New Foster Issues

[dragonflymuse]

Hi. I have been fostering dogs for a local rescue for about a year, and up until today, my fosters have been happy, loving dogs. Even the dog that had been locked up in a shed for four days (presumably for him to die, according to the local rescue where he originated) was a goofy delight

Comments

[datista]

While I've never dealt with such an extreme case, I do a lot of clicker training to help the shy dogs learn that they can effectively cause good things to happen.

My friend had good luck with her fearful dog following this lady's advice http://fearfuldogs.com/ (she has a book, as well as videos and a blog)

And I've heard good things about http://www.nicolewilde.com/store/help-for-your-fearful-dog/

and the booklet http://www.amazon.com/Cautious-Canine-How-Conquer-Their-Fears/dp/1891767003/

[emekitty]

That's tough, but sometimes they will come out of their shell in their own time. He might try to isolate himself and I don't think you should force him to interact when he's in such a shut down place. I think you are right that the other dogs will be good for him in the long run.

Can you try lots of yummy food? I've seen where people don't even look at the dog that's scared, they just kind of sit and toss pieces to the dog to build up trust and have some good associations start forming.

Other than that, I think I'd actually ignore him and don't fuss over him too much. Act like nothing is wrong and go about your business. He probably just needs some time to build trust in people again. :/

[idess]

Probably not the most helpful advice but right now I'd say just let him be and let him get used to things for a day or so. Even my best foster dogs have been total freaks the first 24-48 hours, and from the post it sounds like he's only been there a short time/few hours?
Give him time to wander around and meet the dogs while you supervise from afar to make sure they're not overwhelming him and he's responding well. Maybe tomorrow get some alone time with him in a room and just toss treats in his general direction (if he will take treats from your hand then great!!). End the session there, just let him learn you won't hurt him and will deposit yummy things.
There's so many things you can do to help him that I'm sure many people here can tell you about, but in my opinion right now I'd just not try anything and let him adjust!

As I'm typing this my shy/abused foster is nudging my arm for pets when 48 hours ago she was vomiting from sheer stress of being in my home. Hopefully in a day or so you will be able to see your foster come around,

[dragonflymuse]

Thanks for the advice :) I am trying to give him some space. My only worry is that I can't get close enough to him to take his leash off - he has been dragging it around since Tuesday evening.

I have been tossing treats in his direction - high value ones like liver jerky, nice stinky training treats and cheese. So far he won't even look at the treats. He will sniff them at first, and then he ignores. I am hoping he will at least start to stand his ground when I walk by over the weekend.

[ichbinkelsey]

Yeah, I'd agree with what other people are saying: I suspect that meeting you and the other dogs is probably way too much for him right now and he needs a little space where he can get away from everyone and decompress for a bit. I know it is hard, because you want to get in there and make friends, but this is probably the first time in his life that he's ever been able to make his own choices, and one of the best things you can do to help build his confidence is to let him make the choice to be alone. He is scared of people and he's likely shut down around your dogs right now; if he can be assured that nobody's going to get all up in his space, I bet he'll start feeling a lot more confident about eventually approaching you. I know what you mean about your other dogs helping him learn to be a dog, and I think that that's going to be very useful for him in the long run, but for now, I suspect it's all a little much for him

[varushka]

I think it's way too early for operant conditioning. He is too scared to learn anything right now.

I agree about keeping treats on hand at all times. He should get showered with treats for counter-conditioning purposes. That's not training a behavior but changing a negative association to a positive one by pairing the negative thing with something highly positive.

[ichbinkelsey]

Yeah, he's probably not really ready to learn at this stage, but still, I want to second that using treats constantly for counterconditioning is going to be a good, good thing for him right now. He doesn't need to be 'doing' anything for his treats; he's just pairing you (something scary!) with something that he needs/wants/likes (tasty food). At my job, we say that this is the stage where you're just rewarding them for being alive.

[varushka]

The Fearful Dogs lady that datista mentioned (Debbie Jacobs) has a group on Facebook, too. I joined the Fearful Dogs group a few weeks ago and am soaking up a lot of valuable info just by lurking. It's an open group (public posts) so you don't have to join the group to read it

[dragonflymuse]

Thanks for the advice and the tip about the FB group! I am okay with giving him space; my only concern is he still has his leash attached to his collar and I would love to take it off.

[varushka]

Yeah, that would bother me, too, but as long as it's not snagging on anything I would just leave it on for now.