A year ago this coming week was when I made the decision to get Darlin’ off the streets. I couldn’t go on driving to feed her every night. It was getting old, especially for my family.
I sent out this email to Best Friends in Utah and to three local rescue groups in our area. My husband thought I had lost my mind wanting to bring another dog into our home so I did what I could to reach out for help.
One year before (2008) I lost my cat after we moved 650 miles. She ran out of our new home and I never found her. I grieved for a month, I hurt so badly. I ran ads, had signs everywhere, had her registered online, and we even set traps in our neighborhood.
Exactly a year later I was trying to trap a stray that I refused to turn away from. Again, I was crying out for help and crying is no exaggeration. I shed a lot of tears over this situation.
Dear Friend,
The last thing you need is another plea to take a dog, but please take a minute to read my email. I am heartbroken and don't know what I will do with a dog I feed that's been living on the streets and taking shelter in the woods.
I have been feeding a stray for 6 months. I drive 6 miles to her every evening at dark and take her food. This started late last summer or early fall. She came about an hour after dark, when the time changed she changed with it, crossing traffic at 6 pm!
She was very close to emaciated when this started. After eating every night that it doesn't rain (she doesn't come then) she looks like a healthy dog now. My intention was to keep her alive through winter which has worked, although it's amazing she hasn't been killed by a car as she crosses a major highway through my area every night.
I contacted Animal Control 2/9/2009, we have one Police Officer in our area. He has agreed to ask permission to work a night shift to observe and catch this stray dog for me. I can't go on doing what I'm doing. She will NOT come to me; she is very cautious and keeps her distance until I move away from the food I leave by a tree. This has become The Real Giving Tree as I taught her by repetition that there will be food at the tree when she comes to it! She waited for me 3 hours when I was delayed in December and it was freezing! I can't eat dinner when I know she crossed a highway and is waiting for me!
She looks over her shoulder with every bite of food, very cautious. I also started bringing her pig ears and other chews around Thanksgiving. You should have seen how happy she was the first time she found it there!! I sit in my car and watch her; I also watch her run back across the highway right in front of bumpers with her chew after she has eaten!
Six months is a long time to try and get a dog to come to you. Sometimes I wonder if she's deaf because when I talk to her she just stands back away from me with her head low, but it just could be how she protects herself from harm. Maybe she's not deaf either because she sometimes gets spooked by cars in the parking lot. She'll grab her chew before finishing her food, run back to wherever she hides out and comes back for the food later in the night. The Police Officer said she may have been abused in her life by some of her actions, but she shows no signs of aggression at all. She is a lovely 40-45 lb mixed breed dog (maybe some Australian shepherd), but I can't judge her age, although I don't think she is very young.
I have sat at my computer and cried over your dogs that have been waiting for years for a home! I want a farm so bad! My house is barely big enough for a family of 4 and 6 animals, probably why my husband doesn't want anymore. This situation has caused problems at home for me, from the feedings every night to trying to figure out what I will do with her when I catch her.
And I know it's costly and time consuming for you, I just don't know where to turn! Rescue groups are not responding to my emails and I need to know what to do.
Animal Control said he will help me catch her, but my husband won't allow me to even try to keep her. We already have 3 dogs and 3 cats, we have transported Rescues that I would have kept if I could have.
He said that even if she did get along with our dogs that we can't keep her. It breaks my heart because I feel like I'm looking for a home for my own dog, yet I've never even been able to touch her or pet her head. I've cried about my decision for two days because I don't know what to do! Animal Control said he wouldn't want to take her to our County Humane Society, I don't know how long they could keep her and I want her to have a good life.
Please advise me! I think that she has become wild, but if I didn't have all of these dogs I would be able to keep her and rehabilitate her myself. I think she just needs to learn that not all humans will hurt her. She needs to be shown kindness besides the food.
We will work at catching her soon, maybe this week, he's suppose to call me today, but I'm not sure I could even bring her home because of my dogs. I don't know how she would react, in captivity or with my dogs. My dogs are socialized, but they get overly excited when they see another dog which could freak her out!
If you take her or another rescue could take her I will pay her Vet bill, bed, food and make donations to insure she has a home. I have a Vet too. She needs heartworm testing, I'm sure. She needs room to roam; I don't think she would do well in a kennel after living on her own. And I do not agree that putting her down is better than living on the streets, I just can't after making it this long and doing so well. I have a hard head I'm sure, but a deep love for dogs and misfortunate dogs especially. She deserves a chance at a real home, with food everyday and a soft place to sleep.
Please advise, we will be trying to catch her after dark at a shopping center, maybe this week. Her pictures are attached. Not good ones because it's dark. We call her Darlin’ because that's what I say when I feed her, "Hello Darlin’.”
Everything turned out as it should have. Little did I know that part of my path in life was to love and rehabilitate Darlin’. We don’t get the dogs we want, we get the dogs we need. I truly believe that. And I would add; we get the dogs that need us.
One January morning. Darlin’ was the first one to come back inside. She knows to sit for her treats and she is good at it!
Showing posts with label fear issues in dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fear issues in dogs. Show all posts
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Six month trap-aversary!
Six months ago yesterday, I brought Darlin’ home! During my search about trapping dogs I came upon www.lostdogsearch.com. There I read stories from people who had lost their own dogs and met Lisa and Brandon. Trap-aversary is the term Lisa used when I emailed her asking about the trap that was used to catch Brandon, a rescue dog that had been transported cross country and got lost after running from his new owner. It was his two year trap-aversary that day. You can learn more about Lisa and Brandon here.
Darlin’ is doing well. She’s walking around the house, not afraid to come in the kitchen even when my family is putting away groceries. She’s getting much better around noise such as when I take pots out of the cabinet or drop something, however she shot out of the kitchen like a bullet when I tore some foil off last night. She use to hide when I vacuumed, now she’ll run back and forth from room to room. That shows me she’s more curious.
