could my irish wolfhound mix remember trauma suffered when she was a pup?

Question

Scooter, our 10 mnth old Irish Wolfhound mix, adopted us at the pound when she was about 3 months old.she's been my constant companion ever since. She's never shown any sign of trauma before, but recently, when i went to groom her face, she cowered. grooming the rest of her went off w/o a hitch, but she shows fear when i try to groom the hair around her eyes and jowls. could she be remembering some cruelty dealt her as a pup by her previous owner? other than when i groom her, she's a loving, active, incredibly playful and normal dog. plz help me understand what's going on inside her noodle so i can help her if she needs it.

Answer 1

Irish Wolfhound hair is wiry and course. It could be that you are pulling the hair and causing her pain. Keep the hair trimmed around her eyes and mouth. You don't have to cut it short, but short enough to keep clean and be able to comb through it. She is getting food in her hair when she eats and it is causing the comb to drag and pull the hair in a very sensitive area. Dogs whiskers and the area around there is very sensitive and this dog is trying to tell you not to pull because it hurts. Keep the hair trim and wash before combing to reduce the pulling. I would also recommend getting a product called "Cowboy Magic" detangler and shine. It's purchased in feed stores where horse supplies are sold. I use it on my long hair and it's the best thing since baked bread. It doesn't make the hair greasy. You only need a very small mouth about dime size, rub it in the palm of your hand and work it into the hair around her eyes and muzzle. You will be amazed, and your pup will thank you for it. Good luck.

Answer 2

She most certainly can. Some time between three and four months, traumas to a puppy can set the stage for issues in adult life. She probably got smacked in the face with a brush or comb.

I have an adult Golden I adopted who was crated too much as a puppy and punished with crating. She would rather die than enter a crate.

You can gently and slowly break her of it. However, it's going to take time. Start by rubbing, scratching her face with your hands, very gently, while talking to her in that tone that she knows and loves. Reward her with a treat. Do this several times a day every day, but just for a little while. If she's comfortable with that..use your fingers to groom her face. Use the same method. Slow, frequent, rewards.

When she's good with that. Show her whatever it is you groom her with, and let her smell it. While you pet her and give her the voice she loves.

If that's okay, use it to groom some place close to her face that she doesn't mind. You're going to work toward her face slowly to see where the boundary is.

Once you find it. You'll back off, and reward her when you hit the calm spot again. Using that voice she loves, move just a little into the zone she doesn't like. Just for a second. Reward her for letting you. And stop. Play with her.

Gradually work your way to her face. Very slowly. You're not in a rush, and you have to make sure she is allowed to sniff the grooming tool and be comfortable with it.

It'll take awhile, but with patience you can get her over it. Good luck!

Answer 3

There are two issues here.

To answer your question, yes dogs do remember trauma inflicted on them as a pup by a previous owner.

On the other hand it might just be that she does not like you to fiddle around her eyes, which is not unusual. "Desensitize" her gently.

Brush extremely carefully and gently, not so much for the result, but for her letting you do it. Work with slow, gentle movements, and only for a few seconds. If she tolerates it, praise her lavishly with a very high pitched voice and give her a treat.

My dog which is adopted from a pound hates having his nails clipped and thrashes about wildly. I lay him out on my bed, have heaps of treats in my pocket, and very gently clip the very tip of the nail, more for "touching" him value, then for a good clipping result. And when he holds still, he gets a treat or two. We are slowly getting there.

My pup also hated having the area around eyes and on the nose brushed. I bought a very soft and very small baby brush and did what I recommended above, and he is as good as gold now.

If you have another (older) dog, you might also find, grooming that dog first with the pup watching might be beneficial. And make no mistake, she might be big, but at 10 months she is still a pup.

Answer 4

Generally speaking the big breeds have a shorter lifespan than the small ones - a wolfhound may make around 10 years or so, although golden retrievers are more likely to reach 14 or 15. Perhaps with the cross you might find somewhere in the middle. Someone is bound to disagree with me on this!!

Answer 5

More than likely, it's just that the areas on a dogs face are EXTREMELY sensitive, you have to remember they've got "whiskers" all over on their face. It'll probably improve as she gets older. I still have to talk to my dog in a very soothing voice every time I have to clean or groom around her face and I've had her for years, and know for a fact that no one ever did anything to harm her. Eventually she'll learn to trust that you're not going to do anything to her, and she'll be fine.