It takes a lot of patience to be patient

[MaxHollyNoah]

I got Dundee, my current foster dog, on Thurs. He is a very very timid dog and it's been a big challenge for me to make him comfortable with me.

He is about 1-2 yr old beautiful male Aussie. We think he has been a stray for quite a while and got caught by an animal control and taken to a shelter. I don't have much history of him. He has been licking his left hind paw so I think he has a wound or infection.

When I brought him home on Thurs, he jumped out of my car and ran away as soon as I opened the hatchback! Since my dogs barked from the inside of the house through the window he stopped at once and I could stepped on his leash. I took him to our backyard and let him loose to meet our dogs one by one. It went fine. He is friendly with dogs.

However, I was unsuccessful to catch him or coax him to come inside the house for 2 days! One time when I was offering treats not looking at him, he came closer to me so I grabbed his collar! He screamed and tried to bite my hand. That incident made him more cautious about me.

We decided to give him as much time as he needs to be friendly to us. We just go out on the deck and sit there not looking at him. He slept outside the last 2 nights and he will most likely sleep outside again tonight.

He is warming up slowly and he even slept on the deck for a while when we were all inside the house. He barked a little bit tonight, which is new and shows that he is starting to see this house as his property.

Today we made a big improvement! He got less timid and started getting closer and closer as I was offering the dogs treats without looking a him. With help of my 3 dogs, I could finally trapped him in our utility room this afternoon! Once he got trapped in such small area, he let me put a leash so I took him for walk with Holly, the most confident dog of my 3 dogs. I even used a different leash so that he would associate a good thing with that particular leash. He walked really well on the side of me, unless I make a quick movement, or turn to him too quickly, which made him try to run away. I am glad that I made his collar snuggly before we left for walk.

After we got home, I managed to clip some of his matted hair behind the ears. I wanted wash his wound but I decided not to. I didn't want to do too much too soon.

I think he is now starting to be more comfortable with me and I was able to stand 2 feet away from him when he was eating dinner tonight. He is looking inside through the window, instead of hiding somewhere in the yard. I have to admit that I could not have come this far without my dogs help. Seeing how they interact with me and how much they trust me must have helped Dundee to develop some trust toward me.

Anyway, I am so pleased to see all this improvement. It took me a great deal of patience since I wanted to rush and make him get used to my way sooner. I am so glad that I have a 3 day weekend!

I have learned that it takes a lot of patience to be patient!

Dundee0903 003.jpg

[KOPcaroline]

What an awesome story!!! Glad its going so well and that you're not giving up at all I love good foster stories, and it sounds like you know what to do in the situation. Hope it keeps going fantastically and Dundee gets a great permanent home!

[MaxHollyNoah]

Hi Caroline,

Thank you for your encouragement but things are not going as fantastically as I expected.

I could not catch him today just because he got more cautious from yesterday's trapped experience. He has learned a lesson and I taught him the lesson not to go in the utility room even he sees treats on the floor.

Also, I tried to grab his collar again and he bit my hand again. This time it left a mark on my wrist although he didn't break my skin.

I regret what I did. I was not patient enough. Because he seemed to be more comfortable with me I thought he was ready to be put an leash on. It was all my fault. Not only I failed to catch him but also I taught him inadvertently biting (pretending to bite) works.

I have been learning quite a bit on calming signals though. Noah, my dog with fear aggression, and Dundee have been sending calming signals each other to avoid conflicts. Whenever their eye contact meets, they both turn their heads away and walk away. It has been very good lessons for Noah and I am impressed to see that Noah who is on my right side for example goes around to my left side as soon as Dundee comes to my right side.

When I was trying to trap Dundee using treats and foods without looking straight at him, I caught at the corner of my eye that he was yawning and licking his lips as he was walking back and forth looking at the bait. It was such a clear calming signal. I could see his nervousness towards me.

It turned out to be Dundee was a feral dog from Eastern Oregon. He was at the shelter for only 3 days before he got transferred to my fostering organization.

No wonder he is extremely vigilant．I need to understand him better and to be more patient. It might take weeks or even months before he totally trusts me but I am not giving up.

[kjd]

Hi, MaxHollyNoahR

Isn't it the truth? We learn something new with each dog!

I'm glad you have a safe yard for Dundee. You may want to just get him to eat close to you. I imagine he doesn't feel that comfortable eating around people. Based on his fear of you, he has probably been mistreated while on the streets.

It is terribly hard though, isn't it? You want to take care of Dundee (I wish the shelter had looked at that paw before turning him over to rescue), to give him the love he deserves, and the best you can do is ignore him!

Here is wishing you many pleasant days and evenings, so you can spend time outdoors with your dogs. The day WILL come when Dundee will decide it is safer to be one of your pack.

Sunna sends some courage to Dundee,
kjd

[MaxHollyNoah]

Hi kjd,

Thank you for your kind words

>It is terribly hard though, isn't it? You want to take care of Dundee (I wish the shelter had looked at that paw before turning him over to rescue), to give him the love he deserves, and the best you can do is ignore him!

This is so true! I want to do something for him, but I should not since he is not ready yet....

I trapped him again yesterday, this time in my vegetable garden, since he is now skittish about the utility room. I took him for walk again and he liked it. I was hoping that he would now recognize a leash as a good thing but still doesn't

He is still loose in our yard but things are progressing little by little. He even met my kittens and they put noses together. He has no prey drive or scavenger trait fortunately. I don't think he is a real feral dog...

It is raining pretty hard today. This is the first rain since he came to the West Coast from more desert like Easter Oregon. I feel so bad to see him soaking wet. He usually sleeps under the owning but he has been in the rain so that he can see us better through the window. I open the sliding door and invite him but he turns around and go back in the rain. It is so frustrating I wish I can just hug him with a big towel and dry him....