Darlin’ does not like to be alone. She usually lies under my chair or near me under the table at dinnertime. She follows me wherever I go in the house, including when I go downstairs, she’s right behind me. She lays at my feet when I’m watching a movie in my recliner downstairs. I always cover up with a blanket so many times she’ll crawl under the blanket at my feet or she’ll scoot under the foot rest of my recliner when it’s extended. She sure makes it hard to get up from my chair! Upstairs she’s usually on the couch next to me. When I fix the dogs bowls for dinner, she’ll sit right next to my feet the entire time. Toby will sometimes go over to her bowl and stick his noise in for her gravy; she’ll eat out of the same bowl with him or walk over to his and eat. From a distance her appearance may appear normal, but she’s still fearful – that’s why she’s usually under my chair. She does the same thing outside if I’m sitting with my children. She’ll scoot on her belly under my chair. She seems relatively calm during those times with no heavy breathing or panting from anxiety.
She is very normal during the day. What is normal? I have to ask myself that after watching some dogs with real issues on animal shows recently. Her fear issues are minor now compared to what some people go through with their dogs.
Darlin’ runs through the house, tail up high, alert and playful looking when we are alone. She goes out with the other dogs and it takes very little coaxing to move her from room to room. I say, “Let’s go” and she is at my heels. At night she’ll sometimes go to her bed in my room as I’m turning out the lights! She usually sleeps in her dog bed, but sometimes she’ll sleep under a piece of furniture or stretched out in the floor. She’s so cute now when I pass out treats. Darlin’ is the tallest dog here so sometimes she’ll stretch her head across the other dogs to get their treat. I look at her and tell her to sit and she does. She gets a little excited and forgets her manors, but once I say sit, she’s on that butt. Oh, she usually backs up to sit or she’ll go to the rug in front of the stove where she learned to sit! Like she doesn’t realize she can sit anywhere! She brings me a lot of joy.
She still won’t go down to the yard without me. Yes, she’ll go out with the dogs, but if I don’t follow she’ll stay upstairs. Sometimes I’ll sit down in a chair on the deck and she’ll go down to potty, but she’s fast and comes right back up. If I let her out with the other dogs and I close the door, then she’ll stand at the back door waiting for me. This is something I hope will change soon because these ole’ knees of mine can’t take another six months of running up and down those back steps. I’m hoping as the weather cools off soon and the flies die down that I can leave the back door wide open and it will give her a sense of freedom to come and go. This house means everything to her and she still watches the doors when she’s in the yard.
One day I went shopping and left her home with my husband who was working on his computer. He said she stood up on her hind legs after I walked out and looked through the glass. Then she sat on the rug at the front door looking up as though she was looking out of the glass then entire time until I returned home. She still whimpers, yelps, and whistles through her nose when I come home after leaving her. All of my dogs are excited to see me; sometimes she’s the first dog I meet when I enter the house. She hasn’t done anything destructive, but I do check the door because I’ve heard her scratch after I walked out.
When I leave home and my kids are home with Darlin’ they say she walks back and forth from room to room through the house. That she doesn’t bark or show signs stress. When I am home she behaves differently.
She is very attached to me, too attached at this point. Her demeanor changes when my son walks in from school or when my husband comes in from work. She’s barking now, in the house and outside when my family comes around. She has a loud deep bark too and you can hear the hound in it.
Her head on my leg.
I’m not sure how to correct her barking. It’s so strange because she was so quiet and submissive, however now that she’s not afraid to go where I go in the house, she behaves territorial. Maybe it’s an expression of her anxiety and fear, certainly it’s related to her insecurity. She barks when my family comes in the house and as they approach she’ll bark louder and sometimes low growl. No one has any fear that she will bite. Sometimes they approach her sideways and sit next to her and pet her. She’ll stop barking, but it starts all over when my husband comes home. She’s worse with him. I asked him to walk naturally as though she doesn’t bother him because he was walking slow and guarded which I think may have been more intimidating to her. I’ll sometimes give him cheese to pass out which calms her down, but she still shakes during those times. If he offers her cheese at night when we are sitting on the couch she is calm and doesn’t seem stressed at all. However it could be because she’s sitting right next to me. If my dogs bark when the kids come home (I have two noise barkers) then Darlin’ will jump up and bark too, but she makes sure she’s close to me. If anyone walks outside when we are there, she’ll immediately alert me by barking. I do think it’s territorial and I’ve been reading about how to correct this behavior. I don’t want her barking at my family or guests in the future.
When this started a few weeks ago I would tell her to hush, but she didn’t. I read to remove myself from the situation because she is so attached me. So I would leave the kitchen if it started with her sitting next to my feet while I’m cooking (her favorite place). That didn’t help. I stopped telling her to hush because I didn’t want to condition the behavior, such as I bark, Mom speaks to me. However this last week was so bad that I ended up poking her to get her attention and telling her “enough” or “knock it off”. I ask my husband or kids to ignore her and come on in the kitchen to get what they need. The barking doesn’t last long, but it’s something I have to correct. My next step is to get her to hush and immediately offer her cheese, her favorite treat. That’s going to take some work too because she ignores food when she is nervous or anxious.
Remember the post where I told about Darlin’ slipping her collar when we were out walking? Well, Victoria Stillwell mentioned on one of her shows that the best way to get a dog to come to you is to get them to chase you. I actually did that the night she got loose, I started running for our house, but Darlin’ took off between the houses. Occasionally she’ll give me a play bow in the yard and I play with her, but I have chased her so last week I changed it up. She was in a playful mood and started running in circles around the yard so I ran and she chased me! We did it about three times and it works! That was all I could do before I was out of breath. Why couldn’t I have had 5 dogs when I was in my 20’s or 30’s when I had the energy! Oh well, everything in its own time.
Other than her barking at my family and going outside without me, Darlin is doing exceptionally well. If it takes six more months then so be it. She is a joy to watch when she’s comfortable in her surroundings. It’s been extremely rewarding for me to look at her in a dog bed or standing in the kitchen eating dinner knowing that her life has completely changed for the better. Words cannot express the joy I feel for her and her new life.
Darlin’ is doing well. She’s walking around the house, not afraid to come in the kitchen even when my family is putting away groceries. She’s getting much better around noise such as when I take pots out of the cabinet or drop something, however she shot out of the kitchen like a bullet when I tore some foil off last night. She use to hide when I vacuumed, now she’ll run back and forth from room to room. That shows me she’s more curious.
