The Dog Behavior Case I'll Never Forget

©Scott Sheaffer, CDBC, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, USA Dog Behavior, LLC

Five years ago I had an extremely challenging canine behavior case that I will never forget. Of the thousands of dog cases I’ve been involved in, this one rises above all others. Not because of the dog, but because of the people involved. It was an amazing learning experience for everyone…me included.

It all began when a concerned dad contacted me about his son named Mark (not his real name). Mark was a nine-year-old boy who had significant developmental disabilities. His dad told me that Mark’s team of specialists told him he would never be able to live on his own and would need constant care and supervision for the remainder of his life.

“…the dog was his only friend since most people, especially children, shunned him.”

The reason Mark’s dad called me was because the family’s dog was beginning to show significant aggression toward Mark. There had been a recent situation where the dog bit Mark fairly badly on the face necessitating medical attention. After doing an exhaustive assessment of the dog and family, I determined this was caused by Mark acting inappropriately with the dog. In other words, Mark was innocently and unknowingly doing the following things that were scary to the dog: holding him too hard, sitting on him, falling on him, etc. The dog was becoming very afraid of Mark and was using aggression to keep him away.

I had a few questions for Mark’s dad that would frame how we could approach this situation:

Was the dog showing aggression toward anyone else? The answer was no, only Mark. He was great with everyone else.

Was this dog important to Mark? The father told me that Mark constantly talked about how the dog was his only friend since most people, especially children, shunned him. Every time he walked in the house; Mark looked for the dog. He slept near the dog, ate close to the dog and followed the dog just about everywhere. The family dog was comforting to Mark.

Would Mark be able to learn how to more appropriately interact with the dog, which would most likely stop the aggression over time? The father’s answer was heartbreaking. He looked at me with a palpable look of sadness and said, “I wish he could, but he can’t. I’m hoping that you and I can figure something out Scott, but Mark isn’t going to be able to help us with this. I’m also not sure he can live without this dog.”

I told Mark’s dad that I would have to think about what we could do; our options were very limited to say the least. The issue wasn’t with the dog; it was Mark that needed to change and his dad told me that wouldn’t be possible. I returned home and felt discouraged. What could we do? Mark needed the dog desperately, but he didn’t know how to interact properly with the dog and things were getting increasingly dangerous.

I went to bed that night and did something I need to do more of - I prayed. My prayer went something like this, “God, I have no idea what I can do for this young boy and his loving father. I’m not sure if even you can come up with something. If there is something, show me.” I had no textbook knowledge or certification that covered this situation.

The next morning I got up and hurriedly dialed Mark’s father at around 6:30AM. I’m sure I woke him up but I didn’t care because I maybe had an answer. I didn’t know where the answer came from - well, maybe I did. I told the father to buy his son a large stuffed animal to replace the dog. The father lit up and said, “He loves giraffes! I’ll find one today and we’ll try it! This a great idea!” I told the father I would work with them to place the dog in a new home so Mark would be safe and the dog would be happier.

The father called me about a week later and said…”it worked”. Prayer answered.

We were able to find a great home for their dog and Mark was in love with his new stuffed giraffe. In fact, he named it Friend. He could hug, sit on, and fall on Friend as much as he wanted. Friend was perfectly fine with all those things.

There are two reasons why I love this story. First, Mark and his dog are now happy. Second, the solution had nothing to do with clinical canine behavior modification, it had everything to do with being open to things that are outside of us and bigger than us.