Renewal Of Dog Problems In Bad Home Environments

A person lives in a bad home environment, then leaves to get their life sorted out and live with another family that is loving and functional, our they kick out a bad person to get their life together. In the bad environment, this person was not at their best on many levels. In the new safe environment, they make healthy and appropriately adaptive changes, and the goodness happens. They then go back to living in that bad home environment, there is a good chance they will relapse into old behaviors that they never wanted to experience again. 

Part of changing from a bad home environment is setting up new ways of doing things. Good behaviors are possible and then rewarded appropriately. The other part is the new context in which these new ways are practiced. However, the context of any living situation greatly influences the success or failure of any such program. Thus, if you take someone who has changed for the better, and put them back into a bad situation, the old ways are very likely going to come back. In a similar way, if you bring someone into your home that has a lot of problems, they can undo all the good in your home.

An old saying talks about not putting new wine into old wine bottles. That destroys the new wine.

Likewise, let's say you take a dog out of a bad home situation, train the dog properly, and get everything sorted out. Now, put that dog back into that bad home situation, and all those fears, anxieties, bouts of aggression, obnoxious behaviors and actions, are all likely to sprout up again. Or, you take a well trained and adjusted dog, and bring in a bad influence, whether a dog or person, that has significant unresolved problems and you will most likely see your dog deteriorate and your family have lots of problems. This is partly why I am not a supporter of board and train programs because what might work at the trainer's facility doesn't necessarily carry over if the dog is put back into a home where the original conditions haven't changed for the better, or a new bad influence has come into the home, and the residents don't have the combined skills, motivation or care to treat the dog differently. 

Plan accordingly.