Darlin’ does not like to be alone. She usually lies under my chair or near me under the table at dinnertime. She follows me wherever I go in the house, including when I go downstairs, she’s right behind me. She lays at my feet when I’m watching a movie in my recliner downstairs. I always cover up with a blanket so many times she’ll crawl under the blanket at my feet or she’ll scoot under the foot rest of my recliner when it’s extended. She sure makes it hard to get up from my chair! Upstairs she’s usually on the couch next to me. When I fix the dogs bowls for dinner, she’ll sit right next to my feet the entire time. Toby will sometimes go over to her bowl and stick his noise in for her gravy; she’ll eat out of the same bowl with him or walk over to his and eat. From a distance her appearance may appear normal, but she’s still fearful – that’s why she’s usually under my chair. She does the same thing outside if I’m sitting with my children. She’ll scoot on her belly under my chair. She seems relatively calm during those times with no heavy breathing or panting from anxiety.
She is very normal during the day. What is normal? I have to ask myself that after watching some dogs with real issues on animal shows recently. Her fear issues are minor now compared to what some people go through with their dogs.
Darlin’ runs through the house, tail up high, alert and playful looking when we are alone. She goes out with the other dogs and it takes very little coaxing to move her from room to room. I say, “Let’s go” and she is at my heels. At night she’ll sometimes go to her bed in my room as I’m turning out the lights! She usually sleeps in her dog bed, but sometimes she’ll sleep under a piece of furniture or stretched out in the floor. She’s so cute now when I pass out treats. Darlin’ is the tallest dog here so sometimes she’ll stretch her head across the other dogs to get their treat. I look at her and tell her to sit and she does. She gets a little excited and forgets her manors, but once I say sit, she’s on that butt. Oh, she usually backs up to sit or she’ll go to the rug in front of the stove where she learned to sit! Like she doesn’t realize she can sit anywhere! She brings me a lot of joy.
She still won’t go down to the yard without me. Yes, she’ll go out with the dogs, but if I don’t follow she’ll stay upstairs. Sometimes I’ll sit down in a chair on the deck and she’ll go down to potty, but she’s fast and comes right back up. If I let her out with the other dogs and I close the door, then she’ll stand at the back door waiting for me. This is something I hope will change soon because these ole’ knees of mine can’t take another six months of running up and down those back steps. I’m hoping as the weather cools off soon and the flies die down that I can leave the back door wide open and it will give her a sense of freedom to come and go. This house means everything to her and she still watches the doors when she’s in the yard.
One day I went shopping and left her home with my husband who was working on his computer. He said she stood up on her hind legs after I walked out and looked through the glass. Then she sat on the rug at the front door looking up as though she was looking out of the glass then entire time until I returned home. She still whimpers, yelps, and whistles through her nose when I come home after leaving her. All of my dogs are excited to see me; sometimes she’s the first dog I meet when I enter the house. She hasn’t done anything destructive, but I do check the door because I’ve heard her scratch after I walked out.
When I leave home and my kids are home with Darlin’ they say she walks back and forth from room to room through the house. That she doesn’t bark or show signs stress. When I am home she behaves differently.
She is very attached to me, too attached at this point. Her demeanor changes when my son walks in from school or when my husband comes in from work. She’s barking now, in the house and outside when my family comes around. She has a loud deep bark too and you can hear the hound in it.
Her head on my leg.
I’m not sure how to correct her barking. It’s so strange because she was so quiet and submissive, however now that she’s not afraid to go where I go in the house, she behaves territorial. Maybe it’s an expression of her anxiety and fear, certainly it’s related to her insecurity. She barks when my family comes in the house and as they approach she’ll bark louder and sometimes low growl. No one has any fear that she will bite. Sometimes they approach her sideways and sit next to her and pet her. She’ll stop barking, but it starts all over when my husband comes home. She’s worse with him. I asked him to walk naturally as though she doesn’t bother him because he was walking slow and guarded which I think may have been more intimidating to her. I’ll sometimes give him cheese to pass out which calms her down, but she still shakes during those times. If he offers her cheese at night when we are sitting on the couch she is calm and doesn’t seem stressed at all. However it could be because she’s sitting right next to me. If my dogs bark when the kids come home (I have two noise barkers) then Darlin’ will jump up and bark too, but she makes sure she’s close to me. If anyone walks outside when we are there, she’ll immediately alert me by barking. I do think it’s territorial and I’ve been reading about how to correct this behavior. I don’t want her barking at my family or guests in the future.
When this started a few weeks ago I would tell her to hush, but she didn’t. I read to remove myself from the situation because she is so attached me. So I would leave the kitchen if it started with her sitting next to my feet while I’m cooking (her favorite place). That didn’t help. I stopped telling her to hush because I didn’t want to condition the behavior, such as I bark, Mom speaks to me. However this last week was so bad that I ended up poking her to get her attention and telling her “enough” or “knock it off”. I ask my husband or kids to ignore her and come on in the kitchen to get what they need. The barking doesn’t last long, but it’s something I have to correct. My next step is to get her to hush and immediately offer her cheese, her favorite treat. That’s going to take some work too because she ignores food when she is nervous or anxious.
Remember the post where I told about Darlin’ slipping her collar when we were out walking? Well, Victoria Stillwell mentioned on one of her shows that the best way to get a dog to come to you is to get them to chase you. I actually did that the night she got loose, I started running for our house, but Darlin’ took off between the houses. Occasionally she’ll give me a play bow in the yard and I play with her, but I have chased her so last week I changed it up. She was in a playful mood and started running in circles around the yard so I ran and she chased me! We did it about three times and it works! That was all I could do before I was out of breath. Why couldn’t I have had 5 dogs when I was in my 20’s or 30’s when I had the energy! Oh well, everything in its own time.
Other than her barking at my family and going outside without me, Darlin is doing exceptionally well. If it takes six more months then so be it. She is a joy to watch when she’s comfortable in her surroundings. It’s been extremely rewarding for me to look at her in a dog bed or standing in the kitchen eating dinner knowing that her life has completely changed for the better. Words cannot express the joy I feel for her and her new life.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Breaking through fear related issues
Darlin’ is making a tremendous amount of progress. While she would still prefer that no one else lived in the house except me, she’s doing really well trying to adjust to my family and overcoming some fear based issues.
