Please Help!!

Question
QUESTION: I will forwarn you this is a long history.  I rescued my Maltese, Fred ~ 5 years ago.  He is currently 12 years old.  When I rescued him, he had many health problems & has subsequently had all of his teeth pulled, had a rectal hernia repair & has had a multitude of "warts" removed due to his chewing on them.  He failed to stud with another dog & I later found out after he was returned to his owner (who was upset because they did not get to collect their stud fee) the owner locked him in a garage & "walked away."  The individual who's female he was to stud with discovered this & "stole" him from the owner & he was my dog ~ 1 week later.  When I got him, he weighed ~ 7# (he currently is a healthy 12#).  I was out of town the evening he was delivered.  So, his first night was spent with my roommate, although he is my dog.  My roommate also has a Maltese (female ~ 2 1/2 years old) & we are to soon be given my Mother's 6 month female Maltese (due to health issues with my mother & her inability to care for her).  We recently started "clicker training" for Fred & Bailey (my roommate's dog).  Due to his multitude of "bumps & warts," I am constantly monitoring his skin, but I have recently decreased this & noticed that at least the "attacking" (see below) has decreased.  I have a few concerns that I do not know how to address with Fred.
1.)  He is constantly licking himself (paws, tail, belly...) which has recently decreased (I have tried, Bitter Apple & verbal cuing) recently I have ignored it.

2.)  He attacks (mainly me); this can happen when he is startled or after I have been petting him for a few seconds (when I first got him, it happened primarily when he would be startled, ie if touched when sleeping).  However, it has become more frequent & less consistent the last 4-6 months.  We, moved into a different rental house about the same time (I don't know if there is an association or not).  I did notice the last time I was attacked that he turned his back toward me before I started to pet him.  I petted for 3-4 strokes.  Then, he "went off."  Fortunately, he has no teeth.  What I mean by "attack" is that he will actually try to bite & attack which has left some pretty good bruises, but fortunately has not broken the skin, yet.  He rarely "attacks" my roommate.  I have tried a variety of reprimands for his behavior without much luck.  I have tried "time outs," verbal reprimands, & I have even tried to pick him up & console him (this seems to settle him, but does not decrease the frequency).
He has 4 beds in the house in various places.  Even if he is wide awake with no chance to startle him, he will frequently go into "attack mode" if attempts are made to move him from the bed.  Sometimes he will not even leave the bed for treats.

3.)  He has become very "whiny" lately (more toward my roommate than myself).

4.)  He is very disinterested in me.  He wants to be petted, sat with, picked up, by my roommate, but not so much with me.  In fact, if he is seeking attention from my roommate & I call him to me, he will go to his bed & lie down completely avoiding me.  He was sitting on the couch with my roommate the other day & I sat beside him.  He immediately jumped off the couch & went to his bed.  

5.)  We recently started "clicker training" but Fred seems completely disinterested at times.  He

6.)  He sleeps in bed with me, but recently has decided he likes to get out of bed & go under the bed at night.  this is fine, but he does not like to come out from under the bed in the morning.  If I try to "pull" him out I am afraid I will be attacked.  I used to be able to coax him out from under the bed with a treat & could then pick him up to go out & potty.  He has now figured this trick out & will no longer come out for treats.  I have recently put a blanket under the bed which he will lie on.  Then, I can slide the whole thing, blanket & Fred, in the morning & pick him up to go potty.  It would not be such a big deal, but if he does not go out to potty in the morning, he makes messes in the house.

7.)  I am unsure how to acclimate Fred to my mother's dog when she arrives.  I want him to know that he is still MY dog & I love him, but I will obviously have to give attention to the new dog as well.

We have considered the possiblity of dementia, but I don't think it really fits.  He does NOT wander aimlessly, get lost, go to the wrong side of the door to go out or any of the other things I have been told are signs.
My roommate's dog has recently become more aggressive toward Fred, especially when he approaches my roommate.  So, I don't know how or if this plays into the whole picture.  

I just have concerns for him & feel like I am letting him down.  He had such a bad life before I got to him.  Up until ~ 6-8 months ago, he was somewhat cuddly, would voluntarily sit with me, liked to be petted, & seemed more playful in general.  I am only hoping that I can get that back again.  

