It all started with how I rescued Princesa from the rough streets. It was a dark night and I was just leaving my then girlfriend's apartment. I was walking towards my building when I saw a little figure sitting on a pole looking all around, the figure looked like a very dirty poodle, it looked like it had been on the street for a long time, it had on its back a kind of fur cover with dirt, where there was no room even for a comb. I kept walking and the little dog did not hesitate for a second and went with me to accompany me to my building, in my mind I immediately thought that I should take her to my house, but I still let her make the decision. She walked into the building with me and just before she got on the elevator, she stopped, I guess it was the first time I had ever seen one. She didn't want to go up, so I had to be the one to step up for her, for the first time I carried her in my arms and got her on the elevator.
Todo comenzó por como rescaté a Princesa de la duras calles. Era una noche oscura y yo recién salía del apartamento de la que para ese entonces era mi novia. Estaba caminando hacia mí edificio cuando veo en un poste una figurita sentada viendo hacia todos lados, la figura parecía un poodle sumamente sucio, se veía que llevaba mucho tiempo en la calle, tenía en el lomo una especie de cubierta de pelo con mugre, donde no tenía cabida ni para un peine. Seguí caminando y la pequeña perrita no dudó un segundo y se fue a mi lado a acompañarme hasta mi edificio, en mi mente pensé inmediatamente que debía llevarla a mi casa, pero aún así deje que ella tomará la decisión. Entró conmigo al edificio y justo antes de subir al ascensor, se detuvo, supongo que era la primera vez que veía uno. No quería subir, así que tuve que ser yo el que diera el paso por ella, por primera vez la cargué en mis brazos y la subí al ascensor.
Once in my apartment my other dog immediately sensed the presence of a home invader. She started barking in the middle of the night and woke up my mother. She immediately looked at me strangely, asking me for explanations, I told her to keep the little dog for a while until I could find her a home (obviously inside me I didn't plan to let her go). I gave the little puddle food and water and let her rest, as the next day would be very busy.
Una vez a mi apartamento mi otro perrito inmediatamente sintió la presencia de un invasor a su hogar. Empezó a ladrar en medio de la noche y despertó a mi madre. Ella inmediatamente me miró extrañada, pidiéndome explicaciones, le dije para conservar a la perrita por un tiempo hasta encontrarle un hogar (obviamente dentro de mi no pensaba dejarla ir). Le di agua y comida a la pequeña puddle y la dejé descansar, ya que el otro día sería muy ocupado.
When I woke up I went to check on her, she and my other puppy were getting to know each other. I took the poodle and took her to give her a bath, when I started to bathe her I could see that she was infested with ticks and fleas, but I was ready, I used scissors to remove little by little the hair tangled with dirt that was stuck to her back, helping me also with tweezers to remove the ticks little by little. After bathing her I decided to inject her with a product to avoid the tick disease, it is also useful to repel ticks depending on the breed of the dog.
Al despertar fui a observarla como estaba, mi otro perrito y ella se estaban conociendo. Cogí a la poodle y la lleve a darle un baño, cuando comencé a bañarla pude notar que estaba infestada de garrapatas y pulgas, pero ya estaba preparado, usé tijeras para ir quitándole de a poco el pelo enredado con mugre que tenía pegado al lomo, ayudándome también con pinzas para ir quitándole de a poco las garrapatas. Después de bañarla decidí inyectarle un producto para evitar la enfermedad de las garrapatas, también es útil para repelertas dependiendo de la raza del perro.
Just when I injected her I had my first experience with her aggressiveness, I managed to accomplish my goal, but I received the first bite from my dog. I thought it was a one time thing, but it was something that started to be consecutive, she always tried to bite all of us, we didn't even provoke it, she just did it if you got too close or moved too fast near her, she would jump directly at your feet and if you didn't have good reflexes you would end up bleeding. After getting to know her reactive personality we decided not to put her up for adoption as surely no one would want her or would give her back to us after a few days. So a few days later we spayed her so that she would not copulate with our other dog. When we spayed her she became very fond of my mother, and was very protective of her, sometimes she wouldn't even let us get close to my mother or she was a sure biter.
