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AnglovesRhea

Just Whelped
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Everything posted by AnglovesRhea

  1. Thanks @greysmom ! Nothing but great advise so far I can't expressive how comforting it is knowing this community is here to help with the acclimation process. Thank you for the help!
  2. Hi everybody! I begin to foster with intent to adopt my sweet girl Rhea just shy of a month ago. She was great with other dogs - not playful, but loved to meet new dogs on our walks. We live in a major city so we run into dogs of all breeds, shapes, sizes, and temperaments. Rhea never reacted to other dogs' barking or aggression before and simply paid no mind to leash reactive dogs we encountered. I always keep a safe distance if I feel any other dogs may not be safe or may be too excitable. However - several days ago, Rhea greeted an Irish Wolfound in the entrance hall of our building. I had seen this dog around often and had never witnessed him/her bark or show keen interest in other dogs. They sniffed hello but after a moment the dog barked and lunged at Rhea. She was able to jump out of the way and nobody was hurt but it was a truly scary experience. She is now terrified of other dogs and attempts to run out of the way when we see even tiny dogs on our walks. Any advice on how to re-socialize her is welcome. My parents own Great Danes and it is absolutely necessary that Rhea get along with them. As mentioned, we live in a major city and encountering other dogs multiple times a day is unavoidable. To keep it short, it is not an option for me to have a dog that is not good with other dogs. I understand I am not free of fault in this situation - going forward I will not allow her to interact with any dogs without having a conversation with their owner first, and I should never have allowed her to engage with another dog in close quarters like that. I have been bringing treats with me on walks and giving her a treat as soon as we see another dog approaching and after we have walked past to try to associate these dogs with something yummy and fun - but I am not sure if this is the right approach. By giving her a treat, could I be reinforcing her scared behavior? Any and all comments are welcome. Thank you!
  3. Thanks for all of the reassurance and feedback! Sure enough, she got over it after a day or so, and my boyfriend is no longer tossing balls around until she is confident in her new home. Regarding @greysmom comment on alone training - we have left her alone for up to an hour on a couple of occasions and she did great. I'm not sure how to find a way to leave her alone for longer periods as we live in a major city and the stay at home orders are taken seriously. Any suggestions? Would shutting her into the bedroom for increasing intervals during normal work hours help or hinder the process as she knows we are still home in the living room? Thanks!!
  4. Hi everyone! Long time reader first time poster. My boyfriend and I adopted our first grey 3 weeks ago. She is a very sweet and polite velcro hound who loves her food! We had a bit of a spook last night and I want to get the community's advice on how to handle this and make sure she is comfortable in her new home. For reference, Rhea spends the day lying on the floor next to us as we work in the living room. She goes into her crate in our bedroom voluntarily at bedtime and the crate is always open. She has really started to open up and become more comfortable with us this past week - wagging her tail, enjoying her walks, exploring the porch, and responding to her new name. I can't express just how much she is finally coming out of her shell, and we were so so excited to get a glimpse of our girl's personality! However, last night while she was snoozing, my boyfriend was tossing a ball around (something he does often while watching tv) and it fell on her. She woke up very spooked, ran a couple laps around the apartment, and then straight into her crate. We respect the crate as her space so we do not pet her while she is in it, but we do give her treats and talk to her. We took her on her nightly walk and she was energetic and excited, but back to the crate when we got home, and again this morning. Her walk schedule was also a little messed up yesterday and she met some new people, so I'm thinking the startle was just the icing on the cake. I know this is very normal, but I cant help but beat myself up over this! We are very worried this could be a huge setback and that she no longer feels safe. I typically like to keep the bedroom door closed while we are in the living room as I dont yet trust her not to get into something (we have dog proofed but hounds will find a way!) But I really do not want to shut her out of her safe space now. What should we do? How long will it take for her to feel comfortable in the living room again?
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