Missy has really formed a bond with Luke. She loves play fighting with him.
From Angie: "I think it's safe to say that it's men that Missy is terrified of. She is more accepting of women that come here although she's still very wary. Poor Phil, my husband, has been totally ignoring Missy, no eye contact, but whenever he moves about she goes into panic mode.
When the puppies are out they will go to Phil but Missy stands at a great distance just watching. If he starts to walk away from the pups she runs off much like did when she first came here, belly low to the ground, elongated body, really frightened. She will lie on the sofa opposite him, but she lays watching his every move. If he gets up, she runs away.
We tried offering her some tinned meat, standing together, both hands outstretched, I was telling her the words I used when she first came here, "it's ok", but she wasnt having any of it.
It's horrible seeing her so scared of Phil, he is very patient, and agrees it's going to take a long time for her to trust him.
I'm no expert in this field, so am taking advice from a dog behaviourist to see how Phil can gain her trust. We don't want to rush anything.
This is her favourite spot now in the evenings.
Missy sleeps on my bed at night, curled up on the pillow next to me. She is still very nervous of Phil, but is now able to lie next to me when he is in the room. He is totally ignoring her, which is what we were advised to do. Today, when I let the pups out for a run round the garden, they all gathered round Phil's feet. He petted them and she watched very intently at a distance. She will learn with time that he won't hurt her.
I've had a lovely long chat with a lady who is a dog behaviourist and specializes with dogs like Missy.
It seems we are doing all the right things, however, she has suggested other things to try which of course we will put into practice.
As you have seen from the videos, Missy is particularly happy and confident with Luke, so from now on, all the work we do with Missy will include Luke, ie..feeding, playing, etc.
From now on we have to only hand feed her. She doesn't have a problem with me hand feeding but we have to now introduce Phil's hand. Also, I have to give up my sofa and sit next to Phil on his sofa. When we are sitting together we have to encourage hand feeding Missy with something she really likes. We know she is especially fond of tinned meat, so thats what we will use.. it's gonna get messy lol.
Phil now has to start talking to her .. softly, quietly, and no eye contact, preferably using the same words I used when she first arrived like "it's ok" and "good girl" so she relates those words to good things. He must not move while he is talking to her either.
It's going to be interesting putting these things into practice and we are very hopeful that one day it will all pay off and Missy will be confident enough to forget her terrible past and accept that not all men are bad"
Missy's Journey Facebook link is here.
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Angie's Amazon Wish List link is here.
To buy Angie's Kindle book from Amazon.es 1.23€ click here
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Paypal address for Angie .. to help cover vets bills, vaccinations, chips, worming, eye drops, many things listed previously .. is
angie_mccready@hotmail.com