Today we are going to try to just have a Dalton selfie...as he is going to tell everyone a little bit about himself.
Miss Ellen from 15&Meowing had the first post we saw with that theme, so we copied the questions, and Dalton will add his own answers.
1. My name is:Dalton
2. My nickname: WigglyButt, Nutcase; Yoda; Piddly-Diddly; Crazy-Pants; Cuckoo-Head
3.
My breed is: Mixed. Likely a rat terrier and perhaps Dachshund or maybe Chihuahua...who knows!
I am a rescued
pup from Texas...taken in as a stray during Hurricane Harvey, (Maybe that would be a good nickname, too??); rescued again out of that high kill shelter and brought by a caravan of rescue trucks to Michigan, and into a shelter that takes in only rescues. I stayed with that lady and her helpers (and many other doggies and cats), for a few weeks, till there was an adoption event at a local pet shop.
4. My age is:4, I'll be five in August. The vet has me at 6, but the rescue group said I was one when I got to my forever home...maybe I am 6, I have a lot of grey on my schnooter. My birthday was assigned to me as the day I was rescued out of the hurricane, so that was the first day of the rest of my life. (August 20, 2016, though maybe its in 2014...)
5.My
favorite human food: Anything they'll give me...which is hardly ever...I
like bits of crunchy salad items the best, and CHEESE!!
6. My biggest fear: Having to go back to that wet and flooded city in Texas...or to be in a home where there are no ladies. I am VERY fearful of men, even my own unfurbros and Pawppy.
7.
My favorite thing to do: Pester my doggy brofur Benji; romp with him,
or play bitey face; I don't play too much with toys, though if Benji doesn't bother me, I might work at doing some good destuffing! Benji and I play tug of war sometimes, that is fun, and one of the few times I am actually playing. Chewing my nightly dental stick and later a regular Dingo stick.! I bark the
neighbors all the time, esp if Benji alerted me to the need to bark, He-he! I love to try and catch the raiding squirrels, and I know that word, it gets me excited to go out and chase them away!
9. Do I love car rides? Hmmm....nah, not so much, I whine and shake and worry about where we might be going.
10. Do I snore? Nope! (Not yet...)Though I dream a lot and make noises and whimpers sometimes.
11.Where
do I sleep? In a nice firm bolster bed; or in a different 'nest' with Benji. Or on petcretary's chair, behind her as she works on the confuser. I will jump on her lap and then curl up behind her:)
12.
Who is my favorite human: Petcretary, everyone else is barked and snarled at...
I really have some issues...maybe after 101 or 887 years I might feel more secure with all my furmily members. Petcretary and Pawppy thought I was doing a bit better after my first year here, but then we had a home invasion and those two nasty men shouted and kicked at me. Then the police came in loud cars and stomped through our den looking for clues and stuff...and they had a huge German Shepherd...I had to go out in the snow (That was in late November), to mark all the pawprints and footprints of those intruders, even though later pawppy told me those were OK peeps. Sheesh, not to me:(
Since then I have had great fear of just about all men...and I have to be isolated in a different area of the den if there are people here to fix things, or when pawppy had peeps coming to the den after his surgery.
Right now Unfurbro-the-elder has been staying here since pawppy had his surgery in November. He will scritch me when I beg for it, by nudging his leg...but if he stretches or moves, I have to bark/growl him a warning...I don't like it either when he plays with Benji...not sure if I am jealous or just don't like the fact that *that* man is making a lot of movements and noise.
Petcretary has been able to teach me some very basic commands, such as sit, stay and come...but most anything that needs to be 'hands on' is hard to do, since she says I piddle when she touches me. I seem to best outside, and there it doesn't matter if I do a wee-wee! BOL!
Petcretary:
We have been using 5 mg of full spectrum CBD oil for about three weeks, now, but so far it hasn't seemed to make much difference. We have him wearing a thundershirt calming collar, and use a diffuser with doggy specific calming essential oils...and calming chew tabs as well...after ten days?? No changes...
He goes ballistic if my son is shoveling the walks and even if he moves around in the house. He hates hubby's cane, though its been around since August. He even has his hackles up and would bite if he could get close enough...he has bitten hubby and son (s) over the years he's been here, the last time was at Christmastime.
Sometimes he will bark and then run out into the backporch and stand there shaking and barking nonstop for 30-45 minutes. He is so deranged.
If I pick him up for almost any reason, he 'freezes'. Even when we are outside.
Dalton truly is a mystery when it comes to his fear issues. I may need to have the vet prescribe medication, though that for sure is not the way I want to go, but it may be the only way to help this poor messed up pup.
Maybe he need a session with the Dog Whisperer, or Victoria, the other famous dog behaviorist.
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| I love being outside, I am way less fearful in the big open space of our yard. |
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| It was fun to destuff my big blue woofie, BOL! |
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| Thinking and thinking some more... |
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| Hey, yoiu need to cut the grass around here, BOL! |
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| Dalton, my happy relaxed face selfie! |
But when he's happy, he smiles!! Go figure! He dances and jumps like a pogo stick, and his little tail about wiggles right off! We all sure wish he could be that way more often.This mostly happens at meal and treat time, which is when we try to teach him some things. He can jump over my legs, go through them when they are up to make a 'tunnel' and he will also then jump into my lap to get the treat. But not for anyone else...go figure. Pawppy is the main foodbowl dispenser...but it seems that only matters at *that* moment...
