BehavioRx Case of the Month
for August 2006

Insecurity and Aggression

Greg and Donna rescued a two year old, spayed female Golden Retriever. She is fine with Donna, but has been shy and growly with Greg from the first day home, three months ago. You don't know anything about her behavioral history, except that she was in several foster homes during the 3 months she was with the rescue group. They enrolled in our Diagnostics Program in order to get advice. Both owners stated they were determined to keep "Misty."

During the fact-finding step in the program, we learned that Greg had become "distant" from Misty, ignoring her most of the time, since she growled when her approached or spoke to her. Misty definitely preferred women over men, and would growl and bark at men during her walks or when male visitors arrived at the house. Donna had been trying to reassure Misty when she started to growl or bark, but she only got worse. Donna tried scolding her... with the same negative result.

We explained in step 4 about Misty's apparent feelings of insecurity, which are common in dogs who have lost several homes. In order to gain emotional Leadership for Donna and Greg, we sent them the BehavioRx Instructions which applied to their situation, among which were the techniques to use around the house to build Misty's confidence. Donna was to apply the programs in Overprotective, Shyness, Aggression to Owners until Misty began to warm up to Greg, after which they jointly applied them. They used them all faithfully and Misty responded positively, warming up to Greg, then to visitors. Strangers were the greatest challenge, but noticeable progress is being made after several weeks. The prognosis is excellent.

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