Working with a fearful dog

(Blink’s final adoption video – a few added clips)

I kept this training/progress log hoping to help others with a fearful, feral or abused dog. Each dog is different and each problem needs its own solution but my journal might give you a few ideas and perhaps some emotional support. At times I was very discouraged and frustrated with his progress and set-backs. But when I saw even the tiniest progress, it was worth every second I spent with him. The biggest challenge for me was

not taking things personal. As a dog lover, it is extremely difficult when a dog is scared of you and wants to have nothing to do with you. Re-watching some of his earlier videos and reading this journal kept me going.

As you will see I’m not a writer, and I am not even a native English speaker so please excuse my writing skills.

Week 1 (Assessing and getting to know each other)

Day 1 – Meeting Jax

Jax/Blinky was a breeding dog for a bad breeder, and then was turned in to be euthanized with other dogs at age 4.

He was flea infested and had been chewing his fur, which left some hair loss. He was apparently left with all other dogs, intact males and females in the same confinement, which resulted in some fights and a few permanent scars. With good nutrition and care, he should have his beautiful tri coat back in a few months or so but his partially sliced tongue will not be healed. He is very fearful, extremely under socialized and jumpy to noises and sudden movements. He jumped a few feet when I put down a leash on a glass table. He most likely lived in a cage or outside run. If he sees a crate, he runs straight into it with his tail tucked in, and stays there until I encourage him out of there. If a crate is shut, he panics and looks for a safe place to hide. He is terrified of new places and indoors especially when people are there. So far he’s neutral with other dogs.

First week

He was so quiet I sometimes forgot he was even there. Day 2, I took him back to work and have him crated in the office. Some of you will wonder why I took him out to public so quickly. With some fosters I don’t take him to work for weeks, some I do right away as long as they are healthy. I just trust my gut feeling and decide what’s more beneficial to each foster. His tail did not come out between his legs until he was loose in the yard, away from people. When the scent of other dogs is abundant, his olfaction takes over the fear and he becomes much more relaxed. As soon as a person walks towards him or when he has to be inside, his tail goes right back in and he runs into a nearby crate or under the desk. The interesting thing is that he gives up completely once he’s on leash. It makes me wonder about his past.

If you sit down without talking to him, he occasionally approaches you. If a person has a dog with her, he is much better. He has zero recall at this point due to trusting issues and I don’t expect him to come to me at this point. I don’t want him to run away when I need to get him, so he’s either on a long line or I have high value treats and my dog when I want him to come back to me. Luckily he is somewhat food motivated, he will slowly approach me when I sit down, ignore him and feed my dogs. I leash him up as I continue to feed him. We are starting to get that routine established. Despite all the fear and un-trust, he wants affection – on his term of course. He has 5 “safe zones” throughout the house. Multiple crates with different views and puppy gated areas. I block the dining and bedrooms with baby gates. He can hide but I still want to keep my eyes on him. Unlike other fosters, he gets all the valuable things when he is OUT of those zones. I keep his safe zones very neutral and unexciting. No bones, no treats there. He only gets them if he decided to come out. I want him to expand his safety bubble gradually without getting stuck in the crate.

Getting him used to being “collar-grabbed” and leashed up

Major fear of going indoors and other fears

He is starting to show interest to the toys. On day 2, He panicked when he heard a squeaky toy. Today he cocked his head when I squeaked a ball hidden behind me from distance. He is MUCH more comfortable outside as long as there is no storm or loud noises. He’s still very uncomfortable being approached. He is always watching our movements. Unless we are doing the food/dogs routine, he tries to keep at least 10-15 feet away. It’s like magnets – two like poles repelling one another. He showed major fear towards the least expect things. A cookie jar full of pig ears and bully sticks. He barked at it from 20 feet away. Even after he realized what was inside, he still couldn’t relax. He barked at the pet door very fearfully when my dog went through it. I’m thinking it’s the noises they made.

I left one of the puppy pens open with him inside, giving him a choice to come out on his own and eat his dinner while we watched TV. Eventually he came out, ate and asked for his version of affection. However, as soon as one of us stands up, he runs back into the pen with his tail tucked in. We have to be careful with our movement. He still does not come into the house on his own, even with high value food and toys. He didn’t want to come inside but got agitated (in a good way) when I left the door slightly open while I played with my dogs in the house. He took a few steps in but ran back out quickly. We need to build more toy drive outside first.

