Porter's Page!

I would definitely agree with you; I would also agree with @Travlr that Porter's behavior is concerning, but I will say again that I don't think Porter is dangerous and nobody who knows him is either.

The Amish are mean bastards in the way they treat their animals, from the what I've heard. I was told that my beloved Porter would have drowned or shot if he hadn't been surrendered to the rescue organization. He also doesn't like the sound of bells, and we have a feeling that he associates this with an unpleasant experience/memory...

 

Yes! All I was trying to say is that if you let Porter in person, you probably wouldn't think he is dangerous. He is great with all kids, and some people just seem to have a magic touch with him, as he lets them pet him immediately.

The weird part is that he will briefly get uppity with people he's known since puppyhood if they are wearing something weird, like my 83-year old grandmother when she'd come downstairs on a different nightgown (and her hair in a towel) every day.

Yesterday, he was not barking at me when I came home from my friend's house, but he would back away when I tried to pet him; He would also whimper, but there was no barking or growling. When I tried to pet him, he would basically bow down to keep me from patting him on the head, like he thought I was gonna hit him. This went on for maybe five minutes until I sat on the floor, and he came over to cuddle with me.

Porter is more attached to me than either of my parents, and I found this extremely weird since he follows me everywhere, trusts me more than anybody, and is smart to enough to get in the Tacoma when I say "truck"...

 

Watching the University of Georgia game with my dad and Porter...

 

Porter wants to play with Uga!

 

This is fairly normal "Porter" behavior, or any dog for that matter; What amazes me is that I read that dogs don't see televisions in the same way that we do, and that to a dog it would like bars going up and down the screen. This, however, I believe applies to old school CRT sets; We put a Molly to sleep in December 2009, and haven't had a non-HD TV since early 2016. Porter has only ever experienced TV in 720p or 1080p HD.

Several years ago, I was at a friend's house watching COPS; It was an episode featuring the K-9 Unit, and my friend's female Boxer/Labrador mix went nuts when she saw the German Shepherds on TV. Porter went equally nuts when he saw a dog show on TV on Christmas morning in 2020.

 

So, you're a dog trainer?

 

@PennSilverTaco


Hey got that trainer for you.

https://hddogtraining.com/

 

I will forward this to my mom; Thanks!

 

I brought Clover over to play...

 

So let me just start by providing a few disclaimers in the spirit of full transparency.

1. I don’t have any credentials worthy enough to discredit anything anyone has provided help with thus far.

2. This is only my experience and therefore my opinion.

3. Attempting to analyze you dog, or anyone’s, remotely is the equivalent of diagnosing a Tacoma hum/noise/vibration/clink/clunk/[choose your own onomatopoeia] via a Tacomaworld post.

Having said all that, there is some really good advice here posted already to consider. No two dogs for me have been the same. Even when the dominant breed appears easy to discern there are no telling what other mix or dominant traits are bred into the dog. In addition, the dog’s experience is the HUGE unknown that you are fighting against. I typically REHOME my service dogs and not RESCUE them. There are important differences between the two. The age when the transition happens and a Rescue sometimes means there were suboptimal conditions creating the requirement. Rehoming typically implies there isn’t a negative environment. My dogs are also screened heavily by multiple trainers and a master trainer before they are accepted into the service program. Many do not pass this gate, but this is specific to my working dog requirements. Service and/or working dog covers a VERY broad range of animal skills and jobs which have different training requirements, restrictions on training tools and equipment and obvious goals on the outset.

Not being with you or the dog, remember a few key points.

1. Consistency is the key factor. Regardless of what their eyes tell you, they don’t speak your language. They speak whatever gibberish they are trained. As an example, my dogs trained for raids and insertion are taught in a completely different language than English so the target can’t call off the dog. The verbiage should also be accompanied by a hand and arm signal. Using the well established American Sign Language is a great guide and works well. People often stop me and ask how my dogs know sign language. The dog will only know what you say, regardless of the language. They won’t understand synonyms or satire so back to consistent steady tone accompanied with sign language. This goes for everyone interacting with the dog. My wife is the worst culprit. I spend more time teaching her the commands than the dog. They, whomever it is, MUST use the same word, not a synonym or their own cute talk of the word.
Lastly, somebody already brought up addressing the past. It will take at least a 2:1 to help undo if possible the previous exposure. I have never really undergone much of this because I gather the dogs prior to 8 months. After 8 months, it is a diminishing returns on the dogs lifespan versus completion of training. Indirect training, service dependent can take up to 21-24 months.

Sorry for the blast just hope this helps.

 

Please keep us posted on this. I have a rescue lab mix from Puerto Rico and got at about 1 year of age. Lot of separation anxieties (getting better after 3 years ) but super sweet, obedient, no aggressiveness what so ever, loves everybody but sometimes has weird little quirks and reads body language/habits better than any dog I've ever had or seen. I think she was born right after hurricane Marie and into a very unstable environment but a real sweetheart in spite of what she's been through. Several times when she's acting offish I'll sit down on the ground/floor and she comes right to me. Dogs have memories like us...people, circumstances, loss of loved ones and so on. Sometimes things trigger those memories like clothes, surroundings and so on. It takes time for us to get over and heal and so do our four legged friends. Don't give up...give more love as you are already.
Luna aka Lunatick, Lazy Luna, Luna Tuna and of course "Meathead" She loves Tacomas too.

 

I have only read post #1 so if it’s been addressed already, sorry for the post - my first instinct says this guy may have hearing, vision, or scent problems?

 

Vision, scent or hearing problems? Haha humans are way lacking in all those areas compared to animals. Understanding emotions is where we are WAY behind. Just look at the world around us and it's obvious.

 

I left work mid-shift to bring Clover over today...