"Haven't you fixed her yet?"

I have mentioned this before, that we don't fix dogs but sadly that is sometimes the mindset when dealing with unwanted behaviour.

We often pass people in the street when out walking and one lady asked me a question about Freya, knowing what I do for a living. "Haven't you fixed her yet?" was the question. She was referring to the fact that Freya is worried about new people and still doesn't want to go over while the woman is looking at her!

Dogs, just like people, have emotional intelligence  - this link will take you to a webinar by Lisa Tenzin-Dolma, founder of The ISCP, that beautifully explains what this is. 

We know that dogs experience emotions and thanks to the work of Gregory Berns, neuroscientist and his research looking at the caudate nucleus in a dogs brain via MRI imaging, we are constantly learning more about how dogs experience emotion.

Do all dogs have the same emotional intelligence? The answer to that is no. It depends on the individual dog, genetics, breeding, early experiences, their background and enrichment experiences and so much more.

We know that Freya had a difficult early life and that she has experienced punishment and aversive methods. These have left her very untrusting of humans. It will be two years since we adopted her at the end of March. She has grown in confidence so much but she is not "fixed". 

We have all heard of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in humans. Dogs can suffer from this too! Helping traumatised dogs grow in confidence and trust is ongoing and there is no set time period or fixing time.

If you are considering adopting a dog that has experienced trauma, aversive methods, or generally had a bad start in life, you will need a skip full of patience, the ability to stay calm and be willing to take time to build trust.

Make a list of the things that cause your dog stress or anxiety.

For Freya, these included leads, doorways, holding out a mobile phone, raising a hand too quickly, a human moving too quickly and even just looking at her when she is lying on the sofa.

Each of these things can trigger her to panic - she bolts, out of the room, out of the way, through the door way etc. Punishment is never going to help and neither is getting impatient or frustrated. 

Patience, patience, patience

Freya is amazing around other dogs though and she has no problem relating to and communicating with dogs. 

Celebrate the little successes.