Going 2 steps forward, 2 steps back & thunder phobia

Yesterday I was feeling very discouraged. My husband and I noticed how he goes 2 steps forward, and 2 steps back. I realized that I needed to step back and do more micro-training with him. I’m used to seeing much faster progress on week 1 with other fosters, but obviously he’s going to need much slower approach. Today was bittersweet though. We had a thunderstorm, which he’s afraid of. He started following me around for security. I gave him all the affection and comfort when he did that. For the first time he jumped in my Jeep all on his own. He did not even hesitate to go inside the house. He looked relieved to be in the car, my house and by my side. I decided to take a full advantage of this and teach him that I’m his safe/security zone. That night, he stayed by our feet all night. I have NO problem comforting a thunder-phobic dog when he’s afraid. Remember, you can’t reinforce an emotion (fear); you can only reinforce a behavior.

Training plan – Week 1 & 2

1. Bond with us
2. Trust the hand
3. Getting comfortable going/being inside the house
4. CC to collar grab & approach

Known fears

1. Approach
2. New places (Even just from one side of a room to another side of the same room)
3. New people
4. Thunder
5. Indoors
6. Loud noises
7. Pet door, cookie jar, fridge, doors or anything “unusual”
8. Sharp noises
9. Being handled
10. Loud voice
11. Car ride
12. Door ways
13. Things over his head

Possible reinforcers

1. High value food when stress is low
2. Access to safe places
3. Toys when outside
4. Water (Not rain)
5. Being able to smell other dogs and mark over their pees

Week 2 updates:

Baby steps, meeting strangers, water therapy and more…

In the house – Encouraging him to stay out of crate

It’s still a struggle but he’s slowly getting used to going/being in the house. He gets suspicious about any place he’s not currently at. If we are already inside, going outside can be difficult. He’s very careful about not positioning himself in front of us. I’m not sure if he was ever hit, but he might have been kicked. I moved one of his crates into the dog room and left it open. Once he got somewhat used to being in the room, we started working on reverse-crate training. Lots of teasing with my dogs when he’s in the crate. He can only get the toys and food when he comes out of crate on his own. I never stop him from going in the crate but he will lose all the good things once he goes in there. He’s starting to come out more and more, especially when he hears the squeaky noise. We also worked on another reverse crate training. He still hides in the crate when he panics but he does not go in there when I need him to. (Not being “stubborn” just doesn’t like to be taken there…he becomes suspicious) I wanted to teach him the “Kennel” cue but I don’t want to reward him when he’s in the crate. So I ask him to go to kennel, when he does, I quietly mark it and toss treats outside the crate. That way he learns the kennel cue, at the same time he gets used to coming out of it for reward.

Coming into the house is still the hardest. It’s like he needs to be energized before walking in – sort of like running before jumping off a cliff. If we played outside and he is full on endorphins, he follows us into the house (then panics afterwards). If we just had gone outside for potty break (without a good play), he gets shut down by the door (the edge of cliff) so I usually keep him on leash for a quick in-and-out.

New people

His tail never comes out unless there is a social/playful dog in the room. But he tries hard. If people stay neutral and wait long enough, (without talking to him) he will slowly approach them with the tip of his tail almost touching his belly. It is as if he has two different brains trying to control one body. I think he was supposed to be (or had the potential to be) a happy, playful and social dog. The people who had him changed that. But I know it’s still there and I see it a little more each day.

Water therapy

The original foster told me he likes to attack water. I had been looking forward to trying him with a water hose but I had to wait for him to recover from the neutering surgery. Oh my god. He really loves water. He is almost as obsessed as my Border Collie. He perked up as soon as he saw the sprinkler and started snapping at the water. He still kept distance from me but I was able to capture some cute videos and photos. He is a different dog when he plays with water. His ball/toy drive is really coming out. I still remember how scared he was when I squeaked a toy on day 2.

Misc.

