This is Levi, large mountain dog, so frightened he would barely leave his bed to go into the garden to do his business.
When I came for the Pet Sit I was told that I should just mostly ignore him as the only one in the 4 person househole who could touch him was the dad.
The first morning I came down he stood up and growled at me. I was scared. Truly scared. And I am not scared of dogs.
He is a big guy and I didn’t know if growling was all he would do, or if there would be further aggression.
I carefully give him food, opened the door to the garden and invited him out, stepped away to clear his path.
The first couple of days were like this. And then, when there were no more growls and absolutely nothing more aggressive. I took my laptop and went to sit in the room with him. I spoke gently to him, like I might with a small child. Just saying whatever what going through my mind.
I simply offered my presence as a safe thing to be around. When I saw that he wasn’t flinching as I gave him his food, I pet him a little. And then a little more. By the end of 4 days I was petting him all over, massaging him, loving him. He came to stand by me for petting instead of running to his bed for safety.