01/10/2022
When we vet our adopters, we look for people who are smart, caring, and above all else, individuals who will be fully and completely committed to their pups, because the truth is this: caring for a dog is remarkably rewarding and can simultaneously be the greatest challenge of your life.
Sarah, mom to George, is an exemplar adopter; someone who has stuck by her pup - whom she loves with all her heart - despite the challenges he has presented. Here’s a bit of their story from Sarah herself:
“I adopted George when he was a baby - somewhere between 1-3 months old, depending on who you ask! When I first got him, I immediately started (safely!) socializing him with various people, dogs, and environments.About four months after I got him, one day seemingly out of nowhere he lunged and growled at someone on the street.
For the next few months, he started growling and lunging at anyone who got near me or reached towards me. I immediately started trying to figure out how to address his reactivity. I began with his vet (the absolutely wonderful Dr. Beard at Worth St. Vet) and then worked with a series of trainers to assess his reactivity. I was referred to Behavior Vets NYC, whose amazing team evaluated him for meds. They determined he is not an aggressive dog - he's fearful and insecure, and he uses reactivity to manage those emotions. They recommended we start him on Prozac, while also connecting us with a wonderful trainer from their staff - together, we worked on desensitization and counterconditioning. I was alsolucky to have the most incredible walker, David Huynh of Happy Pants, who handled him for four times a week pack walks. David really trained George and helped train me, and was able to take George into every kind of environment or situation with no issue (think the train, Target, other people's homes, let kids pat him!). Through this experience, I also met a whole community of people in NYC who have reactive dogs, and I have learned a ton from them as well…”
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