Watertown, NY- Gizmo - Major Project!
 

Gizmo is a major undertaking and project.

No Resource Guarding, No Food Aggression, No Human Aggression. But, he is Dog Aggressive, he has no manners, no obedience, nothing. He is energetic, driven, puts himself into an excited barking frenzy.

He perceives anything and everything regarding other dogs as a threat. Any anticipation to play, excitement, running, is a threat.

I still have him in the shut down but my environment is not good for him. I have dogs coming in and out daily, it is a highly stressful environment which he is not cut out for, which is why he might not gain any weight (if it isn't a medical condition).

He needs to be build up, muscle and weight wise. He needs a lot of training. He is housebroken though. This dog is a 4 month old dog in the body of a 2 year old so while he is a nice dog, this is not going to be easy. He needs work! He does respond very well to a clicker, food or toys. So anyone who likes a good challenge, this is the type of dog for you!

Tomorrow I take him to the vet. He is not gaining any weight. He is 10-20 pounds underweight.

His original owner got in contact with me and his history is quite sad. The husband of the original owner is an alcohol and drug addict. He abused Gizmo. She re-homed him to her sons but there he ran away and was a stray for a while. They luckily were able to catch him and then he went to the Lady. She had him for two days and he was simply too much for her.

Gizmo is a looker. He is not fixed (which needs to be done ASAP). He has no papers. He comes from a BYB.

He's got all his shots and tomorrow morning I will find out more about his medical condition.
This is not urgent. I want to know more about his medical condition so I can give an honest assessment about his condition before he goes anywhere else.
Rescue – Gizmo | Cosgrove K9's

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My guess would be EPI. That could also be exacerbating his dog aggression and reactivity.

Are you currently affiliated with a gsd rescue? I would not be placing a dog with those issues on my own. Actually, I would never place any dog on my own but you will need some money to get this dog emotionally and physically healthy.

Not affiliated with a Rescue but that is why I would actually prefer a rescue.

He has a solid stool, no diarrhea or soft stool. I was thinking that he could be HW positive. I wouldn't be surprised if his aggression stems from a medical condition.,

Either way, he couldn't stay where he was, which is why I picked him up.

Pretty boy! Was he dewormed? He may be full of intestinal parasites. Sometimes it may take several dewormings. How long have you had him?

For a week and a half maybe?
Problem is, that he has to be kept separated at all times which isn't the problem. The problem is the day-care and boarding dogs I've got coming in and out. Not a good situation for him. He needs a stress free environment where he can heal from everything that has happened in the past and the stress is getting to him. He's had nothing but stress in his entire life and truly needs a place where he can calm down.

I'm not looking to get rid of him asap that isn't my intention. I just want to make sure I get the word out and network him with time to find him the best possible solution, rescue and foster who truly has the knowledge, time and resources to make sure this dog gets a chance at life. He truly deserves it.

I would wonder if he has worms/giardia/ tho his stools are good, Hope he checks out ok at the vets..

10 days is nothing, not enough time to de-stress and start gaining weight. It is unlikely that you will find another foster, knowledgeable, but with few or no other animals. If you can get him tired with exercise in the morning, he may be too wiped out to stress over things part of the day. If you have a quiet back room for his crate, that would work best. The stress will go down as his obedience and focus improves and he settles in. most sheller dogs, especially from rural areas are like him in terms of training. They learn quickly though, amazing how adjustable these dogs are.
Good luck! He is a looker!

I know. But he shouldn't be losing weight either.

I know I won't find a foster without dogs but most people don't run a boarding business either. I have literally dogs coming in and out on a daily basis.

Anyhow, I am just want to get the word out. He has potential.

While he is out of the crate he is learning basic housemanners. He literally walked over me on the couch. He didn't even know that he wasn't supposed to be doing that.

He is developing a healthy appetite. And all by himself he is a wonderful dog.

He is not fearful towards people at all. In fact he is seeking attention.
Tomorrow I will know more and keep this topic updated about his medical condition. From what I can tell so far he has medium to high drive.

As for exercise, as long as I do not know if he is HW positive or not, I keep him quiet.

Plus the Shutdown is not over yet. My main reason for the shutdown is his aggression\medical\psychological condition. He ran from one of the homes he was with, that I wanted avoid at all costs. I wanted to become his world and so far it is working rather well. Within two days he had picked up on his new name. Other than very basic housemanners, charging him on the clicker for his name and a little playing outside in the yard, I have not done any training with him.

Wanted to wait for the vet appointment. If they give me green light I will start out with the crate games. :)

I am hoping too. He isn't a bad dog. Just needs the work. He is very prancy and free in the shoulder. With his drive he would make a very decent sport dog for competion obedience, agility maybe even SchH.

If he checks out I will get him evaluated. As for the dog aggression. I am using a muzzle to keep him safe.

I'm working on a similar dog right now. Unfortunately the dog I'm working on has been in about 8 different homes/situations so far. He cannot be with other male dogs AND he cannot be crated or kenneled (has developed severe SA and goes crazy). Yeah guess how many foster homes we have available that have no kids, no other dogs, would not need to ever crate/kennel the dog, and are ready to deal with a dog with his issues and baggage....