Their Struggle Toward Socialization

by Trish King

Having a happy relationship with your dog means learning how to work together. If there´s a topic you´d like to see Trish cover, email editors@fetchthepaper.com.

Shadow is a dog with no past. This Border Collie mix was found wandering in a park, thin and raggedy. Animal control officers tried several tries before cornering her beneath a car and extracting her as gently as they could. They transported her to a shelter where she was given food, water, and a bed. After three or four days, Shadow seemed to be relaxed in her new “home,” and shelter volunteers slowly began to socialize her. They sat in her run and chatted with her. Within a couple of days she began to approach them carefully, stretching her body so she could turn and run if need be. Soon a couple volunteers could touch her, and finally they could take her out for a walk. Shadow was frightened of everything new. She had obviously never been indoors; carpets frightened her, and she was terrified of walking on tile or linoleum. Stairs were out of the question. If someone lifted an
arm over her head, she cringed, tail tucked under her body. Every single person she met couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

Eventually, Shadow became comfortable enough for shelter staff to put her up for adoption. She didn’t “show” well, sitting in the back of her run looking pitiful. Volunteers and staff took her out daily and her personality started to emerge. It took several weeks but finally a young couple felt sorry enough for Shadow to adopt her and take her home.

Bear the Bernese Mountain Dog did have a past. His owner in Texas was going to show him, so kept him in his kennel with his other dogs, but when he reached puberty he developed physical “flaws” which made him unshowable. The owner was using him as a stud when a rescue group bought him and several other dogs in the kennel. They were all filthy and emaciated, but seemed friendly. Bear did well in the foster home where he could play with many other dogs. The staff considered him a sweetheart and was able to place him within a few weeks with a loving couple.

Unsocialized, but not too late to change

Both Shadow and Bear lived happily ever after, right? Unfortunately, no. Both dogs were severely under-socialized: they had not been exposed to people, places and things, all so necessary for dogs to cope well with life.the first and most important window for socialization is just a matter of months. During this time, pups should be exposed to a wide variety of stimuli, essentially life as we know it. If they aren’t, they may never learn behavior we consider normal. This is not to say they shouldn’t be worked on, just that improvement may be slow, even imperceptible at times.

Shadow settled in her new house fairly quickly. She startled at things she wasn’t used to, like vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, and blenders, but she could cope. She was very affectionate towards her family members and seemed easy to train. But she was still very spooked when taken for walks, and she was terrified of people who looked different, especially men with hats or beards. Within a few weeks, she started to lunge at people walking by. She never actually made contact, but she frightened people. When her guardians had guests over, Shadow rushed the door, barking and lunging, baring all her teeth. After the guests were in and settled, she’d watch them; if they moved, she’d bark
and lunge.

Bear, meanwhile, bonded quickly and thoroughly in his new home but only with Anne. He was terrified of her husband Harry, even though he was a sweet, gentle man. They thought he might have been abused by a man, but it was more likely he’d had no experience with them and so they intimidated him. He never showed any propensity towards aggression, but he stayed in a corner of the den where he’d made a nest, staring at Harry whenever the man came into the room. Anne could only leash him and take him outside when Harry had disappeared. Once outside he was fine, romping and playing on his own and with other dogs. He could even accept the presence of other men at a distance, but if Harry came on the scene, he would run away. It seemed he’d concentrated all his fear on poor Harry.

Getting to know you and such

Shadow and Bear were both fearful and cautious, and both of their fears were due to a lack of proper
exposure to various environments. Their responses were quite different due to their base temperaments. Shadow responded to her fear by establishing a very strong territory and protecting it. She didn’t trust people to take care of her, not even her guardians (remember she’d been a stray and had probably had some bad experiences). She saw strangers as potential threats rather than potential friends. If she had been a child, her guardians could have explained she was safe, but Shadow had to learn by experience, overcoming her own reluctance slowly. After all, her approach had probably kept her alive before being captured.

Her rehabilitation program centered on teaching her she could trust her guardians and that they would keep her safe. Easy to say, hard to do! Among other things they stopped allowing her to go to the door and “greet” strangers. When guests arrived, her guardians calmly took Shadow to another room and gave her something to chew on. After the guests were settled, the guardians brought Shadow into the room and put her on a tether in a safe place. At first she barked, but then she learned it didn’t matter what she did since no one paid any attention to her. On walks she learned to look at her owners when she felt threatened, and she was counter- conditioned with food when people passed her.

Bear had found his comfort zone and had no intention of leaving it, so we had to find a way for
him to accept Harry and new experiences without freaking out. One of the techniques we used was to tie Bear’s leash to Anne’s waist so that Bear had to spend some time visiting the rest of the house attached to his “mom.” Eventually, Bear’s nest was moved to a different location and then another one after that. Besides doing all the feeding Harry began walking Bear more consistently and sitting down beside him to just hang out. Also, because Bear had spent his formative months in the company of many dogs and was much more comfortable when other canines were around, Bear’s owners are considering getting another dog, a confident one.

Even with lots of work, both dogs are likely to progress slowly, but they’re both proving to be worth the effort!