I just wanted to share that it’s nearly been 3 months since I brought home my shelter dog. I have posted here before on how fearful my dog was to riding in cars, going for walks everything! I splurged on 4 private lessons with a trainer and have worked diligently with hi daily. After 3 months, my dog really enjoys the car, has fallen in love with beach and bluff walks, (we’re still working on my urban neighborhood but as he builds confidence in other places he is more comfortable walking near our home), he’s less reactive on the leash and I’m able to leave him alone for several hours at a time with no issues. The first month was the hardest and I considered re-homing him but we stuck it out. He’s a happy little boy . We will be signing up for a group training class and I will continue to work on socialization. The 333 rule was so accurate I couldn’t believe it. Anyway, this is for those who feel overwhelmed helpless and lonely - good change can happen!
My Sheltie only started liking neighborhood walks now that he is mostly deaf (I'm pretty sure the sounds of cars driving by scares him, but now he cant hear them so he's fine with it)
@bknerd This gives me hope, we are in a similar situation and barely going on 2 months. We have noticed a huge difference. The only problem we have is our other dog still hates our rescue and its so stressful.
@dothns If you can afford, it just getting a trainer for 1-2 session would help with them observing behavior between your two dogs and providing specific feedback. Even videotaping the behavior for them to review could be less expensive and helpful. I will also say between month 2-3 I saw a big change so keep doing what you’re doing.
@bknerd Thank you for posting this. It can be so hard in the early days, it’s discouraging. Sticking with it is so rewarding and I hope all new adopters see this. Congratulations to you and your happy pup!
. We will be signing up for a group training class and I will continue to work on socialization. The 333 rule was so accurate I couldn’t believe it. Anyway, this is for those who feel overwhelmed helpless and lonely - good change can happen!
