Shyla's Socialization

I have been continuing to work on socialization with Shyla multiple times per week. I do some of the training alone, some of it as part of a group class, and some during one-on-one lessons with our trainer. As always, I have no photos of Shyla during our in-town training, so I'll pepper this with photos from our outings in the mountains at home.

Although we still have up days and down days, Shyla is generally moving in a good direction. Until a month ago, her demeanor in town changed only gradually. To sum up where she was a month ago, everything on Earth still seemed foreign to her but she was gradually learning to cope with the alien planet that she'd landed on. However, she still seemed scared the majority of the time. At that time, she got diarrhea after every trip to town, telling me about the very high level of stress that town placed on her.

Then, about a month ago, she changed. It looks to me and the trainer as if Shyla no longer views the majority of our world as foreign. She walks along on sidewalks in town like a happy dog, observing the world but usually not bug-eyed and on the verge of a meltdown like she was before. She tries to meet most people, as long as they don't do certain scary behaviors like squatting down and looking her in the eyes. She no longer gets diarrhea after trips to town.

Because her demeanor is generally happy in town, I now can identify the exact things that still scare her. Prior to this, Shyla was constantly scared to some degree in town - so identifying the "triggers" was very hard. Now, she'll walk along happily until a sight or sound spooks her, and she immediately looks less confident or even spooks (i.e., darts backwards with her ears pinned back and her body low to the ground).

Apparently, Shyla's current state is a step in the rehabilitation of a dog who missed her puppy socialization that my trainer sees frequently. The dog finally (8 months later, in Shyla's case) accepts the world for what it is and knows what is normal. So, the dog functions beautifully until "abnormal" things occur - and then the "spook" is quite obvious.

The bottom line is that this change in Shyla is expected and good. Now, we can work on the specific things that Shyla is still afraid of - like men talking on cell phones, women with gravelly voices, construction equipment, skateboards, people squatting down to look in her eyes, etc. She now truly trusts me - so she'll literally look at me when she gets scared. I back her away from the scary thing, until she is at a distance that is comfortable for her, and then we watch the scary thing from a distance, using the principles of BAT (Behavioral Adjustment Training).

I never dreamed that this journey would take so long - and that the evolution would still be underway 8 months after Shyla joined our family. When Shyla first arrived, I thought that if I worked super hard, we could "solve" her fears very rapidly. I believe that an important step in the process was that I accepted that Shyla would have good days and bad days, and that she may or may not ever be really comfortable in the human world (but I love her regardless). When I adopted that attitude, I took the pressure off of both Shyla and me.

I'm still not sure of the final outcome in terms of whether Shyla will ever be totally comfortable in town. But, I do know that Shyla can navigate the human world without much fear if I guide her.

I also know that the journey has been incredibly rewarding. My trainer observed that Shyla's bond to me is much stronger than a "normal" dog's bond would be just 8 months after arriving in a new home. I feel very lucky in that regard, for my bond to her is just as strong. She is a gift.