The thing about taking over a dog from someone, rather than getting a puppy is that you adopt all the bad habits of the dog that came from the previous owner.
And so this was the case with our new member of the family, Golden Retriever, Rusty.
Well, not so new now. He has been with us since June 2005.
On meeting Rusty, who was then called Xiao Bao (Mandarin for Little Precious), he appeared to be a happy and friendly dog. This is a good thing. Golden Retrievers are known for their friendliness.
Interestingly enough, a recent article I noticed in the Straits Times, named the Golden Retriever as the second most dangerous dog in Singapore ahead of the German Shepherd.
As we left the original owners’ home with Xiao Bao, I noticed that he started behaving badly. Pulling at the leash, not following who was leading him (me) and worse still, at the multi-storey carpark, he displayed an irrational fear of parked cars and headlights.
At first I attributed this to his discomfort of being lead away by strange people (me) away from his original owners.
Putting him into the car was especially difficult. He froze up and refused to get into the car. I had to carry him in. At that time he was already a year and a half and standing on his two hind legs, he’s as tall as I am. (Yes, I’m a shorty.)
We came back, renamed Xiao Bao Rusty (because he was more red than gold, and because I believe no male dog of mine should ever be named Little Precious), and started re-training him in English. Although now and then, I command him to sit in Mandarin.
As Rusty settled in, we discovered more and more behavioural faults. So here we go. 101 things to hate about Rusty, in order of apperance.
- Humps everyone.
- Humps my two other female dogs (Shitzu / Maltese cross) all the time.
- Struggles on leash where he refuses to walk.
- Will not jump over drains, no matter how small.
- Staring at people while walking past them, scaring them.
- Looks behind him while walking so walks into drains when he doesn’t see them.
- Walks behind me and steps on my shoes.
- Walks behind me, then rushes from behind and butts me.
- Walks on my feet. No joke for a 25kg dog.
- Drags his feet because he doesn’t want to walk.
- Aggressive when eating. Has threatened to bite me.
- Barks when it rains / thunders / when there’s lightning
- Runs uncontrollably when excited.
- Does not listen to commands when excited.
- Darts suddenly.
- Fears large dark shadows (including trees, people).
- Fears vehicle headlights from the back.
- Fears common noises (roar of motorcycle, squeak of bus brakes).
Okay, not quite a hundred and one things. But it’s a lot and I’m sure there are more.
Because of these faults, I don’t want to put him near young children as I cannot predict how he will behave.
I’m putting up this list so that I can keep a record of how Rusty is coming along. This will chart just how hard it is to un-do poor training habits. My aim is to turn Rusty into a more sociable and confident dog.
Incidentally, earlier this year during Chinese New Year, we invited the original owners and they brought their new Shetland Sheepdog with them. The dog displays the same social problems as Rusty. Indeed, it was a sight to watch a grown Shetland run away from a two year old girl who just wanted to pet it.
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