Maple’s Story – how I ruined her….and then fixed her

You may know Maple from my Instagram feed, Facebook page or even had the pleasure of meeting her in person!

Maple was a rescue pup from a litter of 13 that we, (Ruakaka Dog Rescue) took on at 2 weeks of age. We drove to South Auckland on a sunny October day and bundled her, her 12 siblings and her Mum Roxy into the back of my car and drove the precious cargo up north to where their foster mum and my rescue partner, Jax was waiting.

At the time I still had my lovely Zena with me, she was 14 and beginning to struggle in her senior years. Zena was my best friend, sidekick and demo dog for my work with dogs. I was working with a number of reactive’s, dogs who when faced with a stressful event, would react by lunging, barking, growling, sometimes even biting. At assessments, Zena would come along. She was an expert at reading body language and then responding appropriately. I only had to watch her to know how we should progress any interaction. I called it the Grandma gene, and no one messed with Grandma!

Sadly in December of 2014 she went into kidney failure and we had no option but to say goodbye.

By January I was still grieving and wasn’t quite ready for another dog but the seed was there and growing day by day. Meanwhile in Ruakaka, Maple and her wee family were a good distraction to help the process. By 8 weeks, Maples family were weaned and old enough to leave their Mum and move into foster care. Dr Jess Beer from Kiwi Vet Behaviour offered to foster and we thought we couldn’t possibly get a better place for Maple to go. Living under the guidance of such an awesome teacher was such an opportunity and it was….she blossomed! One weekend Jess called and asked if I could look after her as she was heading away. Of course I said….it’d be fun. Famous last words…

So little miss cute mischievous Maple came to stay. I was slowly coming around to thinking about finding another dog, I really needed a demo dog for all the dog/dog work I was doing and the house felt so empty without a dog in it. My daughter was also begging me for a puppy….daily! It took her two weeks to convince me and we officially adopted Maple. We had our new fur family member 🙂

Pretty much straight away I started a training plan to get her ready for the work she was going to do as my new DOGlife sidekick. We focused a really BIG socialization program, foundation behaviours such as focus and recall, impulse control and building her ball drive. By 5 months she was already addicted and would do anything if a ball was involved! She came to doggy daycare with me. Her future work was progressing well and life was great!

Around 10 months she started coming out on jobs with me, she would always greet with a sniff and a play bow…perfect. I had been working with a few reactive dogs at the time and Maple was my go to dog for assessing how they reacted to seeing other dogs. I would mostly keep distance but in some cases she would meet, play bow and it was all fine. I used distance to manage and assess the more reactive dogs but they would still bark and react towards Maple.

Then something strange happened. Around 18 months she started hackling up, freezing and tucking up when she met dogs. Sometimes on lead she even would whip around lip lift, bark or growl at the dog. I didn’t know what was happening and was worried.

Then it dawned on me….she was now fearful herself and reacting….I had ruined my dog.

I felt awful, like I’d failed her, I questioned my own ability as a trainer. I had tried so hard to do everything ‘right’ yet here she was, a scared and reactive teenager!

I went back over everything and realised that taking her out on consult with me was affecting her too. Here she was being put in front of these dogs that were essentially yelling abuse at her!! It was hugely depressing to think she was like this cause of me, her protector, her security, her carer, her Hu-mum. I felt ashamed and seriously thought about quitting the whole game. How could I fix anyone else’s dog if I can break my own.

Then one day I woke up and decided that I was going to make a pretty big call. I decided to retire her at not even 2 years of age.

And I did.

Instead of taking her to these yelling sessions, I took her to all her favourite places initially always with the ball and slowly started rebuilding up her confidence in other dogs. Any dogs I wasn’t sure about I would manage her environment so she wouldn’t need to engage. I never allowed any on lead greets instead associating with food or balls and managed EVERY other aspect of her dog interactions so that ALL of them were positive. Essentially I was doing what I had been doing all those months for the dogs with reactive responses, but this time it was for her.

I watched her with eagle eyes and when she started approaching dogs to sniff of her own accord I knew progress was happening and I started to reduce the ball time and support and reward her dog/dog engagement. I breathed a big sigh of relief. It was working, I wasn’t a bad trainer, my work was helping her and she was doing great.

Jump forward 6 months and now we walk the beach with and without the ball. She will choose to go and greet most dogs and initiate and engage in play. If she doesn’t want to she will just go off and explore instead or hang with me, which I fully support. We still don’t meet on leash, but we can walk alongside without reaction and with nice focus and that’s fine.

I felt validated, I did know what I was doing. I had seen and read her enough to know she wasn’t happy and then I did something about it. I’m so proud of her and how far she has come back. I’m also proud of myself and no longer doubt my ability. I accept my flaws and respect that I made a mistake and I chose to do something about it.

So yes, trainers make mistakes, our dogs aren’t perfect, some are, but not all. I know a few trainers who tend to have the dogs that do need that bit of extra help and support in life. I joke sometimes that its like the builder with the unfinished house, or the panel beater with the dented car, but in all seriousness I think its just the compassionate nature of my colleagues when they see a dog who is struggling and needs a little more.

So as I finish this off and Maple is quietly snoozing in the sunny spot next to my desk, I’m thankful I have this little ratbag and I’m also thankful she trusted me enough to guide her back to learn that not all dogs are scary. She’s started working again with me but not with dog with reactive responses, she comes when a clients dog needs a play date or some basic impulse control. I am now a lot more conscious of not just the signals of my clients dogs but also of hers and I’m happy to say no more pressure for little Miss mischievous Maple.