Fearful Rescue Dog

18 17:59:26

Question

Mae We just adopted a rescue dog from Taiwan. She is 4.5 months old and has
certainly had more than her fair share of troubles. She was found in Taiwan
along with her 7 litter mates all; all were dirty, skinny and full of parasites.
Our dog, Mae, was the only one with a serious injury. The paw on her rear
leg was hanging on by a strand. She probably had got caught in a steel jaw
trap.. Mom and the litter were transported to a local over-crowded shelter.
Mae's lower leg was amputated. The mom ended up nursing her own 8 pups
plus 12 more that were added to her cage before they were all taken into a
foster home. They were then shipped to the US. She was fostered for two
weeks and is now home with us. Given all of this, it's amazing how sweet and
calm and happy she appears. Still, she has certain fears that have been
discovered just in the 24 hours we've had her. She stays in the living room
with us (where her crate is) and is terrified to cross the hardwood floor that
surrounds the living room. I've taken her on two walks this far (I do believe
they were her first) and we made a lot of progress. I've been really careful
not to "reassure her" when she is acting fearful. On both walks, we
encountered other dogs. She was utterly terrified. She peed all over ran
circles around me and and yelped and snapped like crazy. And at times on
the walk things would scare her and she would just flatten herself on the
ground and refuse to move no matter how up beat my voice was trying to get
her moving forward again. At home, she gets along fine with my extremely
mellow, 15 year old hound mix. She also does really well with my two kiddos.
She does, however, favor her crate. If anything at all spooks her she races in
there. In addition, she doesn't like to be picked up. If she thinks you are
going to try and pick her up she flattens herself to the ground and pees. She
likes to cuddle, but on her own terms...if you reach out to her she usually will
jump backward. So, all in all, I think she's doing well for all that she's been
through. And, she's already made some nice strides in the one day she's
been with us (learning to walk down the back steps to the back yard which at
first she was very frightened of). Still, since I know it's easier to work on
issues earlier than latter I would love some general advice on how to proceed
and build her confidence. Thanks so much in advance.

Answer
You might put throw rugs down to help her across the slick floors. It's understandable that this dog has issues, and terrific that you see her already finding ways to cope. I'd give her time and space and try to let her make the first moves. If she needs to hang out in her crate, let her. Try not to pick her up or bend over her. I'd start doing some clicker training/shaping and problem solving work with her (it's not possible to be terrified and thinking at the same time) You may get some good ideas at www.clickertraining.com. I would probably start with an i-click which is a softer sound than the standard box clicker. Clicker training also helps in that it's not necessary to physically control the dog. And targeting behaviors can be wonderful for giving a dog a chance to explore "scary" stuff at their own speed. She is still very new to you - don't be too quick to try to put her on your time schedule. it's okay to not reassure her when she acts afraid. But do respect her communication about what she can and can't handle. It's better to keep her in a thinking state of mind than push her over threshold. TTouch might also be something that would be very helpful in teaching her to touch you. www.ttouch.com
Sometimes "slow is smooth, and smooth is fast" Sandy Case BFA MEd CPDT www.positivelycanine.com

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