In the living room one evening, but still fearful. See how her tail is low.
click on all images to enlarge, then click the BACK button.
Sometimes it’s obvious that her body doesn’t work in sync with what she’s trying to achieve. She wants to be in the same room while other family members are there, but she trembles so bad most people just couldn’t imagine. She sits at my feet in the kitchen frequently and hides behind my legs. If my husband or children walk in for a drink or to speak to me, she won’t run away like she use to. She does tremble and will scoot closer to me, but the key here is that she stays put and her feet aren’t sliding out from under her trying to get away.
I use to reach down and rub her ears during times like that, or I would tell her she was fine and doing great. I’ve realized it’s time to stop comforting her when she shows any anxiety whatsoever. She trusts me completely now, which I needed her to do. I truly believe it has been love and affection that got her this far in almost 5 months. I’m ignoring all signs of stress and anxiety that I see in her, but when she is in a relaxed calm state of mind I give her affection and praise.
I no longer have to put a leash on her to get her out of my office. She will come out, sometimes hesitant or slow to react, but she will pass through the living room to get to the back door. Even when someone else is on the couch or in the kitchen. That’s a huge step for her!
I’ve mentioned in previous posts that Darlin’ displayed some separation anxiety since we’ve bonded. She still whimpers when I come home and she still looks out the glass at the front door. I managed to get a picture one day of what I see when I come up the steps. She even stands up looking in the back door if I leave her out too long. I need to correct that also, but I’m careful right now. There have been a few times that I corrected her where she acted fearful of me. She doesn’t do it constantly and she’s certainly not hurting anything looking in the door standing on her back feet.
Darlin’ has become more confident and assertive. Sometimes she’ll low growl or low bark at my family when they step outside and she’s in the yard. It’s happened a few times when she’s sitting next to my feet in the kitchen. It’s more like a bark through her cheeks, like a warning or an alert that she is there. She’s being a little protective and territorial, but I correct her and tell her firmly, “No” and she stops. No one seems to mind her growling, but my family will be her caregivers at times and I want her to enjoy everyone. Besides, I won’t allow her to growl at anyone unless it’s a stranger entering the house or yard without my knowledge. She’s harmless, but she has finally found her voice.
She acts a little camera shy, always turning her head away when I start taking pictures.
Last week I went out of town. I hate leaving Darlin’ because I know how she shuts down when I’m not around. She went potty at 4:30 am because I left at 5 am. I called my son a few hours later to ask him to let Darlin out to potty. He said he heard her feet on the woods floors a lot that morning. She kept walking back and forth between my office and our bedroom. I think she was probably looking for me or maybe just felt unsettled. This house is Darlin’s safe haven; I can see that by how she is constantly focused on the back door. My son left the back door open, but she wouldn’t go outside so I asked my daughter to carry her out. My thinking was if they carry her to the deck, and then take a few steps behind her, she would run down, mostly out of fear, but the intent was to get her to the yard. Once in the yard she would potty and if they left the door open she would run back inside.
Well it seems they tried to pick her up from her bed in my bedroom. She jumped out and cowered between the nightstand and the wall so they left her to calm down. Later when they tried again she ran down to the landing in the house so they opened the downstairs door and followed her that way. At that point she had not used the bathroom in 10 hours. My daughter said she trickled and dropped a little mess on her way. That was the first time she ever pottied in the house, although it wasn’t intentional on her part. I know it was from fear. I was afraid she would loose control of her bowels if they picked her up. She did relieve herself and ran back inside. I was told that she actually came back up the stairs only a few feet behind my daughter’s boyfriend. I returned home around 8 pm and immediately called Darlin to go outside. She whimpered and was excited to see me, ran downstairs to the yard, and immediately had a bowel movement right after her feet hit the grass. Poor dog!
We spent time together on the couch before bed.
I have to admit I had concerns about housebreaking a mature dog that has lived outside on her own. The strangest thing happened; I never had housebreaking issues with her! My friend, Sandra, may have hit the nail on the head as to why Darlin won’t mess in the house. She said that maybe it’s because Darlin had always used the bathroom outside so to her it’s natural to go in the yard. I can’t think of any other reason myself. It’s been a real blessing not having to deal with her relieving herself indoors because training a fearful dog is not easy. Heck, living with a fearful dog is a challenge in itself. I do know since living with Darlin’ that she never bonded with a family or lived indoors, nor did she have any social skills with other dogs.
Speaking of socializing: She ran after Bonnie (JRT) when Bonnie chased the Frisbee the other day! It was exciting to see! Bonnie turned around and looked at her as surprised as I was! She usually whimpers wanting to play, but the dogs don’t pay her any attention, probably because the whimpering suggests some kind of instability. She’ll learn because she has come a long way already.
One day Darlin’ was walking through the living room and picked up a toy on her way through. Later I found that she took it to her mat under my desk. It was so cute to see her show interest in a toy and it was such a pleasure to see her with a toy in her mouth. I try to throw balls for her or offer her toys, but she doesn’t know what to do with them. The balls usually scare her so she’ll run away.
Guess who sits for her treats? I started asking her to sit for her treat while holding it above her nose so that she would have to back up. At first she acted like I was teasing her and eventually turned or walked away. Then I used more tempting treats, like boiled chicken, cheese, and salami. Ha! That worked, but she turned ever so slightly to the side and sat. That was enough for me because she was sitting. Now she comes in the kitchen with the other dogs and she’ll sit before I tell her. Last night I did tell her to sit because she had her eyes on my husband in the dining room, but she sat so pretty.
Two nights ago I took the dogs out back. I almost always go out with them because if I don’t Darlin will stand at the back door waiting for me. You’ve heard of moms with a baby attached to their hip, well I’m one with a dog attached to mine. Two dogs actually, Toby, my broken coat JRT rescue, is the other. So I went down with the dogs, then I peeked my head in the downstairs door and let my daughter and her boyfriend know I was there and for them to come out. If they had been outside already, Darlin’ wouldn’t have gone potty. I let her do her business and then we could sit and visit. Previously if anyone else was outside, Darlin’ would run to the back corner of the yard and wait for me to get up to go back in the house. Once I started back up the stairs she would run across the yard and up the steps following just a few steps behind me. She still has the best pack manners and always allows me to lead the way.