He now jumps onto my Jeep on his own. He still salivates quite a bit but he eats if I toss some treats in the back seat. That’s a good sign. He is still fearful and reactive towards the pet door. I just keep it shut until he’s ready to work on this particular issue. There are just too many other things I need to focus on right now. He’s great with other dogs he met so far. He walks well on leash and he seems to be enjoying the daily walk. We have not worked on potty training yet. I assume he’s NOT potty trained because he was an outside dog. I’m just keeping my eyes on him. I don’t want to startle him when he tries to mark in the house so he’s being micro managed and being taken outside frequently.

He still does not give a direct eye contact to any of us. I wondered why there is no spark in his eyes. It’s partly because he never looks up. His head is always low, he always avoids eye contact and they never catch the light.

I’ve noticed that he resource guards when a toy is in his space. He does not fight for a toy when another dog has it. If a ball is sitting right in front of him, he will make the noise to let the other dog know. At this point, I’m managing it by asking my dogs to leave it until Blinky moves away from it. (I get his attention away by tossing another toy, and tell my dog to get it)

Day 12 – lots of good moments

Lots of baby steps forward (and some backwards) this week. Overall, we are going forward. There were several “For the first time he did…” moments. On day 12, he followed us into the house and went straight to the kitchen to eat his breakfast – without a leash. I took a nice joyful breath to take it all in as I quietly shut the door while he ate. He was still jumpy and kept one eye on me but it’s a start. I usually have to trick him into going in the kitchen long enough so that I can shut it without letting him to run back outside. This dog will do great with routine with reward system. Fearful dogs need rewarding routine to feel safe.

Until today, I had to do several steps to get him inside in the morning. It usually goes like this:

1. Leave the dogs in the yard, blocking the concrete area with a wide baby gate while I watch them from inside. He likes to hide in the concrete area and would not go potty right away unless we are playing with water. (If I did that, then he gets too distracted to go potty) Making him go #2 has been a challenge so having the gate and my dogs there really helped. Seriously, I don’t know how I do all this without my dogs.
2. Once he goes, I open the baby gate, step away, and squeak a toy to get him pass the baby gate (Any change of location makes him nervous). If I stand by the gate or a door, he will not come in. I have to be at least 10 feet away from the door, facing the other way and never behind him.
3. Once he’s in the concrete area I sit down in a chair and start feeding my dogs, completely ignoring him. That gets him to approach me. I slowly grab a hold of his leash while I continue to feed him then take him inside. If I don’t have his leash, he will not come inside on his own. This is completely different during the day after a long play session. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of time in the morning!

He started hanging around in the kitchen while I prepare dog food/kongs as long as I don’t walk towards him. Even better, he counter-surfed tonight! He is one of few dogs I get excited about normally unwanted behaviors like jumping on people, trying to steal food, and counter surfing etc. I calmly re-directed him to get off the counter, but deep down I was thrilled. Anything is better than shutting down. He’s a classic case of “learned helplessness”. He has learned that it’s safe to do nothing. He also approached a co-worker (with his tail tucked in of course) on his own, and then gave her a paw halfway… We both looked at each other then silently screamed in joy. We’ve been working on following-game in the house. He gets his food when he catches up with us. So far he’s only comfortable walking a few paths in the house. I run away from him with my dogs, sit in one spot and feed my dogs. If he catches up, he gets a few then we run away from him again, encouraging him to be with the “pack”. We are slowly adding new paths to this game. I started blocking his usual paths so that he has to go through unfamiliar paths for his reward. I also blocked off the water from one side so that he has to walk a longer and busier path. He decided that the kitchen is his new safe place now. He chews his bone and hangs out there more often. The path to the bedroom (where his safest crate is) is also blocked off when he’s loose.

Day 14 – A huge set back

Things were going pretty well and I was excited to report all the progress we’ve made. It’s been exactly two weeks today. This morning we had a huge set back. He acted quite excited to see me and to be let in from the yard.

Right after that, one of my dogs tried to run inside through a closed pet door. (I keep it shut because he’s scared of it) When it made a loud noise, it absolutely terrified him. He was back to shut-down mode he was in two weeks ago. He refused to come inside no matter what we did. I finally got him inside but he wasn’t able to relax for a while. He finally ate his breakfast hours later, still very scared. I was going to start working on the pet door today but it looks like we have to postpone it.

