The shelter I've begun volunteering at has a dog. He's a GSD/Wolf Hybrid. His owner, apparently, was extremely violent and abusive so the dog was removed from him. Actually there were many dogs like him kept as well and those dogs were extremely violent and aggressive and had to be put down.

I met Zorro yesterday, and I greeted him to receive a wide-eyed stare in response. I wasn't too surprised, I was told he was abused.

I ignored him for the most part until the two dogs he rooms with in the kennel needed some attention. I went into the enclosure to play with them a bit and distract the ears-down one so I could work with ears-up and make sure "sit" stuck (it did, it was AWESOME, she's so smart!). He didn't even begin to find me coming in cute.

I ignored him at first, I could see him watching me from the corner of my eye, and I made sure my training with the other two was extremely, extremely gentle -- quiet, calm voice, gentle touches, very gentle correction for jumping up on me. Showed that I wouldn't hurt them, and therefore he wasn't in any immediate danger.

He got up eventually and ran from his dogloo into the inner room where he could stare at me through a window. I waited a bit longer and then I took a treat and told him "want a treat? Here you go!" and tossed it very gently near him. He wasn't interested. A moment later I got pounced from behind by one of the insane pups I was working with and stumbled forward - and he freaked out and BOLTED from the inner room to outside again, racing to the other side of the enclosure and staring at me.

I sweet-talked him for a moment and then returned to ignoring him, so he would calm down.

My plan next week is to go to his enclosure with a bunch of treats and just sit against the fence and either just sit or maybe talk to myself for an hour or two so he can start to get used to me. I'm really fond of him, he is just beautiful, and I really would love to earn his trust.

Now my question is -- is my plan stupid? Am I only going to upset him more by sitting in the enclosure (not trying to approach him, just sitting where he can see me), or is it likely he'll get to the point where he'll decide I'm not going to attack him? Especially with treats?

Any additional advice you can offer for dealing with him? Lots of treats and no sudden movements enough, or is there some trick to it?

Thanks for any advice!

[Yogi]

No your plan is not stupid in fact this is one of the best ways to get the dog calmed and accepting of you. I have done this with many of my rescues always allowing them the space and time they need to feel comfortable. By just going in and sitting without forcing yourself or excessive attention on the dog is proper and again allowing for patience and time he will eventually become accustom to you being part of the enclosure. Good luck.

Agreed, not a bad plan at all.

If you do it everyday at around the same time, he should warm up to you relatively quickly; dogs do very well with constant routines.

I wish I could do it every day, I love it there. =/ Unfortunately I can't, I only get to spend about seven hours every Sunday there. Would he still warm up to me even with less frequent visits, since they'll be every week?

It sounds like a good plan, just make sure you don't make eye contact with him as well. One day, sit with your back to him. You can slightly turn your head, but don't make eye contact or stare too long. When you think he is calm, move a little closer, keeping your back to him. Keep doing this without talking. If suddenly he runs away, that is fine, just leave him be and try again later, but eventually you should be able to get close to him. From that point, tuck one hand behind your back and let your scent be near him. From there, take a treat and keep it behind your back as well. One day he might take it from your hand. Even if he does, though, don't turn around or speak to him, or give eye contact. Just get up and go about your business. These rituals will get him to trust you and eventually he should be less fearful. When the time is right for him, he will let your know by licking you, being more friendly, coming up to you, or coming up to your side when you sit with your back to him. Then you can progress from there with little eye contact, feeding from frontwards, and maybe even touching. It might take a lot of time, but it sure sounds like this pup is worth it! Goodluck!

Golden. I'll have to try it out on Sunday. I don't think he's used to people sitting with him like that lol.

well i have to agree with them..

I hate to be the voice of dissent, but I think your plan is fraught with a great deal of danger. You aren't dealing with a dog. You're dealing with a wolf hybrid, and one that's been abused, and probably never socialized. There's no way to predict how he's going to react. Like a dog, or like a wolf? Unless you are very well educated on WOLF behavior, not just dog behavior, you could be putting yourself in harms way.

If I were in any rush, yeah, definitely if I planned to try to shove myself down the dog's throat, I'd be terrified he's aggressive. Fortunately I have plenty of time. And... well that would be stupid with any abused animal. XD

He's only 25% wolf, I don't know if that makes much of a difference.

He is also completely non dog aggressive and has never shown signs of human aggression -- he's actually been approaching the caretaker and recently jumped to put his paws on her chest so she could pet him. So I don't think he's dangerous (if I'm wrong I guess I'll find out when he snacks on me) he's just been around a bad person for a lot of his young life and now he's not sure who to trust. I'd like to join the ranks of someone he can trust. It breaks my heart that he can't get any affection - the caretaker is so, so busy with so many dogs that she can't spend that much time with him so he only gets limited attention.

I just got done sending an email to a wolf/wold hybrid sanctuary asking them some questions, hopefully I can get some additional advice from people who work with those kinds of animals all the time! =)

You might want to check out the website Working with a fearful, scared or shy dog to learn more about how to handle scared or abused animals. Remember that depending on the animal and the situation the changes you want to see will take a varying amount of time. Dogs that were not properly socialized may never be the same as dogs that were and wolves, just by virtue of being wolves rarely become as adept at interpreting people, as dogs do.

Books I'd suggest include

The Cautious Canine
Calming Signals

You need to understand counter conditioning, desensitization, triggers and thresholds and the more you understand about body language the better.

Good luck!

Debbie

Thanks a ton for your specific information, I'll be taking a look at your suggestions!