Dog rescue video behavior discussion

[aronoiiel]

Warning: vid is a tear jerker for sensitive types. Mods hope this is the right spot sorry if it's not LOL

I know alot of people on here are really great with interpreting dog behavior so I thought this video would make an interesting discussion. My question while watching this is two fold I guess. First when the dog is baring it's teeth wouldn't the attention being shown during this highly stressful period reinforce bad behavior even if it is trying to bring the dog into a better frame of mind? Second question is I know that alot relies on a dog's default temperament but could a dog that showed such unsure and fearful behavior really come around that quickly and be trustworthy? Not saying that its magically a changed dog in the span of a day but how likely would you be able to have it in your front seat on the ride to a shelter or rescue after such a traumatic day?

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[Elyse]

IMO, I think the dog was just being defensive because it was scared. The guy petting him probably thought to comfort it and let it know it didn't have to be scared?

I'm assuming, that once the dog realized that being in the crate wasn't 'that scary', then it calmed down. It's hard to tell, but there was probably a time lapse in there where it didn't show the dog freaking out!

The food helped him along, being a stray he was probably hungry so that just gave him more motivation...cause he wants more food!

Other than that...I don't know. I've never worked with strays before, so I don't know how likely it is to gain the trust of a dog that quickly.

[Jay Jones]

You could see that the dog was just hungry, and didn't need the trap (Cage) if anything it just caused more stress, you can see as the dog get up and comes over for the food he's not aggressive, he growled and bared his teeth because he’s just been trapped by someone he doesn’t know.. in that situation i think i would do the same.

[mydiamond]

I watched this vid before... I was amazed, I never knew a terrified dog can be calmed down in such amount of time O_O this discussion is gonna be interesting, deffo will keep an eye.

and about the petting, I guess I'd do the same if I was him. The dog is being defensive, he needs to know that I'm gentle and I won't hurt him. Being defensive isn't a bad behavior... Being afraid of a particular object is a different case

[Synphny]

I saw this video and Duke was bearing its teeth cause he was just scared. However this dog was somewhat cared for since by its body size, coat, age and temperament shows that it does have previous human interactions.

Also notice in the video the lady of that video approached the dog in the same manner yet no bearing of its teeth. Even though the guy might have enforce some negative reaction with the trapping in association with feeding. I think Duke trusted women more and with her feeding him while calm it helps.

Along with the guy reinforcing that positive non-teeth bearing behavior by continuing to feed him might have negated whatever previous negative memory Duke had. That's why at the end of the video Duke went with the lady because of the established positive connection and offered a lot of less of a chance of a bite incident.