Ares, a Continental Bulldog with special effects, has been in the shelter for a little over a year now. Ares visited the Hellhound Foundation for a professional assessment of his special effects. The good news: he didn't have to stay there and isn't a hellhound. "Just because someone stumbles and loses their bearings doesn't mean they're lost forever!" ~ Charles Xavier. That's the quote Vanessa Bokrr gave our Ares. Read Vanessa Bokrr's assessment from the Hellhound Foundation here: Assessment of Ares: The two-and-a-half-year-old male Bulldog mix has been in the shelter kennel for a year now and is looking for people who are familiar with the issue of a "second-hand, docked, bulldog" and its challenges. Ares's ears were lost in Turkey, and once he arrived in Germany, he was resold after a short time. A thoughtless purchase, as it turned out, the buyer surrendered the dog to the shelter as a stray after just a few days. The sad thing about such unfortunate chain of events is that information about the dog gets lost, and you end up with a veritable mosaic of behaviors whose rationale isn't always immediately apparent. For example, Ares chooses his own caregivers and terrorizes the rest by jumping on the bars, threatening, and attacking. For this reason, Ares has already been fitted with a muzzle by the shelter, and he wears it without any problems. When Ares was with us, he displayed insecure behavior and immediately reacted to harassment with an attack. Unfortunately, this is a common behavior in dogs who, due to too many changes of owners, have developed attachment disorders and social neglect because they never really had a chance to put down roots. This means that dogs like Ares begin to develop their own strategies with which they think they can solve their problems and worries. Of course, "attack is never the best defense," and so people who adopt Ares shouldn't assume that he means it in a bad way, but rather that he simply can't do anything else in some situations because no one has ever taught him how. A dog like Ares should therefore be given to very responsible owners who don't see the muzzle as a punishment, but rather as an opportunity to accompany their dog in his development process responsibly and safely for everyone. Because when Ares attacks, he doesn't need to resist, nor does he need a person nearby who gets scared and becomes hysterical. He needs to learn that his behavior is undesirable and be prevented from escalating further. In our case, we were able to achieve this by intercepting Ares in the act of attack and placing him by his collar in front of us. Since he didn't expect such a reaction, he looked at us briefly, which we used as an opportunity to send him away and to convey to him that he wasn't allowed to be there when he behaved like that. So you pull him back from his attack and threaten him away. As soon as he lets go of his perceived opponent and evades the body language threat, it's just as important to invite him back into the situation with a gentle body language gesture and let him participate again. You don't want to punish him, but simply show him which behavior is desired and which undesirable. Dogs communicate analogically – that is, they indicate their state of mind and intentions through body language, facial expressions, and gestures. It's always said that where the nose points, the dog is thinking. If he looks at the sausage, he'll eat it; if he looks into the woods, you'll go for a walk alone shortly afterward because Waldi is hunting. This also applies to Ares, but his flat muzzle and curled tail mean that many people don't understand him well, which is another reason why his speech and actions often seem a bit exaggerated. If you're not understood, you just raise your voice. Ares, because he's been passed around so much in his short life, is a lone fighter who looks out for his own skin first and foremost. Typical of a bulldog, he remains very stubborn and defends himself according to the motto "attack is the best defense." People who want to give Ares a home need knowledge of expressive behavior and communication. Furthermore, a high degree of responsibility is required to avoid Ares being classified as a dangerous dog. Unfortunately, it happens all too often that dogs are given too much perceived freedom out of pity and then fall back into old habits. Otherwise, he's easy to handle in all other everyday situations and can handle a lot. He rides well in the car, he's cuddly, he eats well, and he loves to sleep. He loves walks as much as treats. Strangers, pushy, and aggressive dogs quickly have an "Aha!" moment... smarter through ouch, in other words. For Ares, we wish for a home that looks with an unclouded view at the nature and character of such an involuntary vagabond and recognizes and takes seriously his potential.
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