Well, all I need is patience...

[MaxHollyNoah]

Yesterday I realized that I had been making a big mistake. I should not have tried to catch him. He is so afraid of getting caught or trapped and I just scared him more by trying to catch him! That was so stupid of me!

That was giving him a message that I was a dangerous person even though I feed him. I knew I should be patient but I was only thinking things from my point of view, not from his...

So, I totally gave up catching him. Instead, I just have been trying to be a "nice person" who only gives him, not takes anything from him.

Guess what!! He had a little breakthrough this morning! When I went outside to see him this morning, he came up to me and let me pet him on his head. Then, this afternoon we had several guests on our deck along with our dogs and kittens (on the leash). Dundee showed mixed feelings, excited to be with our dogs and kittens, interested in people, but still not trusting people...but it worked good for him. He was exposed to so many people in the environment that he is very used to (by this time) and nobody even tried to catch him or touch him just busy with their own conversation and drinks! We all went out for dinner and when we came back he showed his tummy to me and I could finally pet him on his tummy and he let me take his short leash (the last time I caught him I left a foot long leash on him so that it would be easier to catch him later but I could never catch him again). So Dundee and I took a short walk in the dark. He seemed to enjoy it. He is now starting to attach to me and he and I sat down on the deck for a while. He licked my face and he loved to be petted. He finally is becoming the kind of dog I wanted to see!

I took his leash off and he is now loose again in our yard. He still doesn't come inside but it was a big breakthrough between Dundee and me! I am so much looking forward to our days to come

[kjd]

Patience! Patience, MaxHollyNoah!

Today let you pet him; tomorrow he might not want you to even see him!

I think the guests were a big help. Also, if you can just leave the sliding glass door open and then ignore him, he might begin coming in. Just don't close it on him if he does come in. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes months to truly tame him!

But what a wonderful companion he will become!

Sunna sends him licks. She understands how he feels.

kjd

[MaxHollyNoah]

Hi kjd,

You are so right about "Patience, patience, patience!"

Dundee is doing much much better now. He comes to me in a happy and exciting manner whenever I come out to the deck. He immediately lies down on his tummy in a submissive way (which I don't necessarily like) for attention.

We had a very scary experience! Dundee escaped yesterday afternoon when I was going to take him and Noah for walk! The gate was not quite closed when he came through our vegetable garden and off to the street! He ran around all over our neighborhood in his full speed!

It was totally my carelessness and he is not an escape artist. He could have escaped long before if he really wanted to. He just saw the gate is open and got so excited!

I had his leash on my hand but there was no way I could grab him by his collar since he hates being caught so much! It would be impossible to lure him with treats either since he gets so skeptical when a treat is offered. (what a stinker!)

I immediately switch my dogs (put Noah inside and brought out Holly) and ran after Dundee. He was such an energetic dog! People on the bike path and streets tried to catch him but no way (as you remember!).

Holly and I just walk after him without chasing and as soon as he sees us we ran in the opposite direction calling out loud "Dundee, come on! Let's go home!". We did this for almost half an hour, back and forth in the neighborhood. Finally we got so close to home so I just ran inside through our gate and he followed us!!!!

We were so relieved. I never lost Dundee though. He ran out of my sight many times but never too far and always came back to see if we were following him. He just thought it was more fun way of walks!

Anyway, Holly and I had enough exercise. I need to work on Dundee to become more comfortable getting leashed.

We were impressed and happy to see that Dundee got attached to us and he seems to like living here...

Here is a most recent picture of him.DundeeSmile.jpg

[kjd]

Such a sweet looking dog, MaxHollyNoah! I hope you are planning to keep him in your pack.

That first escape was always a big thing with me. I would go out in the car and drive after the dog. If she (only one "he" did I have) came and jumped in the car, I knew I'd never have to worry. I've never done that with Sunna, but she has never gotten out of the yard and always hangs near us when we are out front. Several times, a dog has come by before we realized it, but she's been good about either returning or sitting until I can get her.

My first dog, Freya, before I learned the car trick, once escaped. She led me around the block, then came inside -- like Dundee, she wanted the walk her way!

They are so smart!

A pat on the head to Holly for her part in the Great Dundee Chase!

kjd

[MaxHollyNoah]

Hi kjd,

Dundee and I are getting closer and closer. He now comes to me when I come out to the yard. He gives me kisses and asks for pet whenever he has chances. He still lives outside but considering where he came from (it gets below 20 in the winter) I think Oregon rain and 60 degrees during the night would not hurt him. He seems to be more comfortable being outside.

I had a breakthrough that I wanted to let you know about:

I have been trying to teach Dundee "Sit" but have been unsuccessful. All my past foster dogs learned by looking at Holly, Noah and Daisy, or when I showed a treat and brought it to over his/her head, they sat. It was that easy.

However, Dundee, being so fearful and scared to be caught, whenever I offer him a treat, his escape mode switch turns on

Therefore, I was wondering how I could teach him any commands or tricks. This morning, I came out on the deck and called him. He dashed to me and threw himself in a submissive way (belly up) to be petted. I ignored him (I don't like the submissive gesture) and stood in front of him with one hand on my chest (without offering a treat), then he sat straight in front of me!! It was so cool so I walked a few steps away and did the same thing, he followed me and sat again! Since then, I added a command "Sit" and he has learned his very first command!! I am so proud of him. Just wanted to share this with you and others who are on this forum!

I know it is not a big deal but it is for me and Dundee

See, I have been trying to be patient!!