04/28/2024
Communication is key 🔑🐾
A few weeks ago, I was contacted by On A Mission KC to see if I could help a Great Dane in a Maryville shelter. The shelter reached out to me and explained that Millie had been adopted and returned a few times due to aggression but the last family really wanted her back if she could be trained. They asked if DDS could take her or if I could do a board and train to fix her. I explained that the issue is most always the human, not the dog and if we have a family willing to learn then let’s train the family.
Today I made the 2 hour trip to pull Millie from the shelter, take her back to the family that wanted her and evaluate what might be causing it.
I quickly realized that Millie is deaf…. Not aggressive. She’s been misunderstood all 3 times that she was returned to the shelter. She was ‘aggressive’ because she was startled by a quick approach , she was scared by the vibration on the floor, and she didn’t understand the frustration coming from the humans when she didn’t listen!
She is deaf. 😔
I spent nearly 4 hours with Millie and her new family and they now have the tools and education to communicate with this sweet girl so she can now be understood.
Aggression does not happen for no reason. There’s always a reason…
