30/03/2024
This little girl was doing her best to make it as a malnourished, mange and tick-infested, TC street kid. Prior to being picked up by TCHS and receiving critical medical care, it is likely her only historical interactions with humans involved having food tossed to her on the street.
She only understood how to operate from a position of fear, and her fear presented as full-body trembling, salivating profusely, and mentally shutting down; not unusual behaviors from an ‘unsocialized’ dog whose inherent personality operates to the side of shy, submissive, and sensitive. To help her understand that a shy, street kid can be a great family companion, the goal was to persuade her to reclassify 99% of her fear associations as unnecessary, and it began with clearing up her misunderstanding that she was going to spend her life curled up in the far corner of the yard and pretend to be invisible.
With the help of her two bomb-proof dog mentors, she started a desensitization and self-confidence building program of lots of varied exercise, repetitive exposure to many different environments during both daytime and nighttime and in calm weather and windy/stormy weather, and the introduction of structure and expectations.
This YouTube video which provides some highlights of her journey is about 1.5 minutes and the only time you’ll see a leash on her is during formal loose-leash walks around town. She is making the choice to engage and participate, and her positive experiences become self-reinforcing and deepen her commitment to being a member of the team. Additionally, her diet is low carb, no grain, no kibble, and high in unprocessed meat protein to give her the nutrition and fuel she needs to be her best both mentally and physically.
If she looks like a doll, it’s because she absolutely is one.
Her adoption listing can be found on PetFinder.
This little girl was doing her best to make it as a malnourished, mange and tick-infested, TC street kid. Prior to being picked up by TCHS and receiving crit...
