Tiberius is a 3 year old husky who was born and raised to be a sled dog. His two brother and him went to live with a family in Caribou, ME where they started training the dogs to pull. Tiberius was terrified of the sled so his family decided to get rid of him. He was rehomed but returned once before I got him and he is afraid of everything. Sudden movements, loud noises, new people, new objects in the house, other dogs, leaves, everything.
Recently I took him out on our usual mile or so walk. We met with my neighbor, Sonny, an elderly war vet. Sonny and I were standing in the driveway talking and Tiberius, who normally would be trying to run, actually went up and sniffed Sonny. He even let Sonny scratch behind his ears. Tiberius has met Sonny several times before, but this was a first for my dog.
That is how he has been with every person in my neighborhood recently (with one exception). After a few moments of hiding behind me he will very hesitantly go up and say hi.
He is also getting much better about meeting new dogs. He used to cower and hide behind me whenever we met a new dog on the street, ut now, as my neighbors realize he is a sweet boy, Tiberius will, hesitantly, go up and say hi and sniff the other dog. There is a little dachsund on our street who thinks she is the size of Tiberius, and loves to try to play with him and her owner was so suprised at how gentle he was with her.
He was also terrified of his metal food and water dishes. I decided to get him a bit larger food and water dish, and bought plastic ones. He never runs when I put down his food or refill his water now.
He is still terrified of going through doors, but we are working on that. He is also terrified of my father in law but my father in law is 6 foot 4 and very loud. We're also still working, slowly, on his fear of parked cars. Lately when he gets scared, instead of running, he will walk up to me, sit then lean his head on my leg. I just stand there and rub the top of his head until he is comfortable with the situation.
Recently I took him out on our usual mile or so walk. We met with my neighbor, Sonny, an elderly war vet. Sonny and I were standing in the driveway talking and Tiberius, who normally would be trying to run, actually went up and sniffed Sonny. He even let Sonny scratch behind his ears. Tiberius has met Sonny several times before, but this was a first for my dog.
That is how he has been with every person in my neighborhood recently (with one exception). After a few moments of hiding behind me he will very hesitantly go up and say hi. He is also getting much better about meeting new dogs. He used to cower and hide behind me whenever we met a new dog on the street, ut now, as my neighbors realize he is a sweet boy, Tiberius will, hesitantly, go up and say hi and sniff the other dog. There is a little dachsund on our street who thinks she is the size of Tiberius, and loves to try to play with him and her owner was so suprised at how gentle he was with her.
He was also terrified of his metal food and water dishes. I decided to get him a bit larger food and water dish, and bought plastic ones. He never runs when I put down his food or refill his water now.
He is still terrified of going through doors, but we are working on that. He is also terrified of my father in law but my father in law is 6 foot 4 and very loud. We're also still working, slowly, on his fear of parked cars. Lately when he gets scared, instead of running, he will walk up to me, sit then lean his head on my leg. I just stand there and rub the top of his head until he is comfortable with the situation.