Unfortunately, I don't have much health history prior to his rescue.  He has had a DAP collar on for the last 2-3 days & I have been using lavendar oil to help "settle" him as was recommended by my roommate.  I am also going to purchase Hill's Prescription Diet b/d food for him as soon as I can find it (I was told by someone else this might help).

ANSWER: Hi, Courtney,

I'm sorry to hear about poor little Freddie's problems.

I don't have much time this morning, but wanted to reply to your questions right away.

First of all, I'm not a vet, but it doesn't sound to me like he needs a special food to help improve his brain function. From what you've described his brain is functioning just fine. (He figured out how to avoid being lured out from under the bed, didn't ne?) To me, Fred's problem may very well be partly physiological (due to all his past ailments and neglect I'd say that his adrenal glands are probably in bad shape). I'd suggest that you talk to a naturopathic vet about improving their function rather than giving him any food made by Hill's Science Diet.

Also, it seems to me that the reason Fred behaves indifferently at times toward you, and aggressively at other times, has to do with his need to feel safe. He doesn't understand how much you love him because he doesn't yet feel safe enough, due to his past experiences, and due to being reprimanded by you, and probably due to the fact that you're trying to do things TO him (get him out from under the bed, ehecking his skin for warts) or get HIM to do things (stop licking himself, learn to obey, etc.) that add up, in his mind, to the feeling that you're a threat to his safety. He has a lot of internal tension, this dog. And the licking makes him feel better, sleeping under the bed makes him feel better, even biting makes him feel better.

For the sleeping under the bed, I think there's nothing wrong with pulling him out via the blanket in the morning. I would've tried leaving a leash on him at night, and pulling him out that way.

Is there any game or gamelike activity that Fred enjoys? If you can get him to play, even if it's just the silliest game you've ever thought of, you can start to change his attitude from feeling threatened to wanting to engage with you.

Try putting a little bit of cold-pressed safflower oil in his food every day. It might help his adrenal functioning.

More later,

LCK

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Lee--
Thank you so much for your advice.  I think you "hit the nail on the head" in many ways.  I have started to implement some of your suggestions & I think they will be very helpful.  I do have another follow-up question.  When Fred does "attack" how should I respond (I want to make sure I do not reinforce his behavior)?  Should I console him & let him know it is OK & that he is safe, or should I discipline him to let him know his behavior is unacceptable?  I have thought about this & could not convince myself one way or another.  Currently, I am trying to console him, but I don't know if this is the right thing to do.  
Again, thank you for your time & help!  Now, when we return from our walks, Fred has much more endrgy & is ready to play.  He is also following commands much more readily.

Answer
Hi again,

I'm having server problems but I wanted to address your question as soon as possible.

When Fred "attacks" you shouldn't do either. Discipline will only be perceived by Freddie as aggression, and consoling him won't get at the the heart of the matter.

Here's the heart of the matter: his previous owner treated him as a commodity, not as a dog. You came along and rescued him, and that's a wonderful thing. But in certain respects (consoling is one of them) you're treating him as a rescue project instead of treating him like a dog. Now don't get me wrong, what you're doing is a wonderful thing, and there's a natural human (and humane) impulse behind it. But first and foremost Fred is, in my view, a scrappy pup who's full of piss and vinegar. He may have been through the wringer, and my heart certainly goes out to him, just as yours does, but he doesn't want to think about that. He wants to move on. And what he needs, in order to be able to do that, is to have something to do that will make him feel like he's a good, valuable dog, make him feel like he's working for a living, which is what dogs have been bred for going back thousands of years. In other words, he needs a job, preferably one that involves his prey drive. That's where this whole business of teaching him to play comes in. It puts the dog's prey drive to use within a group context, which is the best we can do to simulate the ultimate experience for wolves--hunting as a group.

To answer your question, when Fred attacks, try praising him. He's expressing himself when he does that, right? He may not be expressing himself in the most positive manner yet. But he IS expressing himself. That impulse (if not the means by which it manifests) should be rewarded.

Here's a link explaining why I think this is a good idea:

http://www.tiny.cc/praise622

My AOL is acting up again. More later,

LCK