Gradually developing fear issues... (Lilah the foster)

[lancerandrara]

Welp... apparently, Lilah (the little foster dog I had a month and a half or so ago) developed fear biting and reactivity issues towards other dogs and meeting people. The new owners are already working with a good trainer with this... they figured it out fast and seem very attentive to her.

The thing is that during the time she was with me, she was really fine and comfortable seeing other dogs and meeting new people. Excluding my roommate, who she barked at initially for walking around... roommate jumped around and disliked her, Lilah barked more, etc. :s

After she went to her 2nd foster home (I had to pass her due to my roommate), she was fine with them. No issues yet. And 5 days later, returned back to me at my parent's home. I noticed she was a bit more anxious starting then.

Then she was adopted by that irresponsible woman for the 2 weeks... Lilah did not like her at all, actually. Mom picked her up, and I noticed she was increasingly more anxious with new people. Still not reactive though.

She lived with my parents for half a week, finally passed to the young couple who are her final adopters... On the day we met the couple, Lilah was already abruptly very fearful with meeting them, and it really surprised me. She didn't growl, but just straight up snapping and backing away kind of thing. I think we were all on the "this is unexpected and surprising" boat. But they took her anyway, and she quickly became very happy with them.

The next day with them, they reported to me that she barks at people walking by, and barks at other dogs on walks. When they brought her to the vet a couple days after that, she bit the vet (though I can't say whether that's the vet's fault, because I've met vets who were not dog savvy at all...).

So I was just wondering- Do you think her increasing anxiety and fear is due to being passed around different homes so frequently, so a lack of security? Or was it something innate that maybe just gradually showed up due to being out of the shelter? Or do you think it's likely that the irresponsible woman (her 1st "adopter") screwed her up somehow?

It's worth noting again that the days I first fostered her, she was totally fine with meeting new people and sniffing noses briefly with other dogs. No sign of fear or anything weird, very chipper and calm. She came with me to work the first day, and all my coworkers were playing with her.

 

[straw]

I think it certainly fed the fire, even if it may not have been the initial spark. She had a ROUGH time from my perspective.

At least 6 homes in as many weeks? Wherever she was before you, you, second foster, the pee pad woman, your parents, and now this family. I'm not saying it was avoidable or that it's your fault/the rescue's fault, not at all. But imagine how tough that would be for her? So many differences she had to adapt to, just about every week. New routines, new rules, sometimes she was made uncomfortable. If it were me in that position I think I would have lashed out weeks ago.

Time will probably have something of a soothing effect. When Venice fell apart at the seams (practically became a different dog in the span of five minutes) time was the best healer. I did maybe one or two desensitization/counter conditioning sessions with her, but the rest was just going through life with hotdogs in my pocket and reinforcing braveness and making sure she felt as safe as possible and ALWAYS was able to choose when she'd had enough.

Another note is that I find a LOT of dogs go through a 'honeymoon' period in their new home. Whether it's because they are not quite comfortable enough to show their true colours, or they're somewhat shut down because of the whole moving experience or what... I have met scores of people saying things like "he was great for the first few weeks and then he started barking at other dogs on walks, or growling when he met new people, etc etc etc". So I think it's a very real thing - the absence of certain behaviors for a brief period of time while dogs transition.

I wish the family all the best. It sounds like they're already on the right track, but a support system is key. Just having someone to vent and wail to and be able to say "she had such a shitty day, she blew her lid at a group of little kids, I hate this" and hear back "I know, it sucks. We'll try again tomorrrow" is so helpful. Working with fear like this is not my cup of tea but I was forced to with Venice. For me, scratching away at the surface bit by bit over months (or years, in my case) is easier than taking a sledgehammer to the fear-beast and trying to smash it quickly. I see a lot of people charge in all gung-ho with reactive or fearful dogs and then get burnt out or bored or frustrated with the training because it's taking so long - then they give up entirely. When it comes to working on fear, the dog sets the pace.

