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Old 05-17-2009, 07:57 AM   #6
Gennies
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Virginia
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I am sooooo glad you have a trainer!!! Had to get that out first, now...Welcome to YT & Thank you, thank you, thank you for adopting!

It's very hard to give you advice without seeing what his behavior's like. I would recommend talking to your trainer and PLEASE, try and look at this through your baby's eyes. If you don't know his history then I would rely on the trainer who is there seeing his behavior and has knowledge about what it is that your dog's trying to say when he reacts this way.

It could be that he came from a very abusive home before and has decided that loud voices remind him of what happened in his other home. Since he has so much love in your home now, he wants to protect his loved ones from whoever's yelling at them.

If he was beaten there, it's very understandable as he doesn't want his loved one to be beaten. And though you shouldn't tolerate it, you should be very careful how you handle it and the trainer is the professional you should really talk this through with.

My little man is also a rescue and though I have no idea what his other home, or homes were like, I can tell you that I know he was abused. If you move too fast towards him, he freezes and cowers down like he's about to be beaten. It broke my heart the first time I seen him do this. I stopped, talked very lovingly to him and let him come to me. Then we have a long hugging and kissing session with promises to never allow him to experience that kind of pain again. He will also run and hide if someone raises their voice. It can just be yelling up the steps to tell my daughter that dinner is ready, he will run and hide. This is why I say try and look at his life experiences through his eyes. We've made simple changes like now I text her cell phone (she's a teenager and has it glued in her hand all the time) instead of yelling up the steps. But in the mornings I sing loudly up the steps that morning is here and it's time to wakey wakey. Barley actually loves this as he knows he can run up there, jump on her bed and get a few morning hugs before she gets up ;o)

Good luck and please keep us posted.
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Gennie, mommy to my two loves: Bambi & Bijou
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