Thursday night she sat next to my feet trembling as we all sat around the patio table talking. She was just 4-6 feet away from my daughter and her boyfriend! A few minutes later she crawled under my chair and stayed there until we went back inside. That was a huge step for her in learning to trust and be near my children. These children I speak of are young adults themselves, not little kids running around the yard.
She’s always watching the doors, even when she's sitting at my feet.
Darlin loves her house and yard so much. She’s so happy when she lets down her guard, although she remains fixated on the back door most everyday. She’s been prancing around with her tail so high, she really is a beautiful sight. Just a week ago she would come in the back door so fearful that she would slide through the living room trying to make her getaway to the spot under my desk in my office. If I could coax her to the couch, I would sit next to her and ask my husband to close the door for me. She would scoot in closer to me while hiding from him, she still does that today. I remember one night last week sitting outside watching her scratch her back in the grass and thinking that if I didn’t go outside with Darlin’, she would never stretch her legs. She would lie under my desk all day long, holding her bladder of necessary. I’m sure I’m repeating myself from previous posts, and if I am, well some things haven’t changed yet. I’m watching for signs that she’ll want to go out on her own, either to be outside or because she needs to use the bathroom.
I don’t have many pictures of her that look like this.
I need to keep my camera beside my bed because I would love for readers to see how happy she is in the mornings. She prances around the bedroom when I get up or if I lay there for a minute she comes over to my side and greets me in the morning. Most times she will not get out of her bed until my feet touch the floor, but occasionally she stretches out in the floor on my side after she hears my husband leave for work. She won’t go out with the other dogs when my husband lets them out first thing in the morning. Our dogs get a treat when they come back inside. Since she never gets out of bed until I do, my husband lays a treat down for her. This morning I heard her crunching after he left the room. Just the sound of her eating a treat that he left makes me happy for her. This dog wouldn’t eat anything while I was in the same room for weeks and before that she wouldn’t eat until after dark when the house was quiet.
Normally I wouldn’t tell this to just anyone, but I want to share my joy with you. One morning last week I woke up and went to the bathroom. Darlin sometimes runs in, smells my husband’s clothes in the laundry basket, and runs back out. She’s happy, she knows I’m up, and that we’re about to go outside. Sniffing his scent on the laundry is a good thing too. So there I sit watching her run in and out of the bathroom. I called her to me, “Come here you sweet thing, give Mommy a kiss.” She runs up to me, bows her head, I kiss her on the forehead, and she turns around and prances back out of the bathroom. She was precious!!
I started giving Darlin’ fish oil caps in her dinner because her shedding continues and the hair on her back is so coarse. After about a week I began noticing the difference in her coat. You can actually feel the moisture in her hair and it’s softened up a lot. She is still shedding, but it has slowed a lot. I inherited a Border Collie years ago after my customer died. Seriously! He had a terrible time with excess shedding and inflamed skin due to grass allergies. The Vet put him on fish oil, nothing else, and it cleared up right away so I knew it worked. Since Darlin’ was a stray her diet may have contributed to the condition of her coat as well. She probably had vitamin deficiencies; after all she was skin and bones when we met.
Her coat has dramatically changed since she’s shed so much of it. If you look up at the banner image, taken just a few weeks after trapping her, and you look at the pictures I’m posting today, you’ll notice she has lost all of the extra hair on her backside and quite a bit all over, including around her neck. I don’t know if her coat will grow back the way it was or if it will remain thinner now. The reason I wonder is because last year she lived outside all winter and this year she will be a house dog. I would think that a dog’s winter coat could change depending on their environment, but I haven’t done any research on the subject.
My dad came to visit and finally got to meet Darlin’. I carried her outside because she wouldn’t come out on her own. He was surprised by her size because he thought she was bigger. True, she has a bigger dog look to her, but she is what most people would consider as a medium sized dog. She stands as tall as our Blue Heeler and maybe a little longer, but she weighs between 35-40 lbs. She’s tall and long legged, with a deep chest.
Darlin has eaten in the kitchen every night for at least two weeks now! I have called her from my office, but most days she hears me open the cans of food and knows what I’m doing. So I now have 5 dogs waiting for dinner, all are calm and patient, except my hyper Eskimo Spitz that talks the entire time. I’m usually preparing the bowls when Darlin runs in from my office and scoots in tight next to my feet. Sam (blue heeler) gets his bowl first, then Chloe (Eskie) eats closer to Sam. Then Darlin gets hers on the rug in front of the stove, and Bonnie and Toby. Toby and Bonnie, my Jack Russell’s, don’t eat much at all. They eat the chicken on top of their food and lick the chicken broth I pour over it. Darlin’ is still very hesitant and not completely comfortable eating. I stand with my back against the sink and watch. If she stops eating I tell her to “eat” and she will. She takes a bite of food, and then looks up to make sure the coast is clear before having another bite. Very similar to how she ate when I fed her at the tree before trapping her. Sometimes when she has her head up looking around, Toby will go over and start licking the broth out of her bowl. She doesn’t care at all, she’ll stick her nose back in the bowl right next to his and eat some more. He’s taking advantage because Darlin’ is protective of him and treats him like her puppy sometimes. Darlin’ shows weakness when she exhibits insecure behavior which makes it easier for any dog to take advantage. It has happened, but I’m not allowing Toby to continue the behavior. I don’t want him to intrude while she’s eating and he has learn to respect her too.
Toby leaning up against Darlin.
