Greenpeace Boarding Kennel staff have been working hard with her, desensitising/counter-conditioning her to the sound of the harness clips. She shows no reaction at all to the sound.
She is slowly coming out of her shell and her lovely personality is beginning to shine through. Much more confident and curious today.
She soon came out of her kennel and followed me and ended up lying across my legs for affection. She wore the harness over her head (no video this week sadly) and we left it on her for a brief period. The next session we may attach it fully but it will depend on how she feels. It is essential to keep a close watch on body language to avoid placing her under any stress.
It is so tempting to try to speed things up and place the harness on immediately. This could be considered to be using the "flooding" technique. The theory behind it is that the dog will just "get used to it". What actually happens is that the dog just gives up/shuts down as part of his survival mechanism) or finds another coping mechanism (sometimes the use of aggression)!
It is essential to go at the individual dog's pace, even more so with nervous and anxious dogs. If we push too far, we can cause increased anxiety and even aversion towards whatever we are doing.
Small steps, allowing choices will build confidence as she learns there is nothing to worry about.
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