Wild Dingo

Macy was found as a puppy by a rescuer at a gas station one day. Nobody knew how she got there or who owned her, but they knew she’d been living htere for a few days. The gas station owner didn’t like workers feeding her, so the rescuer took Macy to a vet and gave her her shots and spayed her.

Currently Macy is in a temporary foster care in the San Francisco area and desperately needs to find another foster home soon. You see, Macy presents some challenges with fear. She’s not an aggressive dog, but extremely fearful outside the home. In the home she’s quite loving an playful. Outside the home, Macy finds everything fearful, motorcycles, trashcans, loud cars, children and more. In my amateur opinion, Macy is most likely entering that adolescent stage where she is now becoming “aware” of everything, whereas puppies are less aware of their surroundings. It’s very common for dogs at this stage to be fearful of everything. It’s a difficult and trying stage for many people who get puppies from breeders at 8 weeks. It’s even harder for people who have rescued a dog because as we know, rescue dogs and puppies come with baggage.

Her current foster parents unfortunately do not have the time or the opportunity to spend with Macy helping her overcome her fears. As a owner of two fear-behaving dogs (one fear-shy, one fear-aggressive), I know how much time and energy it takes to help them adjust. However I also know once both my dogs got over the hump of many of their feared behaviors, it’s been an easy ride ever since. And the bond that develops between a once fearful dog and the person who has taken time to help her is stronger and more rewarding than any other. I’ve had other dogs. Bonds that develop out of fear turning to trust are truly remarkable.

I’m sad Macy’s foster parents aren’t able to to stick with her. It makes it so much harder on a dog to go from home to home, re-learning new boundaries and setting up new relationships of trust levels. Dogs like Macy need a very predictable and structured environment and someone who is knowledgeable in reading a dog’s body language. Though so many positive reinforcement trainers out there insist on using treats to overcome fears (don’t get me wrong, I always carry a pocket full of treats myself), I don’t believe that is what it takes to help extinguish a dog’s fear. What it takes is a consistent, strong pack leader, one who can read the dog’s body language far before fear escalates into panic behavior so that the pack leader can quickly redirect the dog. Praise for calm behavior goes a long way.

If you are interested in fostering or possibly adopting a dog that will take a bit of time and effort, maybe reading some books and basic obedience training, I’d encourage you to seek out Macy. It will take time, but the bond you will develop with her will be more rewarding than the effort it took to extinguish her fears. And in time, you will look back and find it wasn’t a much effort at all, but merely the rock-solid foundation to a beautiful friendship.

Please contact AHAN if you are interested in fostering or adopting Macy. If you indeed foster or adopt Macy, I can off advice on how I helped my dogs overcome their fears and recommend my favorite books on the subject.