Cesar Millan had a show on recently spotlighting Baby Girl, a Doberman Pincher, possibly mixed with greyhound. She was fearful of thunderstorms, fearful of the kitchen cabinets being open, fearful of a lot of things. She lost a lot of weight when he had her at his Dog Psychology Center and he tried everything to get her to eat. Darlin’s fear issues are/was worse than Baby Girl. No camera man could ever walk in this house and film Darlin, she’s just too fearful of people to come out. I did see many similarities in Darlin and Baby Girl, but I also saw in Baby Girl things I have not witnessed in Darlin’. I would be terrified myself that if Cesar took Darlin to his dog psychology center that it would set her back. My comments have nothing to do with trusting Cesar’s ability to help a fearful dog; it’s that I know my Darlin. Cesar always says he’d rather work with an aggressive dog or red zone case than a fearful dog. I know exactly where he’s coming from. Fearful dogs need a lot of time to come around on their own. I can’t believe it’s been 5 months since I brought her home. It may seem like a long time, but the months have flown by. In addition, I have read many stories of fearful dogs, some took years to rehabilitate. Five months is a drop in the bucket.
I’d like to interject about my comments regarding Cesar Millan. I watch a lot of dog shows, not just dog training shows. I agree with many of the techniques that Cesar uses to train dogs, but I also disagree with other methods. I've often wondered how Cesar would handle a dog like Darlin’, then I think about some of the methods he’s used to push a dog past their limitations and I realize Darlin’ is in the best place for her rehabilitation. Rules, Boundaries, and Limitations are keys to avoiding problems and building a relationship with your dog. Mastering the walk may be essential to your dog’s health and happiness. Although I know from my own experience with dogs in my life that there are a lot of dogs that don’t need a routine walk to be good dogs and family pets.
Darlin’ crossed a major threshold this weekend. This is the first weekend that she has ever walked around the house passing family members. She may take a detour through the kitchen or behind the couch, but she has surprised us all. She does not like to be alone. I know this because I’m with her when no one else is in the house. She’s such a normal dog when we are alone now. Every time I leave a room, she is right beside me. This weekend her behavior is very similar to those times. Today I stood in the dining room next to my husband while he showed me something on his computer. When I left the room we realized Darlin’ had been sitting directly behind my husband’s chair the entire time! We are all extremely proud of her!
I can’t comprehend why someone would dump or abandon this dog, or any dog for that matter. There is something special about her spirit and something in her eyes that makes me want to comfort her. She actually licked my foot when we were sitting on the couch last week and she has licked my hand a couple of times. I’m not much into kissing and licking dogs, I’d rather be the one that kisses, but what she did meant a lot to me. I actually hope she licks me in the face by surprise someday. Darlin’ is respectful of the other dogs and looks up to her canine leader (me). I have put my hand under her muzzle, lifting her head high, as I kiss her on her head, the top of her nose, or the side of her face. I have never had the slightest concern that she would bite. She is the gentlest dog with so much love to give. I see that when she smiles outside as she runs over to me like a small child happy to meet with her parent’s approval for something she’s done. I can’t help but love Darlin’, she makes it so easy. I tell her often that I’m happy she’s here and that she’ll always have a loving family.
Over the last month I’ve worked with rescues, one long distance rescue that took a lot of me time-wise and emotionally, but there was a happy ending. I worked at my business and my own computer was down. This month I hope to do better. I have a feeling Darlin’ will be making quite a few changes to her lifestyle over the next few months. I can see it coming by the way she’s stepping out showing more trust and confidence this weekend.
Whatcha got Mom?
In the living room one evening, but still fearful. See how her tail is low.
click on all images to enlarge, then click the BACK button.
Sometimes it’s obvious that her body doesn’t work in sync with what she’s trying to achieve. She wants to be in the same room while other family members are there, but she trembles so bad most people just couldn’t imagine. She sits at my feet in the kitchen frequently and hides behind my legs. If my husband or children walk in for a drink or to speak to me, she won’t run away like she use to. She does tremble and will scoot closer to me, but the key here is that she stays put and her feet aren’t sliding out from under her trying to get away.
I use to reach down and rub her ears during times like that, or I would tell her she was fine and doing great. I’ve realized it’s time to stop comforting her when she shows any anxiety whatsoever. She trusts me completely now, which I needed her to do. I truly believe it has been love and affection that got her this far in almost 5 months. I’m ignoring all signs of stress and anxiety that I see in her, but when she is in a relaxed calm state of mind I give her affection and praise.
I no longer have to put a leash on her to get her out of my office. She will come out, sometimes hesitant or slow to react, but she will pass through the living room to get to the back door. Even when someone else is on the couch or in the kitchen. That’s a huge step for her!
I’ve mentioned in previous posts that Darlin’ displayed some separation anxiety since we’ve bonded. She still whimpers when I come home and she still looks out the glass at the front door. I managed to get a picture one day of what I see when I come up the steps. She even stands up looking in the back door if I leave her out too long. I need to correct that also, but I’m careful right now. There have been a few times that I corrected her where she acted fearful of me. She doesn’t do it constantly and she’s certainly not hurting anything looking in the door standing on her back feet.
Darlin’ has become more confident and assertive. Sometimes she’ll low growl or low bark at my family when they step outside and she’s in the yard. It’s happened a few times when she’s sitting next to my feet in the kitchen. It’s more like a bark through her cheeks, like a warning or an alert that she is there. She’s being a little protective and territorial, but I correct her and tell her firmly, “No” and she stops. No one seems to mind her growling, but my family will be her caregivers at times and I want her to enjoy everyone. Besides, I won’t allow her to growl at anyone unless it’s a stranger entering the house or yard without my knowledge. She’s harmless, but she has finally found her voice.
She acts a little camera shy, always turning her head away when I start taking pictures.
Last week I went out of town. I hate leaving Darlin’ because I know how she shuts down when I’m not around. She went potty at 4:30 am because I left at 5 am. I called my son a few hours later to ask him to let Darlin out to potty. He said he heard her feet on the woods floors a lot that morning. She kept walking back and forth between my office and our bedroom. I think she was probably looking for me or maybe just felt unsettled. This house is Darlin’s safe haven; I can see that by how she is constantly focused on the back door. My son left the back door open, but she wouldn’t go outside so I asked my daughter to carry her out. My thinking was if they carry her to the deck, and then take a few steps behind her, she would run down, mostly out of fear, but the intent was to get her to the yard. Once in the yard she would potty and if they left the door open she would run back inside.
