anxious dogs...

I wonder sometimes whether dogs, like people, differ in personalities to the extent that some are "naturally" anxious and others are not?

I know that certain characteristics, while not the exclusive purvue, are often breed-specific.  For instance, talking to a terrier owner this summer, doug found the perfect description of a terrier - ALL that HUGE personality SQUISHED down into that tiny body ... sure describes the Darcy man!

Each of my three dogs come with their own set of issues.  All rescues, it is inevitable that previous life experiences have left some scars. While I realize some people assert dogs live for the present and simply accept - there are just too many dogs who reflect the experiences they had in their early days to make me entirely agree.  While I believe that they do not dwell on past experiences (negative in particular) in the same manner as humans - the experiences nonetheless leave an indelible impression that is not easily remedied.

Llyr was a backyard dog.  From early puppyhood he was denied the social interaction that ALL dogs crave and need so badly.  Ostensibly "well taken care of"- he had one of those fancy dancy igloos dog houses, adequate (if not very high quality food) and water... what he lacked was interaction. 

He was 2 and a half when we got him more than 2 years ago now.  Highly anxious, no manners to speak off, prone to throwing his 92 lbs + into your arms, he was also a thief, unsure how to comport himself in the house and highly aggressive with strangers. He was and remains an inveterate barker - I assume a result of trying to get some attention and fear because he was relegated to the back and incapable of perceiving what was going on in "his" house.

Llyr is terrified of being locked out again; he has huge issues staying out for any length of time in the backyard. He has improved - now he will stay out and happily play (to the best of his ability - we have spent the past two years teaching him how to "play" - and he still has some distance to go to completely understand the concept) if he has one of his people WITH him.  This is a vast improvement over his first year when he would run out at top speed, pee and then frantically try to come back in.

If left by himself or even with the other dogs, he still reflects huge anxiety and between barking and whining at the door, is pathetically eager to get back into to the safety of the house.  At times this summer we saw glimmers of self-sufficiency when he would actually stay fairly quiet and hang out in the garden without immediatley demanding re-entrance.

Inside the house he exemplifies Kealin's nickname for him "Mr. Destruco Pants" ... from stealing and consuming 9 frozen chicken breasts, inevitably destroying and strewing garbage everywhere... chasing cats, obsessing on the guinea pig and sticking his big nose into EVERYTHING (inevitably knocking it down, over or off), he is a great big lunk with a shell of "tough dog" which doesn't really work (how can you be Mr. Macho when you trip over your own feet and your tail sweeps everything in sight off the table?).  He is like a little boy trying to assert dominance - somehow it rings false - although outside the house people seem to take him seriously ....

Llyr out of all my dogs can irritate me to no end - he just does not LEARN ... yet I know that he WANTS to do what is right, he wants to please and most of all, he desperately, passionately WANTS to be a "lap dog" ....  He will crawl up on my lap and roll around (and usually off) with little twitterings and whines, begging to pets and love.

A dog's place is in the home.

A dog's place is with its people

A dog does NOT belong in a backyard, ignored and rejected - no matter how benign the neglect.

2 years later we're still trying to convince this boy that he will never again be locked out.