Justo al inyectarla tuve mi primera experiencia con su agresividad, logré cumplir mi objetivo, pero recibí la primera mordida de mi perrita. Pensé que era algo de una vez, pero es algo que comenzó a ser consecutivo, siempre trataba de mordernos a todos, ni siquiera lo provocabamos, simplemente lo hacía si te acercabas demasiado o te movías muy rápido cerca de ella, se abalanzaba directamente a tus pies y si no tenías buenos reflejos terminarías sangrando. Luego de conocer su personalidad reactiva tomamos la decisión de no ponerla en adopción ya que seguramente nadie la querria o nos la devolvería a los días. Así a los días siguientes la esterilizamos para que no copulara con nuestro otro perrito. Cuando la estelirizamos se encariñó bastante con mi Madre, y la sobre protegía bastante, a veces ni nos dejaba acercarnos a mi madre o era un mordida segura.
Over time we learned how to avoid being bitten or sense when she would get a shock, when we noticed such behavior we would try to get her attention to something else like her ball or a treat. Something interesting is that we didn't know her name so every day, between my brother and my mother we would call her by different names each time to see if we could find her name. Finally one day we did, we called her Princess and she immediately went crazy with happiness and responded positively to our call, we understood that this was her name and since then we call her that way, although personally I have the nickname "Mon Amour" since she is the love of my life.
Con el tiempo aprendimos como evitar ser mordido o percibir cuando le daría un shock, cuando notabamos tal comportamiento tratábamos de llamar su atención a otra cosa como su pelota o una golosina. Algo interesante es que no conocíamos su nombre así que cada día, entre mi hermano y mi madre la llamábamos por distintos nombres cada vez para ver si podíamos encontrar su nombre. Finalmente un día lo conseguimos, la llamamos por Princesa he inmediatamente enloqueció en felicidad y respondía positivamente a su llamado, comprendimos que ese era su nombre y desde entonces la llamamos así, aunque en lo personal le tengo el apodo de "Mon Amour" ya que es el amor de mi vida.
One of the most difficult things to live with a reactive pet is at bath time, at the beginning, for two years it was safe to get a bite when bathing her, I guess she didn't like it or felt very insecure. Nowadays I found that music relaxes her a lot or it relaxes me and so she feels less threatened, both options are likely. I always play the same song when bathing her since dogs are of habit and repetition, I play the song "La Vie En Rose" which goes according to the nickname I have for her. When bathing her I stopped rubbing her as anyone would do with their pet and discovered that I should massage her, as if I were caressing her with soap, doing so, I can clean her completely without any risk.
Una de las cosas más difíciles de vivir con una mascota reactiva es a la hora de bañarse, al principio, durante dos años era seguro recibir una mordida al bañarla, supongo que no le gustaba o se sentía muy inseguro. Hoy en día descubrí que la música la relaja mucho o me relaja a mi y así ella se siente menos amenazada, las dos opciones son probables. Siempre pongo la misma canción al bañarla ya que los perros son de hábitos y repetición, reproduzco la canción de "La Vie En Rose" que va acorde con el apodo que le tengo. Al bañarla deje de frotarla como haría cualquiera con su mascota y descubrí que debo masajearla, como si la estuviera acariciando con jabón, haciendo así, puedo limpiarla por completo sin ningún riesgo.
With time we no longer needed tricks to get her into the bathroom, as before she didn't like to go in and became super aggressive, I had to cover her with towels to get her into the shower. Nowadays I simply tell her to go into the bathroom with me and she goes in, of course this is something that has been going on for years, it was not something we achieved in months. Another thing that was extremely dangerous was when it was time to take her out for a walk, as she would always get aggressive with absolutely any dog she saw on another street, with any passing motorcycle and even with infants. This was a problem since we always had to be alert everywhere and always separating her from all the dogs. Many times we had problems with other owners. Then I started to walk her at times when almost no one will walk their dogs, in the afternoon and very late at night, I almost never meet a dog.
