Meet Hector A Romanian Rescue With Extreme Fear Issues

I recently had a session in Carterton, Oxfordshire with a beautiful mixed breed rescue from Romania called Hector. He had not had a great start to life and had pretty much shut down to everything, he had also lost trust in humans. When he arrived at his new home nothing changed, and he spent over a month living curled up around the downstairs toilet and remained unresponsive. Having never been able to get used to a lead his owners were unable to take him out.

Fear based problems need careful, and experienced management in order for the dog to move forward. If the wrong approach is used, a dog can become significantly worse. Dogs do not go through the emotional process in the same way as humans, and sometimes this makes it easier for me to bring them back to a more natural state.

My decision with Hector was simple, unlock his natural state by re-establishing a migratory state of mind. Dogs naturally move forward by migrating in social groups, or packs. By assessing Hector, I was confident that he would not show any aggression towards me, so I put on a lead and took him out. Forcing a dog through its comfort zone is not something I would recommend for all dogs, but for Hector it was the most logical choice. This was by no means straight forward, and Hector spent at least 40 minutes trying to curl up and hide in every bush or crevice we passed. By continuing to make him move forward he gradually started to understand that nothing bad was happening and was gradually becoming curious of the outside world again.

By the end of the session we had a dog that was walking, no longer with me, but with his new family pack. This is not something that happens with all dogs, which is something that makes Hector so remarkable. His progress was so quick, that his owners sent me a photo that same evening of Hector choosing to come and spend time with them in their front room (even if it was only for a matter of seconds). The next day, they sent more photos, and video of him in their space and outside enjoying his walks. A few weeks on, and I have heard more from his owners with videos and pictures of Hector wanting to engage with other dogs, allowing them to groom him, taking food by hand, and spending time with both them and their son. There is still a long way to go for Hector while he adjusts to his new life, and I should point out that this was a particularly quick turnaround. Owners should always consult a professional when faced with a dog that has extreme fear, trust, or anxiety issues as it is easy to misinterpret the three. If you need help with your own dog, please get In touch.

From Hectors Owners

"We made the decision to adopt Hector, a 1 year old German shepherd mongrel from Romania. he had originally been rescued from a kill shelter (where he was so terrified, he pee'd himself) at around 2 months old. We were made aware that he had quite bad life in Romania (and possibly a victim of physical abuse before arriving in the UK) but we were looking forward to his arrival. We knew in advance he was shy, but we didn't realise how scared he really was. Once he arrived (they couldn't actually get him off the bus, they had to carry him) he made a dart for the downstairs toilet and curled up next to it. He proceeded to stay in the downstairs toilet for several days, only coming out at night to relieve himself in the hallway. It took him nearly a week to see the back door and even realise there was a garden. While he was calm in the toilet, he was extremely fearful of us. and if we made any movement towards him, he would cower away and withdraw his paws. After a while we managed to get him to go out in the garden, but he wouldn't go outside if we were there and if we made any movement towards him he would run back to the toilet."

"Once in the garden he wanted to hide in bushes and behind the shed to be as far away from us as possible.  This was so difficult because we wanted to let him enjoy the garden and go to the toilet, but we couldn't guarantee he would return into the house. We gave him space and tried to show him we were friendly, but hector was not budging. Every night he would beg and plead to be in the garden all night. After a month of living in the same house as Hector but having no interaction with each other we made the decision to call Back to Balance as we felt the situation wasn't going to resolve itself over time."

"Since Azz came to visit, we have had progress every day. Hector is excited to go for walks (often bouncing up to me excited to see if we are about to go), takes food from us and has even let us brush him (while on the lead but he really enjoyed it). After our walks we have continued to bring him into the house on the lead and he sits down next to us without a fuss. Once we take the lead off, he will stay for a short while (even letting my son lay down next to him for a few minutes!) before finding his own space but he no longer retreats to the toilet at every chance. Actually, he is now spending most of his day either in the garden (where he can be recalled at the first ask) or in the dining room near the back door. While he is not sitting with us just yet (he’s getting closer) he no longer feels the need to spend all his time in the house in the toilet, and in fact only returns to the toilet to go to sleep (something to work on next)."

"The other night he even fell asleep in the living room with us watching TV which felt like a big step."

"On walks he is mostly well behaved on the lead but very excited now when he sees another dog, tail wagging and pining to play, but doesn't quite understand how big he is."

"He is still cautious around us, in that if we walk towards him or try to touch him, he will move away but he doesn't run, he just moves normally."

"Overall, we are delighted with the progress he has made, it felt like Azz managed to unlock his mind and allow him to see that everything wasn't scary/bad."