Porter's Page!

As stated before, we got him from a rescue called Home at Last; One of the VPs at the defense contractor my dad and I both work for is fosterer for this rescue. He also has like ten dogs of his own, so to say he has a lot of experience with them is an understatement!

My dad and I have both described Porter's behavior to our coworker, and thinks it is odd that behavior caused by trauma from past abuse would suddenly start to manifest itself in a dog that was almost a year old when the behavior started (Porter was five months old when we got him); As stated before, Porter is fine with men he's known since we got him (like our neighbors and my friend Jim) and kids of all genders. He takes a few minutes to warm up to strange women, but will ultimately warm up to them without being offered a treat; Women he has known since we brought him home back in March 2020, he is obviously fine with.

For example, there's this one woman we met while we were out and about on two separate occasions. This woman is tall and attractive, probably in her 50s, and both times he met her she was wearing darker clothing and open carrying her Glock handgun (Porter is scared of my laser temperature reader, which has a grip that sort of resembles that of a handgun, which is why I mentioned this detail). She had dogs herself and had treats in her Jeep, which she gave to Porter and he readily accepted; The second time she and Porter met, Porter went right up to her and let her pet him, though she still gave him treats.

The incident with the electrician in November 2020 where he cowered behind me, tucked his tail between his legs, growled, and was shaking uncontrollably is mentioned in one of the posts quoted below...

 

This past Sunday (December 6th), I met up with my best friend at a large car lot to wander around looking at cars, and brought Porter with me; Porter met this particular friend not long after we got him and there were no issues. At the car dealer, I took Porter out of the truck and went over to look at a used Tundra at the adjacent Toyota dealer; My friend pulled up while I was doing this, and he was wearing a leather jacket and dark sunglasses...

Porter immediately started barking and growling at my friend, who he has seen numerous times since April or May of 2020 and has always happily and readily approached of his own free will; I am 99.9% sure the sunglasses freaked him out...

Porter didn't react to my friend the way he reacted to the electrician, likely because he recognized his scent and realized it was someone he knew; However, the sunglasses (and possibly the dark, heavy leather jacket) still confused him and freaked him out. While still shaking uncontrollably and tucking his tail (but not growling), he allowed my friend to pet him. I decided to get some treats out of my truck and give them to my friend to give to Porter. As soon as I opened the driver's door of the Tacoma, Porter jumped in and cowered on the passenger side; I gave my friend a few treats, he held his hand out to Porter, and Porter accepted the treats and let my friend pet him.

As we wandered around the vast car lot, Porter quickly warmed up to my friend and got closer to him...

I am still utterly confused by this behavior, because it sounds like he was not abused at the puppy mill (likely neglected, but not horribly abused like the dogs in those "Animal Cops" shows on Animal Planet); Any ideas?

 

My coworker who fostered Porter has years of experience with dogs, and has seen a few of the Amish puppy mills like the one Porter came from (though I don't think he actually saw that one); He says that while the Amish tend to neglect the puppies in terms of giving them attention, they do not abuse them...

Unfortunately, puppies that aren't bought (or rescued by nonprofit organizations like Home at Last) around twelve weeks of age are killed (typically by getting shot ); Why? Because once a dog is twelve weeks old, they are required by law to get vaccinated for various things, which eats into the profit margin for the breeders. This is likely the fate that would have befallen Porter and his brother if they hadn't been rescued; Words cannot describe how angry this makes me, because aside from this issue with strange men, Porter is a great dog! He loves kids, is not the least bit aggressive, is very obedient, and is incredibly affectionate.

 

My coworker who fostered him believes that he is merely just protecting my parents and me (who he sees as part of his "pack" now)...

 

Still trying to figure out what's up with Porter's sudden aversion to strange men...

 

I feel that. My collie lab mix can destroy most toys in a matter of minutes as well... Have you heard of nylabones?

This one has survived 3 years of her heavy chewing and she's chewing on it while I write this

 

Yes, I’ve heard of Nylabones, and the pictures on this thread are proof that bone was obviously a cheap knockoff...

 

Oh no

 

He cut his gums slightly (I found traces of blood on the remains of the bone); It's normal for dogs to chew so vigorously that they bleed sometimes...

It's NOT normal for a dog to destroy a bone within minutes of it being given to them!

 

ugh, I feel you. I am really picky about what I buy nowadays. Sucks to give them a toy that they immediately annihilate


My dog likes the squeaky snakes made from the firehose material and they seem to hold up pretty well

 

My last dog Mandy (a small Corgi/Lab mix with a kidney defect that stunted her growth) destroyed one of those snakes in about a month!