Con el tiempo ya no necesitamos de trucos para meterla al baño, ya que antes no le gustaba entrar y se volvía súper agresiva, debía taparla con toallas para poder meterla a la ducha. Hoy en día simplemente le digo que entre conmigo al baño y entra, claro esto es algo de años, no fue algo que logramos en meses. Otra cosa que era extremadamente peligroso era a la hora de sacarla a pasear, ya que siempre se ponía agresiva con absolutamente cualquier perro que viera en otra calle, con cualquier moto que pasase y hasta con los infantes. Esto era un problema ya que siempre teníamos que estar atento a todos lados y separandola siempre de todos los perros. Muchas veces tuvimos problemas con otros dueños. Entonces comencé a pasearla a horas a las que casi nadie paseará a sus perros, en la tarde y muy tarde por la noche, casi nunca me encuentro un perro.
I also realized that over the years of preventing an aggressive scenario from happening, she gradually stopped being aggressive. Nowadays I can easily walk her past a dog, if I feel some tension on the leash and you can tell she gets very anxious, but most of the time with a commanding voice she will completely ignore the other dog. Sometimes I can even walk her off leash, but there are some dogs that if or if she is thrown, I guess she has a deep grudge against them.
También me di cuenta que con los años de evitar que ocurriera un escenario agresivo, dejaba poco a poco de serlo. Hoy en día puedo fácilmente pasar con ella al lado de un perro, si siento cierta tensión en la correa y se le nota que se pone muy ansiosa, pero la mayoría de las veces con una voz de mando ignorará por completo al otro perro. A veces puedo hasta pasearla sin correa, pero hay algunos perros a los que si o si se les lanza, supongo que les tiene un rencor profundo.
Since the death of my mother, whom I always protected, and the death of her doggy companion, she didn't get depressed, but in a way she stopped being so aggressive at home, since she didn't overprotect anyone or fight with my other dog. This allowed me little by little to apply certain things I have learned from some books I have read, now she almost never has a reactive attack, maybe once a month is too much. The only time is when she walks, but it is clearly not like before. Of the 4 years that Princess has been with me, this year is the year that I have been able to notice big changes in her personality, I am also hopeful that with age she will lose the little aggressiveness she has left.
Desde que falleció mi madre a quien protegía siempre, y falleció su compañero perruno, ella no sé deprimió, pero de cierta manera dejo de ser tan agresiva en casa, ya que no sobreprotegia a nadie ni peleaba con mi otro perrito. Esto me permitió poco a poco aplicar ciertas cosas que he aprendido de algunos libros que he leído, ahora casi nunca tiene un ataque reactivo, quizás una vez al mes es mucho. La únicas veces es cuando pasea, pero claramente no es como antes. De los 4 años que Princesa lleva conmigo, este año es que logre notar grandes cambios en su personalidad, también tengo la esperanza que con la edad pierda la poca agresividad que le queda.
To finish, if you ever have a reactive dog, please do not behave at their level, do not be as aggressive, do not hit them, do not threaten them, do not yell at them, this will only make the dog worse. Always try to detect what causes the scenarios and avoid them completely, otherwise give them lots of love and attention, I promise you that with time it will change.
Para culminar, si alguna vez tienen algún perro reactivo, por favor, no comportarse a su nivel, no ser igual de agresivos, no golpearlos, no amenazarlos, no gritarles, esto simplemente podrá peor al perro. Siempre busquen de detectar que ocasiona los escenarios y evitarlos por completo, de resto darles muchos cariño y atención, les prometo que con el tiempo cambiará.
That's all for now, we'll see you in another post.
Last notes:
I didn't know you lost your mother, did I? I really do have a fishy memory so forgive me for that.
I totally loved the story, it seemed pretty bold of you to decide to rescue a little dog in the middle of the night, but it just seems like she chose you and it was the best decision of her life. the patience you have had with her is abysmal and i am glad to know that over the years she has improved her attitude without you having to do tricks to make her less aggressive.
4 years is quite a lot, how old do you estimate she was when you got her? I hope Princesa will be with you much longer. don't hesitate to get her another doggy companion soon.
Send you a hug ♥️
Relax my friend, I see you are everywhere hahaha. To know the age of a dog you simply have to look at his teeth, if he has very white teeth he must be between 2 or less years old, add to that the size he has and it is easy to notice if he is a puppy or not. To answer your question when I adopted her she was about two years old exactly, so her age today is 6 years old. I really don't regret adopting her, I think I felt reflected in her.