do a combination.

An exercise I love to use with fearful dogs is a simple engagement game. To do this, you need some treats you know the dog likes, an environment the dog feels comfortable in and a human who will listen and take instruction. If your helper pushes to far, even if they mean well, it can cause setbacks. So when working with a fearful dog, always work with people who will listen and comply with your direction.

I had the guardian sit on the floor and watch Bentley. As soon as he looked at the human, I had the guardian toss a treat slightly behind and to the side of Bentley. Bently turned around and went to go grab the treat. After he got it he sniffed around for more for a minute, then turned to look back at the guardian.

As soon as Bentley looked at him, I had the guardian say the marker word, then toss the treat to the other side and behind Bentley. We practiced this engagment game for 2 minutes and after the first few tosses, Bentley was approaching the guardian in between each toss.

I love using this game for scared and fearful former puppy mill dogs.  The toss behind it creates space which can help the dog feel more relaxed. Then the dog realizes they moved away from the person tossing the treat. After a number of reps, most fearful dogs start moving closer to the person – on thier own! The own their own part is a super important part of the exercise.

We arent luring the scared dog to come closer, in fact by tossingthe treats behind them, we are doing the opposite. Giving the dog the opportunity to choose to move in closer. It takes time and practice, but after a few minutes, Bentley was moving closer and clser to the human he had been growling at for months.

I recommend that the husband practice this game with Bentley in a similar fashion at least twice a day. Once Bentley has practiced a few times, I recommended they practice in different locations.

We chatted about this a bit and during that conversaiotn, Bentley sat down on the floor in between us and relaxed on his own!!

When you rehabilitate abused dogs or those with lower self-esteem, it’s a series of small victories. The fact the Bentley remained in the room with us after the engagement exercise was a huge step.

Practicing these positive dog training exercises combined with the techniques that we went over and the guardian ignoring Bentley should help him stop self isolating. Instead he will start forming a positive association with the guardian he is scared of. Once that happens, I’m guessing these two will become pretty tight buddies.

Remember to be patient with your furry friend, especially considering their unique behaviors stemming from their background in puppy mills. Dogs from these environments may have special needs and display behaviors distinct from other dogs due to limited socialization and a challenging past.

With patience and affection, former puppy mill dogs can heal emotionally and gain confidence. Effective techniques also include hand feeding, teaching basic skills, slowly introducing leashes, in addition to walking in both familiar and new environments.

You can also offer them chew toys and lick mats as licking and chewing relase the feel good endorphans. Lick mats and chew items like bully sticks, cow ears, kneecaps, tendons, etc can be found at most high end pet stores like our friend at Long Dog Fat Cat.

So make sure to give your former puppy mill dog space, use positive reinforcement often, avoid situations where youd dog is afriad and look for ways of training your dog so your dog learns and develops more confidence.