Well it seems they tried to pick her up from her bed in my bedroom. She jumped out and cowered between the nightstand and the wall so they left her to calm down. Later when they tried again she ran down to the landing in the house so they opened the downstairs door and followed her that way. At that point she had not used the bathroom in 10 hours. My daughter said she trickled and dropped a little mess on her way. That was the first time she ever pottied in the house, although it wasn’t intentional on her part. I know it was from fear. I was afraid she would loose control of her bowels if they picked her up. She did relieve herself and ran back inside. I was told that she actually came back up the stairs only a few feet behind my daughter’s boyfriend. I returned home around 8 pm and immediately called Darlin to go outside. She whimpered and was excited to see me, ran downstairs to the yard, and immediately had a bowel movement right after her feet hit the grass. Poor dog!
We spent time together on the couch before bed.
I have to admit I had concerns about housebreaking a mature dog that has lived outside on her own. The strangest thing happened; I never had housebreaking issues with her! My friend, Sandra, may have hit the nail on the head as to why Darlin won’t mess in the house. She said that maybe it’s because Darlin had always used the bathroom outside so to her it’s natural to go in the yard. I can’t think of any other reason myself. It’s been a real blessing not having to deal with her relieving herself indoors because training a fearful dog is not easy. Heck, living with a fearful dog is a challenge in itself. I do know since living with Darlin’ that she never bonded with a family or lived indoors, nor did she have any social skills with other dogs.
Speaking of socializing: She ran after Bonnie (JRT) when Bonnie chased the Frisbee the other day! It was exciting to see! Bonnie turned around and looked at her as surprised as I was! She usually whimpers wanting to play, but the dogs don’t pay her any attention, probably because the whimpering suggests some kind of instability. She’ll learn because she has come a long way already.
One day Darlin’ was walking through the living room and picked up a toy on her way through. Later I found that she took it to her mat under my desk. It was so cute to see her show interest in a toy and it was such a pleasure to see her with a toy in her mouth. I try to throw balls for her or offer her toys, but she doesn’t know what to do with them. The balls usually scare her so she’ll run away.
Guess who sits for her treats? I started asking her to sit for her treat while holding it above her nose so that she would have to back up. At first she acted like I was teasing her and eventually turned or walked away. Then I used more tempting treats, like boiled chicken, cheese, and salami. Ha! That worked, but she turned ever so slightly to the side and sat. That was enough for me because she was sitting. Now she comes in the kitchen with the other dogs and she’ll sit before I tell her. Last night I did tell her to sit because she had her eyes on my husband in the dining room, but she sat so pretty.
Two nights ago I took the dogs out back. I almost always go out with them because if I don’t Darlin will stand at the back door waiting for me. You’ve heard of moms with a baby attached to their hip, well I’m one with a dog attached to mine. Two dogs actually, Toby, my broken coat JRT rescue, is the other. So I went down with the dogs, then I peeked my head in the downstairs door and let my daughter and her boyfriend know I was there and for them to come out. If they had been outside already, Darlin’ wouldn’t have gone potty. I let her do her business and then we could sit and visit. Previously if anyone else was outside, Darlin’ would run to the back corner of the yard and wait for me to get up to go back in the house. Once I started back up the stairs she would run across the yard and up the steps following just a few steps behind me. She still has the best pack manners and always allows me to lead the way.
Thursday night she sat next to my feet trembling as we all sat around the patio table talking. She was just 4-6 feet away from my daughter and her boyfriend! A few minutes later she crawled under my chair and stayed there until we went back inside. That was a huge step for her in learning to trust and be near my children. These children I speak of are young adults themselves, not little kids running around the yard.
She’s always watching the doors, even when she's sitting at my feet.
Darlin loves her house and yard so much. She’s so happy when she lets down her guard, although she remains fixated on the back door most everyday. She’s been prancing around with her tail so high, she really is a beautiful sight. Just a week ago she would come in the back door so fearful that she would slide through the living room trying to make her getaway to the spot under my desk in my office. If I could coax her to the couch, I would sit next to her and ask my husband to close the door for me. She would scoot in closer to me while hiding from him, she still does that today. I remember one night last week sitting outside watching her scratch her back in the grass and thinking that if I didn’t go outside with Darlin’, she would never stretch her legs. She would lie under my desk all day long, holding her bladder of necessary. I’m sure I’m repeating myself from previous posts, and if I am, well some things haven’t changed yet. I’m watching for signs that she’ll want to go out on her own, either to be outside or because she needs to use the bathroom.
I don’t have many pictures of her that look like this.
I need to keep my camera beside my bed because I would love for readers to see how happy she is in the mornings. She prances around the bedroom when I get up or if I lay there for a minute she comes over to my side and greets me in the morning. Most times she will not get out of her bed until my feet touch the floor, but occasionally she stretches out in the floor on my side after she hears my husband leave for work. She won’t go out with the other dogs when my husband lets them out first thing in the morning. Our dogs get a treat when they come back inside. Since she never gets out of bed until I do, my husband lays a treat down for her. This morning I heard her crunching after he left the room. Just the sound of her eating a treat that he left makes me happy for her. This dog wouldn’t eat anything while I was in the same room for weeks and before that she wouldn’t eat until after dark when the house was quiet.
Normally I wouldn’t tell this to just anyone, but I want to share my joy with you. One morning last week I woke up and went to the bathroom. Darlin sometimes runs in, smells my husband’s clothes in the laundry basket, and runs back out. She’s happy, she knows I’m up, and that we’re about to go outside. Sniffing his scent on the laundry is a good thing too. So there I sit watching her run in and out of the bathroom. I called her to me, “Come here you sweet thing, give Mommy a kiss.” She runs up to me, bows her head, I kiss her on the forehead, and she turns around and prances back out of the bathroom. She was precious!!
I started giving Darlin’ fish oil caps in her dinner because her shedding continues and the hair on her back is so coarse. After about a week I began noticing the difference in her coat. You can actually feel the moisture in her hair and it’s softened up a lot. She is still shedding, but it has slowed a lot. I inherited a Border Collie years ago after my customer died. Seriously! He had a terrible time with excess shedding and inflamed skin due to grass allergies. The Vet put him on fish oil, nothing else, and it cleared up right away so I knew it worked. Since Darlin’ was a stray her diet may have contributed to the condition of her coat as well. She probably had vitamin deficiencies; after all she was skin and bones when we met.
