Video and updates at the bottom.
Rex is a cross between German Shepherd and Husky, and he doesn’t have much trust for people. Been reactive and scared since the owner adopted him 1.5 or 2 years ago. The owner had a couple of trainers in with no success. They were actually afraid of a nervous dog that hasn’t shown any aggression toward me at all.
Rex has no concern for dogs, and he clearly shows that when I bring Monty in. He’s curious about my dog, but he’s more concerned about me being in the back yard. When Monty is in the back yard, I have to move away from Monty to give Rex space to move in. He has no intention of hurting Monty. And unfortunately, his issue with humans is marring Monty’s ability to bring him to me.
We have to change plans because he isn’t going to come to me. I could likely wait there all day.
The owner puts a leash on him for me and heads back into the house. The leash allows direct connection to the dog, allows me to gently block and guide him. Allows him to feel my calm energy directly and as a result, he calms. It’s rare that I have to do this, but it does show his state of mind. Up on the deck, I sit down, and he eventually lays down at the 17 minute mark. His breathing slows, he’s much more calm now. Bear in mind, I’ve been at this for an hour already, had to edit the video. At the 24:50 mark, he chooses to get up and walk away – I don’t block him at all. It was his choice to accept affection from me, now he’s choosing to leave.
It has to be his choice – everything has to be his choice.
I gradually move in on him, very calmly. I’m not scared, he knows it. I’m not doing anything untoward to the dog at all. Eventually, he allows me to move in and allows me to give affection – that’s the important part, he’s allowing me to pet him. He’s not ready to choose to come to me for affection yet, and that’s what I really want. Just that calm and physical contact is what he needs. He needs to make a choice to invade my space, and that will come at some point.
Every touch to his lower half results in a twitch. Rubbing his ears and such, he likes it.
It took him a long time to accept my presence compared to other dogs. He had every chance to show aggression due to fear, but didn’t. I’m impressed that he doesn’t display any aggression considering his state of mind and how long it’s been going on. Whole lot of barking, very alert and aware, and it almost seems like he’s not used to human touch. When he was laid down on the deck and I was petting him, every touch came with a twitch. He was accepting my presence, accepting affection, even enjoying some of it – and that would be the start of trusting. He never really “chose” to come to me, I had to push the issue a little and show him that human touch from strangers is acceptable.
He would sneak up behind me to check me out, to sniff etc and that’s actually a good thing. He’s curious, and showing that he wants to move forward.
CBD oil is the first step, need to get rid of the excess cortisol load. In my experience, the environment creates a stress, the body reacts to that stress by creating cortisol – the stress hormone. It seems like the dog is reacting to the cortisol, not so much the stressors. And it becomes addictive, and that’s all they know. CBD raises endorphins and dopamine levels which naturally reduce cortisol.
Video has been edited to remove any identifying information and the owner.
First session with Rex was tonite. The first time I met him, his bark was so insecure – but tonite when I walked in the back yard without the owner present, his bark and body language sounded like he had a bit more confidence. He came to me alot faster this time around, pretty impressive.
Will finish this later.