He remained jumpy and wary unless we were outside. I felt like we were back to square one…I do have to remind myself that it’s not personal. People did this to him. Half of the time he acts so feral. What have they done to him to be this scared? Breaks my heart to see him so scared to just live in human world.

Week 3

Day 16 – Infection, vet visit and meeting Dorie

Another bad day. Sigh… After having a huge set back two days ago, now he has to go to a vet. His old incision is infected. He was cryptorchid so he had two incisions. (Yes, the breeder used a cryptorchid dog as a breeding dog!) One of the sutures should have dissolved got embedded in a fold and ended up with an infection. I was more worried about him being emotionally traumatized at the vet. My regular (and favorite) vet was not there so I didn’t know what to expect with the new vet. I armed with grilled chicken and roast beef. The staff at this vet probably refers me as the “Chicken lady”. I stink upthe exam room every time I take my dogs there. :) He did better than I expected, thanks to the understanding technicians and the vet who kept feeding him and taking it slow. He got some antibiotics and ointment but I declined the antibiotic injection. I just couldn’t have him poked and then associate the new people he met with pain. Surprisingly (or perhaps expected) he was more affectionate and trusting with me afterward, just as the day we had the thunderstorm. I’m wondering he saw me as the “safe place” in the unusual place. Again, I’m all for taking advantage of that. He’s sleeping by my feet as I write this. Even though we can’t do water play for a while, I think we are back on track again.

He met another dog from the same puppy mill today. One of my clients adopted a dog from us last year. I noticed the similarities in their looks right away. When we did our math, we realized that it was very possible she could be his mama dog. We will never know but it felt good to know we saved these dogs from this horrible place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbmL1Ivu9oU

Day 17 – First visitors and bubble machine

We had visitors, male and female. I let him “meet” them outside the house first. More wary of men as expected. After 15 minutes, he approached the man when he sat on a couch with treats. It helped that he had a friendly Chihuahua. I wanted to invite dog-friendly guests into the house before he gets too comfortable in the house. We also started working with the scary pet door. Without an exception, he will bark fearfully whenever he hears the flap hits the door. I always keep the pet door shut unless he is in the bedroom. We did three short sessions using grilled chicken, way below threshold.

Since he can’t play with water until his infection is gone, I decided to try the bubble machine. He was unsure of the motor noise at first but after seeing Jazzy goes crazy with the bubbles, he decided to join in. I am a huge believer in play therapy. You can do a lot with food reward but even better with play.

Day 18 – Back on track, potty training and pet door etc.,

It took 4 days for him to recover from the “trauma” on Day 14. The pet door training is going slow but steady. It might take over a week before he’s completely comfortable with the noise the flap makes. He is finally back on the original routine of following us into the kitchen for his dinner. He now comes in with very little hesitation, all the way to the kitchen. I no longer have to leave the door open for a few minutes (allowing all the mosquitoes to come inside) and wait for him to take the turtle steps to get to his food! I’ve increased the value of the food and frequency of the exercises. He gets fed 5-6 times, all small portions. I’m using the sound of kibbles in a metal bowl as a cue at the moment. After the chain of behaviors is strong, I’ll add a verbal cue “Inside”. My husband is out of town for a week so I have rearranged the furniture and gates. I expanded his safe zone around the kitchen so that 1. I can keep my eyes on him in a larger area 2. I can start working on potty training (finally!) 3. We can play inside 4. He’ll learn to live life indoor, not just to exist. I started acting more normal around him. Up to this point I was walking on egg shells; not giving him any eye contact, avoiding direct approach, and not making loud noises. Because we are starting to have a relationship, he recovers quicker when he gets startled by me. I’m working just slightly over his threshold.

This was a really good moment. Watch how he recovers when he gets startled then asks for reassurance.

Day 20 – Pet door and potty training progress

He no long barks out of fear when my dogs go through the pet door.

Potty training:

He’s been loose in the kitchen/living for some time now. In the beginning, he was too scared to even lift his leg. Now he’s getting more comfortable, I’m keeping even closer eyes on him. I am increasing the area he’s allowed to be in little by little. I know he can hold up to 10 hours crated but he was not potty trained either. So far, he has not marked or had an accident in the house. I will continue to take him outside when I know he has to go.

