18/03/2020
Boo is the sweet little dog that I worked with for several months while I was volunteering at Berkeley Animal Care Services. Boo and her sister Peeka had come from a very neglectful and abusive situation, and when they came into the shelter, both of them were absolutely terrified of everybody and everything. They were much too scared to be taken for a walk and really quite unadoptable at this point.
I began working with them by entering their kennel "armed", lol, with chopped hotdogs whilst being careful not to look in their direction (eye contact not being a good thing when trying to win the trust of a scared dog). I would curl up on the floor of their kennel, as far away from them as I could be (it was a small space, so I couldn't get very far), always facing away from them. I then began to "casually" (lol) toss little peices of hotdog over my shoulder in their direction.
I did this daily, for 2 or 3 hours a day. After about 7 days I tried sitting crosslegged and kind of half-way facing them. Peeka came over to me and let me pet her! Three days later, as I was sitting crosslegged on the floor, I leaned over and picked up Boo and put her in my lap. She let me pet her :). After a few weeks they were jumping up and down when they saw me coming :). Peeka was the less scared one and eventually I started to take her outdoors to the quietest, most protected spot I could find (close to the shelter) and we would sit in the grass together. Boo was always the shyer one, but when she seemed really comfortable with me, I took her outside to the same spot. At this point, to be safe, I took them out separately as I wanted to avoid the possibility of both getting spooked and trying to "escape". Eventually, when they were both doing well outside in our little quiet spot I started bringing them both out together. The next step was to start taking Peeka for walks. And the step after that was to start bringing Boo out for walks. When they were both good with this I began bringing them out together for their walks. At this point I began to feel that these guys were at least starting to become closer to being adoptable.
Long story short, they both got adopted, though not together, unfortunately. But the great news is that Boo's new owner contacted me and now I get to walk her 4 times a week! :) :) :). Anyhow, as you can imagine, Boo and I are now very bonded :). This video is how she greets me every time I come to take her for her walk. :) :) :)
