Yeah, dogs with this kind of trouble just don't seem to grow out of it naturally...it takes a lot of human effort. The vet really thinks we have a chance because Ruby is very smart and a fast learner. But she is so intense. I'm teaching her to touch her nose to a small green ball at the end of a stick (the idea is that later I'll introduce her to a stranger who is holding this, and she'll have a sense that she knows what to do because that stick = a task she can easily do + delicious treats). But she's so enthusiastic about this that she is practically poking her eyes out as she jams her face at this thing... Such a bizarre dog.
The real challenge, and the one I'm frankly just not sure she is capable of overcoming, is that no matter how many people she meets and makes friends with, she does not generalize that experience. The next person she meets is just as scary. This is what I'm really counting on the medication to help with. She's been exposed to enough people by now, and no person has ever harmed her, and the vast majority have provided great things for her; she's just not going to make that leap without help. Something's got to alleviate her general sense that the world is a threatening, dangerous place. That's her default setting, and that's what has to be changed.
It's interesting to compare her case to that of our first dog Rusty. I remember that he really was hurt by people (someone had cut off part of his tail if I remember correctly). Yet he was pretty normal with people. I don't really understand what the problem was that made him so aggressive with those little dogs... I guess his predatory instinct was triggered? We'll never know.
Or maybe you're referring to Buttercup, who really was destructive, territorial, and protective at this age, to a degree that scared other people and infuriated us. Remember when she chased that guy on his bike and bit his dog? It is something I must remind myself of: all dogs I've ever known struggle in one way or another until they are about Caper's age! Ruby's the only one who I've just felt on a gut level just ain't normal in the head. But adolescence (technically up to 4 years) is not easy for even those dogs who turn out to be the greatest of companions. What's astounding to me, and most frustrating, is that with the exception of this single problem, Ruby is the most well-behaved adolescent dog I've ever known. She's never really been destructive, potty training was a breeze, she is almost flawlessly obedient in terms of commands in a wide variety of contexts, and she's downright polite (e.g. sits and makes eye-contact and waits for an OK before getting anything, even before going out the door). It's just this one thing...and it happens to be the worst hangup possible. I think this is part of why my love for Ruby is so intensely desperate. I know her potential! I saw it when she was a puppy! How can you give up on that?
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