Chilpa

Chilpa
By Michele Forto

A few weeks ago I met a couple and conducted an evaluation on their dog. Victor was very concerned about his beloved german shepherd dog Chilpa. Chilpa had attacked the neighbors dog unprovoked and even though he swiftly paid the veterinarian bills and the neighbor did not contact animal control, Victor being a long time german shepherd owner, decided that he had better contact a trainer.

As I waited to meet Victor and Chilpa, I was excited to meet another german shepherd owner, I was also concerned about the description of the aggression Victor stated that Chilpa was displaying. The time of the evaluation came and went and it was now 15 minutes after the appointment was to take place. I called Victor and asked if he’d like to reschedule, he apologized and mentioned that he had forgotten our appointment and was not able to make it in this day. We rescheduled our appointment for the weekend.

To my surprise Victor, his wife Shirley, and Chilpa kept their appointment and showed up on time. Also to my surprise was Victor and Shirley an elderly couple with a young german shepherd. The evaluation was performed and it was determined that Chilpa has fear aggression. I developed a training plan for Chilpa and explained to Victor my concerns and strategies to help Chilpa get healthy.

Our first training session was the following Monday. I got to Victor’s house, he had told me during the evaluation that he is 92 years old, he met me at the door and said, “what’s the plan?” I explained that I would like to see Chilpa’s environment both inside their home and in their neighborhood. He proceeded to show me around and took me out back where I saw 9 prairie dogs and the neighbor whose dog was attacked. I also saw the little poodle who immediately began barking aggressively at Chilpa who paid him no mind. During the evaluation I had determined by using another dog that Chilpa is fearful to the point of physically shaking when other dogs are around. She has high defensive fight drives and uses this drive to ward off potential attacks from other dogs. Victor then suggested he walk with me around the neighborhood. I tried to be polite and let him know that I could take Chilpa alone, but he insisted. For 92 I’ve got to say I only hope I’m able to still drive my black Cadillac and walk two or three blocks with my dog! During our walk I asked Victor if I could bring Chilpa to my training center on Saturdays as the situation here at his home and in his neighborhood was not conducive to the training I needed to do with Chilpa. He agreed. He then stopped me and complimented me on my passion and genuine attitude toward him and his dog. He then said, “Michele, I’m 92 years old and I’m not going to live forever, I adopted Chilpa for my wife, her health is not good. My son cannot take Chilpa when I die and the retirement village won’t let Shirley keep her either. I need to ask if you would take her and if you would what would you do?” It took me a moment to answer honestly I was floored by what he just asked me to do. I had only known him for 4 days. I placed my hand on his shoulder and reminded Chilpa to sit, and told him that I would be proud to take his dog, that I couldn’t guarantee but I would try to train her for service work or I’d keep her myself for the rest of her life. I promised to always be here to care for her whenever he needed.

Chilpa’s first Saturday of training at the training center started off hectic. I brought her in and she barked at every camp dog staying with us. Nicole and I put her in a crate and proceeded to get things done that morning. We then went back to the van to get Nicole’s dog Qyain. Qyain would be our test dog with Chilpa today. We always just let Qyain loose in the training center because he gets along with all of the dogs and stays out of the way, for the most part. He is a 2 year old german shepherd so staying out of the way is relative! Of course, he found Chilpa in a crate in the office and he immediately went up to the crate and tried licking her face. Chilpa went off barking and lunging. I went and sat next her and called Qyain back over, this time she barked and growled but stopped when I told her to sit. Nicole then put a leash on Qyain and I leashed Chilpa and we got to work with them in the same room moving around the floor performing commands. Chilpa was shaking but as we went along she got calmer. Eventually she showed interest in Qyain so leaving the leashes on Nicole and I let them greet while we let the leashes go. Qyain is very balanced he chased her around and smelled her, licked her face, and tried to get her to play. Chilpa allowed this until Qyain cornered himself and he turned to run away and she attacked him. Nicole said nothing, and I only said Chilpa leave it. She stopped and Qyain began playing again with her and all was fine. They played throughout the day.

The following Monday I brought Qyain to Victor’s house to show him how well Chilpa and him got along. They did well in his backyard and on their walk. Victor was very pleased and I explained to him that this was just one dog and he’s an intact male of the same breed. That I have a lot of work ahead of me with other breeds. He understood.

Saturday training number 2, as I got ready to train Chilpa on leash around other dogs, I took her outside to use the bathroom. I noticed blood droplets, I checked her out, pads, tongue, nose and couldn’t find where she was bleeding. Then she lifted her tail and I saw it, she was in heat! But how could that be? Victor rescued her and he told me she was spayed. No training today, I had to find out what was wrong.

Victor and I decided to have me take Chilpa to my vet and get her checked out. Today, we found out from the first test that it appears that Chilpa was not spayed. We have three concerns here; not spayed, spayed partially and infection set in, a few months ago had a biopsy done on her kidney by Banfield and the records are inconclusive as to what they found or why they performed surgery.

We are awaiting additional blood work and Chilpa is off of the training routine until we find out what is going on with her health.

I decided to write this article today to remind everyone out there that taking your dog to a veterinarian and giving them the best possible care you can is the right thing to do. When you take your pet to a veterinarian no matter if they run their own private practice or you visit them at a big box corporate store, you have the right to get a second opinion if you feel that procedures are being done unnecessarily on your pet.

Also, when you get your pet spayed or neutered or the procedure was done before you rescued your dog, you need to be aware that the surgery may not have been successful. Our dog Ineka is a 12 year old male Siberian Husky who came to us neutered. We later discovered that his neuter was not complete, Ineka made us a great litter of pups for my racing team in 2001. My vet explained that in females if the vet performing the surgery did her incision high on the chest that they can’t always get deep enough to get the entire uterus out so a piece is left. Usually its fine, but there can be complications with infection and “false heat cycles”.

Your veterinarian can perform blood tests and other tests to determine if your spay or neuter is complete. There is usually no concern, but if you notice especially in your female dog any discharge, bloody, mucous, and/or foul odor get her to the vet immediately.

Chilpa does not appear to have an infection but we will know from her blood work in a few days. For now she is at home with Victor and Shirley lounging around and loving her life.

Tags: Robert Forto | Michele Forto | Dog Training Denver | Colorado Dog Training |Denver Dog Works |Dog Works Training Centers| Forto | Team Ineka | #dogs #denver #dogtraining
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Michele Forto is the business manager and lead obedience trainer at Denver Dog Works. Michele can be reached through her website at http://www.denverdogworks.com