This is a terribly personal post. I say “terribly”, because I did write about this a few months back, then swiftly deleted it out of shame, fear of being judged, but mostly, because I saw no light at the end of the tunnel. At that time I was considering getting rid of one of my dogs.
This is Jarvis:
I adopted Jarvis in September 2013. He was only 7 months. As a newborn pup, someone cut his tail off, then sold him over the Internet for a mere €200 (around £170). The girl that bought him, abandoned him a few months later. The “only” nice thing she did to him was giving him up to a dog rescue organisation. When we adopted Jarvis he was a happy bundle of fur, full of energy and ridiculously clumsy. However, he also barely let you touch him, would freak out if you picked him up and constantly urinated out of fear.
Before Jarvis came into my life, there was Nero. He has been my constant companion since I adopted him 7 years ago. He has travelled with me all over Europe and has barely left my side since I first got him. Nero has always been extremely playful and social, so I decided to bring in Jarvis as his new friend.
At the start, they got on fantastically. We had six months of constant play, games of chase, tug of war, wrestling. It was non-stop. These two beasts would wake me up at 6am running around like loonies, jumping on and off my bed.
Because Jarvis had those initial issues, we enlisted the help of a well-meaning dog trainer in Spain. He helped a lot, and his approach to dogs was kind and positive. The reason I mention him – I honestly have nothing but good words to say about him – is because during one of the hide-and-seek exercises the trainer had recommended, everything changed. Jarvis fought with Nero over a piece of food they found on the floor. It was a serious fight, and for the first time, Jarvis realised he could overpower Nero.
Moving to the UK also took its toll on my dogs. A new home, new surroundings, new people. It all proved too much for little Jarvis, and he began to attack Nero. Each time more unpredictably, each time more aggressively. There was blood, Nero ended up with cuts in his ears and scratches on his head.
Desperately, I decided to educate myself on the subject and seek help. Sadly, most testimonies I found online about this type of issue pointed to a single solution: rehome the new dog. By this time, Jarvis had been in my life for almost a year. I loved him. Thinking of letting him go tore me apart. However, every time I saw Nero scared and hurt, my mind would consider giving Jarvis up.
After yet another gruesome, and terrifyingly out-of-the-blue attack, we took our dogs to our vet in Lewes. She checked my dogs for signs of sickness but found nothing obviously wrong. She did however, recommend us a dog trainer she had used.
I have wrestled with whether I should name this “expert” or not. I don’t want to bring attention to the guy, and I obviously don’t want to provide him with free publicity, so I won’t name him on this post. I will, however, tell anyone who asks me on the subject to avoid him, and this is why. The man considers himself a dog expert and claims to have years of expertise around the East Sussex area. Not only did he charge us £120 for an hour of his time, but he subjected my dogs to a terrifying experience. This man seemed to consider himself the next Cesar Millan (read about this celebrity trainer here or watch this interview). He was a big guy, who constantly slammed the floor trying to get my dogs to submit to his requests. Luckily, Nero, the oldest and more sensitive to this kind of behaviour, retreated to his bed for almost the entire time the man was at our home.
I hated myself after this man left, regretting having invited him into my home. However, as the days went by I realised it was he who should be blamed for my discomfort, not me. It was he who had filled his pockets with my money, engaged in scare-tactics with my dogs, and not actually listened to me. He dismissed my accounts on the fights, said he saw no issues. A few days later he sent me an email with what he considered tips to solve Jarvis’ issues. It all revolved around the idea of Jarvis trying to “dominate us”, with tips that added nothing to what I was already doing. He made no reference to the fights.
The issues with Jarvis not only continued, they worsened. Extremely distraught, I shared my troubles with friends and family and someone mentioned Michelle Garvey, the lovely woman behind Essentially Paws. She came to see us several times, and assessed both dogs separately. Michelle’s training methods used treats, rewarding positive behaviour and setting safe limits for each dog. Jarvis quickly proved to be extremely responsive to tasty rewards, and seemed to enjoy being set limits.
The thing I liked the most about Michelle is that she made no false promises, that she understood the gravity of the situation and that she honestly warned things would get worse before they would get better. They did. More attacks occurred, and again I wondered whether Jarvis should stay with us.
After the last attack I cried a lot, questioned every decision in my life, but gave it another shot. I became really strict with the training and began to think more positively. I ran my dogs’ existence around a tight schedule, implemented Michelle’s tips religiously, and after some nicely quiet weeks, it happened: two days ago, Jarvis went to Nero to play, and Nero accepted his invitation. Cue doggy wrestling, tails wagging and a sight I hadn’t seen in more than 10 months. An hour later and they were both lying in the sun together, Nero feeling safe enough next to Jarvis to close his eyes.
I can’t say the situation is completely fixed, but I now see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know that living with dogs means constant training, which is OK, that’s the fun side of having dogs. For the first time in more than six months I feel positive about Jarvis’ future. It would have been so easy to take him to another shelter and pass on the problem to someone else. I chose the harder route, and I will probably choose it again, because that’s who I am… some sort of masochist.
I know Jarvis is not a child, not a human being, but I love him dearly and he is part of my family. My job is to care for him. I know he exists because of the growing trend of owning dachshunds. He was bred, he was sold. Someone else’s abuse became my responsibility. Why did I set out to clean up another person’s mess? Because I look at Jarvis and see a poor animal that was barely given a chance. An innocent creature that was probably beaten up more than once. I didn’t want to be the one who saw this and gave up on him.
Thanks to Michelle, Rob, Micaela from Sr Perro, Denise and everyone that has been there for me. I owe you this little massive victory.
You can follow Nero & Jarvis via Instagram @sausagemafia.
Pictures: Fashion Limbo
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