Weds 6th Dec: Giving the less confident dogs a chance

 I wonder sometimes how much of what I write about dogs and puppies, their needs and behaviour, makes a difference to those who read my blog.  I try to share what I have learned over the decades of living with many dogs (at the same time), the majority of whom came to me as very timid puppies.  At that time I would bring them all home, and of course the shy ones were never adopted, although it would be fair to say that in a way they were, even if it was by me.  These days it's hard for me to remember when they were like that, as they are all "normal", loving and affectionate dogs now.

Cactus set up the online Companion Animal College

While we were based in Pokfulam we were offered the free services of our first professional trainer, Mark Curran, and when he left his place was taken by Cactus Mok.  Both of them trained in the same place in the USA, so worked on the principles of positive reinforcement.  Cactus is still with us of course, and over the years she has continued her studies, keeping up with all of the latest research into dog behaviour and training, a subject that has changed so much since the old days of dogs needing to be dominated by their "master". 

Through Mark first, and then Cactus, my own understanding of dogs has also grown, and Cactus and I often discuss the more challenging cases together.  I have also witnessed the rehabilitation of so many dogs over the years, some even quite extreme cases who have ended up as happy family members.  

I'm always very happy to receive updates from adopters who have been kind enough to give the less-adoptable dogs a chance, meaning the shy ones who need time and patience to shine.  Today's update was about one such dog, and I want to share it with you.  At first I was going to edit it to make it a bit shorter, but I think it's worth leaving it as it is to show the full story.  It's also important to show what a difference it makes having other, more confident dogs in the home to help and mentor the shy ones. It's actually very difficult for a timid dog to ever really feel secure as an only dog.   So here is the update:

Tux on the left 

"Hi Sally,

I wanted to give you an update on Tuxedo (Aaron), adopted from HKDR one year ago.

First of all, I just want to share that he is doing fabulous.

I saw your recent post on giving a new dog time to settle and it resonated with me a lot.

Tux is my 7th dog in my life so far and I have to say he is the one that has been the most difficult to connect with. 

We adopted him knowing that he is very skittish and shy but I do admit that it hasn't been an easy journey and a bit of an emotional roller coaster.

Here are some of the things I would like to highlight:

- He's very sensitive and will always choose "flight and hide" first, but he's also a very curious boy and a bit of a FOMO too (especially when it comes to treats) so he can't help himself but explore as well.

- Any human interaction needs to be on his terms. If he wants attention, he will tell you by poking his cold wet nose on your legs (super cute but a bit of a surprise sometimes when he does it under the dining table). If we try to give him attention when he's not sure and doesn't want it, he will run away and hide (still does today). Nowadays, he will run for 2 steps, pause and look back to see what's going on before he decides he wants to hide or come back. Most of the time, he will come back. (We have probably said a million encouraging "good boys" to him by now lol)

- He loves our big dog Java and is literally her little sidekick. He's never far from where she is.  She's been instrumental in bringing Tux out of his shell. Very patient and gentle with him, but also making sure he respects her space.  We often do a lot of things such as giving Java a scratch, pat, playing toys with her in front of Tux so that he can watch and learn, which worked very well. I cannot thank her enough for being such a great sister.

- The smaller Chihuahua Coco is his frenemy.  She can be a bit mean to him sometimes (Mostly when it comes to jealousy for attention) and keeps him on his toes but they hang out together just fine.  Tux has learned to "ask for permission" and what we love about him is that he is never confrontational and respects the other two dogs well. We know they are on good terms as they always greet each other when they come home separately from their walks and will occasionally play together.

- Tux's naughty and playful side comes out in full force when the humans are not at home lol.  The apartment becomes his playground and he has ripped carpets, pillows, bed sheets multiple times (Leaving evidence with some fabric hanging from his mouth as well lol).  We try to catch him on camera and call him out (he will perk up when he hears our voice). This is still work in progress.

- Tux absolutely loves the outdoors (dog park, hikes, beach) and is much more open to interacting with us when he's outside. Lots of zoomies and just play play play lol. We also love the fact that he always keeps an eye on us and will always come running back if we start to get a bit far.

- Tux is super shy and skittish but we are very proud of how hard he tried at the Positive Partners training at WNP. He learned sit (is a master of it now) and he learned catching treats mid-air from Java.  He may be shy but he's actually a very smart and observant boy.

Looking back at how you mentioned handling the process in your post, it really resonated with me and I want to say that it was definitely a learning process for us. 

It's always 3 steps forward and 2 steps back with him, but Tuxedo has taught me a lot as well.  He taught me to be patient and "leave him alone" when necessary, which is such a difficult thing to do when you want to give him lots of love and attention. 

But most importantly, take the small wins and celebrate those moments, because before we know it, he will poking us with his nose looking for scratches and attention.

In short, I'm confident to say that he is quite happy with us :)"

If you can give one of the less confident ones a chance, we have quite a few small and medium-sized dogs at our Kennedy Town Homing Centre.  We know that they just need a little time to adjust to living in a home, and we never give up hope that their day will come.