Day 21 – Marked 3 weeks, seeing steady progress

It’s been exactly three weeks since I brought him home. I don’t see much progress in person but when I read my journal from week 1 & 2, I am reassured that we ARE making progress. There are certain paths and areas he always avoids. I have blocked off his safe paths and started exposing him more to the scary paths. I still don’t feel comfortable doing operant conditioning with him, so we are still using luring and reverse psychology. Sometimes I just let him habituate. In this video we are doing “treat-retreat”. Treat-retreat is great because: 1. Encourages the dog to go forward 2. But he can also retreat from the stimuli 3. Gives him more opportunities to repeat #1. I never talk to him when I want him to do something. That only makes him more nervous – “come-on” “good boy” etc. When we watch TV, he now walks around the living and kitchen area exploring slowly. I always have one eye on him as I’m still not 100% sure with his potty training. I blocked off a large section in the bedroom and he sleeps there loose. He slept on his bed pretty much throughout the night, without having any potty accident.

Week 4 Update – New skills, relaxation, meeting new people

Learning new behaviors

We finally started with some operant conditioning. When I get a new foster, I usually teach the basic behaviors (Sit/Down/Name etc.) on day 1-2 but I had to go slow with this guy. When a dog is in fear or high stress, the amygdala (part of limbic system which is used for emotional reaction) is in full gear, not the frontal cortex (the thinking part). A dog cannot learn when he’s scared because all he cares about is his safety. Asking the dog to do things when he is in shut-down or fight/flight will only make the matter worse.

We started working on “Come” “OK” and “Sit” without verbal cues or a marker. To minimize the stress, I stay calm and keep it clean. Initially there was no “Good boy” or high pitch “YES!”. Here’s a chain of behaviors I’m teaching in this video. “Kissy sounds” (Come) – “Sit” (hand signal) – “OK” (reset). He used to look away or back away when I made kissy sounds or tapped my legs. I started making quiet kissy sounds, paired up with high value treats. Now he would come to me when I make loud kissy sounds. (I don’t use this when I know he’s in fear) He’s starting to be a little pushy for attention when he’s comfortable. So I added “Sit” when he comes to me. I don’t say the word, just a hand signal. I toss low value food to reset so that I can call him back again and again.

Verbal “Down” and teaching him what “Good boy” means

He did not understand what “Good boy” meant before. Today, He wagged his tail for the first time when I told him “Good boy” for not barking at a dog going through the pet door. By pairing with high value food, he’s finally associating what that means. I don’t care about his ability to “Sit” and “Down” on cue, but the process of learning these behaviors for reward will build more confidence in him.

His infection kept coming back and now another part of the incisions opened up because of the infection. He figured out a way to access the area with the head collar on. I don’t want to put a big plastic cone on him as that will block his view and startle him even more. If things don’t improve by Monday, he will have to wear the cone. :( I have been cleaning the area three times a day and applying ointment. I know he does not enjoy this but he’s been very tolerant. I’m concerned that I might be using too much “saving” from our “emotional trust fund” each time I do this. This has been very stressful for both of us.

TTouch, massage, relaxation and handling

I have considered using medications for him, but a stubborn side of me says let’s wait and see how much I can improve without them. I will be using more and more natural remedies such as aroma therapy (Lavender), music, massage, certain types of food that are higher in tryptophan, known to increase serotonin. Thundershirt did not work well with him because the noise of the Velcro scared him. I was able to clip his nails without any struggle. I also learned by trial (while testing for food aggression) that he lets me groom and handle him when he’s chewing on something. He goes into a mild trance when he chews and I was able to brush him. He is starting to enjoy a gentle massage. *I do not recommend anyone doing this unless you are experienced or working with a trainer.

More exposure to new people begins

I will commit to taking him out to public daily for the next two weeks. First week he hung out behind the front desk at work with a bag of treats (turkey, chicken, turkey hot dogs, cheese or steak) I left for the girls. He’s starting to think the staff at the front is pretty cool. He still gets nervous when a new person walks in or when a person tries to pass him. But he takes treats if she/he gets down to his eye level. Passing a person in a narrow space worries him still. He does not like when someone is behind him, next to him, going towards his rear end. He gets high value food, gentle affection and a stuffed Kong for a few hours without me being there. I do this only because I trust the staff there and I know they wouldn’t push it.

