training
Pit Bull Pete: One Dog’s Journey with Fear Daniel Antolec explains how he helped a reactive pit bull who became fearful of other dogs following an attack and would bark and lunge at them, gain confidence, remain calm and make good choices
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s an accredited professional dog trainer and certified canine be havior consultant I have devoted myself to helping anxious and fearful dogs. My journey on that path began on August 28, 2012 when I first began working with Ranger, a twoyearold Australian shep herd who was evaluated by another trainer, and whose euthanasia had already been decided based upon his poor quality of life. Ranger, like so many of my behavioral cases, had a multitude of fears. These included neophobia, separation anxiety and extreme leash reactivity. After three months of hard work Ranger had been trans formed into a confident and joyful dog, who was adopted by a loving family. The emotional impact of that experience motivated me to start my own business with a mission to help as many other anxious and fear ful dogs as I could. Many of those dogs expressed their fear through distanceincreas ing agonistic behaviors such as barking, growling, and lunging at the people and things which frightened them. They sought to create dis tance and avoid conflict but were often labeled as “aggressive” dogs. La bels can kill dogs, especially those who are called “pit bull.” I met such a dog in 2019. His name was/is Pete, and he is a 9year old 90pound pit bullmix living in a village of some 10,000 people, many of whom have pet dogs. Such an environment made Pete’s jour ney through life frightening. Pete struggled with fear of novel people, loud vehicles, unexpected sounds, and other dogs. His fear of dogs developed after he had been attacked by offleash dogs while Pete’s guardian was walking through the neighborhood, with Pete on leash. Every one of Pete’s daily walks was a trek through the gauntlet of unexpected encounters with strangers, loud noises, and a variety of dogs. He learned that the world was unsafe and that threats appeared frequently and without warning. The toll of living with daily anxiety inflicted Pete with a sensitive di gestive system and recurring skin problems (see also Itchy Dog or Stressed Dog? on p.22). He required a special diet, probiotics, medica tion, and very often he went for days or weeks with soft stools or diar rhea. He was also intolerant of extreme heat, cold or wind. During leash walks he often went over threshold upon seeing other dogs, barking, and lunging at them. To others in the neighborhood, his behavior may have supported the prejudice against bully dogs as being aggressive by nature, when in fact, Pete was worried about his own safety and just wanted to be left alone.
The toll of living with daily anxiety inflicted Pete with a sensitive digestive system and recurring skin problems. He required a special diet, probiotics, medication, and very often he went for days or weeks with soft stools or diarrhea. He was also intolerant of extreme heat, cold or wind.
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BARKS from the Guild/January 2021
© Faye Antolec
When out on leash walks, Pete would often go over threshold upon seeing other dogs, barking, and lunging at them
Managing the Environment Pete’s family is devoted to his welfare and spares no expense on his care and comfort. In addition to his special diet, they prepared his environ ment to support him as best they could. Pete was most comfortable while sleeping on the sofa in the living room, so the owners covered it with bedding for him to curl up and relax. They covered the large pic ture window to block visual stimulation and used a white noise machine to eliminate auditory stimuli. When they take Pete outside for potty breaks and walks, they scan the area before bringing him out, and remain vigilant during their walk to avoid other dogs. But avoidance was not sufficient, and they strug gled, not knowing what to do about his reactive behavior. Pete regarded me with some suspicion when I first arrived at the home on a Monday afternoon in January 2019. The family had already assessed Pete’s basic needs and I suggested adding additional calming aids, such as ADAPTIL, to his environment and also discussed working with his veterinarian to explore the use of behavioral pharmacology. The family wrote a list of stress triggers and we discussed how to man age the environment to avoid triggers, and how to desensitize and countercondition Pete to those which we could not avoid (see also Re‐ ducing Fear – and the Importance of Choice on p.14).
Training Plan Our operant training plan included teaching Look, Touch, Find It, En gageDisengage and loose leash walking. I was then scheduled to pro
