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Location: Germany/US
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 375
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Fly does sound very similar to my dog although she is a basket case with everything, traffic, trash cans, butterflies flying too close.
One of the theories I came up with is that she may have been a feral dog, then maybe trapped....then maybe the fear issue wasnt something that whoever had her could handle so she was maybe tied up in a yard somewhere with little to no human attention, I dont think she had ever been inside a house before as everything was scary to her, the TV, the flooring, a cup on the table...it took months before she would relax if something was 'out of place' or like if I brought in a new plant or ornament and placed it where nothing had been before, I bought a small centre peice ornament for the coffee table....she wouldnt come near the coffee table for about a week, just approached it cautiously, staring at the centre peice and then bolted away again. Shes improving slowly.
Its interesting that you mention the agility, with my dog, she is absolutely great with other dogs (no question that she was adequately socialized with dogs, her body language and ability to read other dogs is spot on), the shelter that she was at has enclosures that the dogs spend most of the day in, she would be in there with about 6 or 7 other dogs, always happy, running around, playing, jumping up on top of the dog houses in there...as long as there are no humans around. Ive been wanting to take her to agility classes, I think it will give her something else to focus on rather than 'all the scary humans around her'....which in turn will desensitze her. Unfortunately there is nothing in the area I live, the closest place is about 10 miles away 'off the beaten track' so no buses going there and I dont have a car. (Hopefully that'll be changing in the not too distant future though).
She will now take certain treats from other people but only if Im right there....I taught her to 'take it'....just a little trick we do, real basic, I put a treat down in front of her, tell her 'leave' and then tell her 'take it'....its only since shes got the hang of this that she will now take something from someone else. When I first brought this dog home....it had taken a week or so of working with her daily....or rather being in her run at the shelter with her, before she would actually keep still long enough for me to touch her, anyway, I brought her home and it was 3 days before she would eat anything at all, spent the first 2 days trembling in her crate although I managed to get her outside for walks....soon as we got back in and the leash came off....straight back to trembling in the crate, I actually had tears in my eyes the first time she played with a ball (took about 4 months), and I cant even tell you how happy I was the day she ventured that extra step from the hallway onto the tiled floor in the kitchen and stuck her nose in the trash.....I was like "YES.....she did a normal 'dog thing'"
Thinking about Fly and the way she attached herself to you, I have a theory on that (and not to discount your own in any way), Ive seen this happen with dogs that have been passed around a lot from home to home, generally a dog with abadonment issues will tend to take a bit longer to bond to anyone, sometimes they never do manage to form a good bond but there are some that will instantly attach themselves to a particular person and there are difficulties in trying to get them to accept another person as a 'safe' person but I havent seen a case yet where it cant be worked on, it takes a loooong time, a lot of patience and perseverence.
When your at the training/agility how is she if your wife takes the leash? I would think that would be a good way to go about desensitzing her, when she's comfortable with your wife see how she is with someone else and rotate people. You mentioned a veterinary student that has taken Fly on as a case study, does he/she come over to your house to make observations etc. If not would that be a possibility?
I wish you all the very best of luck with Fly, a lot of people for one reason or another cant take on a dog with severe psychological problems or sometimes they give up too soon.
BTW, Ive had Krissie since last July and she was showing some good improvement but then in December I had to go away for about 2 months, she was boarded at the shelter while I was away, my friend who works there said she could interact with her for the first couple of weeks...to a point, but then she reverted back to the way she was before, by the time I got back near the end of January it was almost like we had to start all over again.