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♥- Lucia, CGC- ♥
Thanks for- rescuing! | 
 | | Barked: Sun May 14, '06 5:11pm PST | |  | |  | | We brought Lucia home this weekend. We were told that she was sweet, playful, and confident, but a little depressed because she misses her 'brother' that was adopted before her.
She is sweet, and becoming playful, but she is NOT confident. She is scared out of her mind at everything! Doors closing, sudden movements, bells, even her ID tag clinking against her leash makes her twitch and try to escape.
She won't approach people, and tries to get away from men. Not much is known about her previous owner, but I think she was abused. She was warming up to my grandfather and letting him pet her until he reached for his belt to put it on: she jumped behind me and put her head between my knees, and crouched down and then started bucking like a wild stallion.
She's warming up gradually, but I'm afraid that she's going to have a heart attack or something if she doesn't loosen up! She has eaten maybe a cup or two since Saturday morning and has only urinated once. It's so pitiful because this is so NOT like a Cane Corso is supposed to be.
Anyone have experience with anything like this?? |  |  | |  |
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Mackenzie
Il Cane Migliore- del Mundo |
 | | Barked: Mon Jul 31, '06 1:22pm PST | | | | | | Ciao! Grazie mille for leting us join this group. I love seeing so many Cane Corsos!
Mack was very nervous and fearful when I first adopted him at 4 months. I picked him up on halloween 2003 in Niagra Falls, NY and drove with him back to Michigan through Canada. He had been kept out in a yard with many other dogs, and had been given shots there, so he had never been indoors, worn a collar, been in a car, seen a vet or anything non-dog related really!
So I put a collar on him and put him in the jeep - he adapted well to the jeep, but I stopped at a truck stop a few hours later after it was dark so that he could use the bathroom. Not realizing how scary it must have been for him, I feel badly about it now... the noise and the trucks and the floodlights- I put a leash on his collar and got him out of the jeep and he took one look around, ducked out of his collar and went under the jeep and wouldn't come out. So now he's got no collar on and there's huge trucks driving everywhere, and it's dark, so I'm crawling under the jeep to get at him, and he's scared, so he bolts the other way. My heart stopped, but somehow he and I ended up huddled on a grassy area, both panting and shaking.
He has been scared at diferent things since- thunder, the vaccum, the first time we went to the dog park, new people, the neighbor's shi-tzus (15 lbs each), the ocean, baths, etc. But each time he tries something new, he gets better and bolder. This is not to say that he's never nervous or scared, but as his confidence builds, the list of things that make him quake in his boots gets shorter and shorter.
He is now a happy, (mostly) confident dog who only shakes and hides under my legs if I'm seated, or behind me if we're standing when we go to the Vet (the 2 hip surgeries make him nervous anywhere that even smells like a Vet's office) or during a thunderstorm. He's made great strides, and everytime he tries something new I praise him and he wriggles with joy- I think he's very proud of himself, too.
The best advice I can offer is to expose her to new situations and praise her. Don't reward fearful behavior, in fact, ignore her if she's shaking- it's hard, I know, but by watching you be confident, you're sending her the message that she'll be OK- afterall, the alpha dog would never let anything happen to her, right? But if she shows fearful agression or her hackles get raised, then get her out of the situation and try again another time. Good luck! There is hope! | | | | |
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