Her coat has dramatically changed since she’s shed so much of it. If you look up at the banner image, taken just a few weeks after trapping her, and you look at the pictures I’m posting today, you’ll notice she has lost all of the extra hair on her backside and quite a bit all over, including around her neck. I don’t know if her coat will grow back the way it was or if it will remain thinner now. The reason I wonder is because last year she lived outside all winter and this year she will be a house dog. I would think that a dog’s winter coat could change depending on their environment, but I haven’t done any research on the subject.
My dad came to visit and finally got to meet Darlin’. I carried her outside because she wouldn’t come out on her own. He was surprised by her size because he thought she was bigger. True, she has a bigger dog look to her, but she is what most people would consider as a medium sized dog. She stands as tall as our Blue Heeler and maybe a little longer, but she weighs between 35-40 lbs. She’s tall and long legged, with a deep chest.
Darlin has eaten in the kitchen every night for at least two weeks now! I have called her from my office, but most days she hears me open the cans of food and knows what I’m doing. So I now have 5 dogs waiting for dinner, all are calm and patient, except my hyper Eskimo Spitz that talks the entire time. I’m usually preparing the bowls when Darlin runs in from my office and scoots in tight next to my feet. Sam (blue heeler) gets his bowl first, then Chloe (Eskie) eats closer to Sam. Then Darlin gets hers on the rug in front of the stove, and Bonnie and Toby. Toby and Bonnie, my Jack Russell’s, don’t eat much at all. They eat the chicken on top of their food and lick the chicken broth I pour over it. Darlin’ is still very hesitant and not completely comfortable eating. I stand with my back against the sink and watch. If she stops eating I tell her to “eat” and she will. She takes a bite of food, and then looks up to make sure the coast is clear before having another bite. Very similar to how she ate when I fed her at the tree before trapping her. Sometimes when she has her head up looking around, Toby will go over and start licking the broth out of her bowl. She doesn’t care at all, she’ll stick her nose back in the bowl right next to his and eat some more. He’s taking advantage because Darlin’ is protective of him and treats him like her puppy sometimes. Darlin’ shows weakness when she exhibits insecure behavior which makes it easier for any dog to take advantage. It has happened, but I’m not allowing Toby to continue the behavior. I don’t want him to intrude while she’s eating and he has learn to respect her too.
Toby leaning up against Darlin.
Cesar Millan had a show on recently spotlighting Baby Girl, a Doberman Pincher, possibly mixed with greyhound. She was fearful of thunderstorms, fearful of the kitchen cabinets being open, fearful of a lot of things. She lost a lot of weight when he had her at his Dog Psychology Center and he tried everything to get her to eat. Darlin’s fear issues are/was worse than Baby Girl. No camera man could ever walk in this house and film Darlin, she’s just too fearful of people to come out. I did see many similarities in Darlin and Baby Girl, but I also saw in Baby Girl things I have not witnessed in Darlin’. I would be terrified myself that if Cesar took Darlin to his dog psychology center that it would set her back. My comments have nothing to do with trusting Cesar’s ability to help a fearful dog; it’s that I know my Darlin. Cesar always says he’d rather work with an aggressive dog or red zone case than a fearful dog. I know exactly where he’s coming from. Fearful dogs need a lot of time to come around on their own. I can’t believe it’s been 5 months since I brought her home. It may seem like a long time, but the months have flown by. In addition, I have read many stories of fearful dogs, some took years to rehabilitate. Five months is a drop in the bucket.
I’d like to interject about my comments regarding Cesar Millan. I watch a lot of dog shows, not just dog training shows. I agree with many of the techniques that Cesar uses to train dogs, but I also disagree with other methods. I've often wondered how Cesar would handle a dog like Darlin’, then I think about some of the methods he’s used to push a dog past their limitations and I realize Darlin’ is in the best place for her rehabilitation. Rules, Boundaries, and Limitations are keys to avoiding problems and building a relationship with your dog. Mastering the walk may be essential to your dog’s health and happiness. Although I know from my own experience with dogs in my life that there are a lot of dogs that don’t need a routine walk to be good dogs and family pets.
Darlin’ crossed a major threshold this weekend. This is the first weekend that she has ever walked around the house passing family members. She may take a detour through the kitchen or behind the couch, but she has surprised us all. She does not like to be alone. I know this because I’m with her when no one else is in the house. She’s such a normal dog when we are alone now. Every time I leave a room, she is right beside me. This weekend her behavior is very similar to those times. Today I stood in the dining room next to my husband while he showed me something on his computer. When I left the room we realized Darlin’ had been sitting directly behind my husband’s chair the entire time! We are all extremely proud of her!
I can’t comprehend why someone would dump or abandon this dog, or any dog for that matter. There is something special about her spirit and something in her eyes that makes me want to comfort her. She actually licked my foot when we were sitting on the couch last week and she has licked my hand a couple of times. I’m not much into kissing and licking dogs, I’d rather be the one that kisses, but what she did meant a lot to me. I actually hope she licks me in the face by surprise someday. Darlin’ is respectful of the other dogs and looks up to her canine leader (me). I have put my hand under her muzzle, lifting her head high, as I kiss her on her head, the top of her nose, or the side of her face. I have never had the slightest concern that she would bite. She is the gentlest dog with so much love to give. I see that when she smiles outside as she runs over to me like a small child happy to meet with her parent’s approval for something she’s done. I can’t help but love Darlin’, she makes it so easy. I tell her often that I’m happy she’s here and that she’ll always have a loving family.
Over the last month I’ve worked with rescues, one long distance rescue that took a lot of me time-wise and emotionally, but there was a happy ending. I worked at my business and my own computer was down. This month I hope to do better. I have a feeling Darlin’ will be making quite a few changes to her lifestyle over the next few months. I can see it coming by the way she’s stepping out showing more trust and confidence this weekend.
Whatcha got Mom?
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