Just for fun

More reinforcers and tools

He’s learning the routines in my house, with me and with my dogs. When he goes to new home, the family and he will have to re-establish new routines. Because he doesn’t do well when we add new elements, I’m trying to add more reinforcers and tools he can take with him. In the new home, he will find these familiar things comforting and hopefully make the transition a little bit easier.

• Squeaky noises
• Kissy sounds and clapping hands
• Kibbles in a metal bowl
• “Inside” “DinDin” “Cookie” “Kennel”
• Running away from him
• Playing with other dogs
• Sounds a treat bag makes
• A hand presented (Hand targeting)
• A person tapping on the leg when seated
• Water hose running
• Easy behaviors for reward “Sit” “Down” “Touch”
• Beds, Pens, Crates as safe places
• Chuck-it stick in hand
• Water pistol

Week 5 – Getting more comfortable, fear of thunder

I’m getting really sick and tired of the storm and rain. This morning I found him trying to hide between a wall and a crate. With experiment, I figured out that he feels the safest in the bathroom. I think the sound is blocked better in there. He also feels safer when I throw a thick blanket on top of him.

This morning the yard was flooded so I took him to the front yard with an umbrella. I should have known that he’d be scared of an umbrella over his head. He panicked and tried to escape from me, but luckily I was holding the leash nice and tight. I tossed the umbrella, walked to our “storm tree” (he only goes there when it rains) in the heavy rain. We were soaked head to toe but I still couldn’t get him to go pee. Needless to say I was very late to work this morning. We definitely need to work with umbrellas.

Umbrella, things over his head and more confidence building exercises.

Starting to get comfortable – Vacuum, kid, cat and car ride

Lots of good updates. His infection is completely gone and the wounds are all healed. I continue to handle him and do massages daily. He now falls asleep when I flip him over and gives him belly rub and gentle massage. I can brush him, clip his nails and touch all over his body. I had to be out of town for a seminar so I decided to take him and one of my dogs with me. He’s been doing so well, I didn’t want to board him. I was worried about the longer ride (3 hours x 2) because of his anxiety in the car. Who’d have thought…the long ride actually helped him habituate!! He stopped drooling within 20 minutes and ended up taking a nap in the back seat. These fosters teach me new things every day. It doesn’t mean it will happen to all dogs but it certainly worked with him.

I usually put him up when I vacuum the house. I wanted to see what he would do if he was loose in one room while I vacuumed another room. Surprisingly, he came over to see what the noise was all about. He didn’t look like he was positively exposed to it. Just neutral and curious. I praised him and gave him affection as I vacuumed the room. He did not back off or attack the vacuum. I was thrilled to see his reaction.

One of my clients was nice enough to bring her 9 year-old girl. Grace is very natural with dogs, kind and gentle. I’ve worked with this family on many other occasions and I knew I could trust her and her mom. When Blinky saw her, he was more nervous about the environment than meeting her. When he relaxed, he approached her and took some doggy meat balls I baked for him. When she got down on the ground, he laid down next her and nuzzled his nose against her hand. It does not mean he will be fine with all kids, but if they are patient with him, he would do OK.

We also got to test him with a dog savvy kitty. I couldn’t tell if he had previous exposure to cats but he was very very curious AND gentle. He smelled the cat with a nice low wag, when he was done he just went back to his business. I am just so thankful for all the support and help in helping Blinky.

Coat Update

His black coat is looking shinier and fuller. He has put on a few more pounds and his tail is starting to fill out more.

Week 6 – Balancing and preventing future issues

He’s starting to get more comfortable being in the house. It’s time to do some “balancing” training. Don’t worry, it’s none of those “Shocking and treating” type of deal. I also want to make sure he doesn’t learn any new bad behaviors.

