Lanzarote Dog Trainer

Archive for the ‘Salvador – Reserved’ Category

Relaxing little by little

Salvador is improving slowly. He is definitely more comfortable on our walks now and is starting very slowly to come out of his shell.

He will now take food from my hand and over the last few sessions we have progressed from me having to crouch down low for him to be relaxed enough to take the food, to me being able to feed him standing up. I am working towards having him actively seeking out the food but I know this is a long way off as I don’t have the hours with him that I need to speed up the process.

He is currently reserved to go to Germany so I am hoping that he will get a flight soon and with full time attention in a family environment, will have a chance to feel secure and more confident.

Very exciting today…………Salvador went to the toilet outside! This may not sound very exciting but it is quite a big deal for such a nervous dog. He has also started to take food out of my hand, he’s still not sure but he will do it. He will also allow me to touch him although he is not completely comfortable with this.

I am waiting at the moment to find out the status of his adoption. He is supposed to be reserved for a home but has been on the list for quite a while. In my opinion he really needs to be re-homed as soon as possible as the environment in the shelter is not helping him at all.

I will work with anyone who takes him to help him regain his confidence.

Two weeks away and Salvador is much the same. It’s a little by little process and I’m happy that he is improving even though it is by very small amounts.

It’s small things that I notice with him; his tail wasn’t held so low today while we were walking and when we stopped he kept it out from between his legs. He is using his nose more and when I sit down with him he has a good sniff of me which is really encouraging.

Other people and most other dogs make him uneasy. Cars, motorbikes, rubbish bags….I could go on. He’s not incurable though and in a loving home will surely improve.

Improving after every dog training session

Salvador is improving, slowly. We have settled into a nice routine of walking, running and then having a break sitting down. This is to give him some things he likes to do and is comfortable with like running and walking and then when we stop, which he is not so comfortable with, he has to accept 5 minutes of feeling a little unsure. This seems to be working as today when we stopped the second time he kept his tail out from between his legs, a sure sign that he was feeling a little more relaxed.

We will keep working like this until he is totally relaxed with me. Unfortunately I don’t have the time to work with him every day, I wish I did, ideally he needs to get rehomed with someone soon who has the time to spend with him. But, I’ll keep at it until a home is found.

Relaxing after a run

Today I discovered that when we run Salvador is totally relaxed. He loves running and he really doesn’t look nervous at all when we are moving at speed. Good news for Salvador, bad news for me I’m not great at running in the sun! Still it gives us a great chance to bond and the lack of exercise and stimulation is probably the cause of all his anxiety. He is of a breed that spends all day running when they are hunting.

We also had another little breakthrough, when we stopped for our 5 minutes sitting down he actually took a treat out of my hand. He was a little unsure but he took it and ate it. Little by little is what it will take with this one.

Salvador

We went for another long walk today. Salvador is much more relaxed when he is moving but still quite nervous. When we stopped for a minute for me to see hoe he behaved he starts to get more nervous. This is something we will have to work on slowly so I will probably spend 5 minutes of every session just sitting quietly with him to help him relax. For today though we walked at a reasonably brisk pace and I made sure to keep my movements fluid so I didn’t startle him at all.

He did show some interest in me today and as we were walking kept leaning towards me to smell me, this is really good he wants to know me.

Poor Salvador. From the moment you see him you feel for him, he just looks so nervous.

One nervous little boy

Today I just took him for a gentle walk. He spends the whole time looking from left to right as though expecting something to jump out at him. It’s important with very nervous dogs not to rush them and also not to give them too much attention as this can make them worse. I didn’t speak to Salvador or touch him today, I want him to get to know me first. When he’s ready he will let me know.

This will probably be quite a long haul to help him as anything that scares him can set him back and also the environment in the shelter is not good for a nervous dog. He’s not the worst case and I’m sure we’ll see some improvement before too long.

Salvador - male podenco

Salvador is a four year old male podenco that has been in the shelter since 2007. He is currently reserved to go to Germany but has been on the list for some time so may not go. He is extremely nervous and frightened of everything. I am going to work with him to see if I can help him to build up his confidence and help him relax.

Podencos are by nature quite a highly strung nervous breed. They are a Canarian breed very like the Ibizan Hound and were and still are used for hunting rabbits. They are generally very good natured and excellent with people but they do need a lot of exercise as they have been bred with the stamina to hunt all day.