When we adopted Diva last July, she was on the verge of being considered a permanent kennel resident. They had tried to place her a couple times, but her spooky ways kept her bouncing back to the adoption group. Ken and I had experience with spooks (Stella!), and we could tell right away that Diva wasn’t a spook…she was just a terribly under-socialized dog. She was OK with dogs, but people  and new places/sounds really freaked her out. In fact, I had to carry her out of the adoption kennel to the mini-van the day I adopted her because she refused to walk outside the building.

So…we’ve kinda just let her blossom on her own. Sure, the first month or so she was here we had to leave the back door open and hide in order for her to come inside. She wouldn’t come near us if we were holding something in our hands or wearing a hat or if anything looked significantly different about us. But we let her be and didn’t push too much, too soon. It took months for her to fully trust us.

Then she discovered the sofa and regularly climbs up to sit with Ken or I. In fact, she loves to hog Ken’s lap whenever she can. We started taking her for walks with the pack…those first few were nerve-wracking for her. But, we kept her moving forward and didn’t give her mind a chance to work into a tizzy. We also always paired her with the dogs she seemed most confident with in the pack. Now I can take her walking with any combination of dogs and she actually enjoys the time out! At some point in the last couple months, we’ve just noticed her being a different dog – more mature, more confident and seemingly happier (less stressed) in general. She’s a maniac with the stuffies and has recently displayed an infatuation with chasing tennis balls. We decided she was ready to start developing her social skills out in the real world.

So, tonight was a big challenge. Probably the biggest challenge since she’s been with us. Petsmart. Yep. I decided to take her to a very public place, with all new people and new dogs and new sights and new smells. I was anticipating a meltdown…I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to get her in the doors. I’ve learned with Stella, that a spook can appear very comfortable and confident in their own environment, but revert back to their spook ways once things change.

So, I loaded her up in the mini-van with Bodhi and that went well. Deep breath. Driving to Petsmart she actually laid down and dozed. Another deep breath. I parked the mini-van, double checked her collar and leash and then opened the side door to let them out. Bodhi jumped right out, ready to take on the world (no surprise). Diva stood there looking, with a slightly concerned look on her face. I happily called her name and said “C’mon, D-Dog!” And she jumped out willingly. BIG deep breath!

As we approach the store, there were several cars passing by and I was hoping they’d just drive on by…but they saw us and decided to stop to let us across the crosswalk. Stopped cars on both sides, approaching the front of a store with sliding doors and I could see some people on their way out. Oy. The worst possible scenario for Diva! Again, I happily said “Good girl, Diva…let’s go!” and just kept moving forward, giving her only a little bit of slack in the leash.

And she walked right next to me! Right past the cars…right past the people…she didn’t even flinch as the doors automatically whooshed open! Once inside she started to balk, but I just kept her moving forward, happily chattering about going to find some treats or toys or something. And she kept moving! While in the store, she met a new dog (basset-mix), let three small kids pet her and walked by everything in the store – she even seemed curious about the fish and the cat toys. She stopped shaking after the first 5 minutes as we continued moving around the store. Once she seemed to have let go of most of her nerves, I stopped and sat down to let her just observe and take it all in.

“I’m not afraid anymore!”

I’m so proud of my Diva girl! We knew she wasn’t a true spook and believed if we just gave her enough time to let her figure things out on her own…pressing her with new experiences and socialization challenges every so often, that she would come around. And I think she’s almost there! I also think this is an example of how the “power of the pack” can help an unbalanced dog learn to live a balanced life. If you start with a healthy, balanced, harmonious pack, they can teach dogs things that humans can’t.

This weekend she’s spending the weekend with me in Atlanta. Echo has two days of lure coursing and I thought this would be a great opportunity to get her out amongst some great dog people (who are always great in helping to socialize a dog!) and she’ll have the new challenge of a handling a hotel. I would ask you to wish us luck, but I don’t think we’ll need it! A confident handler and a newly confident hound should be all we need!

….at least I hope…

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