Resource guarding

He now eats his food with his back turned to me. Sometimes it CAN be a sign of guarding food. In his case, I see that he is getting comfortable eating around me. He used to always eat with his side facing me, making sure he could see where I was. However it is a good reminder that I should start working on PREVENTING resource guarding. I have been randomly going towards him while he eats, tossing a few bits of higher valued food in/around his bowl. I do the same with his bones and chewies. I also started teaching him to get off from the bed for reward. There are over 10 dog beds in my house but he always chooses a particular one.

Crate

He responds well to the “Kennel” cue because he finds it as one of the safest places. In the last five weeks I never rewarded him with food when he went in a crate because being able to go in one was the reward for him. Now that he’s enjoying the life outside of it, I am going to start rewarding him with low value food…probably kibbles. That way he will continue to have positive association with the crate, but not too much. At the same time, I started using the crate to work on impulse control. He wants to be out of it bad enough, he will sit (and short wait) to be let out. He will do the same to go in. It’s all about having the balancing. I want him to want to go in and out. I still crate him occasionally when I am home.

Chewing

He’s a chewer and ripper. He will rip a ball, fluffy toys, and plastic toys. I can’t even change the tone of my voice to interrupt his chewing if he starts to rip one of toys (He will shut down if I change the tone of my voice), I just simply replace what he has with more appropriate toys and praise when he goes for them. I made a mistake of saying “ah!” when he started ripping a sprinkler toy I got for the dogs. It wasn’t even loud or mean but he shrunk and stopped playing completely. He certainly does not need any verbal correction. It is obvious he had enough of that in the last four years.

Micro-managing

I’ve always been a micro-manager when it comes to dogs. I always know where the dogs are and I am on top of managing the environment. One thing I realized was that it’s not just about dogs. Not only that I have to keep my eyes on the foster, my dogs and the environment, I also have to “manage” my husband and his things. I remember to put things away or shut the doors, but I cannot expect my husband to remember all these things. Now I am training myself to watch my husband’s actions so that I can shut the doors after him and pick things up. It’s not easy!

Appreciating the smallest things

I am still somewhat deliberate with my movements around Blinky. He used to always run in a panicky mode if I had to pass him in a narrow pathway, or when he accidentally positioned himself ahead of us. This morning he was let out of the bedroom, run ahead of me with my dogs through the “scariest path” without hesitation, did not bark at my dogs when they ran through the petdoor, then he came running into the house for his breakfast. Not everyone gets to appreciate these moments because most dogs don’t have these issues. When working with fearful dogs, you really get to appreciate the smallest things.

Applications and trials

After posting his second adoption video, I received several applications. Coincidentally, two of them were from my neighborhood. The first family that lives 5 minutes from me sounded great on the application. The only concern I had was that they have a 14 year-old boy. I had no idea how Blinky does with a 14 year-old and his friends. I don’t have human children so I am not too familiar with the activity level, patience and understanding a teenage boy might have for a fearful dog. Honestly I was very hesitant but I did a home visit anyway because 1. They were also interested in adopting other dogs from us if Blinky didn’t work out 2. I wanted to use this opportunity to expose him to a teenage boy. When I met Will, their son, I was proven wrong. He was so gentle, calm and took directions really well. Blinky walked up to him and took the grilled chicken he had in his hand. Even after the chicken was gone he stayed with him for more gentle affection. The family had another shy and thunder phobic BC that passed away recently. They understand what’s like to have a fearful dog and they wanted to give a dog like that a good home. Their 8 year-old lab, who acts like my 9 year-old lab, and Blinky got along well from the start. He splashed around in the pool, which got Blinky’s tail to come out because of his love for water splashes. He even caught a ball the boy tosses for him.

Week 7 – The happy ending

It’s final. As of today, Blinky has a forever home. When I got the news, it was bittersweet. Even though I never got a lick on my face or a cuddle in my arms in those 6 weeks, I was so emotionally invested in this boy. I have to admit, I am a little jealous of the new family. They get to start fresh on a cleaner slate with him. They will get to see him continue to blossom into a happier and more confident dog. Luckily he will only be 5 minutes away, hopefully it will not be the last time I see him. Maybe, just maybe next time, I might get a lick on my face… Have a happy life!

P.S. Thank you those who had helped rescuing him, transporting, vetting, training, rehabilitating and finding the right home. Special thanks to my dogs…as always.