Oh well, we love him and will not give up trying to help him become the pup he should truly be. He needs to learn to be happy and to have confidence and trust, at least of his own peeps.
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| Petcretary was one of three first commenters at Teddy's Tuesday Teaser. So this was her badge as a reward. |
But while she got the right place she wasn't first...close but no cigar!! LOL!
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| Dalton is in the Sunday Selfies Blog hop! The Kitties Blue are the hosts and we love them all, and esp we love that they do this each and every week! |
Poor Dalton has been through so much. Too bad he can't explain how to help him - that's the problem with us pets and our humans - the language barrier. I'm glad you are doing all you can for him.
ReplyDeleteSummer made a great comment.
ReplyDeleteI also wish Dalton could realize that he is in a safe place.
He is lucky that you are taking such good care of him :)
Purrs, Julie
Dalton, we're sure there is a really big heart inside of you and hope the day will come when you'll feel less fear from the world around you and open up that heart to all the caring and love that is just waiting to come inside and fill you up! It's so hard when life started out hard, but if you put one little paw forward each day, with the help of your amazing Petcretary, maybe that new day will come for you ... we pray so.
ReplyDeleteI think a dog whisperer may be able to help Dalton. I was always quite sceptical until we had one come out for a horse we had at livery with us. That horse wanted to kill anyone who came near it and that is no exaggeration. She made a visit, communicated with the horse and asked me to keep notes of what the horse was letting her know and prescribed different herbs. She ran her hands above his body and even though she didn't touch him you could see him relax. Within 2 weeks you could see a difference, and after a month he was a totally different horse. We had her out for other horses for various reasons over the years and she was always successful. Of course you get charlatans too, but she really did have the gift.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to hear all about you, Dalton.
Sweet Dalton, we're sending calming purrs and pawsitives your way.
ReplyDeleteHi Dalton! We loved reading about you! Yes, Dogs can have issues. Cinnamon is very fearful. And she can be fear aggressive. This is difficult if she is off leash and a strange dog (or person) comes down the street. She is also afraid of small children! Walking her when I was living in Vancouver extremely difficult. We will purray for Dalton! May you and yours today be filled with fun!
ReplyDeleteDalton we sure figured you would have relaxed by now but goodness. We would suggest medication. We tried everything with Einstein being aggressive and spraying and finally had to give in. It worked a Lot. Now we have him off it for a few months but he is starting to rev up again so will go back on for a while. We dont want this as a continuous thing but something that helps. Hope something helps you little woofie
ReplyDeleteSome times an abused animal can take a while to stabilise eh? I knw our Harvey took years to decided that Paul was safe and worthy of his love but he did!
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to learn more about you, Dalton. We sure wish you could learn to trust the men in your life though. It sounds like some medication and advice from a behavior vet would be helpful.
ReplyDelete[Mommy writing] I was also going to encourage you to consult a behaviorist, before turning to medications. They really can work wonders in many cases. He really does look like a happy dog when he's feeling safe!
ReplyDeletewe don't like men either, da Phenny shredded da nose of our dad as he was two days in our crib ;O) but meanwhile we decided to slow down and men with dogs are allowed... that's a progress, right? ;O)
ReplyDeletedood....we N joyed reedin bout ewe; we troo lee dinna noe ewe waza harvey rezcue....may bee thatz wear sum oh yur izzuez with stuff....started.... we iz sorree we canna offer any "help" but may bee thiz info page will offer sum tipz ??
ReplyDeletehttps://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/treating-dog-anxiety/
pea ezz...yur selfeez bee awesum bye de way :) ♥♥
Thanks, I will check that out.
DeleteWe enjoyed learning more about you, Dalton. It looks like you lived so many things, too much things for a little dog maybe. We're glad your humans love you anyway and are doing all they can for you. Purrs
ReplyDeleteAww, Dalton is a real cutie. Having a puppy mill dog who was basically feral when I adopted her with no socialization the good life can be hard on their tender souls. They just don't know better. It sounds like you're doing all the right things (btw, CBD takes some time and trial and error to get the dosage right for change-especially lots of time). Have you tried Bachs Remedy? Sometimes that has helped Elsa feel better. I just know she responds to loving patience and really tries to be better. Too bad they can't tell us what would make them feel more at ease and confident. Keep up the good work-he looks like such a terrific dog. Hurricane Harvey damaged far more than just property-so many dogs and people who lived through it have struggled with life.
ReplyDeleteAwww Dalton we loved learning more about you. No worries about your "piddle"...while Levi over all is doing well on going outside, he still has occasional accidents inside (like this morning).......he has NO clear signals that he has to pee or poop other than when he has to poop he goes ballistic just before, he may bark or whine if he has to go but nothing clear. He hasn't had people food yet, holding off on that (other than cheese) for as long as we possibly can! Dalton, I would say all in all you have adjusted well, you went through soooooo much!
ReplyDeleteHi Dalton! We are glad you are in a good furever home and we enjoyed reading all about you. Don't worry, we all got issues, including all the Hoomans. We just call it "quirky". Enjoy the day and have a Happy Valentines Day! ������⬛��
ReplyDeleteThose symbols were suppose to be hearts and cats, not question marks in black boxes... :)
ReplyDelete