Canine Think Tank Photo Gallery

We were called by a shelter. They had a young dog that was dumped by the family because the dog did not want to play with their child. The dog had totally shut down and refused to eat or move or acknowledge people.

We went up and sat on the floor in the room where the dog was and just talked to each other and read for over an hour and a half. We then got up and left the room. The dog got up to see where we went. After she settled back down, we returned to the room sat on the floor and continued to ignore. After about another half an hour we could feel her relax and do some deep breaths. We got up walked towards the door and said "lets go" motioned to her, she moved and we picked her up and took her to our car.

During the drive home we had a different dog. She sat up in attention, she sniffed us, she was wagging her tail, and enjoying herself.

Caution, Observe and Look for the Leader

The yard is fenced, but she was still able to move around if she felt she needed to flee. She spent a lot of time watching the other dogs and us. Even the other dogs ignored her when she was at this stress level.

She watched more.... Gathering information.

Learning the Pack Order:

Jeff was cautious to make sure that he was signaling her that he was leading our pack. He would only pet and talk to our dogs if he called them over. They each were eager to interact, and she watched.

Join Us!

Jeff then went out for a walk. He walked with purpose, walked briskly and with meaning. Our pack walked with him - a motion of circling around him but still remaining with him. After a few laps around the yard, they picked up the rescued dog. She joined in too. (She is the white dog in the back.)

Prior family just wanted a toy to entertain their child. She spent most of her time in a crate huddled in the back refusing to come out. They would pull her out, they would focus on her and that actually increased her stress more. The more they paid attention to her the worse she got.

She thought that she had to lead this pack. She knew she was not up for the job.

Shifting the leadership role was very easy and she was very willing to give it up to anyone who was up for the task.

After 2 weeks of being in our pack she was ready to go to her new home. To help reduce the amount of stress we put her in a home with a younger but highly socialized dog. He was adorable. His ability to capture people's hearts saved Maddie. People would pay attention to him and naturally ignore her. This allowed her the time to assess the situation, watch her new leader to take cues from and then relax.

Maddie is still stressed at times. But as time goes and her new leader reaffirms to Maddie she only needs to be a dog, she continues to improve.

©2006 CTT, LLC