DOGS IN YELLOW DAY: 20th March
Do you know what it means when you see a dog in yellow? It could be a yellow ribbon or a yellow coat, harness, lead, bandana or even its handler wearing yellow. Yellow Dog’s are dogs that need space for whatever reason. This cause is very close to my heart as the owner of an anxious dog I am all too aware of the problems. So today on DOGS IN YELLOW day I am sharing Kaizer’s story.
Kaizer is our 3rd German Shepherd. We lost Sheba in December 2021 and Mauri (our other German Shepherd) was so depressed we decided to get a puppy to help us heal. Sheba will never be replaced but this little guy made us smile again. I socialised him as you do from him first coming home at 8 weeks old and he was fine. He would have been about 1 when we were walking through a neighbourhood when 2 dogs came running out of a garden barking and snarling Kaizer was terrified. Mauri stood between the dogs and me and Kaizer and warned them off as the owner shouted them in. It was nobodys fault a gate left open at the wrong time for Kaizer. We had a few more incidents of dogs coming down gennels off lead etc. His behaviour began to change from friendly puppy to reactive. Dogs he knows he is fine and will play and interact even the very small ones but dogs he doesn’t know and he gets very anxious and his default is to chase them away. He has never hurt anything that is not his aim his aim is to make the scarey dog go away. I have worked so hard with him and we spent 6 months working with an online behaviourist but we got stuck at the engage/disengage. So we went to the Vet for a referral to a one to one behaviourist and during the medical check Kidney disease was diagnosed. He is 2 years old and has stage 2 kidney disease. There is no cure they can slow it down with a strict renal diet but his life expectancy is much reduced. So he is on prescription food and cant have anything else so no treats. In addition to the kidney problem the vet suspects he has a muscoskeletal problem as well. Both the Kidney problem and the suspected pain issue will contribute to his reactivity. He will probably always be reactive so we manage it. I try to keep him ‘his’ safe distance away from dogs and that is where Dogs in Yellow has helped. He has a coat with I NEED SPACE and yellow collar, headcollar and muzzle. But they only work if people are close enough to read it and that is too close for Kaizer. So this is my opportunity to join up with other owners of anxious dogs and use DOGS IN YELLOW day to help raise awareness for anxious dogs everywhere.