Edit: I don't think the first adopter (the pee pad situation) 'ruined' her. I mean it sure wasn't an ideal home but it sounds like all she was doing was keeping the dog around the house and never taking her outside. Since she's beyond any critical socialization periods I don't think that would have an adverse effect on her attitude towards people... I could be wrong, just my viewpoint.

 

[milos_mommy]

A couple of things here:

1. Dogs often do show their "true colors" after settling into a home. If you only fostered her for days or weeks at a time, it's not surprising all her issues DIDNT come to light

2. She was bounced around A LOT. So it's pretty unlikely this in itself would spark issues other than something like SA or resource guarding, but it definitely could have exacerbated underlying issues.

3. You don't know for sure the experiences she had in other foster homes, or even with your roommate and parents while you weren't there. Any number of factors from your roommate purposely frightening her because she was scared, being frightened by another dog during a walk, encountering an intimidating person, being bullied by other dogs in the house, or having someone respond poorly to her fear (like scolding her for being reactive, putting a prong on her, etc).

It's likely 1. A combination of factors and 2. Something you'll never exactly figure out. It's probably nothing that suddenly sparked up (she's likely had at least some mild fear issues or instability in the last) but it's also pretty likely everything she went through exacerbated it. Even a really stable dog would have a tough time with all of that moving and new people/environments/dogs/handlers.

How old is she?

ETA: another factor could be if the fear reaction is protective or resource guarding (sounds more like the first if this is the case), she could now see her new owners as "hers" and feel an attachment and responsibility to protect them in a way she didn't with temporary families.

 

[lancerandrara]

Exactly, my initial thought was just that she's very stressed and built up insecurity from bouncing around all these different homes and meeting all these new people so frequently, so that's what I told her adopters. :s Mixed with the fact that I have no idea what she experienced over at the peepad woman's place, but I do know for sure that Lilah did not like her at all.

My mom informed me that when she went to pick Lilah up, she was in a crate and flipping out at my mom in an aggressive display. Generally looked very bonkers. It took Lilah a minute to remember who my mom was, and THEN she was back to her usual self and super excited. When they left together, she didn't even look back at the peepad woman... just jumped on our car ASAP and left. LOL

Yeah, I realize the honeymoon period too with new adopts. I'm not sure how much that affects Lilah's case, but yeah. :s It's just strange though and I'm doubtful, because she really wasn't shut down during her time with me- she was very happy about it all! One of my coworkers fostered a dog too, a larger dog, and Lilah went to sniff noses and tried to initiate play and all that. Same with meeting new people, she was happy and licked everyone's faces.

I agree that time will have a soothing affect, especially with a stable home now.

And yeah, the couple seems very on track and quick on finding solutions to any of her issues (including health too)! They even bought her pet insurance.

I think it WAS (at least originally) an issue of fear and not protectiveness, due to what I observed when I first brought her for the couple to pick up. She was immediately fearful and snapping at their fingers when they reached towards her... paid no attention to me, just looked afraid/resorting to biting.

Milos, I think exacerbating underlying issues makes sense... Maybe these issues were just very mild before, but the stress of bouncing around so many homes basically multiplied it x100.

I think scolding her for being reactive would make sense in the peepad woman's home. I don't doubt it might've happened, if she was ever reactive there...

Yeah, I don't think I'll exactly figure out everything, in the end. :s It's just got me very confused. And hearing other's opinions to relay back to the young couple definitely helps!

She was found as a stray and neutered at the shelter. The shelter had her labeled as 4 years old (they're just guessing in the end), but the man who brought her out to show me thought she looked 2 years old.

Good points, it's possible that she's now protective of them too. So her behavior now might be a result of a mix of both fear and protectiveness.

 

[milos_mommy]

Dogs don't necessarily "shut down" during the honeymoon period. I've seen a lot of dogs thrilled to go to a new home that play eagerly with new/foster siblings and are super responsive to training, and their every day behavior isn't affected at all, but a month into it they want to murder anyone who comes to the front door, or refuse to get in the car they'd been comfortably riding in, or start jumping like crazy when they previously didn't.