Pete,
I know you work with abused dogs and such and need some help with one. One of our friends from Texas works with stray, abused, abandoned, austrailian cattle dogs or heelers. She stopped by yesterday and had a dog that she had picked up here and wanted to know if we would take it in for her. I told her we would thinking everything would be ok.
The problem is the dog is extremely scared of people. When you open the door she takes off running and we have to go chase her to get her back. The girls have been playing with her and if they do the wrong thing she trys to bite them. Tonight we had her in the downstairs with us and my oldest went to give her a hug and she lunged at her and tryed to bite her. She also won't listen, won't come to you etc.
I'd like to help this dog but I'm not sure where to start with her. We've never abused our dogs and I've never had to deal with an abused one. I have alot of experience training dogs for cattle and obedience but again not sure how to handle an abused one. According to Lisa the dog was beat by the last owner and you can tell. If you scold her at all she drops her head and tail between her legs and then the running off I told you about.
The biting scares me and I'd like to help this dog but I sure don't want my daughters to get hurt. Any help would be appreciated. You can email me if you want or answer here. Thanks in advance Pete. mesasage@machlink.com