Animal Details 

Name: Zara and Felicity

Breed: Female Desexed Maltese X Shih Tzu

Age: 2 years four months 

Owner: Seline

History 

Seline is a Hairdresser who works from home in her Salon in a converted garage. She is a busy mum and has two pre-teen children. Her children wanted to get a dog, and after much discussion, they decided they would get one. 

They went to a local breeder they found on Gumtree and met at home. The children could not decide on which puppy they liked best. Unfortunately, the breeder convinced them to purchase both puppies and explained that they were best friends and inseparable. 

They attended a pet store puppy class for four sessions, and the puppies were reportedly allowed to free range during the entire class. 

Seline explained that Zara and Felicity were repeatedly swamped and jumped on by bigger puppies. The instructor said not to worry (which is not the case) and felt they did not get much out of the lessons.  

As Zara and Felicity aged, they began to take over the home. Zara, in particular, was most hostile. Their barking and aggression towards other dogs outside the home made Seline feel she could only walk them at odd hours to avoid the humiliation. The dogs occasionally fought each other while sharing the lounge with the family. 

The children's friends didn't want to come over as they became scared of the dogs, and their school tutors would no longer attend due to the barking interfering in lessons. 

Seline's business was also affected to the point that she looked at costly renovations and soundproofing to her Salon so customers were not affected. 

She was referred to another trainer who suggested a $3000 4-week board and training package. However, Seline was referred to us by a friend of hers. 

Assessment 

On arrival at the home, I was greeted by a cacophony of noise and profuse apologies from Seline. 

Both dogs were unconfident and fearful and expressed their distress by barking and showing displays of fear and aggression. I also noted that Zara showed lameness on her hind legs when she would retreat if the stranger kept approaching. 

Both dogs had no engagement with their owner and had no interest in her commands to "be quiet" even when put outside. The dogs could not settle and also showed signs that they began to fight each other when they both wanted to get inside in their state of high arousal. 

Both dogs displayed Litter mate syndrome - a common condition where dogs from the same litter are kept together, which leads to behavioural issues.

It is not ideal to house puppies from the same litter together forever.  

Quality breeders do not condone this practice. If we had attended the selection process, we would have been able to help Seline at this critical point. 

The Guide dog association conducted studies. They discovered that if two puppies from the same litter were sent to a foster home, then 100% of the time, only one dog out of the two would proceed to formal training. That pup then also had a lower success rate of becoming a fully-fledged guide dog than those pups raised with animals from another litter, puppies of different ages, or those raised as individual dogs. 

The dogs both showed Fear and Aggression behaviours under socialisation and a co-dependency on each other to the exclusion of all the other family members.  

Zara was also masking pain signs, and my primary concern was that she was so much more reactive on lead and to other people because she was hurting. 

Outcome  

Seline was advised to take both dogs to the vet for a complete check-up. We wanted to identify if there were any other medical reasons for their aggression. 

Her local Veterinarian discovered that Zara had bilateral Luxating patellas - Grade 3-4 on both her hind legs. This condition means that when Zara would walk, her knee cap would slide around and occasionally pop out entirely of the joint, leading her to have pain and discomfort. 

Her Veterinarian provided pain relief and some anti-anxiolytic medication to assist with the training process for the dogs. 

Seline was not ready to do expensive surgery on Zara if she felt that she could not see improvement in her behaviour. We supported her decision and implemented a new training regime for the dogs. 

Anti Anxiety medication can take six weeks to start building to affect and affect the brain chemistry of our pets. 

We began working with the dogs seven weeks after our initial consultation. In the interim, Seline was given materials to read and review and instructions on some purchases she was required to make to help with her training. 

We then tailored a training programme around positive social interactions, handler engagement with the family, gradual separation of the dogs to be walked and trained as individuals and other beneficial steps. 

After six months, Zara and Felicity's owners had their tutors back, their friend's kids felt safe, and Zara was booked in for her orthopaedic procedure. Zara and Felicity became assistants in the Salon, and Seline didn't have to walk them at 4 am anymore. 

They are not perfect. They still struggle with larger excitable dogs in their space. However, they are manageable, and Seline and her family are happy and comfortable in their home again. They will be coordinating with their vet on potentially trialling weaning the dogs off of the anti-anxiolytic medication in the future. 

Seline's Veterinary costs totalled 6.5 K ( including simultaneous surgery on Zara's legs, Vet consultations, and behaviour medications). Pet insurance is also an essential asset if you get the right product. 

Seline recouped $.4..5K through her insurer for this procedure.  

Cost to Client from the Pet Teacher -  

Four face to face training sessions, including travel costs and a written report

Two online sessions (during the recovery period post-Zara's surgery)  

Total $920

Considering home renovations were looking at 10K plus, I think Seline was still coming out in front.